Welding

Post by **Orkney** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 5:17 pm

New cheap flashy mask arrived today !
have to say its the best purchase i can remember making. Will try it on the stick welder tonight or tomorrow and report back. Its a bit stormy to even be in the garage at th moment.
£28 delivered, asjustable for sensitivity & darkness - tried it on teh sun when it fleetingly appeared earlier, works a treat, and very very fast to change.
Lovely flip top on your head leaves both hands free unlike the handheld rubishy one i have. When its up you just have to nod your head and it comes down.
Hopefully this will make a drastic difference to my welding ability now

Post by **dave1949** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 5:37 pm

Hopefully this will make a drastic difference to my welding ability now

Being as how i have never tried welding,hence no ability, let me know how it goes,if it works i'll buy one tomorrow

Post by **bigginger** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 5:46 pm

Orkney wrote: When its up you just have to nod your head and it comes down.

And every time you move a muscle when you don't want it to come down too...
a

Post by **ASL642** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 5:48 pm

Sounds like a Norman Wisdom moment to me

Post by **bigginger** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 5:55 pm

Not sure quite why it does, but it can be - um - comedic

a

Post by **dave1949** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 3:45 pm

Seriously thinking of having a go at welding for the first time,read all through this threadwith interest.
My conclusion is buy a mig welder with a range down to 30amps,what does that mean.
With mask am i looking at an initial out lay of £200 to £250?and have i then got all i need,thanks it will all be at home in a garage with mains power.

Post by **Orkney** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 3:53 pm

Hang on a few days Dave, will let you know what the screwfix £99 gasless mig is like it should be here tomorrow.

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/79434/Pow ... MIG-Welder

'If' it works good enough on body panels then thats an outlay of £128 all in ive spent.

Finished repairing my cement mixer stand yesterday with the stick welder, theres nothing to it with the flashy mask, i mean the repairs yesterday saved me a good £100 so happy as larry with all things welding right now

Post by **MoggyTech** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 4:44 pm

I'd seriously question the ability of a gasless MIG to do fine body panel work, just too much spatter from flux MIG wire. I asked a pro welder about these when they first came out, and he said Co2/Argon mix really needed for panel work. B&Q do a Gas/Gasless MIG unit for £149.00 30 to 120 AMPS.

Oh and for first time users starting MIG welding, please read all of the safety blurb before you plug the MIG into the wall socket. You will need fire retardent coveralls and welding gauntlets, and cover your neck as well. I recommend wearing full cover ear defenders as well, to prevent splatter getting into your ears if welding under car. The auto helmets are the mutts nuts though, as is a halogen 500W worklight.

Post by **Orkney** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 5:09 pm

Well MT gasless was the only way i could go.
Not worried about splatter, any panel work will be done on the bench, bit of anti splatter spray and where possible mask as close as possible with lead roof flashing roll.
Itll need some pretty decent amount of cleaning up anyway afterwards so a few splatters wont hurt

I recommend wearing full cover ear defenders as well, to prevent splatter getting into your ears if welding under car.

Thats a really serious tip people should take note of....

Post by **minor_hickup** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:10 pm

Clarke 135te seems to be the amateurs favorite. I have one and can say I'm really impressed with it.

Post by **paul.kissick** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 7:35 pm

I have a clarke 150te mig welder and it is ten years old and still going strong. It has welded a nova (boot floor as usual) ford anglia, talbot sunbeam, various other body work on jeeps and its done a heap of welding so far on the mog. As for starting welding speaking from a professional point of view try and get a gas mig welder as any reports i hear of gasless ones are they are harder to learn on. When setting the welder up to weld turn it up to a point where it is just about to blow through the steel once you have it at this setting turn it back down one setting. Now when welding a piece of sheet steel in its better to tack in several places. Do not do a continuos weld on thin metal you will end up warping it. But a lot of it is like anything else to do with restoring cars it boils down to patience.