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Best starter MIG kit?


WotEver

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If you are going to weld outside you are better off  with the gasless core mig wire. You are less likely to lose the arc shield gas so will not end up with porious/substandard welds. Welding with mig ideally requires clean almost rust free surfaces unless you have a lot of amps,  the small diy welders do not meet this spec as they are designed for 0.8 or 1.0 mm dia light gauge wire at relatively low amps. Low amps equals shallow weld petration on thick ( 6mm +) steels and little strength. Stick with rods if you want a good job unless you can go to 200 amp plus mig. I weld for a living.

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Thanks for the input Adrian. I can cope with rods and my baby welder for thick stuff but I’m wanting to weld 2mm or so plate occasionally which is what I thought a small mig would be good for. I can’t foresee me welding outside much if at all. 

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30 minutes ago, WotEver said:

Thanks for the input Adrian. I can cope with rods and my baby welder for thick stuff but I’m wanting to weld 2mm or so plate occasionally which is what I thought a small mig would be good for. I can’t foresee me welding outside much if at all. 

2 mm ok for stick ,low melting point or Fast freeze Rods .Keep the Amps. way down low.......

 

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If you are looking to do thin steel then consider TIG welding, you do need pure argon for this but can weld all but ally with the cheaper machines, down to very thin sections.

For mig 0.8 gasless wire will be ok for steel at 2 to 3 mm when inside.

If you want to do a lot of welding then it is cheaper buy 20 or 30 litre gas bottles at car parts trade suppliers and just refill when needed. Avoid Air Products or BOC small bottles as you get nothing back after a couple of years after purchase.

Look at R Tech in Gloucester for reasonable quality kit and materials

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1 hour ago, adrianh said:

If you are looking to do thin steel then consider TIG welding, you do need pure argon for this but can weld all but ally with the cheaper machines, down to very thin sections.

For mig 0.8 gasless wire will be ok for steel at 2 to 3 mm when inside.

If you want to do a lot of welding then it is cheaper buy 20 or 30 litre gas bottles at car parts trade suppliers and just refill when needed. Avoid Air Products or BOC small bottles as you get nothing back after a couple of years after purchase.

Look at R Tech in Gloucester for reasonable quality kit and materials

So something like this?

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-at133-arc-tigmma-inverter-welder/

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That looks like a very basic tig welder so not very good for a novice.

Basic tig welders can have the gas flow on constantly and do not have high frequency arc striking features. You have to scratch start the arc at the tig electrode which is not easy without practice.. Pay a bit more and you get gas on /off and hf tig arc strike functions. This also gives better arc weld functions as you should get a feature called hot start that strikes up the arc more easily and allows you to weld with smaller rods at lower currents with thin materials. 

You can also buy special arc welding rods for thin sheet work, they have a different coating

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6 hours ago, adrianh said:

That looks like a very basic tig welder so not very good for a novice.

Basic tig welders can have the gas flow on constantly and do not have high frequency arc striking features. You have to scratch start the arc at the tig electrode which is not easy without practice.. Pay a bit more and you get gas on /off and hf tig arc strike functions. This also gives better arc weld functions as you should get a feature called hot start that strikes up the arc more easily and allows you to weld with smaller rods at lower currents with thin materials. 

You can also buy special arc welding rods for thin sheet work, they have a different coating

This one is HF, has Air Force, Hot Start, and anti-stick. Better for a novice?

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-at135-arc-tigmma-inverter-welder/

 

Looking again at the spec of the first one, that also has those features. 

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The high frequency used for the tig ignition different from what is described in the spec above. I think that this just refers to the general electronic design that allows the high welding current to be developed at low mains current.

The Tig torched used with HF arc striking has a button that starts the power and gas.

Look at the R Tech site to see this design and also online videos for all types of welding.

I use this :- Code: TIG160PDC, but it cost more than the machine mart offering!

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4 hours ago, adrianh said:

The high frequency used for the tig ignition different from what is described in the spec above. I think that this just refers to the general electronic design that allows the high welding current to be developed at low mains current.

The Tig torched used with HF arc striking has a button that starts the power and gas.

Look at the R Tech site to see this design and also online videos for all types of welding.

I use this :- Code: TIG160PDC, but it cost more than the machine mart offering!

 

Adrian your expertise and comments are most valuable so thought I should say thanks for posting.

 

I even struggle with vertical welds with my decent quality inverter stick welder, let alone upside down. Easier to tip the boat over sideways it often seems to me!

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24 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Adrian your expertise and comments are most valuable so thought I should say thanks for posting.

Seconded :)

 

I thought this a useful article too:

http://jobsite-us.com/custommetalfabrication/difference-between-mig-and-tig-welding/

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Vertical welding is an art!

Firstly you need to be welding into a vee'd out groove with a small amount of metal left at the bottom of the channel with the edges touching if joining plates, or a corner if materials butt up.

For a good weld start at the bottom and go up with a slight left / right weave and a short pause at the sides of the weld.

Watch that too much material is not deposited in the centre of the weld as you move upwards, adjust to weave speed to keep this as low as possible

The rod tip needs to be approx 20 degrees pointing up as you move up. Using a 2.5 mm rod at say 75 amps from a DC set with hot start ( short current boost when the arc is struck) can make life easier. Also the make of rod and the coating makes a huge difference. ESAB OK 46.00 are a good general purpose rod or buy low hydrogen rod.

Overhead welding I struggle with too, just keep the amps down and have a gap or a proper veed out weld prep.

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