UKC

I had a play years ago but find myself pondering (again) the fact that I d like to be able to weld competently, just for the sake of it. simple home stuff , nothing fancy or safety critical. I dont have time to do a college course . My first question is : how much would it cost to buy all the bits an bobs to weld a simple project, say a gas bottle stove or something similar ? what would I need and is it possible/ safe to buy it all off ebay ? already have shed(s) and workbench with a heavy vice, grinders, disc cutters etc.
thanks in advance, away from the omput till after lunch.

In reply to mike123:

take a look at this website.. http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/ i found it very useful when I was restoring my MG.
also, you can pick up a decent clarke MiG welder on ebay quite cheap these days (if Mig is the direction you're heading - a lot easier to get started than gas).
If you do go Mig, try to rent a gas bottle rather than using the small ones from halfords - saves a fortune e.g.
Adams Gas.
Rent free. You can't sell on the bottle, but you get all your deposit back, no matter how long you keep it.
Deposit £55.
9Ltr at 137 bar.
Refill cost is 0.03p/litre inc vat.
Cheap delivery. £6(inc vat)in Kent, £12 nationwide.

In reply to mike123:

Off topic, but it still amuses me.

Years ago, a mate of mine had a welding kit (or his dad did). One day, another mate asked to borrow it. 'Maybe', says mate 1, 'what do you want it for?'. Mate 2 replies, dead serious, 'pretty sure my car's fuel tank has a leak. Want to try and fix it'.

It wasn't lent.

In reply to mav:



A friend's dad actually did that, for my mates old Rover 3500 tank. Sat on the floor and held it securely between his legs then watched it take off through the garage roof.

In reply to graeme jackson:

>



0.03p/litre uncompressed so about £36 for a 9l cylinder.

In reply to graeme jackson:
thanks graeme, looks like a good site, will have a read over the w/e. theres a clarke 130en on ebay that i ll stick a bid on.

In reply to jimtitt:
not started looking, but is this dear ? if so how would i get it cheaper, baring in mind i m not an international manufacturer of bolting products and man of mystery ?

In reply to mike123:

Halfords 950cc bottles are £15 so £36 looks like a bargain to me.

In reply to mav:

Ive welded lots of fuel tanks. There is a knack

In reply to mike123:


You just have to get a bigger bottle, the filling costs are more or less fixed so the more per fill the cheaper it gets, I pay maybe £80 for a 60l bottle of Argon/Co2 mix for MIG welding and ca £94 for pure Argon. The bottles aren´t exactly handy though!
A lot depends on how much you weld, a 60l bottle of Argon has about 12,000l and at 15l per minute that gives me 800 minutes which is about 3 days full-time welding on what I make like bolts. On other stuff I´ve been through 3 bottles in a day but with a MIG welder you won´t!
For MIG mostly you´re better off with a CO2/Argon mix by the way.

In reply to winhill:


Really people never fail to amaze me [not that I've never done anything stupid...].

In reply to jimtitt:

thanks jim. what do think to a clarke 130 en for a diy / home / occasional , pretty sure i cant put an ebay link but its, erm, on ebay.

In reply to mav:


When I grew up, the bloke across the road was a classic car restorer; real class work. He once attempted to weld a fuel tank, after taking great pains to ensure the thing was completely empty and clear of fumes.

It went through the workshop roof...

And he had a very good idea of what he was doing...

In reply to winhill:

The 'exit roof left' is becoming a theme here...

I wonder if woolsack's knack is to fill them with argon first...

In reply to captain paranoia:



My knack is get someone else to weld it ha-ha-ha.

In reply to mike123:


Realistically I´m not the guy to ask, I´ve never really used a hobby welder nor gasless MIG. Under about £2,000 I really haven´t a clue, I want all that complicated stuff so I´ve a bit of control over things.
Maybe ask/look on something like http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/

In reply to mike12

you do not need fancy gear to weld well and its easy with practice but please do some sort of course at your local college as 90% of it is safety. metal fume fever, galv / paint poisoning, grease on your oxygen bottles are all good ways to shorten your life considerably.

In reply to mike123:

While there is talk of fuel tanks and gas bottle stoves bear in mind they both need filling with water to purge any gas/ vapour before putting the mig / grinder near them! I've done both, still use the gas bottle garden wood burner today. Used a metal biscut tin as the chimney and can pop the lid on When it's not being used, mesh grill closing door to stop spitting from logs, it's great. Once you've made it do a burn first to burn all the blue calor paint off it before finishing in black stove paint.
I've had a few machines, all clarkes. The red ones are the pro range and much better but the blue DIY range ones work well too, got so many cars through the mot I couldn't even begin to count! Drive gates too are easily made with components from somewhere like north valley forge. Don't bother with gasless machines, they make a lot of smoke and splatter and fAirly untidy welds. Search for the Haynes manual of welding, helped me no end at first, fairly old book but mig and tig are covered. Oh yea, 150 amp upwards for stuff like gates but you'll be able to turn it right down for thin stuff like car sills. Have fun!

In reply to mike123:

One other thing, if repairing a hole in a car, bank on the actuall hole being ten times as big by the time you've poked around and cleaned up the area!

In reply to wilkie14c:
thanks. will try to get the haynes book.

In reply to mike123:

Wolf-Professional-Mig-140T-Turbo-Fan-Cooled-Gas-No-Gas-Mig-welder-kit (Online auction site) about £160

Wolf Mig 140, gas/no gas mig welder. Technically gasless mig welding is Mag (Metal active gas) which uses a flux cored wire.
I've had mine for 2.5 years, takes a little getting used to but used it for loads of stuff and is a handy thing to have and I only ever weld with the flux cored wire so no gas to worry about buying/running out of/getting blown away in the wind.

Good luck.

In reply to mike123:

Regardless of what set you decide upon, get a good mask from the start, as been able to see what you're working on helps considerably.

In reply to mike123:

Depending on exactly what you want to weld a stick inverter might prove to be a more economical option and the new inverters can weld impressively thin material without blowing holes in it. But if it's car body work then MIG would probably be the way forward.

I'd echo the comments about a good mask especially when you're learning.