right then, its time that i added welding gear to my tool collection. i want to be able to weld 3-4mm in steel, using MMA because it looks easiest and cheapest in terms of equipment. what should i be looking at?
is this suitable in terms of power?
(i am a welding novice)

the ARC you posted looks the easiest – are you on crack.

its the cheapest yes …. thats about all.

ive got both and i suggest you get a mig first up

the one you linked will weld your 3/4mm stuff no bother but youll spend quite a bit of time learning the movement and it wont be nice looking

if you want easy to learn for a novice and easy to get a nice finish thats strong

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/151te-turbo-mig-welder

Its like a hot metal glue gun – get your feed rate and power right and its simple as making lots of letter es down the join.

have you got a good grinder – prep work is key for any welding.

my arc only comes out for locations where i cant get the mig torch in at a suitable angle – you can feed arc electrodes into small spaces such as when i patched my bulkhead outrigger without taking the bulkhead floor pan out 😀 – little hate box.

there are better places than machine mart to get welding equipment also, i bought there as i knew no better . try weldquip.

also if you do get one from machine mart throw that hand held mask to hell and get an auto darkening flip down mask – makes a world of difference.

If you want rough ready welds that arc will do if you’d like more finished welds and versatility look at mig around 130 150 rating.

cheers for replies gents, shall have a look at mig

ha ha, watching some migs on ebay, i love buying tools!

not all migs are equal.

the clarke 151turbo is considered entry level of usefullness.(at that power)

so be careful of buying a no name buzzbox – especially on the spares front. welders have all sorts of consumables from tips, shrouds liners and drive wheels.

you buy a no namer – you might struggle for spares in the future.

the clarke comes with a catalogue of spares and weldquip does spares for all theirs – and if it has a euro torch that simplifys things alot.

it is amaizing how many jobs you end up using the welder for – and how many friends come at you looking for things welded once they know you have one.

* agrees with Trail rat +1

I went to Aldi to do my weekly shop and come home with an Arc welder 150 amp.
Hard to use but £39.00 3 year warranty .I love Aldi.
I find starting the hard bit with Arc, once going it’s easy.
Not pretty work but strong and I don’t want to spend lots as I don’t use it much

Buy arc and you’ll quickly wish you bought a mig, unless you are only welding tractors or bridges.

Buy a mig and you’ll quickly wish you bought a tig……..buy a dc tig and wish you bought an ac tig!

like bikes really – v brake no suspension to carbon FS, it the ‘need’!

dont get me wrong , im an aldi tool fan they make some ace stuff but i would say aldi welders are great if your sticking a bit of your fence back together on the odd occasion the wind blew it over. if you actually want to weld its poor – its a one trick pony and only really does the upper end of its power limit. i borrowed one from a friend to try it out before i bought a used clarke arc off gumtree – ive arced through uni and using the aldi welder was nothing like the lincolns we had at XM services during our uni training – odly the clarke – very similar to the one you have shown but older and only 130amp was quite similar – leads me to believe the buzzbox wasnt a good buy even at 39.99 – makes a good shelf ornament in my mates garage though

there is more to a welder than its max rating.

you want control.

and yes i want a TIG – trying to get the workshop guys downstairs to give me a crashcourse in TIGing – the two handed thing **** with my head

For the clarke 151, what’s the power requirement – usable from domestic mains in my garage?

you need a 15amp socket for the max powers

ive regularly welded smaller stuff at lower power when i was in rentals

Infact the only time i blew a fuse was when i flicked it to high 3 by accident

Now im in my garage i have a dedicated 16 amp unit fed by higher rate wire and into an appropriate RCD(the breaker box in the garage has some really meaty cable running into it) that only the welder will fit into for when i want to go at full chat – ive never found the need and ive welded alsorts – never needed to weld anything above 4mm tbh and that doesnt need full power

the worrying part is prior to my rewire my whole garage was fed off the back bedroom celing rose……a 6amp RCD and it never blew once when i used the welder. – This i didnt find out till after i did the rewire.

the worrying part is prior to my rewire my whole garage was fed off the back bedroom celing rose……a 6amp RCD and it never blew once when i used the welder. – This i didnt find out till after i did the rewire.

The joys of doing up a house, you find all sorts of odd things going on…..

and yes i want a TIG – trying to get the workshop guys downstairs to give me a crashcourse in TIGing – the two handed thing **** with my head

Two hands and one foot 😉

I’ve been brazing for 18 years, TIGing for a month – it’s an interesting learning curve.

Avoid arc welders – MIG is so much better for general welding.

just bought this little beauty on ebay for £87. looking forward to arc eye, bursting through and splatter! cheers for all the advice above

looks good for 87 quid – rrp is like 200 quid innit ?

bit of a reputation for a shit torch / liner though – assuming its the same as the sealey it looks like.

If your having trouble getting it to feed smooth – youll know if its not … it starts to jerky and you get a non continuous weld and lots of spatter. – get a new liner and tip….. Or better still – retrofit a euro torch.

Get yourself one of these self darkening welding masks. It makes life a whole life easier.

http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/190761314668?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&adtype=pla&crdt=0

“Weldertrackworld” is here: http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/index.php

Cheap Arc welders are no good for learning with, Mig will be easiest.

Get an auto darkening mask too, one less thing to worry about

I`ve got a cheap Mig, always wanted a decent one as they make everything so much easier, especially when learning. Finally got a decent welder at last……
But I brought a Digital Inverter DC TIG welder, with Foot pedal as well.
Its lovely 😀
Steep learning curve but much more satisfying.
Mig is just like a hot glue gun for metal
Smoke, fumes, noise and spatter
Tig you could do in your front room !!