On the lookout for a budget-end mig, since I own an mx5 and therefore I’m going to need to learn how to hot glue it back together every MOT…I can stick weld, but very badly, and since my welder died and migs have got cheaper and more practical I figure it’s time for a change.

requirements- making brackets and such, fixing holes in mazdas, probably a bit of ornamental stuff and tooling stuff. I can’t imagine I’ll need more than a few mm of penetration. It’s probably got to run off a household 13A since it’s a rented house and so adding a better supply isn’t straightforward. Won’t be used further away than my shed so doesn’t have to be super portable. I think I’d prefer a gas/gasless job. In principle, it’d be nice to be able to do aluminium but I think that might stretch the budget, I don’t think I’d compromise much or spend a huge amount more for that.

I’ve never used one, though I’m a practical person, so ease of use would be a bonus, I know there’s some really budget options that people get good results from but they mostly seem to need a bit more skill?

Soooo basically I’ve seen recommendations for sealey mightymigs and rohr, in the pricerange I’d rather spend (£150-£300). I can stretch that, if it’ll be worth it. Mate says “get an Rtech” but that’s pushing my limit and I’m not sure it’s really worth the extra for my diy use?

Already have most of the gear but I’ll get some proper eye protection and make out a new will.

Any advice much appreciated!

Depends where you live.
But if you can hire a mig welder, it might not be the cheapest option but, it has a few advantages.

Dunno the clark 151 is bloody hard to beat.

My mates has welded up a lot of shit and I’d rather use it than my SiP pile of shite

I’d always say get full sized bottles too and practise.

It’s more skill than the mig.

Mig-welding.co.uk is your friend

I had a clark one for years, it wad absolutely fine. It ran off a 13A socket, albeit with an uprated circuit breaker, which meant it didn’t trip out.
Made a collector box for my motorbike, welded holes in the floor on a neighbour’s metro, fabricated a stairgate out of steel bar and square tube i got from work.
A mig welder is a fantastic device.
‘Quite practical’ is how others often describe me fwiw, so I reckon you’ll be fine.

Oh, and an automatic face shield is an absolute boon.

Similar to others I have a Clarke welder. I’ve had it for about 15 years. It only gets used infrequently, so infrequently I’ve usually forgotten how to use it when I find a need for it!  But after a bit of practice and dial twiddling it always produces the goods. I have always used it off a 13A plug and never blown a fuse.

I’ve got a Clarke Pro 90, ok for 2mm or 3mm if you angle the parts to be joined. Only downside is lack of active cooling so longer welding sessions can result in overheating (which shows as the machine output dropping and unpleasant smells!)

Can’t believe it’s £300 these days new though, and not sure I would buy a used mig welder unless it had a Eurotorch (i.e. easier to replace) and/or I knew what usage it had.

Spares for the cheaper end of the market are hard to get, which can write off the whole unit.

Either way I wouldn’t bother with gasless, if you want anything like that a used Arc welder might be a better option – you get a lot more power and without the complexity of mig it is something I would consider buying used.

i’ve a blue gas/gasless (think its a draper tools one) one for welding my classic VW t2. look out for a really low current if you are welding thin rusty metal. max chassis thickness on my van is 2mm so it didnt need to be mega powerful

its been decent so far. I’ve only used it gasless as i’ve been welding outside and i dont really give a monkeys about finish as long as it doesnt fall apart (its never going to be a show van!). its messy but works fine. i bought some random german welding wire at one point and it was AMAZING. couldnt find it again though. all the usual UK bought stuff has been a bit shit in comparison.

i quite like welding.

Auto darkening welding mask

superfluous

at about 7:20 in

-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it1KQjNg_a4-

Buy something with a euro torch . Makes life easier and cheaper in future .

I too have a 151 for 19 years it’s ok for the cash but works alot better after upgrading the earth cable and the liner and some internal jiggery pokery to the feed mech and changes to the gas feed …

Is probably go for an rtech next time … .

This is what I would do with a rusty MX5. No welding required.

As above I’ve a Clark for hot gluing old Ford bits back together.
It’s a gas/ no gas but got told from the welding tutors at last place not to use gasless indoors as it not very nice to you.

Also as above auto helmet is great and get a decent sized bottle. For me refilling the bottle is the hard bit locally.

And for sticking car bits together I find Tig gloves better as have a bit more control than thick welding gloves.

Old car….cleepos and magnets are also essential…..

It’s an mx5 though. Especially if it’s a MK2 ….. Good luck the main chassis monocoque rails rusts from the inside out.

Least the MK1 it was largely wings and sills rather than the main rails. A MK2 can look lovely from top side/underside…. But be a testers toffee hammer away from dispair

https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/

Fill your boots…

I initialy bought a big SIP welder for sticking cars back together years ago, thinking it was better to invest in a “proper” one than something from Machine Mart. Alwasy struggled with it, could never get even welds, but I did at least get some cars though MoTs.

Read up more recently that everyone hates them, bought a Clarke Mig Pro90 and it’s been a revalation, wire actually feeds at a consistant rate and I can get consistent welds at last!

I’ve also got a basic TIG machine (well multi-use TIG / Stick / Plasma Cutter) that I picked up second hand, that’s good for bodywork, but nothing like as fast as the MIG machine will stick a replacement panel on.

As above, auto-darkening helmet’s great. (Check the battery’s not flat before you launch into a welding session after a long pause!)

Also a burr grinder on a dremmel type tool helps with the prep of awkward corners.

Good Luck!

ETA: for home use check out Adams Gas, rather than renting a cylinder from BOC or similar, too.

I’ve got a Clarke 135

It’s great. I used to have the little gasless Mighty Mig and the 135 is way better. You get so much less spatter with the gas.
I think the 135 also can run flux-core wire but I wouldn’t bother.

I replaced the sill all along the drivers side of my van and various rusty holes with the 135. Worked really well.
Takes some practice but the machine is very capable.

The gasless is shit. Keep an eye out second hand and get an old industrial one. Even if it comes with a 16amp plug you can always still use it on a 13amp plug if you’re only using it at the lower end, which you will be for body work. The difference between using a good mig and a old industrial one is night and day IME

R-Tech is what you need.

 for home use check out Adams Gas, rather than renting a cylinder

I found reliable sources of gas a bit of PITA when I was working over in Edinburgh if you’re avoiding renting bottles  – theres no Adams stockist in Edinburgh – Russells do hobbyweld gas but only seemed to stock really poxy little bottles. Pentland Components do SGS gas in descent size bottle but only in mixes for thinner metals – which for cars will be ideal of course, but wasn’t ideal for me,

As has been mentioned above thin-ness is something to consider with the choice of welder – a lot of entry level machines state their maximum capacity but its not always easy to find out how much you can dial them down though and they’ll often struggle to weld thin metal reliably

Second for R TEC

Came here to say R Tech. Sometimes they’re included in the 10/15/20% off deals in eBay.

Great customer service too.

Pity Oxford don’t make something small enough 🤔

R Tech are nice machines, GYS Smartmig are also worth a look.

Auto darkening masks are the way ahead.

Keep an eye on Lidl as they recently had large screen (much better field of vision), true colour (easier to see exactly what the weld pool is up to) ones for about £30 which seem really good. (For car work, which is often in awkward corners that are a right bugger to see what you’re doing in, consider adding LED lights to your mask – makes a world of difference)

Thanks all- lots of food for thought there!

I initialy bought a big SIP welder for sticking cars back together years ago, thinking it was better to invest in a “proper” one than something from Machine Mart. Alwasy struggled with it, could never get even welds, but I did at least get some cars though MoTs. Read up more recently that everyone hates them, bought a Clarke Mig Pro90 and it’s been a revalation, wire actually feeds at a consistant rate and I can get consistent welds at last!

Wasn’t going to post on this thread, but would 100% reinforce the above. Mine was utter guff due to the variability in the wire feed. I spent a lot of wasted effort trying to get the feed to deliver wire at a constant speed; gave up & sold the thing. Can’t comment on the Clark but the Cebora I used was light years ahead in terms of consistency.

SIP = Avoid.

I am a self employed arty farty metal worker/welder and have played this what MIG welder game a few times…
R-tech, yes, great customer service etc, but for what you need, you don’t need to spend that much.

If you forum rummage etc, you will see this:-

https://www.rallydesign.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=22932

Many welders run them – mine gets used most days, gets thrown in the van etc and i cannot fault it.
For the money, if it fails, i’ll buy another

It’s very light , I run mine off a 13amp supply at customers houses, rarely with an issue.
You will need to give in and sort a gas bottle – please don’t faff about with gasless.
There are pretty competitive rent free bottle deals around. I have an old BOC offer that they still honour, otherwise i’d find something rent free from a local motor factor etc

Tips…get a long length of gas hose and quick release connector.
Best price for 0.8mm 5kg rolls are on ebay and amazon search `GYS 086128 0.8mm 5Kg Steel MIG Wire’

I have replaced one of those Clarke/Machine Mart welders with the power switches (had it over 20years) with a new 180A R-Tech welder. It’s amazing it’s made me a better welder, just being able do set the power with a dial rather than with pre-set switches makes it so much easier.

Love mine.

Edited to add that Blackline 200A welder looks really good for the money.

Is there some kind of new Inverter/MIG on te market in recent years? and the Euro torch?
Are they much lighter/easier/cheaper etc?
Ive been using industrial Mig for years, but also looking for a cheap one for personal use now.
I’d want 160amps at least, probably with Pulse, and option to change it to Aluminium would be great
At work we have Synergic MIG that do everything, but NOT cheap