How Hard is welding????

Hi I have a "fair bit" of welding to do. I'm pretty good at hands on stuff just wondering whether it's worth getting a welder? What's the best type to get and has anyone else turned their hand to it successfully??? What kind of welder would you use to make a rollover jig?? Thannnks

Hey up mate, have a look here for all you need to know on welding…

MIG Welding Forum

I have a Mig, used it for years and it's very versatile.

is it a gas mig? because ive seen no gas ones that use flux corded wire... are they any good? also would it create strong enough welds for a jig??? thanks

I've got a gasless Clarke 150 but I have converted it to run on gas. Gasless are cheaper to buy but don't create a clean weld, so need more dressing after. I decided to go for a gasless and convert it so I can run both with or without gas depending on where I am and what wire/gas I've got.

If you want to make a jig/rotisserie you really need to get a 150amp welder to get good penetration. The higher the amp rating the thicker the steel you can weld.

ah okay because ive seen lots that you can convert so i may get one of them thanks for your help this should be interesting haha

Get a welder which can use gas in the first place - it will make more sense. Gasless is a handy option for a few situations, but generally stick with gas.

Unfortunately, its getting more expensive to hire/rent the gas cylinder, which I believe is still the best option unless you want to go crazy using up dozens of the small bottles (which never seem to give the required gas flowrate anyway)

To this end, its worth looking at the Clarke 151TE which includes a regulator and the chassis can take the gas bottle already. 150A is about the maximum you can go on a regular domestic 13A plug anyway (officialy you shouldn't, but people do and it seems to be okay).

Oh cool thanks for the info incidentally you don't know where I could get hold of a spare wheel well do you? Otherwise will have to patch the existing but won't look so pretty ha

Forgive me for being stupid, but what is the deal with the power supply then?

I would like to learn how to weld, so have contemplated buying a welder.  The one you recomend Paul looks great (not that i know what i'm looking at!), but what do i need to do to get power?  

All i have is an extension from the house with a 3 pin plug. do i need a sparky to do something, or do i buy something? I know it's a stupid question, but i don't know.

I think he means you can use up to a 150 amp welder on the regular supply. They are quite pricey tho and I'm worried I may ruin my car ha I've heard welding body panels can be tricky and it's easy to blow holes in it..

dub-step said

I think he means you can use up to a 150 amp welder on the regular supply. They are quite pricey tho and I'm worried I may ruin my car ha I've heard welding body panels can be tricky and it's easy to blow holes in it..

I think a few practice panels will be needed!  I have tried to find a course to learn how to weld, but nothing local in the evenings, so will just have to give it a go i think.

Machine mart are doing a vat free at the moment, which makes that welder seem good value. They did say it does not plug into a normal 3 pin socket though??

Some of the questions ought to be picked up by GavB95 as well as me - he was the one who recommended 150A.

I have a 150A, and have used it on max power a few times for fabrication. Its handy to have. Also I've used it with a normal 13A plug attached to the lead, which was in a socket in the shed, fed by a normal power cable - no worries. I guess if you're doing loads and loads of welding eg building a small ship or sometihng, then the electrics may eventually overheat and have issues. But if you take it easy, no problems. I did a search around too and this was the consensus of a number of forum posts I found at the time.

Very helpful! So just whack a three pin on the end and away you go! I don't know what machine Mart is I don't think there is one in cornwall hahahah

Welding isn't that difficult and its mostly practise(and a decent welder) that you need!!

A common mistake is to go out and buy the cheapest mig you can find, generally these are useless and then people give up as they think they can't weld!!


For car body stuff its not the max amperage you need its the lowest, really 30 amps is the maximum.  A 150 amp welder will do pretty much everything you ask of it.

Clarke do a decent range of hobby stuff that is nice enough to use.  My local BOC place was doing a decent deal on bottle rental for hobby use so I'd check them out.

I personally hate pub gas, its not as nice to work with as argoshield.

A decent mask is required as well, eBay cheapies tend to be crap, to weld properly you need to see!!

Long streams of continuous weld look good on American-chop-rods but in the real world tend to leave a huge and distorted mess!!

Pulse welding works best, Imagine it as long series of tacks, weld a bit and then let the glow from the weld cool down(or the auto darkening mask switches off).

As you get better the 'tacks' gets longer and the gaps shorter!!

I've been welding up rusty minis for years and really enjoy welding!!

Yeah I Wana do car body panels but I will also want to make a roll over jig so that's obviously going to mean welding thicker steel. Are Clarke good enough? I mean I really won't be doing alot of welding just occasionally as I need to p.s. this forum is amazing found out so much in the last few weeks when I'm feeling flush after my next pay cheque I'll deffo be buying a membership! Is anyone going to rtts in Newquay in a couple of weeks also?

Buy the best you can afford!!

Whats your budget?

paul_c said

Some of the questions ought to be picked up by GavB95 as well as me - he was the one who recommended 150A.

Sorry guys, I haven't checked back in on the thread since I posted. I opted for 150A but didn't give any real consideration to mains power etc, just that it would offer the best range for me. If you go for a lower rated machine it'll be fine for car panels but won't be man enough to make a jig.

I use mine off a standard socket in my shed, although I have a separate fusebox in the shed to prevent any issues on the main wiring in the house (this was done by the previous house owner). Previous to this I've just used a standard extension reel with a circuit breaker.

Nice welding Shiftyseamus! You have to be a fan of welding if you own Minis!  :wink:

Just to add I've only recently got an auto darkening mask - it's the best bit of kit I've bought for a long time!

Couple of hundred qui really because will needa buy clamps and materials n stuff as well

Well i just picked up the recomended 151te for £260 with all the basics to get you going apparantly. no clamps though.

Anyone got any tips for someone who doesnt even know how to turn a welder on? i know there are forums, but where do you begin with all that information!

I assume you'll be using it on gas?

-Set the regulator to about 10 litres per minute.

-Fit the reel of wire, the little wheel that drives it will have a choice of grooves(0.6 or 0.8 probably), use the groove that is the same size as your reel.

-Ensure the tip fitted to the gun also corresponds to the wire size as well.

- Turn the machine on and set the "wire feed tension", the is the amount of force that wire is driven to the tip of the gun with.  Press the trigger(make sure that the wire that comes out doesn't touch the welding earth!!)

When the wire has come out of the tip try and grab it between your thumb and forefinger, when this pressure is applied the wheels that drive the wire up the tip should start to slip and the feed of wire stops

Too much pressure means the wire "Birds nests", ie bunches up inside the welder
Too little pressure and the wire feed will be erratic.

Ideally it will feed through smoothly and then stop as you apply pressure with the thumb and forefinger.


Now you're ready to have some fun!!!

X2 to Shiftyseamus.
Im a welder originally, practice on some scrap, when butt welding have a small gap between the two metals so you get good penetration. You will know when the ampage and the coil speed is right as it will sound like sizzleing bacon As for power make shaw your sockets are good as they sup some juice, if you can put a dedicated socket in using 6 or 10mm cable and on a separate fuse. Use a good gas Argosheild is great for normal steel and BOC is the place to get it, you will need a account with them. You will have to rent the bottle and pay for the gas, people say pub gas is ok  :naughty:

Look after your machine and it will give you many years of service. One of my welders a Cebora i brought in 1990 and its still going