Thread: here we go again - welder advice

Sorry to hear that Denn,

I know that gut wrenching feeling first hand.

Chin up, clean up and get on with enjoying life is how I have dealt with it a few times. I have found that the anger part doesn't do any good.

Again.... sorry to hear the bad news.

Its a real kick in the guts. Sorry to hear it. Dont forget to tell the insurance company about the CNC lathe and mill that the b@stards took from your garage ; )

After a whole week we have got on top of the work left us by "Mr nice guy".

Worst was that the house had been turned completely upside down. Then my wifes jewelry had been decimated (amazing how much of that stuff a woman collects over 30 years of marriage), and of course the inevitable damage to doors, alarms, windows etc.

Earlier this year our dog passed away and we said that we weren't going to replace him - We now have a beautiful five year old red cloud kelpie, so hopefully he may act as some deterant in future.


Anyhow this is getting away from the welder question. After much thought and research (most of which by the way, led back to threads on this site), I reckon on going stick and mig. Now I here have two ways to go, first is to get a stick mig machine combined, however I think that the second way may be a better option - that is to buy a seperate stick and mig welder; yeh it will probably cost a bit more but at least it is simpler and if anything goes wrong it is either one or the other wheras the combined machine breaking down would leave me with nothing.

So, the question now is not what kind of machine to buy, but what brand and model.

Stick up to 175amp
mig, to weld the thinnest possible section.

Denn

Whats your budget?

I'd like to think $1000 - $1200, but could possibly stretch a little more, but then I will be eating into my gas allowance.

I am thinking something like a boc smootharc 170 for under $500 but am willing to look at other similar or suggested welders. As for the mig I haven't got a clue.

Denn

There is a decent UNIMIG DC arc welder kit on eBay, not a bad buy if you got it for $450, comes with a TIG kit and rods which is a nice bonus. I cannot help you with a MIG, I know nothing about them.

There's a Perth welding co. that sells a 200A stick welder with 60% duty cycle.

$450 with a 1 year warranty.

It would be easier to get it serviced for you locally should anything go wrong.

http://www.weldsmart.com.au/welding-...elder-with-vrd

Okay I think That I have decided on a good combination.

Considering that I have no intention of getting into heavy stuff I shall start with a CIG 130 inverter for $350; that will drive rods up to 3.2mm, although I would rarely use that size - 2.5 would normally be as heavy as I want.

For the lightwieght stuff I shall get a CIG transmig 135 for $800.

Bettween the two I reckon I can do most jobs around the home workshop and being CIG I guess reliability and service/spares won't be a problem.

Anyhow I shall let you know how I fare.

Denn