DIY welding advice buying

[Johnny_Limerick]

I'm getting the gas and bits together now for my multiprocessor welder. Would .06 be what I should get for welding car body panels?

[Johnny_Limerick]

I'm getting the gas and bits together now for my multiprocessor welder. Would .06 be what I should get for welding car body panels?

My unit does go past .8 anyway so nevermind.

[BuckfastMan]

Wire size ? I use 0.8 and its spot on. saying that I've never used any other size.......
Do you have a compressor? I only recently got one because I didn't want to warp a panel and really regret not getting one sooner.
That and good metal. I was getting by with some old industrial shelves, then I moved to a bonnet and saw a big improvmemt in my welds.
Now I have a sheet of new clean 1.2mm steel and I am flying it ! I'm sure the practice has something to do with it too.
I've improved so much that I'm redoing some of my earlier work .
Also when I started my da gave me an aldi mask, I think I spent 100e on one off amazon and the difference is like night & day (literally ) !

[Johnny_Limerick]

Ya I've a compressor. Thanfully.
Ya a good mask makes such a difference. I got mine of everyday welding supplies. Or that other one.
Good to hear you are improving. I have done very little mig. Only arc.

[DaveM-Sport]

Yep. I had a cheapish 3m mask before for a good few years that was probably around 80-100 quid.

It started acting up a little with batteries dying quickly and got bad arc eye a few years ago after a day or two doing the underside of an E46 M3 so got a new 9100 like this and it's absolutely amazing. Lens is crystal clear.

https://www.craigmoreonline.ie/3m-sp...welding-helmet


For mig wire thickness, it depends what you'd welding and also your plant but 0.8mm is usually perfect for moat stuff we'd mostly by welding.

one of my welders can use upto 1.6mm wire but that's capable of welding 20 or 25mm plate

[Datsunjay]

When it comes to welding shiekd, for me the cheap and chearful €15 job is best ......the automatic ones are far too bulky and heavy for my use.

[Deadly Dave]

When it comes to welding shiekd, for me the cheap and chearful €15 job is best ......the automatic ones are far too bulky and heavy for my use.

Weld p0rn

[AndrewOBW]

Well my car failed its NCT for rust so it might be finally time to pull the trigger on a mig welder. Is this a decent option?

https://www.gasweld.ie/product/esab-...0i-mig-welder/

Its only a small repair this time, but I live by the coast, and I'm also planning on restoring an old delica that had a lot of rust, so I'm inevitably going to be using it a fair bit over the next few years. I'd rather get something now that'll cover my needs for years than buying something cheap and having to spend this much in a year or two anyway.

[Gn3dr]

Well my car failed its NCT for rust so it might be finally time to pull the trigger on a mig welder. Is this a decent option?

https://www.gasweld.ie/product/esab-...0i-mig-welder/

Its only a small repair this time, but I live by the coast, and I'm also planning on restoring an old delica that had a lot of rust, so I'm inevitably going to be using it a fair bit over the next few years. I'd rather get something now that'll cover my needs for years than buying something cheap and having to spend this much in a year or two anyway.

Can't go wrong with Esab I'd say if you are able to spend that much. You could get cheaper that will work fine also.
Any plans to start a thread on the Delica? I have one too that I need to start into this year.

[AndrewOBW]

Can't go wrong with Esab I'd say if you are able to spend that much. You could get cheaper that will work fine also.
Any plans to start a thread on the Delica? I have one too that I need to start into this year.

Any cheaper options you'd recommend?

I will when I get the project going - need to put a new roof on the garage first so could be a little while before I do though!

[Deadly Dave]

Well my car failed its NCT for rust so it might be finally time to pull the trigger on a mig welder. Is this a decent option?

https://www.gasweld.ie/product/esab-...0i-mig-welder/

Its only a small repair this time, but I live by the coast, and I'm also planning on restoring an old delica that had a lot of rust, so I'm inevitably going to be using it a fair bit over the next few years. I'd rather get something now that'll cover my needs for years than buying something cheap and having to spend this much in a year or two anyway.

They will probably want the repair left unsprayed so that they can check it. Is your welding good enough?

[AndrewOBW]

They will probably want the repair left unsprayed so that they can check it. Is your welding good enough?

I've got a couple of weeks off work coming up, so the plan would be to get a bit of practice in with scrap metal before I go for it on the car. I've not used mig before, but have a bit of experience with both stick and tig so I'd be fairly confident that with the right tools I'd be able to get it done in that time. It's underbody, so doesn't need to be remarkably tidy as long as it's solid.

I've had that debate with them before about being able to see the weld too after the garage sprayed up the last repair I'd had done. They accepted photos of it before it was sprayed. Turns out that repair was bubbling again two months later though which is part of the reason I want to learn rather than paying for someone to do it again.

[Gn3dr]

Any cheaper options you'd recommend?

I will when I get the project going - need to put a new roof on the garage first so could be a little while before I do though!

I'd recommend R-Tech . Just having a quick Google I don't see them at the Irish website anymore, probably Brexit related.

https://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/weld...ent/mig-welder
On the repairs, I've taken pics of before, during and after welding repairs for NCT. They were fine with it being painted. I didn't underseal until after the NCT though.

[Deadly Dave]

, but have a bit of experience with both stick and tig .

You will have no problems so.

[Murakami]

Lidl stocking welders and plasma cutter again next week I think.