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I'm after an ageing Russian jet....
No, obviously not really. I'm after a reasonably priced mig, I'll be using argo shield with it and mainly welding car body work and similar thin stuff. I'm open to suggestion, abuse etc.
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I use a Portamig 215 and its great. Really good on thin metal like 0.8mm steel. I'm not sure if its in the price range you are looking at.
Stew
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I don't really know what price range I'm looking at either! I'll just see what gets recommended and take it from there, cheers.
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Same as stewbacca, I use a Portamig 215... Really nice machine, good at low voltage/thin sheet steel. Bought mine new just over 2 years ago, cost me about £650 IIRC...
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'96 Volvo 850T5 x2, '97 Alfa 145 Cloverleaf '96 Alfa 155, '91 XR2i 2.0 Zetec (sold), '88 BMW 520i slug (sold), '81 Escort Mk3 Project, '68 Mk1 Escort Estate, Berlingo Parts Chaser.
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I use a £35 3rd hand Hobart mig, and it is hands down the best mig I have EVER used.
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I've got an Esab Caddy C160i and it is absolutely brilliant for bodywork. For a given budget a secondhand high quality machine is almost always better than a new hobby level MIG.
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V8 MGB GT sprint and track
V8 Ford Pilot Woodie project
1971 Early Bay VW camper
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ems1
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 295
Club RR Member Number: 5
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mig recommendationems1
@ems1
Club Retro Rides Member 5
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Have you looked at the mig-welding.co.uk forum?
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1985 Manta GT/E 16v
2001 VW T4 Caravelle
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smurf
Part of things
Posts: 829 
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Anything by esab, migatronic, lincoln etc,
I have an old oxford 181 turbo at my unit, performs faultlessly but i weld for a living and i can make curse word migs run pretty well too
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Laser cutting and cnc punching (up to 3mm stainless and ali, up to 6mm mild steel)
Mail me a dxf file and i'll get you a price
Metal folding and custom fabrication service also available
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A lot of folk go on about the PortaMig, but the price tag of new machines puts 75% of people off buying them. If you also do a little searching on the Mig-Welding.co.uk forum, a number of users are reporting that the PortaMig isn't quite what its cracked up to be and there are issues when using the unit in anger.
Yes, 15amps is probably lovely for thin metal work, I've managed with 30amps so far, even on French steel!
The problem with the PortaMig comes when using them at the upper limit apparently, again, you'll need to search on Mig-Welding.co.uk. I've never owned one, and probably never will, as the MiniMig130 I've got serves me well, as does the SuperMig170. I've also got a couple of Arc welders, and to be honest I've never spent more that £100 on a unit!
Practice makes perfect, a flashy Mig unit won't help at all!
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slater
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,390
Club RR Member Number: 78
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mig recommendationslater
@slater
Club Retro Rides Member 78
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I've had a couple of 185 Sealey MIGs and they have been great for most stuff. I recently bought a more 'professional' machine that's better build quality but I find it a tad clunky for bodywork.
Just make sure you can get new wire feed rollers and new torches/liners for whatever you buy. You will need to replace those parts at some points to keep it working as it should. Cheap hobby migs usually have a fixed torch.
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Anything by esab, migatronic, lincoln etc, I have an old oxford 181 turbo at my unit, performs faultlessly but i weld for a living and i can make curse word migs run pretty well too As said here any of these migs are good your better to buy a used good quality mig than a cheap piece of curse word that never works properly I had a sip 150 turbo mig from memory and it was the biggest load of curse word ever I ended up buying a 180 amp esab mig cost the best part of £800 but that was 12 yrs ago and it still works great. |
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smurf
Part of things
Posts: 829
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I've got an arc welder from aldi, burns rods beautifully and it was only 40 quid
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Laser cutting and cnc punching (up to 3mm stainless and ali, up to 6mm mild steel)
Mail me a dxf file and i'll get you a price
Metal folding and custom fabrication service also available
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Jan 11, 2015 14:16:06 GMT
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I've got an arc welder from aldi, burns rods beautifully and it was only 40 quid Picked one of those up at half price, because it was sat looking all lonely. Haven't tried it yet to be honest, but going on your good words for it, it can't be half bad. |
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smurf
Part of things
Posts: 829
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Jan 11, 2015 14:39:09 GMT
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Just don't run it at full power on 2.5 rods, Its got a thermal cutout that kicks in after you burn 3 or 4 rods
Best way to get around it is...... Cut a hole in the side of the case and get a hair dryer running on cold air blow inside it, lets you cook rods better and get a longer runtime
Either that or rig a couple of 120mm pc fans in there, 1 blowing air in and 1 the other side sucking air out
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Laser cutting and cnc punching (up to 3mm stainless and ali, up to 6mm mild steel)
Mail me a dxf file and i'll get you a price
Metal folding and custom fabrication service also available
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Jan 12, 2015 15:16:49 GMT
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Just bought a 'Butters' Weld Wizard 200. We'll see how it goes!
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bstardchild
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,883
Club RR Member Number: 71
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mig recommendationbstardchild
@bstardchild
Club Retro Rides Member 71
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Jan 17, 2015 13:49:37 GMT
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A lot of folk go on about the PortaMig, but the price tag of new machines puts 75% of people off buying them. If you also do a little searching on the Mig-Welding.co.uk forum, a number of users are reporting that the PortaMig isn't quite what its cracked up to be and there are issues when using the unit in anger. Yes, 15amps is probably lovely for thin metal work, I've managed with 30amps so far, even on French steel! The problem with the PortaMig comes when using them at the upper limit apparently, again, you'll need to search on Mig-Welding.co.uk. I've never owned one, and probably never will, as the MiniMig130 I've got serves me well, as does the SuperMig170. I've also got a couple of Arc welders, and to be honest I've never spent more that £100 on a unit! Practice makes perfect, a flashy Mig unit won't help at all! I bought an SIP - I couldn't justify the expense of a Portamig - I then spent 2 years trying to make it weld right before realising that I'd broken my own rule - buy cheap and you buy twice I've been on the mig-welding forum for years and I've not seen a single issue raised with a portamig so I bought a 185 version It's been superb - wide operating window - smooth arc - and easily repeatable settings |
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Jan 17, 2015 15:10:16 GMT
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Don't read much over there, or did this one escape... www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/tec-arc-211.45302/#post-538356Not the only complaint about them either to be honest. Aftersales support is basically them sending you little parcels out, asking you to fit them, and hoping it works. 2 year warranty on the machine, 5 years on the transformer, but I've not heard of one being returned to base to be fixed, its always them sending you parts out. |
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omega
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,060
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Jan 17, 2015 17:29:44 GMT
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buy a clarke from machine mart fit a euro torch and will work well for years[well mine has]
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Jan 17, 2015 20:40:53 GMT
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i bought a second hand portamig 181, aint bothered about using it at its top capacity, i'm more worried in its ability to weld rusty car bodywork, if i wanted to really thick metal i'd arc it.
had a cebora/snap on 130 turbo and it was an excellent welder, fitted a euro torch conversion to it as was easier/better/cheaper then buying a new one, and it lives on with my mate who i sold it to, whos welding a lot of mini panels with it, they go down to 30 amps, which i can cope with welding rusty metal, however lower is better thats why i upgraded to the portamig
the cebora i had for 20 years, never had a problem with it, the wire feed adjuster snapped early in its life and the torch eventually ended up worn out, but i did alot of welding with it and was happy with it
the portamig, i've not had so long or done alot of welding, but it's more consistent and it's most definitely an upgrade from the very capable cebora
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