Occasional Welder

[Hemsley]

My nearside cycle wing bracket has cracked and rather than buy a new one I am going to repair and strengthen it myself. Not a manufacturing fault, my bad - looks like was a bit optimistic with the size of the slot I cut. Should be a fairly straight forward welding job, and as I have at least 2 other similar jobs which I have not arranged to get done, ... surely it's another opportunity to invest in some new tools.

 

It's ages since I did any welding, which was back in the late 80's, and I don't have a welder or mask. Looking at some online guides I am thinking about a MIG welder with gas, as it should be easier to see what I'm doing.

 

Any suggestions or advice would be very welcome. I know it will cost me more than asking my local garage to do the jobs, but I like the idea of being able to take this type of task on again.

[Luapno]

If you are after a welder have a look at machine mart, they do a good range of welders. For gas if you are only doing a small amount the small canisters are ok (but expensive) try hobby weld  http://www.hobbyweld.co.uk for small cylinders, they are very reasonable, but you will need to buy a regulator for the cylinders.

[Thrustyjust]

I have a welder and decided to see Westmetal here , who can tig and has a tig and my cycle wing bracket looks neater than the factory mig welding.

[XTR2Turbo]

just be careful with the cheaper units as the wire feed can be an issue on them 

 

In the end I bought a Portamig but probably a bit more than you would need for very occasional use.

 

Also avoid anything with gasless migwire ... you should use gas.

 

There are a few welding forums that give advice.

 

I am sure Martin would weld it up if you wanted someone local.  Or if you bring to the meet I can take it and weld for you.

[Wagoneer]

The migwelding forum is excellent, highly recommend it. I've got a modified SIP that uses the little canisters and other than the wire feed mod (well documented) works well from new. The best thing I bought was a light reactive mask, it absolutely transformed my welds. It's more than capable for car work.

[DamperMan]

Light reactive masks are amazing in the past the cheepest available where £200.. I bought an eBay £35 special and it's great. A top purchace.

I have an old sealey 120 mig which is very convinient and small and able to weld anything a westfield could need.

Recently work bought a tig which I really like but mig is so quick and easy in comparison.

Unless you have lots of space to wheel about a large mig and store it.. Or have a16 amp supply choose a smaller model. Larger sealey 180 mig welder so might have a standard industrial euro torch which is great if you ever need to change it but for small space jobs these are not as easy to use as the smaller hobby type torches.

[Bud]

Hi

I've had a Clarke 151TE MIG Welder Turbo, welder for years. Ideal for the occasional welding job on the Westy, but I have also used to do some serious chassis repairs/ restoration on my Series 2 Land Rover and the brother in law has just used it to do a complete restoration of a type 2 VW camper. Very easy to use and consumables/parts easily available - gas regulator is a bit fragile so had to replace that but cheap enough.

Cheers

[John Loudon - Sponsorship Liaison]

Hi

I've had a Clarke 151TE MIG Welder Turbo, welder for years. Ideal for the occasional welding job on the Westy, but I have also used to do some serious chassis repairs/ restoration on my Series 2 Land Rover and the brother in law has just used it to do a complete restoration of a type 2 VW camper. Very easy to use and consumables/parts easily available - gas regulator is a bit fragile so had to replace that but cheap enough.

Cheers

Ive got the same welder and it appears to do the sort of thing I need it to and I am crap at welding. I use the gasless wire with it without issue

[phelpsa]

Hi

I've had a Clarke 151TE MIG Welder Turbo, welder for years. Ideal for the occasional welding job on the Westy, but I have also used to do some serious chassis repairs/ restoration on my Series 2 Land Rover and the brother in law has just used it to do a complete restoration of a type 2 VW camper. Very easy to use and consumables/parts easily available - gas regulator is a bit fragile so had to replace that but cheap enough.

Cheers

Got the same, inherited it about 13yrs ago and still going strong!

[Hemsley]

Thanks chaps for all your feedback. I've been looking at the Clarke, Sealey and SIP welders. I've particularly enjoyed reading through the very helpful info on this site too: http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/equipment.htm

 

Just have to explain to Amanda now why we really need one...!