Practically Classics Forum

Thanks Terry. That looks a great site!

One question though. MIG, TIG or arc? Which is best for an impoverished, incompetent fool?

MIG is the cheapest to get in to and most commonly used. Arc is great for mending gates and farm machinery. If you are really, really good you can get a perfect finish with TIG and use it for welding aluminium.
Personally, I have a gasless MIG as it is relatively cheap and has had no problem welding 0.8mm body panels or 4mm chassis sections.
Gasless is a bit more spattery than gas and the welds are not quite as neat but you don't have to have a gas bottle. Also you lack the cooling effect of gas so if you are welding thin metal you have to stop frequently and let it cool to minimise distortion.
PC would suggest you try welders warehouse, I use machine mart. If you want to get started, have a look on ebay for used kit close to where you live so you can collect it. that way you can try your hand at it without spending hundreds of pounds on something new.

However, with all my opinions on welding, do bear in mind that I am a novice. There are other members with years of experience that would be able to offer more appropriate advice.
The one thing I will say that makes the most difference to anything you weld is clean the metal you want to weld to. then when you think it is clean, clean it again just to be sure. I have discovered this the spattery, smelly way several times. An extra 10 minutes with a wire wheel saves 4x as long in welding time and makes your welds look much neater.

I would second mig, My trusty clarke 140TE machine has worked well for many many years. I do have a tig set up as well but it is far slower and far more difficult to use, you also need absolute clenliness whereas you can get away with a bit of surface rust on MIG if you have to. The other thing which is pretty much a must when welding is an angle grinder, use it to clean the metal up fist, cut rust out and clean the welds after.

I have never used gasless but heard it can be a bit messy, I currently use CO2 which is much cheaper than Argon mix, there is a bit more splatter but otherwise the weld is fine, I have so far used 4 bottles (the ones about 3 feet tall hobby gas supply) on the Minor the CO2 is £25 a re-fill arogn mix is almost double this.

kev

Another one for MIG, though I have heavily modified my Clarke 151TE, spending as much to improve it as I did to buy it! I second Terry's suggestion that you look for a used "good" welder on eBay rather than a new Clarke! One of the best improvements to mine was a decent earth lead and clamp. I just about have to use two hands to open the clamp now!

Kevin is right about needing an angle grinder and cleaning things thoroughly - I think my angle grinders get used more than the cordless drill!! Also get a decent self darkening mask - mine was about £35 and works well - and some good leather gauntlets and welder's apron (setting fire to your trousers hurts - believe me, I know!) Final suggestion: try and find some scrap metal to practice with before attacking something important (I used a tractor exhaust - it was leaking more after I tried to patch it up)!!



As you can see in the photos, I was about to weld some 6mm steel with it - the first time I had used it after "rebuilding" it. It gave me some prefect welds straight away (and will weld thin stuff nicely too).

What made you change the torch, was it not the larger type to start with?

The torch on mine is on it's last legs, I have lost count of the number of repairs I have done on it, but after 20 odc years it is not unexpected, it was originally the larger type. It looks like they are virtually all the euro type nowdays, so I with the adaptor kit it comes to £70, it might even be worth re lining the old one and fitting a new head etc.

Kevin, the torch was the larger type with the "improved" gas valve that started to leak not long after the warranty ran out. After thinking of a replacement valve and talking to a neighbour who is a sheet-metal worker (and amazing welder), I decided to swap to a euro-torch with a sensible 4m lead (the earth lead is also heavy-duty 3m long with a plug and socket connection that means there's one less lead to get caught under the wheels). It made a heck of a difference as it now has an electric solenoid valve for the gas, so just touching the trigger gets it going and long lengths don't tire my old trigger finger out!

I suspect the biggest improvement was actually the earth lead and clamp and, had the torch been reliable, I wouldn't have changed it so quickly. Mind you, the decent automatic mask makes a heck of a difference - I can start where I intend to start and not "somewhere near" and work back!!

It's using the higher percentage CO2 mix, which is better for thicker stuff (as in the 6mm I was using for the digger). I even welded a neighbour's ironing board (whatever one of those is) the other day - it was rather thin tube welded to 6mm rod and I didn't blow holes in anything!!

I have an oxy set (I was taught to weld with oxy) but, while the oxy is now Hobby-Weld stuff, the Acy is a BOC rental cylinder (I've had it since about 1987) and the cylinder rental is now £88 a year! I must use it up and buy a cylinder form the local welding place - but it's half the size and costs £160!

TerryG wrote:Just to note that if you get a mog, even with the standard 1098 they do great doughnuts on wet farmyards and make all the local youths jealous that their fwd shopping trolleys can't. (I really should grow up)

Series 3 Landrover will do that on a wet roundabout if it's wearing 750's crossplies. Opposite lock for the win

Trouble is the Landies run out of lock very quickly and the SWB need a quick reaction to catch, can be a bit of a moment

kstrutt1 wrote:Trouble is the Landies run out of lock very quickly and the SWB need a quick reaction to catch, can be a bit of a moment

Ain't that a fact! The first Land Rover I ever managed to get sideways was one that belonged to the local Mountain Rescue after we'd had it in at work for its service. Their LRs were all equipped with 3 litre Essex V6s from the specialist who built them up for their unique set of intended tasks and in the SWB, even with full radio kit and an hydraulic dozer on board, there was plenty of grunt available but not always when it would have been most wanted.
Fortunately, there was no kerb at the offside of the L/H bend in question so it harmlessly dropped into the dyke and even more fortunately managed to drag itself back out again. I owned my '79 911 Targa at that time and can state beyond a doubt that the Porker was much easier to catch than these bloody Landies, especially when they were on 235/70 radials with the lock stops set up to suit.

kstrutt1 wrote:Trouble is the Landies run out of lock very quickly and the SWB need a quick reaction to catch, can be a bit of a moment

Not done a SWB, the 109 is more like a pendulum when it gets a mind to. Handles better with a few people in the back to weigh it down