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Hello, in my days it was all imperial, rods in SWG, thin sheet can be welded with an arc welder but the cheap ones do not go low enough in amps, 1.2 mm 2 mm steel sheet or plate your going down to very thin welding rods, and as Simon said it takes some experience to do, if that's the main size of steel sheet or plate your going to do I would suggest a small mig welder and number 6 wire, it's not that difficult to learn , with sheet steel your still need a mig welder that has a low amps around 30 to 100/120 should do up to 5mm plate, gasless MIGs can be quite spitty and not give a clean weld, if you know a friendly pub owner you could borrow a CO 2 bottle, that's what I did years ago with my Cebora mig welder, but I had an inline heater, or you can get Argon bottle which does a much cleaner weld, there's plenty of U tube videos on mig welding, shame your so far as I would help getting you started, I use to run a mig welding course at the local tech college many years ago, what ever you decide to buy I am sure there will be plenty of advice from PW members, 

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thats the thing about a DC set...........start welding thin plate with negertive electrode instead of positive.......

but knowing what i know now...get a nice 2nd quality MIG set...and run a co2...2% argon mix.....the argon is what is called a wetting agent.....

oldypigeonpopper knows his stuff.............:good:

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1 hour ago, ditchman said:

thats the thing about a DC set...........start welding thin plate with negertive electrode instead of positive.......

but knowing what i know now...get a nice 2nd quality MIG set...and run a co2...2% argon mix.....the argon is what is called a wetting agent.....

oldypigeonpopper knows his stuff.............:good:

Hello, thanks Simon, I do not consider myself to be a welding expert and maybe I should have studied the theory more as well as the practical, when you look back to the types of welders I started using like stick and mig , big and heavy units that weighed a ton and large in size, compare that now with these modern digital welders, even the DIY ones are so much better for anyone wanting to learn on, my small stick welder will do the same as one I had back in the 1970s, oil cooled and weighed around 25 kgs maybe more, when I taught mig welding in college most got the hang of it after a day or 2, could work out amps and wire speed and get some reasonable welds, its then practice makes perfect, 

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13 hours ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

a small mig welder and number 6 wire

0.6mm wire, welding wire has been sold in metric sizes since Christ was a cowboy!

The days of gas bottles from pubs appear to be gone too, breweries are getting ever stricter on inventory.  That’s no bad thing, either, as you don’t get neat co2 in pub gas, or not always, and the pure co2 runs a ‘hotter’ weld which can make things difficult with thin sheet.  Do yourself a favour and stump up for a ‘rent free’ bottle with Argon/co2 mix in it (not pure Argon, that’s for TIG), your welds will be better on the thin stuff.  And for gawd’s sake don’t torture yourself with a gawd awful Clarke welder from Machine Mart; those things have drive mechanisms made of cheese...

As has been stated, the problem with gas less is not just bad looking welds, but lack of penetration and porosity is a real issue.

Though I appreciate the OP won’t need this advice as he’s firmly set on the stick route...might help someone else.

Personally, I’d rather shoot a <£100 Baikal and have a decent inverter MIG.  Life’s too short to fight with rubbish kit.

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1 hour ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, thanks Simon, I do not consider myself to be a welding expert and maybe I should have studied the theory more as well as the practical, when you look back to the types of welders I started using like stick and mig , big and heavy units that weighed a ton and large in size, compare that now with these modern digital welders, even the DIY ones are so much better for anyone wanting to learn on, my small stick welder will do the same as one I had back in the 1970s, oil cooled and weighed around 25 kgs maybe more, when I taught mig welding in college most got the hang of it after a day or 2, could work out amps and wire speed and get some reasonable welds, its then practice makes perfect, 

i started off my apprentiship with a Lincoln Bullet........must have weighed a ton and a half..............my Fronius welder does the same and weighs 10lbs.........

my old hobart TIG was a beast of a machine..............

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3 hours ago, udderlyoffroad said:

0.6mm wire, welding wire has been sold in metric sizes since Christ was a cowboy!

The days of gas bottles from pubs appear to be gone too, breweries are getting ever stricter on inventory.  That’s no bad thing, either, as you don’t get neat co2 in pub gas, or not always, and the pure co2 runs a ‘hotter’ weld which can make things difficult with thin sheet.  Do yourself a favour and stump up for a ‘rent free’ bottle with Argon/co2 mix in it (not pure Argon, that’s for TIG), your welds will be better on the thin stuff.  And for gawd’s sake don’t torture yourself with a gawd awful Clarke welder from Machine Mart; those things have drive mechanisms made of cheese...

As has been stated, the problem with gas less is not just bad looking welds, but lack of penetration and porosity is a real issue.

Though I appreciate the OP won’t need this advice as he’s firmly set on the stick route...might help someone else.

Personally, I’d rather shoot a <£100 Baikal and have a decent inverter MIG.  Life’s too short to fight with rubbish kit.

Hello, I thought .6 mm was metric ?anyway it's not myself looking for a welder or types of gas, been there done that , I just posted some info on WWs post what I have gained knowledge of for over 50 years , and many being a coded welder,

3 hours ago, ditchman said:

i started off my apprentiship with a Lincoln Bullet........must have weighed a ton and a half..............my Fronius welder does the same and weighs 10lbs.........

my old hobart TIG was a beast of a machine..............

Hello, more than likely a Lincoln was in our workshop , yes my stick welder weighs about the same, how times have changed, 

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4 hours ago, udderlyoffroad said:

0.6mm wire, welding wire has been sold in metric sizes since Christ was a cowboy!

The days of gas bottles from pubs appear to be gone too, breweries are getting ever stricter on inventory.  That’s no bad thing, either, as you don’t get neat co2 in pub gas, or not always, and the pure co2 runs a ‘hotter’ weld which can make things difficult with thin sheet.  Do yourself a favour and stump up for a ‘rent free’ bottle with Argon/co2 mix in it (not pure Argon, that’s for TIG), your welds will be better on the thin stuff.  And for gawd’s sake don’t torture yourself with a gawd awful Clarke welder from Machine Mart; those things have drive mechanisms made of cheese...

As has been stated, the problem with gas less is not just bad looking welds, but lack of penetration and porosity is a real issue.

Though I appreciate the OP won’t need this advice as he’s firmly set on the stick route...might help someone else.

Personally, I’d rather shoot a <£100 Baikal and have a decent inverter MIG.  Life’s too short to fight with rubbish kit.

Thank you I agree about fighting rubbish work kit so I’ll have a cheap toy welder whilst I use decent guns for a living not Baikals

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https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/273877930650

 

I'm in the same boat...

What about something like this. As far as I can see it ticks all the boxes that you guys have mentioned. mig with gas for smaller gauge (gas neater than gasless) and stick capable for slightly bigger stuff.

Or am I looking at this wrong. This will be my first welder by the way. 

Thanks and sorry for jumping in to your thread but it relates to yours to it seems and would be silly to stat a new one to ask the advice on one welder! 

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24 minutes ago, Rob525 said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/273877930650

 

I'm in the same boat...

What about something like this. As far as I can see it ticks all the boxes that you guys have mentioned. mig with gas for smaller gauge (gas neater than gasless) and stick capable for slightly bigger stuff.

Or am I looking at this wrong. This will be my first welder by the way. 

Thanks and sorry for jumping in to your thread but it relates to yours to it seems and would be silly to stat a new one to ask the advice on one welder! 

Join the metal sticking confusion! 
it all helps and is the point of the forum. 

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2 minutes ago, Rob525 said:

There are just so may different options and opinions! 

Yes what gets me I just paid someone £60 to do something that I’m sure is very simple I don’t object to paying for someone skill, but it’s a long way to getting a welder and learning the skill myself! 
 

That machine seems to tick all the boxes mig gas and gasless and arc welder and not to pricey either.  
 

Interest to see what the welders say about it. 

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1 hour ago, welshwarrior said:

Yes what gets me I just paid someone £60 to do something that I’m sure is very simple I don’t object to paying for someone skill, but it’s a long way to getting a welder and learning the skill myself! 
 

That machine seems to tick all the boxes mig gas and gasless and arc welder and not to pricey either.  
 

Interest to see what the welders say about it. 

Hello, what welder are you looking to buy 

 

2 hours ago, Rob525 said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/273877930650

 

I'm in the same boat...

What about something like this. As far as I can see it ticks all the boxes that you guys have mentioned. mig with gas for smaller gauge (gas neater than gasless) and stick capable for slightly bigger stuff.

Or am I looking at this wrong. This will be my first welder by the way. 

Thanks and sorry for jumping in to your thread but it relates to yours to it seems and would be silly to stat a new one to ask the advice on one welder! 

Hello, that looks a reasonable welder, I would be happy to buy that myself, MMS and Mig combined, you can tell by the earth clamp looks decent compared to the tinny ones, just buy a decent head mask, the Amps for both stick and mig have a good range from low to high, using mig gasless should be ok for steel plate and angle iron but thin sheet I would consider using the mig side with an appropriate gas, there are companies who supply without the need to hire direct, as I mentioned before although we have Argon on the farm, and I used in my work for years , Co2 is a good alternative and better with an inline heater, also if you buy this welder after making sure it's working ok i would consider to change the wire liner that goes through the mig cable for a Teflon one, as they get clogged up from the mig wire coating , good luck 👍 PS send a PM if you want anymore help, 

Edited by oldypigeonpopper
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On 24/02/2021 at 19:23, welshwarrior said:

From what I’m hearing SIP are a good brand so would this be ok for stick a few pieces of steel together nothing fancy. 
 

https://www.toolstation.com/search?q=welder

That's what I use and have not had a failure yet and I am no pro welder I admit.  Just cut and shut a top link for my three point linkage and it has lifted some heavy items no problem..  It was a long top link which was past it's date for modern kit and had been thrown in the scrap pile at the farm.  I just cut 4 inches out of the centre and welded it back together. Job done.

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3 hours ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

Ok Rob, don't forget some anti spatter spray, good wire  snips , etc, 

contact tips as well..........undo the feed line ...tap and blow out .....and wire brush the strations on the feed roller so it dont slip... you are good to go

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11 minutes ago, ditchman said:

contact tips as well..........undo the feed line ...tap and blow out .....and wire brush the strations on the feed roller so it dont slip... you are good to go

Hello, your right Simon, a few spare tips are handy to buy, that welder Rob mentioned looks a good bit of kit, 

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On 07/03/2021 at 10:57, oldypigeonpopper said:

Co2 is a good alternative and better with an inline heater

Sorry but this is somewhat dated advice.

As others have said, rent free bottles are available from the likes of Hobbyweld which have the Argon/CO2 mix suitable for MIG (actually MAG) welding.  Nothing wrong with pure CO2, but it runs a hotter weld and subject to more porosity.  Fine if you're welding together large lumps in a production environment, less than ideal for a beginner working with 1.5-2mm.  And whatever you do, do not torture yourself with those disposable gas bottles.  They are an incredibly expensive way of doing things.

On 07/03/2021 at 10:57, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, that looks a reasonable welder, I would be happy to buy that myself, MMS and Mig combined, you can tell by the earth clamp looks decent compared to the tinny ones, just buy a decent head mask, the Amps for both stick and mig have a good range from low to high

This is why we were encouraging you to go to an inverter machine, as opposed to a transformer design.  They can be turned down low and work with thinner stuff far better.

 

On 07/03/2021 at 10:16, welshwarrior said:

Yes what gets me I just paid someone £60 to do something that I’m sure is very simple

Like shooting.  Easy to teach someone the basics.  A lifetime to master.  Those that think they know it all, have stopped learning.  Those that make money doing it better know what they're doing, and have invested considerable sums in their qualifications. 

This idea that a 'welder' is some kind of knuckle dragger who sat at the back of the class and knows very little and earns even less, needs to die quickly.

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