Which welder?

MMmmmm....Botswana beef ..... :lol:

OK so it sounds like I generally have the right idea then.
I have a man cave to do the welding in so gas shouldn't be a problem although the high rental costs for gas are a bit off putting. It something I won't use very often so I might look into the ultimately more expenive option of disposable bottles.
Consumer unit is in the garage too so I guess I could run a dedicated power supply if I needed too at some point in the future....

I'll keep an eye on ebay!

Thanks guys.

Lincoln welder or more popular miller electric mig welder :woohoo:
If you have a bottle already all you pay for is a refill. If you don't you rent one which the initial is kinda sorta pricey but then after that you bring used up bottle in and exchange for a filled one for cheap. Course then ya could always get flux wire that doesn't require gas ya just get more back splatter all over stuff. nothin a wire wheel usually doesn't clean up if yer particular on that spot bein seen.
my 2cents

There is an Arc welder for sale on Difflock ... Only downside it needs a 30amp power feed and not a standard 13amp .. Oh and I'm selling it ... I'll put an Ad in the FS section in a bit

I would stick to MIG at least initially. It's the easiest and most versatile type of welding - even though the machines cost a little more than ARC (MMA) Welders.

I know it's not popular with welding fundamentalists - but I've found Gasless mig wire to work pretty well in many circumstances. Any welder that will accept 0.8mm wire can take gasless wire. Don't buy a specific gasless MIG though - I'm just saying that an ordinary 0.8 welder gives you the option.

I keep a reel of it just in case I need to weld outside on a windy day or if the gas runs out mid job.

I have a BOC contract, but I use a fair bit of gas and it works out marginally cheaper. There are now several companies who do not charge rental on the cylinder and will deliver them to you - I would go for one of these. Argoshield Universal is probably the best gas mixture for you (it comes in various mixes of Argon & CO2).

Si

No relation, excellent customer service.

barnet-welding.co.uk/

As others have said if you are learning to weld get a gas MIG. Gas less migs are for farmers that's don't care what a weld looks like or only needs to lay a bead every 10 year's or so :lol:

Lincon 180sp machine's a very nice and easy to use, but you are paying for a brand name - well worth it IMO

I have a CIG transmig 175i that does MIG (gas and gas less), TIG and Stick. It was $900 AUD and does a very nice job of everything i have used it for, and a good duty cycle for home use any way.

At work we mainly have 400amp MIG 'O' MAG machine's, there great but slight over kill for home use, epically with a 10k+ price tag :lol:

So in short, GAS mig =