Which welder?

So I fancy having a go at doing some welding, always fancied doing it and I would like to do some things like recovery points once I've had a little practise.

What sort of welders does everyone use?
A chap from work who used to be a welder suggested getting a gas mig but I'm struggling to find one powerful enough to weld half decent size bits of steel for things like recovery points that doesn't cost the earth (i.e. £200+) and need a specialist power supply.
Arc seems to be much much cheaper but I understand is very hard to use...

Any thoughts?

Clarke 151te and Machine Mart have offers on over the next few days, iirc.

Problem with cheap MIG welders is that they're cheap!

But Arc welders can be good even when cheap, but like you say hard too use but with practice you can get some pretty decent welds, first place I worked at we mainly used MIG and TIG but when out on site we used Arc as much easier to use without the gas and the welders them self's tend to be quite small.

Might be worth checking for second hand MIG welders on eBay though get one with an amp rating of up to 160ish and you'll be able to weld most things! You can even get stainless wire rolls for welding stainless steel.

A second hand mig is the best option, ideally a known brand. Something in the 150 to 180A range will weld everything you are ever likely to want to. Find one that has a Euro Torch. This means that you can replace the torch and it's components easily.

I have a Cemont 180A welder that is pretty good and Second hand cost me £180 a few years ago. It has welded everything I've needed and makes a nice job of it. Before that I had a Clarke 150A set. Although the Cemont is not that much more powerful, it is so much easier to put down a good weld.

Buy an auto darkening face shield too. I used to have a cheap £30 one which was fine. I now have an ESAB one which is fab, but does exactly the same job at the end of the day.

Si

For heavy stuff, in the price range you mention, get an arc welder. I find the easiest to use. But for car body thickness, get a nice mig. Gas less, I find a waste of time. If you've got somewhere under cover or a garage, get gas.
Same as anything else in life, get what you pay for.
Morrisons mince beef (yuk) or M&S mince beef.

As above really, more expensive machines make it easier to produce neater good looking work - I learnt to arc weld when I was a student and still use my big car ramps I made then-(over 30 years ago)
I've had several SIP/Machine mart welders 120 amp ish range using little ( expensive) cylinders of Argon mix as well as CO2 and despite my best efforts struggled to get decent looking welds - stuff was strong enough but just didn't look great. Now at work we have a Cebora Jaguar with a Euro torch which happily welds thick walled box and with a huge argo shield bottle the welds look beautiful.
The overheads of gas rental and servicing the machine are met by work so it is a win win situation, (well I'm winning! )
I would advise buying best set up possible which at home might mean a fresh electric supply direct from the consumer unit, also need to think about a decent second hand set or pumping some more cash into the budget- it's not worth mucking about at the bottom end of the market and being disappointed either with your efforts or the duty cycle of the machine if you have a big job on the go.

There are a couple of firms now doing cylinders of argon for about £40 without the expensive BOC bottle rental charges which would be worth a look -see ads in car mags. Auto darkening shield shoulds be the automatic choice, I always wear a hat to absorb stray sparks which tend to be a distraction
HTH
Mike

Following the gastrinomic analogy above I 'd say it is Botswana beef deep fried in lard or Aberdeen Angus fillet charcoal grilled. Roll on summer!

MMmmmm....Botswana beef .....

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
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

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

So in short, GAS mig =