Welding Tools
 

Hi Guys

Newbie here.

I'm in the early stage of planning at the moment, and am leaning towards buying the flat-pack kit so as not to have to get hold of a decent band saw, and risk mucking up the angles. However I'm rather keen on welding it together myself for the sense of achievement :P.

Just wondering whether anyone has any tips on getting hold of a MIG welder? Is it better to go down the route of hiring one or buying one?

Cheers

Simon

I'm in exactly the same position as you, and would reccommend getting a chasis kit from handyandy, then investing in a welder. (make sure you practice first, before starting the chasis ;))

A 150A mig gas welder is what most people reccommend. ;)

Welcome to the forum Simon
 

A very warm welcom to the forum Simon :)

If you are not fancying cutting all of that steel, I would highly reccomend one of HandyAndy's flat pack chassis kits.

It will save you a great deal of time & will get your build off to a flying start, besides the money saved by not having to buy cutting equipment could be put towards a better quality welder ;)

On the subject of welders, the Clarke 150 amp ones are very popular.

Enjoy your build :)

Hi Simon, welcome to the forum!

Had the flat pack chassis kits been avaliable when I started my build I think I may have gone for it. I ended up hacksawing and grinding all my tubes to length on a wonky 'workmate' on the front (sloping) drive - not the easiest way to do it! I'd go for one of HandyAndys kits :rolleyes:

Where abouts in Surrey are you? If your close to Bromley your welcome to come round and have a look at my build, may help with understanding how it all goes together. Also before I started my build I mocked up the basic chassis on CAD, I'd recommend it as it helped me get the build process settled in my head.

Cheers
Josh

Welcome to the forum Simon, lots of helpful builders on here :cool:

As for sourcing a Mig/hiring one.....
If poss try to get your own Mig, the reason being....you,ll be surprised how useful a tool it becomes, its not just about welding your chassis together, it,ll be there for when you need to "just add a bracket" here & there later in the build, nothing more annoying than not having a Mig available to do that "5 minute" job ;)
Plus once you own your own mig, you,ll get "a feel for it", how it responds etc & end up using it with confidence like using your favourite spanner etc:cool:

I bought my mig from a for sale thread on the Mig welders forum , its a 151te clarke gas mig, even came with 2 pub style gas bottles too, all for £50.
Make sure you get a good auto darkening helmet, really does make the world of difference when welding.

Thanks to all with regards my chassis flat packs:) ,
Whichever route you take Simon, I wish you all the best for your build.

cheers
andy