help buying a mig welder

[xandyx]

hi!

it's been a while that my G is stored and it's time to get my hands dirty and get it ready to roll.

as the engine is out due to chassi stress cracks, it's time to weld it back. i've got the welder (my uncle), but at the moment, no welder!

he has a professional mig, but it's too powerfull and will blow holes on the chassi legs, and i've been looking for a welder for thin/medium metal.

i've read a lot of good things about clarke welders, and here's my doubt!

do or did you have any experience about those machines?

i've been looking to this one, as i will learn to weld, and do some diy metal jobs. what do you think?

http://www.weldequip.com/clarke-160tm.htm

does it worth the money? will it made good quality welds in my chassi legs?

it's been a trouble to borrow a welder, so i decide to buy one.

cheers

[G40supercharged]

I've got a SIP MIG welder and that's been OK. The one you are looking at looks quite big to me. Mine uses disposable gas cylinders and they last a reasonable time in my experience (I just use CO2 rather than argon mix). It looks like you would need to get a separate cylinder and find somewhere to get it filled. My SIP also takes 1Kg wire spools; a 5Kg spool like on the machine you are looking at is massive and would do hours of welding. You can also use welders that use flux cored wire instead of gas but I have heard they are not as good.   

[Yoof]

130amp is more than enough for 95% of hobby automotive stuff, unless you're planning on welding in a cage.

Fred's the man to talk to about welders, my only advice is think about how often you will use it, bottle rental and refilling can get expensive if you don't use it frequently enough, so small canisters may be all you need. Always useful to have a regulator for both though.

[xandyx]

the co2 bottles i can have them for free. i have a friend that works for coca cola and he will get me the gas.

about gasless mig, they slpatter a lot and don't make such a good job as gas mig.

i'm also looking for a bigger welder because i also ride motocross and have some vintage dirt bikes and we use to put different and powerfull engines and use thick metal bars to handle the vibration.



i think that machine will match my warehouse.

[cheddarcheese]

i have the Clarke 130EN MIG Welder it does body work great.