Which welder ?

[245dlc]

Thats something I'm considering getting now that I've got a garage I can do some wood butchering too. I'd like to get a welder too so I can learn to burn steel but I'd probably need one with a gas engine as my electricity service to the garage is maybe 30 amp.

[Stock]

Bert look at an inverter welder, I have one for over 10 years and a great tool runs off 13amps @ 220v ............

[245dlc]

Yeah okay I'll talk to my brother about it he's an electrician and his roomate has a small portable welder that runs off of 120 volt household voltage. But I think its only good for thinner metal like sheet metal. I'd like to be able to weld on digger buckets and do hardfacing .

[Wazza]

30 Amps is heaps for a little welder Bert ,Get yourself a gas/gasless mig and make yourself an excavator .
Even on a 10 amp outlet you could weld fairly thick stuff {thick stuff is a highly technical term}...

[Stock]

Bert I welded bucket teeth and carriers, hardfaced buckets, put on wear strips with my inverter with no problems...........

[Muz]

Bert I welded bucket teeth and carriers, hardfaced buckets, put on wear strips with my inverter with no problems...........

That was my thinking .. they can put out some serious power from a small box .. was thinking of getting one infact .. for the but'n ben but dont know what to get as its only basic single phase ?

[Stock]

Muzz The one I have is a 160 amp and I have welded a gutter bolt to a piece of cladding and burned a 3.2mm in to a bucket until it went bright red.......Might get a bigger one when the occasion arises..............

[245dlc]

Stock do you have a make and model of your welder and input/ output figure? I really dont know much about welding so maybe I could find something the same or similar around here?

[Stock]

http://www.jlhc.co.uk/ltw_x01/produc...ma_swp160.html

[Muz]

Muzz The one I have is a 160 amp and I have welded a gutter bolt to a piece of cladding and burned a 3.2mm in to a bucket until it went bright red.......Might get a bigger one when the occasion arises..............

wow... thats an impressive range

[245dlc]

I'll have to see what the equivalent welder would be here as standard household voltage here is 120 volts. I'll bug my brother about it he's more familiar with these things.

[245dlc]

http://www.jlhc.co.uk/ltw_x01/produc...ma_swp160.html

I guess that's an arc welder, that would be the type of thing I'd be looking for at least so I could learn on. I've got friends that always say they'll teach me but people always claim to be busy all the time so like everything else life I just have to buy one and teach myself.

[d4c24a]

dual voltage

i have been looking at getting one of these , easier than keep taking buckets home
dual voltage too so easier for site use

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/THERMAL-AR...item35be5f3584

[Stock]

- DUTY CYCLE - 160A - 230V - 30%
- DUTY CYCLE - 100A - 110V - 35%

Bruce /Bert
anything with duty cycles this low is now worth owning, what it means is @ 160 amps you can weld for 30% of an hour before it overheats and shuts down. Very frustrating as it requires time to cool before you can weld.

[d4c24a]

time

- DUTY CYCLE - 160A - 230V - 30%
- DUTY CYCLE - 100A - 110V - 35%

Bruce /Bert
anything with duty cycles this low is now worth owning, what it means is @ 160 amps you can weld for 30% of an hour before it overheats and shuts down. Very frustrating as it requires time to cool before you can weld.

which is more than enough time for me to weld on a new plate to a bucket most of what i do would not involve welding constantly for that amount of time anyway , anything requiring a lot of work would be taken back to the farm where there is a large mig and two large oil arc welders

this looks quite suitable , although its a 1 year warranty against 2
http://www.jlhc.co.uk/ltw_x01/produc...ma_swp140.html