MIG advice

[Seifer]

Hey guys, I know this isn't strictly bike related but I'll be starting a mini clubman GT project pretty soon and figure I'll need to be doing a bit of MIGing. SO what should I be looking for in terms of a hobbyish Mig welder ie amps etc. How much should I be spending? Are they easy enough to come across cheapish ie 2nd hand?

[BANDITROD]

as far as cheap goes this wont be your best option but i reckon you cant go past the CIG 200amp mig it retails for about $1050 but it is a great unit very user freindly seifer if you look around you might find one at a good price :D

[-Dex-]

Make sure you check the duty cycle. Some welders look great on paper unitl you see they have like 5% duty cycle.

The general rule of thumb is to go for the biggest (in terms of amps) you can afford. Anything around 200amps will do pretty much anything the home mechanic can throw at it.

[Seifer]

Beautiful. Thanks for the advice.

[Matt]

What area are you in mate? I am in brisbane and can give you some pointers if you have never welded before, offers open to anyone else in bris too.

[Seifer]

In sydney but thanks anyway, if anyone else has a similar offer it'd be appreciated, I'd part with a beer token or two for the time.

[chopaweeza]

I also use a CIG 200 Mig . I've made everything from frames to bars to welding up thin wall tanks on mine and have nothing but praise for it. If you want to come over Seif & get shown basic Mig just let me know.

[Matt]

Yeah mine is a CIG 250. Pretty good welder for the money. Mine gets a fair workout sometimes and I have never been limited by the duty cycle. For lighter stuff the 200 would be fine. I dont like using smaller ones than that, they really struggle I reckon. There are some quite cheap imported ones on ebay but im not sure how they go, Im always pretty sceptical about the cheap shit.

[-Dex-]

Got a Unimig 240 (cheap and shitty but does the job) Youre welcome to come around and go nuts on some scrap.

[Seifer]

Sounds good guys, I'll let you know when I'm free.