sladey Posted June 18, 2018 Posted June 18, 2018 Nice work. I adopted the spot welding technique some time ago - also works for me - it slows you down and stops you going off-path. I splashed out and bought a portamig (about £600) - british made. Can't praise it enough for it's consistency. With a previous SIP one I spent about £150 trying to improve the wire feed and if I left it for a while then I'd usually end up taking the first half hour getting it working properly again. With the portamig I can leave it for 6 months then pick it up and use it.
Leicestershire Posted June 18, 2018 Posted June 18, 2018 Could be wrong here but I think Portamig stopped trading. The new company is called Technical Arc, TecArc or TA. The machines look very similar.
sladey Posted June 18, 2018 Posted June 18, 2018 Interesting. You can still get them from Weldequip though - presumably if they've gone under Weldequip will supply from the new manufacturer? https://www.weldequip.com/portamig-mig-welders.htm
Leicestershire Posted June 18, 2018 Posted June 18, 2018 I will dig a little deeper and see what I can find. Portamig was a UK manufacturer of transformers, power supplies and welding equipment. I think they were based in Leeds. This company has stopped trading. I suspect that TA has got hold of the name and sell blue machines branded TecArc or red machines branded Portamig. I do hope I am wrong - its always seems a great loss when a UK manufacturer decides to call it a day.
Robos911 Posted June 18, 2018 Author Posted June 18, 2018 Thanks, I probably need to bite the bullet!! My next improvement was going to be getting some hobbyweld gas and regulator, at the moment I'm still using CO2 disposables.
Leicestershire Posted June 18, 2018 Posted June 18, 2018 http://www.sealey.co.uk/PLPageBuilder.asp?id=20&method=mViewProduct&productid=6485 These work well. You buy the bottle and then exchange it when empty. There must be the equivalent of 15+ disposable cans in these. I use one on my portable - saves lugging a huge bottle around. If you hunt around you will find someone selling these for around £80 and you pay £15 for a refill. Or borrow a bottle from your local pub and pay £10 for a refill.
mean in green Posted June 18, 2018 Posted June 18, 2018 Am curious about the CO2 only suggestion? I understood that yes it works, but an argon mix is much better.
Robos911 Posted June 18, 2018 Author Posted June 18, 2018 52 minutes ago, mean in green said: Am curious about the CO2 only suggestion? I understood that yes it works, but an argon mix is much better. I've been using the CO2 because that's what came with the welder and I just carried on with the same! The hobbyweld is a tri-mix of CO2, Argon and Oxygen (I think) I have heard that it gives a better weld but never seen it myself? Hobbyweld works out at about £160 for the first bottle inc regulators then £40 a fill up, each fill is supposed to be 20 disposables. One of those new welders comes with a regulator though..... 3 hours ago, Leicestershire said: http://www.sealey.co.uk/PLPageBuilder.asp?id=20&method=mViewProduct&productid=6485 These work well. You buy the bottle and then exchange it when empty. There must be the equivalent of 15+ disposable cans in these. I use one on my portable - saves lugging a huge bottle around. If you hunt around you will find someone selling these for around £80 and you pay £15 for a refill. Or borrow a bottle from your local pub and pay £10 for a refill. I've just emailed sealey to see if there's a local supplier!
Leicestershire Posted June 18, 2018 Posted June 18, 2018 Co2 is fine for steel. If you were doing some intricate work on some fancy steel alloys I would recommend something different. 1 minute ago, Robos911 said: I've been using the CO2 because that's what came with the welder and I just carried on with the same! The hobbyweld is a tri-mix of CO2, Argon and Oxygen (I think) I have heard that it gives a better weld but never seen it myself? Hobbyweld works out at about £160 for the first bottle inc regulators then £40 a fill up, each fill is supposed to be 20 disposables. One of those new welders comes with a regulator though..... I've just emailed sealey to see if there's a local supplier! I doubt its oxygen but it could be amusing to watch. Argon, helium & Co2 are the standard mix.
Nige Posted June 18, 2018 Posted June 18, 2018 Might be of use depending where you are based but I get by gas from here: http://www.rentfreegascylinders.com/ Was about £20 last time for a large argon mix.
Leicestershire Posted June 18, 2018 Posted June 18, 2018 they do put oxygen in the hobbyweld bottles..... Oxygen is an active gas and is used (less than 10% of mix) to get very deep weld penetration on thick steel - it creates a large puddle of weld. Wouldn't recommend an oxygen mix for anyone learning on rusty old cars!
Leicestershire Posted June 18, 2018 Posted June 18, 2018 3 minutes ago, Nige said: That sounds like a splatter fest. And that sounds like a Mickey Flanagan story.
mean in green Posted June 18, 2018 Posted June 18, 2018 Well, that's me confused! Am reading on MIGWelding and Retrorides how the Hobbyweld Ultra / SGS Argon mixes are said to be considerably superior to CO2 only, whereas the suggestions here are the other way round?!
sladey Posted June 18, 2018 Posted June 18, 2018 Barry Carter on DDK recommends 95%argon/5% CO2 - which is what I use. You used to have to get a monthly subscription with a supplier but now a lot of places are doing the bottle replacement idea which is perfect for hobbyists - a bottle can last a month or 2 years.
Robos911 Posted June 18, 2018 Author Posted June 18, 2018 Lol more confused than ever! This is what it says on their website.... The write ups I've seen have been positive???
Leicestershire Posted June 18, 2018 Posted June 18, 2018 9 minutes ago, Robos911 said: Lol more confused than ever! This is what it says on their website.... The write ups I've seen have been positive??? How do you find it for welding car body repairs?
Robos911 Posted June 18, 2018 Author Posted June 18, 2018 24 minutes ago, Leicestershire said: How do you find it for welding car body repairs? I've not got it yet, still got a bottle of CO2 left to use.... The main reason for looking at this is that the supplier is only down the road!!
Robos911 Posted June 23, 2018 Author Posted June 23, 2018 Went for a bottle of this stuff, 80% Argon, 18% CO2, 2% Oxygen, I was using CO2 before!! First impressions are very good, noticably less splatter, penetration seems better and the weld pool seems easier to control although I have been blowing through a bit more often...? (Contradiction??) bit early to give a true review but I was surprised that it made such a big difference!! £65 for the bottle with £55 refundable on return and £40 refill.
Robos911 Posted June 23, 2018 Author Posted June 23, 2018 Phase 1 of welding now complete, both front wings welded up, top, front, and bumper brackets added!! Just need to do a bit of tidying up, grind the welds back, clean the old paint off and paint!
fat fuchs Posted June 28, 2018 Posted June 28, 2018 Looking really good. Don't forget to mount the missing plate on that bumper shock section - the one that the horn bracket bolts into. Looks like the old one is good to go again looking at you pictures. Cheers FF
Robos911 Posted June 28, 2018 Author Posted June 28, 2018 (edited) Thanks FF!! Tidied the weld and put a first coat of epoxy mastic on, just to make me feel better!! Its nice to see bits slowly improving! Looking forward to/dreading the next bit, investigating the sills!! 👍 Missing bracket is in my bucket of bits marked clean up and paint.... it’s a big bucket😉 Edited June 28, 2018 by Robos911
Flat 6 Posted June 29, 2018 Posted June 29, 2018 Just noticed this thread, great work that man!! For painting your fuel tank, I used a 3M product that I found after a lot of online research into good matches to original. It comes in a two part bag that you squeeze together to activate. Only issue is that you would need a compressor and schutz gun to put it on. Pretty sure this was the one. https://groveshop.co.uk/sealers/19257-3m-two-part-sprayable-sealer-ql-coating-8800.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwsdfZBRAkEiwAh2z65jf7-R5y5QnRVyaDanOMMwGvlvHLLaXw_9l4QNfHeOEqXtbCHHwZxBoC-2wQAvD_BwE I didn't apply it myself but the bodywork guy who did thought it was fantastic and has started to use it more widely. Photos of finish in this thread... Keep up the great work! Al.
Robos911 Posted June 29, 2018 Author Posted June 29, 2018 13 hours ago, Flat 6 said: Just noticed this thread, great work that man!! .......... Keep up the great work! Al. Al, I’ve been following your thread, I will have a look at that sealer, looks like a good match! cheers👍
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