Which welder?

[Dave54]

I'd have an ask on that forum hitch mentioned Col. Seems cheap to me. I know some of the cheap MIG welders have got a bad reputation. Don't really know about the other types though.
One thing about Clarke (for instance) is you can get spare circuit boards and so on if you have problems later on.

I've not welded with an inverter type "stick welder", but I will say that I did run some welds with an Oxford set once or twice, and it was a lovely little set.

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks Dave54 for your excellent suggestion.

I couldn't agree more about this inverter welder looking too cheap especially since it's rated at 250A. I simply distrust anything with a circuit board and if spare circuit boards are available for this welder then it's highly likely the board will cost as much as the welder cost? Bron very kindly bought me a Clarke 300L lathe a few years ago paying £250 second hand as a Christmas prezzie; I'm used to the big stuff like Colchester's so I was happily using the Clarke with a very light 60 thou cut when the lot went up in smoke; it burnt out the circuit board and also destroyed the motor; the circuit board alone would cost £130 and no way was I going to keep paying for expensive spares; I bought an industrial sewing machine servo motor and installed this with a countershaft; the lathe will take 60 thou cuts now no problem but I dare not engage the plastic power feed; it's now a nice little lathe though and accurate. Our washing machine packed in a few years ago and with a call out fee of £35 the circuit board was going to cost £100 so we paid the £35 and binned the washing machine to buy a cheap Beko at £199; when the Beko fails it will get dumped and be replaced by another cheap Beko. Our new Yeti has just had it's fuel gauge die and this still needs sorting under warranty; as I say I distrust electronics.

On a happier and positive note I've made an offer on a very nice immaculate 180A Pickhill oil cooled welder which was rejected as too low so as the seller was prepared to meet me halfway I've just agreed to buy the Pickhill and am awaiting collection instructions then I'll have a trip out to collect it.

Once the welder is home I'll post details and pictures.

Kind regards, Col.

[Dave54]

I don't reckon you'll go far wrong with that mate. As Hitch said, the only thing about them is the weight, but if you're not lugging it around all the time that's no problem.

I think I said at the time, I'd been looking at one of those lathes, and had found one "unused" and boxed for a considerable saving. I'm glad I didn't get it. The old Drummond I have has a bit of a Heath Robinson drive, and needs the bearings seeing to really, but it's OK for the (very occasional) odd bit I do.

[Hitch]

First job, an angle frame with castors.

I think the cheap Chinese ebay stuff is best avoided, better of paying a little more to buy from a reputable supplier, with a UK contact point... Jasic/Parweld/Rtech etc

Arc force etc do work on the gear I use, not sure if they are as effective on the really low budget gear though.
You dont hve to strike a rod or tap a rod to get it going with an inverter and decent rods, touch it once and you're off usually.

I'm surprised at the railings with those centres, I suppose you're swapping like for like?
Is it a balcony?

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Dave54; I was taught to weld on Oxford's over 50 years ago so have a fondness for them; the ones I was taught on were big industrial welders and I can still remember them "pulsing" in my hand; I'm sure these smaller Oxford type welders will be just as good as to doing the job and sheer reliability being virtually bullet proof. Your Drummond lathe will be still running when all the Clarke lathes are scrap.

Thanks hitch; yes one job I definitely need to do is to make up a proper welding trolley rather than having to keep taking my welder out of it's original box then putting it back in the box after use. I don't mind paying extra for decent kit of any kind because it usually works out cheapest long term and I confess I like the old kit better than the new kit; the old kit was usually designed and made to last a lifetime or two whereas lots of modern kit is designed and made to last until one day after the warranty expires? These old oil cooled welders just go on and on as long as they are used sensibly; there is something to be said about weight.

Yes I'm copying spacings of the original railings but not using wrought iron solid bar stock I'm using hollow section for mine. It's difficult to give an accurate description as to what it is; it's actually a decking extension; our bungalow has a 40' frontage with full length deck; I always considered a balcony to be a building protrusion cantilever fashion the balcony only supported at one end hence I'm calling mine a decking.

No reply yet from the seller of the welder after I agreed the price and asked for collection address by email? Fingers crossed I'll hear something tomorrow.

Kind regards, Col.

[Retired]

Hi,

A quick update. I've just phoned Bob the seller of the welder and arranged to collect on Saturday afternoon this week. I usually do well with Gumtree and as a seller Gumtree is free.

Kind regards, Col.

[Retired]

Hi,

Are you getting anywhere with your welder Argyll or even tried using it yet?

Trust me to collect the oil filled Pickhill Bantam 180A welder up from the far side of Bradford in Bingley on a very very busy Saturday afternoon with wall to wall cars and an area I'm unfamiliar with. WOW Hitch when you mentioned how heavy these welders are I didn't think it would be welded to the ground as two of us struggled to lift it into the Yeti; it felt like a solid block of iron; I'm thankful the Yeti doesn't have a boot lip just a level loading area or the welder would be a permanent fixture; back home I dragged a bench up to the garage doors and used a short scaffolding plank to bridge the bench and Yeti sliding the welder very carefully along the plank on to the bench where it remains at the moment; no way will I even attempt to lift this welder on my own. Had it fallen from the plank I'm sure it would have caused an earthquake.

Very true as well Hitch; a new welding trolley is now top of the list to do after I finish the current decking project; I've already got a set of castors and I think I've got some angle iron in stock; the welder has only a short mains lead fitted so I'll need to change this in order to couple it to the garage mains circuit.

Being so incredibly heavy I'm sure it will never ever cut out on me in use; the welder though as advertised is indeed absolutely immaculate as seen in the pictures; the earth clamp and electrode holder are like new; it was advertised at £235 on Gumtree but I ended up paying £210 which is a very fair price considering inverter welders are now so cheap but this oil filled welder will most likely outlive many inverter welders because it has no electronics to fail it being a very basic well tested old design tested over many years in industry. I'm very pleased with my new toy and am keen to try it out; I'll post pictures in the near future because I'm now on top of the decking project then I'm free to play around for a while.

I'm not pushing you Argyll but it would please me to get you welding and to share your own story after all I appear to have hijacked your thread; your experiences as a beginner to welding will be most interesting to others who wish to have a go at welding; I had training but after the initial introduction to welding I was more or less left alone to "have a go" as were the other apprentices with me; I really enjoyed being able to stick assorted lumps of metal together at any angle with such ease; after a few welding flashes and seeing stars we all soon got the hang of arc welding; gas welding (oxy acetylene) is much more difficult to learn and I never did enjoy it because of all the distortion on thin metal but arc welding is a breeze in comparison to gas welding.

Kind regards, Col.

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[Hitch]

It looks in immaculate condition if thats the original paintwork, colour looks right. Usually covered in thick black oil and metal dust mixture and settings virtually worn off

About the only thing to go wrong is if the selector handle has been graunched round without lifting it, the bit inside on the shaft doesn't quite move as it should between the copper contacts inside.

[Dave54]

Looks good Col! Have you tried it yet?

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks for the tip Hitch.

Thanks for asking Dave54. No I haven't tried the welder yet the mains lead is too short to reach the 16A socket so I need to sort this out; yesterday our neighbour Eddie kindly gave me a hand to lift the welder from the bench onto the floor; it definitely needs making mobile with a trolley; these oil filled welders will never be classed as portable unless a forktruck is nearby.

Kind regards, Col.

[Dave54]

That's it! You're angling to get a fork lift!
Seriously though, they are a bit on the 'eavy side!

[Retired]

Hi,

Very true Dave54; a forktruck would be high on the list had we enough space; I already own a counterbalance fork truck licence and have done so for over twenty years; needed for my job in despatch.

Depending on how my chum and constant companion Blackie the cloud behaves tomorrow it's a choice between garden and pottering around in the garage; if it's the garage then time I knocked a welding trolley together before this welder puts me in hospital due to trying to move it around.

Kind regards, Col.

[Dave54]

I had a forklift licence, and an overhead crane license myself. They're from 30 plus years ago though, so I think they might be out of date.

I used to have a tractor, although I let it go, and when I was handling biggish pieces of timber fairly regularly, I did think about looking around for a forklift to go on the back. Another "never got around to" job.

Making a trolley will be a nice little tryout for the welder!

[Retired]

Hi,

Thank's Dave54; what are you trying to do in mentioning a tractor; about a year ago I bought a mag called "Classic tractor".

To coin an oft used American word "Awesome" sums up the Pickhill Bantam oil cooled 180A welder. The 16A mains lead was too short to couple up to the socket in the garage so I've temporarily replaced it with 3 metres of new 2.5mm twin and earth; I'll buy correct cable shortly but WOW and WOW; it's 50 years since I used an Oxford oil cooled welder in the pit and I had forgotten just how brilliant these welders are; I could strike an arc using this Pickhill (Oxford) with my eyes closed because it's incredibly easy; I would really have to try to get the rod to stick on striking and as I pull away from the weld the arc must stretch an inch before it lets go; this Pickhill is silent and I can leave it powered whilst I play around in fact I have difficulty in powering it up due to "surge" it trips both 16A breakers one in the main consumer unit the other in the garage consumer unit; looks like I need to upgrade the breakers if I can get breakers the same style. Once its tripped the breakers if I then immediately reset and switch on again the welder behaves; I'm absolutely delighted with this Pickhill and am now very pleased I didn't go the inverter welder route with the circuit board etc; this Pickhill will run for many a long year and it's like new having had very little use being a stand by welder only.

I've already welded up two steel angle iron frames using it; the picture below shows one of the welds; I ran the bead slowly as I wanted a good thick weld because I can only weld from one side; the bottom frame will form a tray for the welder and the welder is extremely heavy; I'll post pictures as work in progress but today was Christmas again with another wonderful toy to play with; the Screwfix 6013 cheap welding rods are good.

Kind regards, Col.

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[Dave54]

Tractors! Who said anything about tractors???
I was only thinking I might get another. . . .

Looks like the welder's a success Col. That's how I remember the Oxford set, dead easy to strike an arc, and "smooth". I learned to weld with DC rotary sets, and it's a bit like that. We had big modern aircooled sets to replace the rotary ones, but they weren't nearly as nice. Big "buzz boxes"