Arc welder purchase-Advice/Price EVERYTHING, PLEASE

ampersand

Compliments of the Season to all msers -

Any advice, price guidance please? -
This is for someone with reasonable DIY experience, but a welding newbie.
The job is this:

L-shape balcony railings for an elevated terrace, 3.1m x 1.5m.

ANY, truly ANY advice, warnings, hints, etc would be welcome.
For what it's worth, the job is in France and the person leaves England in a couple of days.
We're looking at local ads, ebay etc.
(Couldn't find anything helpful on the Brico Depot sites.)
Thankyou in advance for any help - and enjoy the sunshine.

ormus

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/categories/search/diy-arc-welders

buy the best one you can afford. the really cheap ones are ok for small jobs but overheat easily.

a mig welder is easy to use and cost about 150 upwards.
an old oxford arc welder off ebay would be ok. but make sure it works first obviously.

Hitch

Join up and ask over here, theres loads of topics on it.

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/index.php

It covers all sorts of welding, at a diy level and upwards.

Dont forget, they will need a bit of practice before they will be able to fabricate a railing nicely.

Avoid the very cheap inverter based sets from ebay.

If they really want an arc(mma) welder, try and get something branded. The old oxfords are top quality, but quite heavy.

A mig welder would be easier and quicker to learn imo, but initial cost is higher, you need something about 150amps or bigger.

For a small job like that, have you costed having one made for you??
Cant be worth buying the equiptment surely?

ampersand

Thankyou to all thus far.
Hitch - your quote advice is sound, but the person concerned is looking to tackle more jobs as time goes on. It's a a long-term, live-in restoration site(after over 20 years uninhabited)so, there's plenty of scope for future projects.
A couple of your points echo those heard from a neighbour yesterday, so onward...............
Thankyou all once more.
##############
Hitch,
Just returning to say that is one amazing site you've given the link to - will certainly be tucking in there often.