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I'm starting to think that I'm not going to get away without a rivnut setter tool or maybe even a small mig welder. Can anyone recommend a decent example of each that you've had positive experience with or even ones to avoid? Both these items cost a few quid so I'd rather spend a little more and get something worth having that spend less and have a waste of space.
I've been toying with the idea of getting one myself. The considered opinion of that site is you definatly get what you pay for, and gasless migs are rubbish.
GOO, if the CBS one does the job ok I'll go for that (heavy duty £70ish one I take it). I just didn't want to take pot luck and buy something rubbish. I think I had a look at that MIG web site before. The trouble is I've never welded anything in my life so I need something beginner friendly but also up to the job of the basic fabrication needed on the kit car. I guess something that can do about 3-4mm of mild steel will be good enough for this application.
Patrick, which clarke one did you go for? This one seems to have good reviews
My brother Richard picked it up a lot better than I did, steel is relatively straightforward but neither of us got anywhere with aluminium. Did manage to patch a tiny leak in the tank though. Since then we've used it for new wing stays (for the carbon wings), various brackets and exhaust parts. Its been a most useful tool.
I picked up a Clarke 151 mig welder a couple of years ago and it's a lovely bit of kit to learn on, but i soon got fed up with the disposable gas bottles and switched to a refillable one the missus bought me for Christmas, bless er!
Looking back i wish I'd gone for the Clarke 160 straight out of the box as that comes equipped for refillable cylinders straight away and it would have saved me money wasted on disposables while i learnt http://www.weldequip.com/clarke-160tm.htm
As others have said, have a good lurk over on http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/ before you buy anything, as a few of the other Sammio builders are finding that cheap ARC welders are fine for what we want. That may be different for you Marlin boys, but i thought it worth mentioning
I havae the Memfast rivnut tool and it is nothing short of superb, expensive but really easy to use and brilliantly enineered. It comes in a neat box, copes with upto 10mm rivnuts and I cant recommend it highly enough.
I also have the Clarke 135 welder but I bought it secondhand to learn on and have not started yet so I cant comment. I will use it with a refillable cylinder eventually and from what I have been told by other users it is ideal for the sort of thing that we kit car builders are likely to want to do.
I've got a normal rivnut setter from CBS. Does the job.
I have had a very similar one for about 25 years. Only broke one mandrel in that time and that was because I slipped and leaned on the tool while it was still screwed in. A replacement mandrel from Ebay was cheap enough.
I am on my second MIG welder. The first was a new Clarke 100 which I bought back in 1986 and I adapted to take full size bottles.
Now I have a second hand Cebora Boxer 180, also with a (now empty) Y size bottle that needs replacing.
I also have three random arc welders for the heavier welding jobs. They are also more portable then the MIG.
