Manky Monkey Motors

I have a draper 1302 turbo mig welder and i plan on building a trike frame based on  the same size pipe as manky's will this welder be any good for the job.

1302t supposedly ok up to 4mm.Check out the  mig welding forums.
I  use mig for thin sheet work and tacking as it only a small set. When I did my frame I prepped all joints and root welded using the mig then stick welded over. Seemed to get the best welds that way, good penetration, reasonable finish and not too much distortion.

i did the same as newbie stiched all the joints etc with my little 100amp, then rewelded everything with a bigger mig welder, this method does stop alot of distortion than may happen, but always make sure you spread the heat merv or  you'll end up fighting  bannana .  would only use that welder to get the fabrication done though merv you could do with 150amp atleast ,hard tail will take a pounding. but then the bruises on you arse will remind you of that :D :D :D   are you ready to start her merv were all waiting for some...??????????????????

Thanks for the answers, i was thinking it might be on the small side.Not quite ready to start the trike yet o.a.b but I'm getting there,slowly,slowly catch a monkey ;D or should i say start a trike.
Have to start looking for a new welder the one i got was when i use to do mot work on cars

I'm using a 150 amp sealy and it seems to "burn in" well enough on erw about 3.6mm

Would you say sealy is a good make

CEBORA 185 if you can get one merv,, same as snap-on for 1/4 the price ,,,,CEBORA make welders for snap-on  ;)

Thanks spanners,I'll have a look around and see what i can find

cebora, sealey ,sip migmate all good little welders in a few amp ranges well up for the job in hand, always check the plug some DO require a 32amp plug( or just hook it up in the oven supply ;D)

yeh the sealy seems ok it's a mighty mig 150 but i have seen a friend using a snap on  welder,little tiny thing but boy could it weld,they're on the expensive side though

I have mentioned this before, but its worth stating again. If you can. get hold of a larger than required set, rather than a small-ish unit, as they come with professional guns as a rule, and are easier to use than the smaller sets using often inferior DIY type guns, and of course a bigger set can always be turned down!, where as the reverse, on a small set, it is often not the case. I use a 170 amp set these days, and its satisfactory for a very wide range of materials, and thicknesses. I'm not a pro. Welder, so can appreciate what some of the newer devotees of home welding are up against!, been there myself! So, if poss. try and get a reasonable size piece kit,with a pro. type gun, ok, Morrag

I have two migs one is a 105 sip mig mate modified to an inch of its life with the wire feed and a fan fitted to it I use ( god forbid )gas less wire init for tacking and I have a sip mig mate turbo 170 with euro gun for all the big jobs ie above 2mm thickness I like them they do the job well

 Thanks guy's,some food for thought with these answers.
 I will have a look around the tinternet.

My new toy, cost 235 pound, cheapest on the net, thinking of converting to euro torch.
What do you lot think.

A starparts 250amp euro torch was £40 about twelve months ago if you can find an scrap industrial mig set it should be quite an easy job there's only 2 wires for the trigger,a pipe for the gas and the high tension for the welding current

Thanks for that Wayne,I'll keep that in mind

merv you can't use that,It looks to pretty  ;D
Right so now you got it get and stick some tube together with it. ;)

Just bought 3 guns and a socket for the migs Im rebuilding.
6shopriver on ebay. Search euro socket
Gun was 50aud and socket 35aud
50aud shipping on gun and free on the socket.

I'm doing my best to get to bend and weld some tube together but work,life and the weather this year just seems to keep getting in the way.
Any body else suffer these same kind of problems

Oh yes it's like that here

You can have the warmest best lit workshop in the world, but sunshine beats it all. When you get back home after going out in the dark coming back in it :(
  I lack motivation, and this year we just have had no kind of sommer at all. You have at this time of year  to look for the odd dry warmish day when you can get to do a little.

Late in on youir thread Merv, sorry. Ive a mid sized Siegen 160 which was fine for tacking and could get good penetration on 4mm with a little chamfering of the edges to start, so im sure yours will be more than fine.

Im building in a poly tarp wood frame tent, its been a challenge the past few weeks but getting there. Keep your momentum once you start, i stopped and it was a devil to get going again!

Thanks for the encouragement and happy new year to you

Anyone used or got one of theses? Sounds good and I am getting tempted

http://www.weldequip.com/gys-smartmig-162.htm

nabs,, you should get a better deal at  brookside welding supplies at macc, ;)