just got a VAT free voucher from Machine Mart: welder?

[dieselnutjob]

It says VAT free on Clarke products and 10% off everything else.

Two days only and only one particular store.

 

I don't think that they dish these out very often do they?

 

Time to buy a Clarke welder?

 

Which one? I only need to do bodywork with it

 

The thing is that I have tried welding and I was useless, and my 604 isn't really that rusty

 

On the other hand if I could get the hang of it I would only have to use it two or three times to pay for itself

[M'coli]

Mine's a Clarke 105E i think, perfectly adequate for the job. I've got one of those cards too, and for once the dates coincide with a scheduled visit to Leeds - get in!

[dieselnutjob]

the one that people seem to go for is the "135TE". This is the cheapest one with a fan; apparently the thermal cut outs can get annoying on the ones without fans. It does add £50 to the price though.

 

Also I will track these things on ebay and see how much they go for used

[M'coli]

I've never had the thermal cut-out activate on mine, probably because I use it mainly for bodywork so rarely have it turned right up to the max, but I suspect that it may happen if I was doing long welds on thick stuff (3mm) on the maximum setting.

[Danblez]

I have been looking into these recently as i thought mine was knackered and the 135te is the one I would go for. Goes down to 30 amps which is low enough for bodywork.

[garbaldy]

Machine mart must be pretty quiet this year as ive had 3 vat free offers since jan and all lasted a week, thats already one more than i got for the whole of last year

i bought a clark 150te welder for my 18th and its done more welding than i ever imagined it would over the last 22 years,

i thought i would have killed it years ago it has never ever cut out even when i made a transporter trailer with it, i would deff recomend one from past experience and if mine died i would buy another without hesitation although not sure the new ones would be as long lasting though as i bet costs have been scrutinised of late.

[Bren]

I have a 150 Te which I bought secondhand - it has been fine, I was expecting it to go bang with the amount of welding I have done on the SD1.

 

Machine Mart probably are quiet - they are too expensive, I get all my consumables from tool station - much cheaper.

[dieselnutjob]

I think I will have to leave it. I had a return trip to steal more bits from that abandoned 604, and I have an offer of a brand new 604 front wing for £100 delivered which I will be taking. If I can get my hands on Pete's valance where won't actually be much rust left in the 604.

[SambaS]

I bought a second hand but very nice Clarke 110 Turbo, it's red

 

Has anyone used this welder for bodywork?

 

I used it for some inner arch jobs on the Samba, and a sill patch for the XR3, the XR3 came out better.

 

I intend using it for all my welding jobs, I hope it is up to it.

 

Also my welding experience to date has been 2 small patches, so I have years of learning and perfecting to go.