On 31 Oct, 19:29, "Fredxx" wrote:
"MrFerrous" wrote in message

...





I have a ageing relative who owns a house with a bit of land attached. I
help out with general maintenance tasks when I visit, and although I have
never welded, it looks to me like a welder would be useful addition to my
growing collection of tools. For example:

- The steel gate to the field is suffering from localised but deep rust.
It
might be worthwhile to reinforce it in places before repainting it.
- There's a small barn with a steel internal framework. There's localised
severe corrosion. The cost of replacement would probably be much higher
than
the cost of repair.

The existing "good" steel is probably at least 3mm thick. The results of
my
welding attempts don't have to be pretty, just strong and cost-effective.

Would one of the temptingly cheap arc welders from Screwfix be a good
place
to start learning?

A stick arc welder is difficult to master, though easier when welding
thicker metal.

A MIG/MAG welder is much easier to use, and if only used occasionally, it's
worth considering using no-gas-wire.

Both will need the rust remove prior to welding, especially for MIG/MAG.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The above is entirely correct. You have to keep your hand in too.
As for the field gate, chuck it out & buy new. They are not worth
bothering with.