After a lot of research into different types of welding, I decided to learn MIG. For the types of metal and thicknesses I am likely to use, MIG is perfect. I chose the GYS SmartMIG 162 for its ability to weld from about 5mm thick down to 0.8mm sheet. A cheaper welder would have been able to operate at the thicker end of the scale, but would blow right through thin sheet. While I’m unlikely to need to weld anything above 3mm, that ability to weld thin sheet will be useful for lots of projects.

Initially I was planning to run the welder with no shielding gas, using flux core wire instead. Eventually I decided to do it the proper way and use shielding gas, which results in a cleaner weld. I chose Hobbyweld for the shielding gas. This rent-free, pay-as-you-go method of obtaining gas works well for me, as I don’t know how much I will be welding. Paying rent for gas wouldn’t make sense if I didn’t need to weld anything for a month.

After obtaining the necessary safety equipment, including a nice orange fume extractor and a rather fetching Nomex (flame resistant) army surplus flight suit, I was ready to go.

The first few miserable test welds were covered in brown soot, but a few minutes on mig-welding.co.uk revealed the solution: not enough shielding gas. After getting the hang of the gas flow and torch movement I was pleased to find I had stuck two bits of metal together. Never having welded anything before, it was a strange sensation to produce such an incredibly strong joint so easily. This is going to enable so many new possibilities.

I love the way the corners look after grinding off the excess weld. This little square is actually a materials test of my upcoming reclaimed coffee table. The real table will be a little bigger.