Welcome to Oxford Welders

With a history dating back over 60 years, British made Oxford welding machines are internationally renowned as one of the best in the industry. Oxford machines are used & trusted in over 100 countries around the world. They are known for simple rugged build, high reliability with a long life span & excellent welding performance. 
Recent UK goverment & EU legislation regarding energy efficiency (ECODESIGN) means our product range has been updated.
Everything is still 100% made in the UK so you can be sure you are buying a top quality product at a fair price.


Fact! Over 80% of welding equipment on the UK market is imported from Europe, the US or China. Recently, BREXIT, Covid & high inflation have all pushed costs of imported equipment up more so than our OXFORD machines.

When you buy any imported machine you are paying a large chunk in 'invisable' costs, transport costs, UK or European wholesalers profit margin, import customs clearance costs, distribution centres & also the final resellers profit margin. 
We estimate that for every £1000 spent on an imported machine between 65-75% (£650-£750) is lost to invisable costs. It varies a little between brands, but generally the so called 'premium' brands have the highest invisable costs.
That cannot be good value for the customer & helps explain why many machines are so expensive.

Our OXFORD products are normally priced better than any other European or US made machine. Cutting out almost all 'middle men' means we have sensible pricing & the customer gets more value for money.

Buying British makes a lot of sense!
 

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Quick guide to our updated range.



OXFORD MULTIMIG CS inverter. 

A real game changer - Compact MIG, seperate wire feed MIG, ARC welding & TIG all from one British made power source!
MIGMAKER MIG range 200A-300A 230V single phase.
Traditional transformer based, no nonsense compact MIG machines, designed for lighter duty applications.

MULTIMIG CS MIG range up to 410A on single phase 230V & 510A in 400V 3 phase
Inverter multiprocess machines - HEAVY DUTY machines! MIG, ARC, TIG compact & seperate wire feed all from one power source.

CUTMAKER PLASMA, Up to 50mm sever cut on 230V 1 phase & to 62mm sever on 400V 3 phase
+ Thermal heating + Thermal gouging + Metal marking function....UNBEATABLE! Updated models for 2023 to meet new standard.

MULTI-ARC PORTABLE - Unavailable - Redesign to inverter in progress.
                                                                                                                                                      
PULSE MIG I-MIG DP & S-MIG DP - Unavailable - Redesign to inverter in progress

TIGMAKER DC, Unavailable - Redesign to inverter in progress

TIGMAKER AC DC, Unavailable - Redesign to inverter in progress

 
  • Every machine we make at OXFORD welders comes with the following unbeatable long term back up.
  • Every model has a copper wound main transformer with 5 Year warranty (the heart of the machine).
  • 2 Year warranty on all other items except consumable/wear parts & torches.
  • 20 year guarentee of parts & service availability.
  • Every machine we make at OXFORD welders is built in compliance with one or more of the following standards;
  • BS EN60974-1, BS EN60972-6, BS EN60974-10, RoHS, weee, & all are UKCA & CE marked

Further reading - Things to consider before purchasing any type of welding or plasma cutting machine.
With so many machines on the market today its very difficult to make the right choice when buying a new machine.
If you are considering a MIG welder then the choice is often between a transformer based machine on wheels or a inverter based machine. For workshop use a good European made transformer based basic MIG machine with simple switches to control the output power has been the sensible choice for many applications. (Commonly referred to as step voltage or transformer type machines). They are generally cost effective, reliable, perform well, have a long life span. Also a good quality basic MIG machine is quite electrically efficient in design (around 77% for most OXFORD MIG models). 
However recent UK & EU legislation now requires efficiency to meet 80% for single phase or 85% for 3 phase welding power sources. Also required is low  power consumption on standby & there are additional rules regarding spares availability.
Our OXFORD machines have always been built to stand the test of time, simple, rugged & reliable so we always used copper wound traditional transformers for every machine. However the new legislation means we can no longer make most transformer based welding sets, its just not quite possible to get to the minimum efficiency needed. 
Our new inverter machines are totally unique in design & build. Firstly, we always want to make solid reliable equipment built to last. So our inverter machines are made using only two IGBT power modules (transistors) with minimal PCB's & small parts, also no microprocessors are used. (fewer parts = higher reliability). Our PCB's have very high creepage & clearances between tracks & parts to maximise reliability in damp dirty conditions. We also use a seperate cooling chamber to keep dirty airflow away from electronics. OXFORD inverters are very simple in construction & can be maintained by any competant Technician anywhere in the world (no electronic degree or inverter experience needed).


Further info on ECODESIGN regulations for welding power sources, regulation 2019/1784.
Around 15-20 years ago with global warming starting to make news, goverments & 'experts' becoming interested in the energy efficiency of many products in daily use. One of the first noticable changes was when traditional light bulbs were effectivly banned, then came limitations on the power of vacuum cleaners & many household appliances had to become more efficient. The roll out of efficiency regulations then started to impact on some industrial products. Now we have to deal with this in the welding industry.

After BREXIT the UK goverment consulted industry & produced a document detailing the benefits & downside of following the EU directive concerning the energy efficiency of welding power sources. 
After considering many facts it was decided the UK would follow the EU directive, which came into force 1st January 2023. 
This mostly impacts transformer based welding equipment, in particular MIG/MAG machines. We know there is still a big demand for simple reliable MIG machines. In 2021 we attempted to create higher efficiency transformer based machines using larger transformers & special rectifiers, but even with almost double the cost in raw materials we ended up being 2-3% below the minimum efficiency requirements. 

Over the last few months we have heard rumours that the directive has been postponed till 2024. On further investigation we found the EU published a document on 9th December 2022 (about 3 weeks before start of regulations) stating that due to parts shortages arising from COVID shutdowns, no enforcement action would be taken against member states who wish to postpone checking & testing of power sources until 2024. 
This is effectivly an opt out for some countries if they wish, which ones have decided to opt out we dont really know?
We have contracted the UK goverment 'Office for product safety & standards' who police this in the UK & asked for clarification on the UK position.
The official reply is the UK is not opting out & is now implementing the new ECODESIGN rules for welding power sources in 2023.
Therefore, we cannot take new orders for the traditional transformer based models anymore, but we do have a few stock models at present.
The regulation applies to all manufacturers & brands in the UK & enforcement action maybe taken against any company supplying non compliant equipment.

Any non compliant machines already on the market in the UK & available for sale are still OK to supply.
We also asked for clarification from the Gov office regarding machines we have part built, they have confirmed we can complete production of these & put on the market for sale.

 


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