Tips on learning to weld?

[Mutaku]

I want to try my hand at welding but I honestly have no idea where to start and was wondering if someone can show me the way!

Well that's partly true, I've got a grasp of the basics and I'm currently lookning for a place/friend with a welder who is willing to let me play with it. Just curious if anyone has any tips from experience on things that I could attempt to weld together as training.

[RICE RACING]

Miller, have some great welding resources (especially TIG) which is what we all do now a days.

If you send them an E-Mail they will send you a pack (last time I got it many years ago it was free!@) and in it there are some quick look up slide rules etc to help with basic machine settings etc.

The only help I can offer you as I do my students who do it as part of their courses is to 'set your self up and be comfortable and SEE WHAT YOU ARE DOING!' That sounds real basic but as I tell cunts, you have no hope of welding right if you are not in the correct position and you cannot see the weld as you are doing it, sounds basic, but you would be surprised how many people fuck this up.

[Mutaku]

Thanks for the tips man! I look into emailing them sometime. I think they have a welding area in the auto skills shop on Eglin so I might try my hand on using what they got there.

[TheDriver216]

you can check your local community colleges as well.. im looking into a course through mine. its run by lincoln electric so it should be good.. i just dont have the time or money to be able to take the class directly from lincoln on their campus since you need to be there like its a job.

[banzaitoyota]

Start by learning the basics oxy-fuel, then stick, then mig andd thhen tigg

[ElTeeFauci]

I can tell you what NOT to do...

Don't start out on a shitty welder, like I did... learning how to use the Harbor Freight welders will get you in the habit of using shitty techniques to get a decent weld. When you drop the money on a real welder, you'll have to learn all over again.

[ElTeeFauci]

And if you want to buy a nice one for cheap, I have a Lincoln AC225 stick welder you can have for 200 bucks... its almost brand spankin' new. You just gotta make your way over here before May 13th.

[RedR1]

Originally Posted by ElTeeFauci

And if you want to buy a nice one for cheap, I have a Lincoln AC225 stick welder you can have for 200 bucks... its almost brand spankin' new. You just gotta make your way over here before May 13th.

Merv's, ElTeeFauci lives here in Jacksonville with me, if you want it get with him and fire off the $ via paypal and I can arrange to meet up with him for a pick-up and drop it off with you when i'm coming that way via CA in June (just an option)

[Whizbang]

i learned by just buying a Lincoln 140c (i wanted 110v). Watched a shit ton of youtube videos and read some articles. Bought steel and went to town.

[Rotary Evolution]

mig/gas is by far the easiest to learn to weld on because it won't splatter and units are cheap enough these days to pick one up for relatively cheap.

oxy/acetylene(basic torch welding) is probably the most difficult to get a grasp of because you are focusing on flame temperatures to melt the base material but just not hot enough to blow it out.

arc welding is the second easiest method to learn but it is also the dirtiest method with lots of splatter which takes some time to control.

TIG is probably one of the most difficult methods because there are so many variables like tungsten materials and diameters, torch cup sizes for gas direction, angle, filler feed style, using both hands to weld with(similar to oxy/acetylene), gas flow rate, heat ranges cycling, yadda yadda. but TIG welds are the best looking welds by far.

i have oxy/acetylene, a dedicated arc welder, mig/gas and a miller econotig. i used the mig machine for years(bought it new about 15 years ago and still works great) which is an old astro power 130A 110V unit and it did everything i needed with the exception of non-porous aluminum welding(mig welding cannot clean the base material so there will always be foreign material that will create 'pinholes' in aluminum welds, you could theoretically get decent aluminum welds with a mig but it requires a perfect environment which is nearly impossible to achieve).

everyone will pick up a certain type of welding quicker and easier than others but it is simply not cost effective to find your niche unless you had access to a welding class to try each type for yourself.

right now i'm learning on the TIG with aluminum and it is the most difficult process to get right, but this machine isn't the best for a novice since the pedal only has a working range of 55-166amps.

[forcefed7]

My advice for anybody wanting to learn welding is to find someone that can spend a little bit of time with you. Having them show you proper material prep and machine setup is going accelerate your learning curve greatly. I’d also recommend Googling “welding tips and tricks” there is a ton of info on his website and youtube channel. Good luck, and don’t get discouraged it does take some practice.

[Yoshi]

If you want to get a DECENT/inexpensive welder, check eastwoods website. I got my TIG 200 and a Plasma cutter for $1000 shipped to my door. I have used it to weld engine mounts, suspension, exhaust, etc. It can and will do just about anything you would need to on a car. I have used the plasma cutter to cut my adapter plate for my transmission and that was pretty thick. For the price, they are pretty good little machines.

[Rotary Evolution]

meh, for $1k you can find a decent used syncrowave 150 used which is still one of the best rigs around for general purpose TIG welding. the econotig i have is a bit of a pain to learn with because the range you need for aluminum is around 60-100 amps and the second step on this machine is a bit high and 1st step too low for aluminum so it acts like an on/off switch and takes a bit of finesse(you have to move quick because it tends to run too hot, the pedal input is too touchy so mainly i run it near full bore).

the older Miller TIG units are damn near indestructable. this one apparently came off a work truck that sat outside and it still works just fine after 11 years of god knows what.

but i still don't recommend starting on a TIG because you have 3 inputs: torch hand, filler feed hand and foot to control amperage(or finger control but foot control is best for a novice, finger control is best once you become comfortable enough to use it allowing you to free up yourself to move around the material being worked on). MIG welding requires 1 hand, so you have the second free to move the material around and only have to worry about initial control settings for the machine. TIG is easier to start where you stop because you aren't instantly welding once you arc however. you can get it but it is going to be somewhat costly to learn on as well due to consumables and you will go through argon quite quickly. MIG and arc welding are the cheapest and quickest to pick up, you could weld for hours for under a hundred bucks on a MIG machine.

i only really consider TIG for when you want to move on to aluminum since there is no other decent way to weld it without hours and hours of practice with other than AC TIG setups. AC is required for aluminum so don't just think any TIG can weld aluminum. some cheaper machines are DC only which is only good for ferrous metals like steel and stainless steel, those units are fine if you never plan to weld aluminum(almost everyone does at some point).

you can learn on any type of welding setup but if you've done them all it's rather easy to tell which is the easiest for a beginner to pick up, which is arc welding but arc welding is for monkeys, stick the stick in and drag it over the material and watch the fireworks and slag pour all over everything. MIG machines generally are cheap enough to buy, run for a year and sell for a small % of what you will need to buy a TIG machine for. i keep them all because each machine has it's benefits for certain types of work(the TIG is the least versatile machine as it is basically stationary and limited by the lead lengths, i can't run a 50' extension cable out to the parking lot and weld up an exhaust system). the torch is good for small precise work and generally just heating shit up or melting/cutting things. the arc machine i use for spot welding. the TIG is for aluminum and when i want welds to look nice and pretty on steel/SS.

[chibikougan]

z

[Mutaku]

Thanks for the tips guys, I am going to start looking into classes since I have tuition assistance anyway. Might as well learn a bit before I go buying a welder if I can help it =P