How did you learn to weld

[ObscureMachine]

I really want to learn so that one day when I have a garage, I can work with fire and metal, like a real man. I did arc welding in 8th grade shop (1982), but that's it.

How did you learn?

What's the best way for me to learn?

What welding gear is best for a beginner?

 

[NC-Fordguy]

I really want to learn so that one day when I have a garage, I can work with fire and metal, like a real man. I did arc welding in 8th grade shop (1982), but that's it.

How did you learn?

What's the best way for me to learn?

What welding gear is best for a beginner?

1. Practice practice and screwing up some stuff

2. Same as number 1...get some scrap and have at it

3. Mig with gas is the easiest to learn. Get some welding gloves, chipping hammer, wire brush auto darkening helmet, welding apron to protect the family jewels...other stuff as you need

 

[asinor]

Grandpa was a pipefitter, taught me how to arc weld.

For Mig, I borrowed a crappy Harbor freight welder from a friend. It really sucks, I don't recommend learning on this. But practice, practice, practice.

I have heard good things and seen good first time use results from the MillerMatic 211. Its pricey (~$1000), but will be my next tool investment.

 

[HoldMyPocket]

Was taught by a guy who did welding on nuclear subs.. then LOTS of reading on Pirate4x4.com on the subject plus tons of practice. I welded all the scrap metal I had.

 

[RIbronco]

I started out, back in the high school days, using a friends 120V MIG machine. It stuck pieces of metal together, and was somewhat fun. We were almost always welding rust pitted sheet metal, so a defined technique was never really established.
Fast forward several years. I entered into a skill trading deal with a local job shop. The guy running the place wanted to get better at CAD (SolidWorks), so I taught him the basics of SW and he taught me the basics of different types of welding. I did okay with the MIG stuff, and TIG on regular and stainless steels. I can run a bead and joint two pieces of aluminum, but I would never claim to be able to weld aluminum, only that I understand the difficulty of it. One of the cool parts was getting to use some industrial grade welders. 3 Phase welders can throw some serious heat, especially when you're use to 1P 120V.

 

[Explorer]

Best way is to take a welding class. I learned thru practice, but would not show my youngest son how to weld. He is taking class at a Vo-Tech school to learn how to do it right. While I have a MillerMatic 211, the Hobart Handler 140 is a fine welder that won't break the bank and do anything you need on a Bronco. Just having the ability to stick two pieces of metal together does not make you a welder. Your life can depend on some of those welds.

 

[turbotim2]

I learned in shop class and then practiced with my dad's arc welder. My father in law showed me some tricks with the mig. I am no expert but I can get things put together.

Like they said, practice!!

 

[brownb4]

high school voc.

i would also recommend a class from Vo-tech or other adult learning program. some school districts with good vocational programs offer this to adults in the evening.

there is alot more to welding than sticking metal together, metallurgy stuff.

a pretty bead isnt always a strong bead.

 

[wildbill]

I really want to learn so that one day when I have a garage, I can work with fire and metal, like a real man. I did arc welding in 8th grade shop (1982), but that's it.

How did you learn?

What's the best way for me to learn?

What welding gear is best for a beginner?

;D;D;D Like you did but it was back in the 50's then worked as a welder 40+ years now retired and loveing it. Good luck to you Bill ;D%)

 

[Zillacon]

I started out in my buddies shop while building projects then took 4 years of Welding class in Vo-Tech and got certified in Arc, Tig, Oxy Act, and Wire Feed. We even did foundry in the same class which is cool.

 

[bptommy]

took a class at a community college, close to me. Then bought my own welder and weled every piece of scrap I had together.

 

[Glass Pony]

Spent 30+ years as a mechanic in a power plant.
Welded on high pressure steam lines and rebuilding coal/coke pulverizers.
Learned on stick but I think mig would be a better application for automotive.
Ditto on the Hobart 140. I use that more than my Miller Thunderbolt.

 

[broncosam]

My stepfather taught me the basics when I was in high school. He could weld with the best of them. But like others said , if you have access to a welder get some scrap and burn some wire or rods. Also practice on different gauges or thickness of steel as that will determine how much heat or amperage is needed to penetrate and get a good bond, especially if you're arc/stick welding.

 

[sriha]

I was put to work as a kid and was taught one summer building chair carts. My dad taught me the basics and the machinist taught me a few more tricks. One thing that is nice about metal is that you can use a grinder to fix some of your mistakes.

I would suggest an auto darkening helmet if funds are available. I tended to fall of my mark when I was getting the helmet down. I would also suggest to use leather work gloves. The welding gloves are good when you are welding a lot and protect you from the heat but I found them to be really bulky. With thinner gloves I found I had better control and feel for the trigger. You can get an apron but I just use a sweat shirt most of the time and suffer the burns, but if you are sitting down it would be a good thing. Try not to weld above you if you can.

Practice at horizontal welds first before you try vertical and upside down welds. Those can be frustrating. If you are melting through turn down the voltage, if it looks like the weld is just sitting on the metal and not really melting in, turn up your voltage. I am still learning on wire speeds but I tend to keep the wire speed within a few degrees of what the voltage is and it seems to work ok for me.

Starting on heavier pieces or clamped pieces is easier since it doesn't want to move as much. Thin stuff also tends to warp more. Make sure you have a good ground too.

I do not weld for a living and am not an expert but I do enjoy making metal sculpture when I am not working on the Bronco.

 

[rustbucket]

Our HS had a great welding program, and I learned there. I think a class would do you a lot of good, and keep you from picking up bad habits.

Also check out www.weldingtipsandtricks.com. Good info there. A lot of TIG, but some MIG too.

 

[lowbush]

high school voc.

i would also recommend a class from Vo-tech or other adult learning program. some school districts with good vocational programs offer this to adults in the evening.

there is alot more to welding than sticking metal together, metallurgy stuff.

a pretty bead isnt always a strong bead.

I wanted to do this, mainly to get a feel for other processes, after I taught myself TIG (which I really like, because with TIG, a pretty bead is a strong bead) I started to wonder about other stuff like Heli-Arc and some other exotic welders and figured going to a vo-tec class would be interesting, but everything I found were 1-2 year career schools with a $15k price tag.


People always say that the local community college offers courses, but I have not found a single school in Central Florida that will just let you take classes outside of a formal program, and at 15K, hell I can just buy said exotic welder and start burning stuff together while reading books. I would really love to get deeper into it, but I am not going to switch carers to welding, so there is no way I can justify 15k just for S and G's.


It seems that now days all education is geared towards job training, so if you are not doing it with the intention of a job paying you back, then the economics of doing it are pretty bad.

One of the schools, list the instructors of the classes and I thought about emailing them and seeing if they would be interested in private tutoring, it would probability still cost quite a bit, but it would be cheaper than a full program and pretty tailored to what I don't know, but need to know.

 

[Scoop]

As others have said, get a mig and just practice. That's what I did. A couple of tips - make sure you can SEE the weld pool really well. May need a 2X mag lens in your helmet. And second, LISTEN for what a good weld sounds like. You'll know it when you hear it! Your welds will not look good at first and won't be consistent - but practice and you'll get the hang of it. Thin metal is the hardest. Good luck.

 

[jdevon]

Youtube and lots of practice. I first built a welding table with a 1/2" slab top. Then started making other stands and tables, then onto sheetmetal work. It would have been nice to have someone to show me the ropes, but I managed without.

 

[ugly74]

I stumbled into a mechanic gig, and all of a sudden it was in my job description! Found an old guy that knew what he was doing, and he gave me some advice. gathered some scrap metal and spent hours making franken brackets, then cutting them apart and doin it again.
luckily, I had good equipment. a Millermatic mig, and a big ass Hobart 220 arc.

 

[tw322]

Great post Obscure Machine. I, like you, have a small bit of knowledge but want to learn to do it well. I just bought a Lincoln arc welder for cheap to get down the basics and then will look for a better mig. Now I just have to pull 220 to my garage and start collecting some scrap for practice.