How did you learn to weld

[sprdv1]

HS Vo Tech for me...

Get scrap steel and practice, practice..

Go to a buddy's that welds and watch him some, and get tips and pointers...

 

[Skiddy]

you can get in touch with one of the members here http://www.aws.org/w/a/sections/district_list.html ask if they have someone to help you out. i guarantee you there will be many to help you out. I have been a certified welding inspector for over 18 years now. so i don't weld anymore;D just a little mig now and again, can't remember when the last time i used stick%). other than that everyone else pretty much covered it.

 

[Skiddy]

I looked on Craigslist and found an old guy who taught classes out of his garage.... turned out he was a Navy welding instructor for 40 years. He had me MIG welding pretty well in 3 hours and then just practiced at home.

I would have like to take a class and learn about metallurgy and whatnot but I'm just a fairweather welder.

i have an extra metallurgy book

 

[deltarat]

Self taught on the farm. I learned to build and repair heavy equipment.

 

[08ag]

God bless Texas, I Learned in 7th grade shop class. using 20+ yr old arc welders. Part of our final exam was to weld our name on a 1/4" steel plate. We were graded on how smooth and consistent our beads were.

 

[dube]

my dad worked for northwest airlines. he showed me how to weld titaniam on a fan blade of a dc10. and cought my intrest. took welding in high school and votech. been welding for 37 years now. sheet metal guru on sst,hrs.alum,copper,inconal,brass,cast steel. and all kinds of garbage metal. mig is ok, but tig is the way to go. some call it an art. not to bragg. but it came easy to me.
grab a miller 211 and it will help teach you how to weld. they make it so simple now with the new tech that is out there.
good luck on your new venture in welding.

 

[Bullitt94]

High school shop classes were my ticket. Was better then than now because we had time to practice everyday... %)

 

[Pcparas]

Dad gave me some pieces of metal and showed me how the welder worked and basically said figure it out. Welding every seem on the underside on my bronco when we rebuild the body was great practice.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

2 pieces of 2" angle about 12" long - tack them together along the corner to make an X - start fillin' em up lengthwise !
Use one or two portions of the X for flat welding.
One for verticle
One for overhead

add one welding instructor yelling at you to "close the arc gap" or saying that you look like your "painting the side of a barn" , and you just experienced my apprenticeship welding class !

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I dropped my wrench on the battery.

LMFAO ! Nice one Jon.

 

[Dan74Bronc]

My Dad (RIP) was a pipeline welder in South Texas, he bought me a miller cracker box welder when I was 14 and taught me how to weld. My first job was welding at a sheetmetal and pipe shop and lasted til I joined the Navy at age 24. Now It's a hobby and side job income.
If you want to learn to weld start with stick welding, That's the basic skill and it all gets easier from there, except heliarc, that's an art form. Lots and lots of practice to make beautiful welds.

 

[NYLES]

Just one a them things ya learned how to do round my house...then took 3 years a Votec in high school. I figure I can weld bout anything if Ive got the right machine.

 

[muskrat]

When I picked up my first bronco, it needed alot of body work. I signed up for a welding class at the local vo tech. It was an evening class two night per week. it was an 8 week course with the first two weeks in class learning about metal, electrical stuff, etc.

I was really excited about the class. Two weeks before the class started, they called me and cancelled the course due to not enough students. I was really bummed.

Would still like to take the course at some point.