Best way to learn how to weld?

[joyRidaz]

Got to weld for the first time tonight. SPCC has a class that allows you to come in and practice for up to 24 hours a semester. $100 well spent

View attachment 2900599

Wow $100??? that’s worth it just in consumables…. Curious about what fun toys u can practice with there? Any chance they let u bring in stuff to practice on with plasma cutters, benders or other ancillary tools adjacent to welding?

 

[pkniland]

Wow $100??? that’s worth it just in consumables…. Curious about what fun toys u can practice with there? Any chance they let u bring in stuff to practice on with plasma cutters, benders or other ancillary tools adjacent to welding?

Its a class that people who are going for certifications can use to brush up on skills prior to going for certifications. I know stick, mig, and tig are available, but i dont know beyond that.

 

[Ackcruisers]

This has been a helpful post. I’m looking into buying the Hobart 140 115v MIG. It appears to be a good overall flux core machine that’s easy for beginners. It says it can weld 1/4” steel down to 24ga.

Reviews are very favorable. Here is link to one.

Hobart Handler 140 Review - Is It Worth It Anymore?

Sure, those big expensive welders with enough power to dim the entire town’s lights on every arc start do a lot.

weldguru.com

I have an immediate need to weld the following up on my 40.

16-18 ga cold rolled steel to patch two 40mm holes on firewall. I’m filling the brake master and clutch master holes, removing the weld nuts and installing pedal bucket for 4 hole master and booster.

Spot welding roll bar L brackets to underside of wheel wells to install factory roll bar.

Welding a c channel steel bracket onto factory roll bar to accommodate my longer jump seats. (image below).

Based on the there applications above, do you see the Hobart 140 being able to handle? My only concern is the machine says it can handle 24ga and I’m looking at 16-18 ga firewall steel patch. Assuming it can do thin sheet metal.

 

[roadstr6]

This has been a helpful post. I’m looking into buying the Hobart 140 115v MIG. It appears to be a good overall flux core machine that’s easy for beginners. It says it can weld 1/4” steel down to 24ga.

Reviews are very favorable. Here is link to one.

Hobart Handler 140 Review - Is It Worth It Anymore?

Sure, those big expensive welders with enough power to dim the entire town’s lights on every arc start do a lot.

weldguru.com

I have an immediate need to weld the following up on my 40.

16-18 ga cold rolled steel to patch two 40mm holes on firewall. I’m filling the brake master and clutch master holes, removing the weld nuts and installing pedal bucket for 4 hole master and booster.

Spot welding roll bar L brackets to underside of wheel wells to install factory roll bar.

Welding a c channel steel bracket onto factory roll bar to accommodate my longer jump seats. (image below).
View attachment 2903819

Based on the there applications above, do you see the Hobart 140 being able to handle? My only concern is the machine says it can handle 24ga and I’m looking at 16-18 ga firewall steel patch. Assuming it can do thin sheet metal.

Yes, the Hobart 140 can do it. My suggestion though is to skip the flux core altogether and get on the bottle right from the get-go. I like .024 solid wire in my Hobart 140. I have welded 24 gauge all the way up to 1/4" with my 140 by just tweaking the power and wire feed rate. Awesome little welder.

 

[Ackcruisers]

Yes, the Hobart 140 can do it. My suggestion though is to skip the flux core altogether and get on the bottle right from the get-go. I like .024 solid wire in my Hobart 140. I have welded 24 gauge all the way up to 1/4" with my 140 by just tweaking the power and wire feed rate. Awesome little welder.

Thanks for confirming. For sake of clarity, the “bottle” is ‘argon gas’ correct? Solid core requires the gas shield to weld where as the flux core does not require the gas.

 

[roadstr6]

Thanks for confirming. For sake of clarity, the “bottle” is ‘argon gas’ correct? Solid core requires the gas shield to weld where as the flux core does not require the gas.

Correct. By "bottle," I meant CO2/Argon mix. When you get a new welder, it will come with a roll of flux wire. Also included will be a gas regulator. You'll have to verify the polarity of the connections in the machine and make sure the polarity is set up for gas and not flux. Then get yourself a bottle and some solid wire. Hook up the regulator and you're off to the races. It's really simple to go full MIG. Much cleaner welds. Less jittering. Less splatter. Less clean-up. I have never even bothered to use the flux wire that I have. I recently bought a 220v Hobart thinking that I could move totally to 220v and sell my little Hobart 140. I probably could, but I like the 140 so much for thin sheet metal work that I just decided to keep it. Now I have two welders. Oh well...can't have too many tools.

 

[SFROMAN]

Perfect responses Dave.
Would only like to add that it is not necessary to go straight to solid wire.
You could stick with flux core wire and save on initial purchase price.
Keep in mind that the first time you purchase a tank, you are paying for the tank and the gas which is way more expensive than when you do an empty gas exchange.
And of course you also buy all the PPE required for welding.
All these other items start adding up quick.

But if you can swing the initial cost of
WELDER
PPE
GAS TANK
CONSUMABLES
GRINDER

Then yeah def do what Dave said above.

 

[NCFJ]

Buy the largest tank that you can afford. Obviously, they last longer and they are also cheaper to fill by volume.

 

[pkniland]

In my limited research, flux core does have some benefit if you are welding outside and there is any kind of breeze. Inside, in a controlled atmosphere a gas setup works better. Just what I've heard, those who know more can correct.

 

[SFROMAN]

In my limited research, flux core does have some benefit if you are welding outside and there is any kind of breeze. Inside, in a controlled atmosphere a gas setup works better. Just what I've heard, those who know more can correct.

Flux core (FCAW) is the most used welding process in the world.
Mainly because for the most part all field work or outside welding is done with that process. This is so you don’t have to worry about bringing gas tanks out to the field and also yes, with gas mig or ( GMAW) you do have to worry about wind affecting your shielding gas.
My instructor basically only uses (FCAW) which I was never really a fan of until I started practicing it late last semester. In my opinion it is more forgiving if you lack technique or practice.

 

[stevezero]

Bumping here, and also in the buying and selling thread.

Anyone need a 152 cup ft helium tank, that showed about 1000 psi on the valve?

I need to swap it for an argon tank for mig welding.

 

[Pick]

Re-reading this thread as I have recently acquired better access to a welder. My brother is moving and I volunteered to store a few things for him in exchange for being able to use them. This Millermatic 130 being one. If the cure for cancer were in a book, I'd die - I just don't digest information in that format. But I LOVE videos and hands-on so I'm Googling up some online content to fill my next few evenings. There's about a half of a spool of wire in it but I'm not sure about the gas, I'll need to check that next. My office isn't far from Airgas on Capital Blvd so I'll probably swing by there and peruse their aisles too.

Any suggestions for good youtube videos? I've watched a few here in the past but nothing extensive...

https://www.youtube.com/c/Welddotcom

I have ZERO experience but its something that I've always wanted to learn...

 

[Hokie LX]

Step 1 to learning how to weld…buy a welder. And another for good measure.

Picked these up today. Hobart 210MVP and a Lincoln 135 promig. It was a package deal with the acetylene torch and saw. First project will be welding new floors into Booger!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Welding tips and tricks on YouTube for mig instruction. Watch a few of those to get the concepts, then practical instruction after that.

Troubleshooting the machine is the hardest part. Technique is easy. Figuring out how to adjust the machine to fix what's wrong takes some time to get right, and that's where those videos really help.

 

[ROBsSON]

Dude nice score!
I had the chance to take a corse when I was in still in school at ACC was a nice help being able to be coached as I screwed up but I think everyone said it best, some YouTube videos and playing around just ugly weld things, see what you did wrong and try to adjust and try again.

I started with a cheaper 49.99 harbor freight mask and it was ok but after getting a better one it was definitely nice to see what I was doing alittle more clearly helped to not stay in one spot or get off course to much.

Still can’t weld worth a damn but at least it sticks together at this point haha

If I can find my course material your welcome to borrow the book so you can read through it some of you want

 

[Hokie LX]

Thanks!

I ended up buying an Optrel auto darkening Weld Cap. Being bald, the cap is nice to have. Plus it’s more comfortable than a traditional helmet and smaller.

 

[SFROMAN]

Step 1 to learning how to weld…buy a welder. And another for good measure.

Picked these up today. Hobart 210MVP and a Lincoln 135 promig. It was a package deal with the acetylene torch and saw. First project will be welding new floors into Booger!

View attachment 3269021

I really need to get me one of those small acetylene deals.

 

[Pick]

Life has been crazy lately... we were out of our house for almost a year for some water damage and remodeling but we're mostly settled back in now.
At work, we get a day off around our birthday so I took today off. One of my priorities was to try my hand at some welding. I went Linde this morning and got some gas then grabbed some steel pieces from Home Depot.

it certainly isn't pretty but i started to get the hang of it. Here's one of my final passes. I know it's horrible but you should have seen my first few

I beat on it and tried to pry it apart and it held ok although I wouldn't trust it for anything on my vehicles yet. Looking forward to trying some more projects though...

the brackets are for some steel targets and should hold up for what they're for.

I think I'm going to shop around for a new helmet, I was really having a difficult time seeing and I think a lot of that is just having a cheap helmet

 

[roadstr6]

Life has been crazy lately... we were out of our house for almost a year for some water damage and remodeling but we're mostly settled back in now.
At work, we get a day off around our birthday so I took today off. One of my priorities was to try my hand at some welding. I went Linde this morning and got some gas then grabbed some steel pieces from Home Depot.

it certainly isn't pretty but i started to get the hang of it. Here's one of my final passes. I know it's horrible but you should have seen my first few

I beat on it and tried to pry it apart and it held ok although I wouldn't trust it for anything on my vehicles yet. Looking forward to trying some more projects though...

View attachment 3634040

the brackets are for some steel targets and should hold up for what they're for.

View attachment 3634041


I think I'm going to shop around for a new helmet, I was really having a difficult time seeing and I think a lot of that is just having a cheap helmet

I use cheap helmets, so to overcome that, what I do is use one of those Harbor Freight magnetic lights to light up my weld area. For me, seeing what I am welding as I go is not an issue, it's seeing my starting point before I pull the trigger.

 

[Pick]

I use cheap helmets, so to overcome that, what I do is use one of those Harbor Freight magnetic lights to light up my weld area. For me, seeing what I am welding as I go is not an issue, it's seeing my starting point before I pull the trigger.

Good suggestion.... I had an overhead light that was illuminating the inside of my helmet so I think that was some of the issue.