Welding 101

[Iceaxe]

Hi folks,
I need to learn how to weld- looking to manufacture basic stuff like brackets. Did any of you learn on your own how to weld? If so, how did you learn how to do it? I don't have time or inclination to take a class at my local community college.
Thanks for the input...

 

[madisonr34]

I started on a Hobart FLUX core mig machine. Then moved on to stick. Now Tig. YouTube and a lot of trial and error. Once I mastered the mig everything else was easy.
If you are beginning, i would recommend a good FLUX core machine because you can just load the wire and weld. You don't need gas or fancy stuff. Practice your technique. Also #1 thing you need to do is clean and clean and clean your materials before and after you weld.

 

[LandCruisinMy93]

High school metal shop I learned oxy/acetylene welding and stick welding. Then bought a small MIG machine and learned through practice and applied that at a job in a metal shop. By no means certified and could always stand to learn more.

 

[Iceaxe]

madisonr34, dumb question but does the Hobart use gas, or is that mig unit welding without?

 

[madisonr34]

madisonr34, dumb question but does the Hobart use gas, or is that mig unit welding without?

No my Hobart is FLUX Core mig, so the shielding gas is inside the wire. A regular MIG machine will require a separate source of gas like the big tanks next to some welding machines.

 

[Tools R Us]

If you're going alone, this maybe helpful. Welding Tips and Tricks - TIG, MIG, Stick and a pantload of other info

 

[nukegoat]

Fifth option is find someone who knows how to weld and get feedback. Then practice. Then another round of feedback. Then practice. Etc.

 

[Pin_Head]

Part of practice is testing your welds. Bend it over 180 degrees and see if it cracks or tears. In welding class we spent about as much time testing as welding.

 

[gummycarbs]

I took a stick welding class in the Bay Area from a woman who worked on the new Bay Bridge. Also, I've read many posts by @nukegoat.

In retrospect, I'd say that I learned more from that class than any other single class I've taken in my life. I think it was offered through the Oakland community college program.

 

[swankstar]

20 years ago I got an old stick welder for 25$ from a mechanic. Have since held jobs as a welder and have had a couple metalworking businesses.

I would recommend going straight to TIG. That will give you the most material options and lessen the time to those options.

My best tip as that the only real important part of welding is "get comfortable". You will rarely lay a good bead if you're uncomfortable.

The other thing is to practice. Literally MILES of welding. And a grinder. After a while you can do stuff like this:

 

[Granite Grinder]

Learned MIG from hanging around a fab shop, luckily for me the fab shopped worked on Land Cruisers. Some might remember Fabtech Greg (coop) Cooper from BC, Canada.

 

[nogo]

Hi folks,
I need to learn how to weld- looking to manufacture basic stuff like brackets. Did any of you learn on your own how to weld? If so, how did you learn how to do it? I don't have time or inclination to take a class at my local community college.
Thanks for the input...

As a qualified boilermaker/welder with 35 + years experience, I would suggest you make time to take some classes. Time spent learning from a qualified welder will be time saved in the long run, not to mention the safety factor of the parts you make having well executed welds.

 

[LINUS]

My Pops had me comfortable with a stinger before I was 10, could lay decent beads by 12 on an old AC buzzbox (stick)

He was a welder for Boeing when I was born, and in my early years he moved to production TIG where they used a drill to twist/bind 3 rods so they had material when in a piperack.

MIG was cheating in his view, but I still bought one in ~1992 since that AC box was still the only shop welder. I've since bought 2 different ones, AC/DC TIG, & plasma so we can cut AL plate.

I prefer TIG since a MIG weld can look pretty but be worthless - TIG I've never had that experience aside from poor prep on dirty AL. -Also more practical in my work setting as we scratch arc it so I ground & just pack either a TIG torch or a rod stinger into the racks (standard practice) where if it was MIG we'd need a wirefeed head that was 50-75' long (not practical).

If I'm in a hurry I still wirefeed but really if I'm buying some random thing off the net, I prefer it be TIG'ed otherwise I'll just make it myself.

And despite knowing welding I still had to take classes at the college to prepare to pass cert's - it was good as I know I picked up little stuff & we had all the destructive testing too.

I'd take that class you don't want to take & use it to try TIG & decide if you like it - lots of people do the class for that esp ~10yrs ago when chopper bikes were the rage & people just wanted to try their hand at welding, see if they wanted to persue.
Don't bother with a grade, just go 4-5 times & check out the different processes.

Even brazing is fun, practical for pot metal repairs. It's becoming a lost art like lead welding (we have had some companies pay to have us put on a seminar for their lead welders, it's that oddball now).

 

[Iceaxe]

Awesome feedback. Thanks guys!

 

[1911]

High school metal shop I learned oxy/acetylene welding and stick welding.

Me too.

 

[PAToyota]

As a qualified boilermaker/welder with 35 + years experience, I would suggest you make time to take some classes. Time spent learning from a qualified welder will be time saved in the long run, not to mention the safety factor of the parts you make having well executed welds.

THIS.

I had some experience with gas welding from shop class and then my grandfather’s buzzbox. Out of college, I bought myself a little 110V MIG and thought I was doing pretty well after some time.

Initially, I took a class to learn about TIG, but the class took you from gas to arc to MIG to TIG. I quickly learned that there was a lot more that I didn’t know I didn’t know. My skills improved immensely from that class - I was just gluing metal together before the class. The other thing was being able to try different machines. The 220V MIGs really showed me what I was missing with my little 110V machine. Same with the TIG machines. It was quickly apparent the entry-level machines with limited settings really weren’t what I wanted. I ended up passing a bunch of the certification exams just to show myself I could do it.

Looking at all the bird poop welds people show off on the internet - as well as seeing it in person locally - I feel a lot better about being able to lay down a good bead and - more importantly - know when something isn’t good enough.

 

[LAMBCRUSHER]

Fifth option is find someone who knows how to weld and get feedback. Then practice. Then another round of feedback. Then practice. Etc.

This is mostly how I learned. It was on the job training, but something I decided to learn about. There is a lot of alchemy happening under that arch flash...

 

[Malleus]

No one asked the most important questions: what are you going to weld and why? (brackets and stuff covers a lot of ground)

There are many different welding processes, and equipment to go with them, for a good reason. Each material and purpose has a "best fit" process. If you're looking for general use manufactured items, for the lowest cost, oxy-acetylene welding and stick welding are the easiest to learn and (probably, depending a lot on where you live) the cheapest. These processes allow you to use low cost new or scrap material and will give you plenty of usability.

At the other, extreme end, of the spectrum, if you're planning on welding a variety of materials with a wide range of load requirements, you need a class (or several) and a TIG outfit, in that order.

Like most of the people who answered you, I've been welding and in general, living in various manufacturing environments, for the better part of 40 years. I took welding class in high school, learned from my grandfather on the farm and have traveled a good part of the world seeing how the rest of it does their work. You can teach yourself, if: 1) you're patient (and literate), 2) don't have the most stringent quality requirements (including life-safety) and 3) have time and money to make a lot of mistakes (they are good teaching tools, IMHO).

Lincoln Electric, Miller and Hobart all publish worthwhile information on the subject (Lincoln leads the world in low cost stellar welding publications: New Lessons in Arc Welding, The James F. Lincoln Foundation - Lincoln Electric Education), and just about anyone who can weld will probably teach you if you ask politely. Or pay them enough beer.

HTH

 

[half k cruiser]

madisonr34, dumb question but does the Hobart use gas, or is that mig unit welding without?

No my Hobart is FLUX Core mig, so the shielding gas is inside the wire. A regular MIG machine will require a separate source of gas like the big tanks next to some welding machines.

Just going to throw this out there, the Hobart Handler 140 can be run either gas or flux. Which is nice like me if you don't have enough room indoors to do your welding.

 

[BILT4ME]

Also, it's hard to run a MIG with gas outside in the wind.......

Just take the class. It WILL save you time in the long run. At least THEN you'll learn that you know a lot less than you think you do.

I started out on a stick DC machine on the farm. My Dad taught me well and I was pretty good. I took classes in college and they just helped me up my grade point, but I learned more of the alchemy involved and I also learned how to do MIG and TIG.

I was also very good at flame welding with brazing rod or with steel.

I ended up being a Quality Control inspector for a lot of years with the company I work for. My welding skills allowed me to challenge a number of the welders that do it for a living and would challenge me when I called them for bad welding. I won almost every time. (I had a hard time with a vertical down weld)

Then, if you're bored, you can start reading the manuals for the the American Welding Society (AWS) and review the codes and such for the approved welds and how to interpret the welds you see. (AWS D1.1, 1.3, 1.6) are the ones I have used most of my career. Then you have the certified guys that do ASME code welding and do the hard stuff. Try reading the ASME codes if you're REALLY bored.