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re: I want to learn to weld..
Posted on 5/15/24 at 8:46 pm to piratedude
Posted on 5/15/24 at 8:46 pm to piratedude
quote:
when the Lincoln manual refers to the work lead, it means the grounding wire, not the gun part you use on the work. when that is pointed out to you, your welds will improve. or it least mine did.
Your polarity, which way you have your leads hooked up depends on what kind of wire you’re running. Solid wire or MIG requires your stinger to be on the positive and the ground to be on the negative. Fluxcore you want to flip that with your stinger on the negative and the ground on the positive. Trying to weld aluminum with a spool gun also requires a negative polarity.
0
Posted on 5/15/24 at 8:50 pm to Pandy Fackler
I bought a basic welding book from Lowe’s. Just to have the book. It it very well written and illustrated with photo’s. All of the basic info on torches, rods and welding machine’s. All of the settings for the aforementioned.
It even has plans for small projects. These are all over the web also.
It even has plans for small projects. These are all over the web also.
Posted on 5/15/24 at 8:55 pm to Ponchy Tiger
quote:
Plus getting hit with a hot BB or a piece of hot slag will build character
I’m a farm boy welder. I consider myself pretty damn good for what I do but I can’t hold a candle to you guys.
That being said I had a piece of slag go down my shirt and land on my right nipple a few weeks ago and thinking about it still brings tears to my eyes.
This post was edited on 5/15/24 at 8:56 pm
Posted on 5/15/24 at 9:20 pm to CottonWasKing
quote:
That being said I had a piece of slag go down my shirt and land on my right nipple a few weeks ago and thinking about it still brings tears to my eyes.
Yeah, it’ll make a man outta you. It’s even better when you’ve got a hood on and the same thing turns your chest on fire.
Posted on 5/15/24 at 9:34 pm to WalkonQB
quote:
Yeah, it’ll make a man outta you. It’s even better when you’ve got a hood on and the same thing turns your chest on fire.
I’ve caught more than one pair of frayed jeans on fire. I also learned at a young age to never stick a paper towel in your back pocket with a bunch of degenerates around. They will set it on fire.
The funnest games though were filling up rubber gloves with an unlit cutting torch and tossing it underneath someone while they’re running a bead. That boom and scramble never failed to get a laugh out of everyone else in the shop
Posted on 5/15/24 at 9:39 pm to Obtuse1
quote:
Project Farm has a video comparing a bunch of cheap MIG/flux core welders all the way up to a Lincoln and it gives you a short hand to get the best bang for the buck,
That's a good video, I picked up HF Titanium multi-process welder a few years ago and taught myself to weld after watching lots of welding videos on YT. Spent time practicing flux-core on every piece of scrap steel I could find of all thicknesses. Then I built a large pipe-framed gate and it turned out great. For me it wasn't a big jump to get into welding, I already owned fixturing tools, clamps, sawhorses, and several good angle grinders so it was just a few things and PPE to get going. I wired in an extra 240V receptical for my garage, gotta have a good dedicated circuit even for a small welder.
Posted on 5/15/24 at 9:40 pm to Pandy Fackler
Get you a Lincoln cracker box and have fun. Mine has to be 40 years old and going strong.
Posted on 5/16/24 at 7:24 am to MorbidTheClown
quote:
i don't even know if stick welding is thing any more.
Got one right here baw im about to take off the trailer and mount on this truck
Posted on 5/16/24 at 7:31 am to chili pup
quote:
MIG welding is your cleaner weld. TIG is more for soft metals such as aluminum.
Screw arc welding (stick welding)
Tell me you know nothing about welding without telling me you know nothing about welding. 
Posted on 5/16/24 at 7:41 am to WalkonQB
quote:
welding overhead
actually set my hair on fire more than once during my shipyard days.
also, used to wear flannel shirts when I was in welding school. Caught one on fire while grinding a weld down for inspection. didn't realize it til I felt it. Couldn't get the shirt off over my gloves. Luckily one of my classmates helped yank the shirt of and ripped it in half in the process.
Good Times.
Posted on 5/16/24 at 8:04 am to Pandy Fackler
I’ve always wanted to learn to weld.
Wouldn’t want to do it for a living.
My Sunday school class teacher bought a welder to play with. He has fun.
Wouldn’t want to do it for a living.
My Sunday school class teacher bought a welder to play with. He has fun.
Posted on 5/16/24 at 8:10 am to Tempratt
quote:
Wouldn’t want to do it for a living.
went to school for 11 months
welded in a shipyard for 8 months
decided that shite wasn't for me
Posted on 5/16/24 at 8:25 am to Obtuse1
I actually was thinking of TIG
Posted on 5/16/24 at 9:42 am to Ponchy Tiger
quote:
Don't let anyone talk you into going and buying a Lincoln, Hobart, or Miller machine set up.
I'm mostly a self taught welder. I weld something damn near every week mostly for personal projects. I bought the Lincoln 180 (220v machine) and did flux core for my first projects. The shielding gas makes welding so much better. I knew when I started I'd stick with it long term though so adding an extra $400-500 to the machine was less of an issue. Haven't used a Harbor Freight welder, but some of the tools I've used from them like angle grinders and a plasma cutter a buddy bought, make the projects less fun. If the OP is convinced he will stick with it, I might suggest going ahead and paying a little more to get a good machine. I recently bought a miller engine drive for a project I worked on and I love that thing. But $7k for a welder and a way to transport it probably isn't what the OP is looking for.
The one thing I will stress beyond anything else is safety. Welding in tennis shoes is a bad idea. Slag melts the shoe and goes between your toes. shite goes really bad really fast with an angle grinder if you don't know what you're doing. This is where having someone show you how to properly cut metal comes in handy. I know a professional welder that severed his thumb with an angle grinder grabbing. He was a pipeline welder and started his own outfit. I've laid my arm down in a fresh weld and that isn't pleasant. I've been cutting metal only to look up and see that my sparks were aimed at a gas can. I've had cutting disks blow up in my face without safety glasses on. I've been very fortunate that I haven't been severely injured with some of this but I take note of what happened when something goes wrong and really make sure I don't make the same mistake twice.
You spend more time with prep work than you do actually welding. I know it's been mentioned a few times here, but the tighter you can make your cuts, the better off you're going to be. Cutting is equally and arguably more important than the weld in many cases. My goal is generally to get my cuts with 1/16" of where I'm going with it. Doesn't always happen. Learn to mark in a way that you can cut the line extremely straight. Having an extremely flat surface is one of the best tools you'll ever make yourself. I use my welding table on damn near every project including woodworking. You also can never have enough clamps.
Posted on 5/16/24 at 10:40 am to MorbidTheClown
quote:
when i learned a long long time ago we started with Tig, then Stick then Mig. i sucked at tig, no coordination. mig always seemed easier.
TIG is the hardest to master
MIG is the easiest to do but you have to be inside a shop and the metal must have no contamination (rust, moisture, etc).
Stick is the “all terrain vehicle” of welding because you can do it outside in all weather and it will penetrate rust and such. But it’s the “ugliest” bead and takes skill to make stick welding to look pretty. But an amateur can tack something and it won’t look great but it’ll hold
Posted on 5/16/24 at 10:47 am to Pandy Fackler
quote:The main thing you need to learn in order to become proficient at welding, is to learn how to prep the work piece before actually welding.
I want to learn to weld..
For every minute of welding you're spending 3 prepping it. Mig welding is easy, relatively speaking.
You're a baller when you can tig weld.
Posted on 5/16/24 at 10:49 am to Pandy Fackler
Wear long sleeves and pants baw!!
Posted on 5/16/24 at 11:05 am to Pandy Fackler
I wanted to learn to weld too. Here's what I did. Since I didn't know anyone around me that welded I posted an ad on craigslist saying that I wanted a personal welding instructor to teach me to stick weld and use oxy/acetylene. I also mentioned that I was only interested in learning from someone who learned to weld from an accredited welding school (so that I can learn to weld safely). I said that I was willing to pay standard rates.
About a week or 2 later I got an email from a guy who said that he graduated from a welding school 20 years ago and has been in fabrication/welding ever since. It was the right approach for me. This guy came to my house on Saturday mornings and brought his welding equipment. He was a great teacher and was very patient. After about 6 or 7 lessons I bought my own welder and my own oxy/acetylene setup.
Since then, I have welded a small BBQ pit from an old propane tank, welded a heavy duty large firewood rack out of 2 3/8" round pipe, repaired a number of different things, and also created some artwork.
Don't overlook safety! Welding with galvanized metal produces very toxic fumes. There are toxic fumes from all welding really. You can't replace your eyeballs or your lungs. There are some really bad things that can happen with oxy/acetylene. You should learn about the dangers and how to prevent them before you start tinkering with it. Lastly, the angle grinder (especially when it has a metal cutoff disc) can cause all sorts of very serious injuries when the disc comes apart at high speed or when the spinning disk comes into contact with some part of your body.
Learn to weld! Welding is great fun and very useful. But learn to do it safely.
About a week or 2 later I got an email from a guy who said that he graduated from a welding school 20 years ago and has been in fabrication/welding ever since. It was the right approach for me. This guy came to my house on Saturday mornings and brought his welding equipment. He was a great teacher and was very patient. After about 6 or 7 lessons I bought my own welder and my own oxy/acetylene setup.
Since then, I have welded a small BBQ pit from an old propane tank, welded a heavy duty large firewood rack out of 2 3/8" round pipe, repaired a number of different things, and also created some artwork.
Don't overlook safety! Welding with galvanized metal produces very toxic fumes. There are toxic fumes from all welding really. You can't replace your eyeballs or your lungs. There are some really bad things that can happen with oxy/acetylene. You should learn about the dangers and how to prevent them before you start tinkering with it. Lastly, the angle grinder (especially when it has a metal cutoff disc) can cause all sorts of very serious injuries when the disc comes apart at high speed or when the spinning disk comes into contact with some part of your body.
Learn to weld! Welding is great fun and very useful. But learn to do it safely.
Posted on 5/16/24 at 11:47 am to Pandy Fackler
quote:
Is this something I can teach myself to do, watching YouTube videos or whatever, or do I have to take some sort of class?
I want to build a BBQ grill for kicks.
Absolutely something one can learn by doing. You ain't going to come out the gate doing structural welding that would pass muster but things like the grill are pretty simple. The first thing to build is a welding cart. Find a bed frame or something similar, cut it up and weld it up. You ain't going to be stacking dimes but after a little practice it will stick together. Its pretty simple to do....doing it at a high level is damn near impossible for most people but doing it good enough for your own use is well within most people's ability.
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