Welding...looking to learn but what is best way?

[955i]

Hi all, looking to learn to weld but wondered whether a short course would be worth it or should I just buy a unit and practice at home making a Triumph/Mountfield hybrid 900cc lawnmower in the garden?

 

Also what method would be most practical to know for vehicle bodywork and chassis welding?

 

Ta

[welsh1]

As a **** welder( just kidding) I would say do a course,otherwise you will become very frustrated when it keeps going wrong.the best welders understand the metallurgy behind the process of welding and are capable of setting their machines and adjusting as nesessary.

 

You can teach a monkey to weld,but to be a good welder and understand the machine and process is another thing.

 

Most collages run part time courses,enrol on one it will teach you the basics and give you a good foundation for your welding future.

 

For what you want the easiest I think would be Mig welding,but tig welding has its place .

[Jim_gsxr1000]

Mig is best for body work, also pretty easy to pick up but is famous for giving cold laps on thicker material !

[hoggysreels]

Me and my mate welded the school fire escape door shut when we were 14 years old. Learnt two things, one l quite like welding and secondly, dont get caught. After being caned "again" we packed that lark in. We ended up going to college "welding" towards the end of the summer term, there was a small explosion. It involve my mate, myself and an expansion pipe off a yamaha, plus welding bottles ... so that was the end of my welding career. Became a motor mechanic "brain dead" for many years, and done lots of welding. No lifes lost, no major incidents! .. which incidently coincided with no outlook on life .. so bailed out of that and became a medic ... anyhow ... mig is easy, just practice, though, best not on fire escape access doors. Arc welding and gas is strong and far more satisfying "l use to weld old landrover panels "birmalux" and stainless welding" (doubt l could do it now)... when you can gas and arc weld 14" pipe upside down, you can say you have got the hang of it ... stick with mig .. its a doddle .. practice makes mayhem as we were told in my old grammer school ... cheers

Edited June 29, 2014 by hoggysreels

[bazzab]

I worked in a vehicle bodyshop for 5 years. Hadn't really done any welding before. Firm had a mig welder I picked it up with scrap metal and playing.

 

Dont bother with a course mate. I have to say my welding has become bang on over time ended up doing all the welding. And moved to work on heavy plant and got.to stick weld 6/7/8mm plate as well. Ended up there main mobile site welder. All self taught. Id take anything on now.

 

Start with gas, the gasless welders are pants and make it hard work. Lowest power setting and wire speed set low. Then slowly increase wire speed and try a weld. If it spatters and spits its not right. It wants to sizzle almost bacon frying sound. You'll know.

 

 

 

Where abouts are ya mate?

[lister1]

Do a course and you may get to learn more than one type of welding. Many moons a go i did engineering at college and the welding unit cosisted of mig, tig and arc.

 

you can practice at home with a basic set up but as welshy said understanding metallurgy and how a modern welder works will make you a better welder. although practicing is what will hone your skills.

 

i'm no longer a welder/fabrcator, i moved into precision machining and have since moved into the office as a design engineer.

 

anyhow, best of luck.

[Dominicrobed]

I learnt at collage when on day relise ( pannel beater ) mig

Then I changed jobs and self taught myself tig.

I could never get on with arch welding and gas welding.

I love tig now but I think you would be best to learn mig welding.

Also different gas bottles help with different metals loads to learn ! Have fun

[andypaint]

Have a look on the "mig welding forum" loads of advice and easy to navigate

[aris]

Check out YouTube channel chucke2009

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/ChuckE2009

 

He starts from the beginning with educational videos on various types of welding

[Alycidon]

Go on a course. when I had a go at electric arc welding all I could do was to create a culinder effect.

 

As others have said the best is MIG, my brother is a pretty skilled welder and uses it all the while. If however you are planning to weld outside be aware that it wont tolerate any wind as it blows the gases away.

 

A

[kent]

I used to be a welder fabricator (many moons ago) Now I am back to it a bit forming another company to produce various things good looking custom dog kennels, transport boxes and a new multi -cut logging trestle I am trying to get registered design / patent on.

 

Courses are good but give quite limited "burn time" you still need to practice and some just never can reach the standards others can, there is something innate in you that's either there or not. Personally I might say a 5 yr apprenticeship however that not true some are great after a year others can do twenty and only ever get to passable.

 

To decide what type of plant you need to look at what you want to weld as below

 

Gas welding- Perfect for thin stuff requiring a small neat bead (can also be used for certain special applications beyond this )

 

MMA "arc or stick" - perfect for outside work as shielding gasses are not burned away and the leads can be very long. Best suited to material 3mm or thicker great for heavy plate, hard facing digger buckets. Can do lots of non ferrous work with the right rods but its very slow for all welding and positional work takes more skill (if a weld looks good it generally is good and vice versa)

 

MIG- Perhaps the most versatile available with shielding gasses normally a 5% argon Co2 mix or flux cored (the flux core I don't rate much). On speed it cant be beaten and you can weld from thin body panels to thick plate with the right set and technique and can do lots of non ferrous though a whole reel of wire will be cost prohibitive for a little job (welding ali with a MIG is like really fast and hard to keep up with if your used to steel). Very position tolerant and the easiest to produce a weld with (unfortunately some welds look great but lack penetration on testing) Don't buy a cheap set there is some right junk about

 

TIG- This is like gas welding some but with a shielding gas and an electric arc in place of just the flame. Wonderful for non ferrous, great for small part welding, very neat weld through the way the weld pool is formed. IMO beyond the true hobby welder due to the gas required, tungsten electrodes and training required. High frequency start is way easier than scratch start, which was the only option when I used it. it was a rare technique when I left the trade some 25 or so years back it was quite new and I am going on a few courses myself to brush up shortly having done comparatively little with what is now classed as very out dated kit

 

The issue with both mig and tig above is used outside the wind will blow the shielding gas creating porosity and weakness in the weld

 

What set for this job? A MIG probably but a good gas one that's gas shielded not flux cored and the price you ay will equate to paying a pro to do it, just on the basis its easiest to learn (not always well but you will produce welds) Don't buy less than 150 amp or you will regret it with inverters you can get to 200 amp or so now, remember its not that you will use the full power your looking at around 60% duty cycle and like a car that does 150 mph we don't buy it to do that speed but perform better at less

 

 

If you go for it yourself, spend a day welding similar scrap and then trying to break welds you have done with a big hammer etc. What you are looking for is no weld failure as this should be the strongest bit

[cuffy]

Teach your self mma(stick) , just find someone to show you the basics then practice practice practice .

Don't get carried away with all the technical twaddle , just do it .

[Catweazle]

TIG welding is a doddle, and the quickest route for the novice to quality welds on most jobs. But, it's very slow compared to MIG so if you have some sills to weld on perhaps MIG is for you. If you want a welding setup that will enable you to do tricky repairs to a variety of stuff occasionally then TIG is great. For welding frames from steel or aluminium tube TIG is the bees knees.

 

My TIG setup is AC/DC with HF start or continuous, which means I can weld pretty much anything that can be welded, slowly. It was invaluable when I was riding a trials bike regularly, welding up aluminium gear, clutch and brake levers.

[welsh1]

Teach your self mma(stick) , just find someone to show you the basics then practice practice practice .

Don't get carried away with all the technical twaddle , just do it .

The technical twaddle is the difference between the 20 factory welders and the one welder in charge of them,while a weld may look very neat and pretty on the surface you need to know how it interacts with the metal it is welding, are you getting penetration,have you weakened the metal with the heat applied,will the weld cause an interaction in the future.

 

When i was a welder i sorted out lots of bodge welds on friends vehicles,it was scary how many chassis had welds on them that looked good but had not penetrated enough to provide a good solid weld

 

It will pay you dividends if you learn the principles and how everything interacts.

 

As the saying goes "anyone can weld, but good welders are hard to find"

[cuffy]

There you go then .

Obviously you'll need to get your degree first

Then probably a risk assessment and method statement.

Then meybee you can have a go .

[Catweazle]

Just to add, if you decide to go for a stick welder, there is a world of difference between a decent AC / DC one and a £49.99 "buzz box" even if they claim the same amps output. A good welder is easy to start and gives you a nice sounding arc that doesn't go out often, a cheap "buzz box" is much more difficult to use, difficult to strike an arc and more prone to sticking once you are welding. All in my humble unqualified experience, of course, no doubt a very skilled welder could do well with either.

[figgy]

I'd say learn tig and mma/stick welding. The tig is clean and you can weld all the main metals and alloys with it,mig constantly puts down metal and can make a right mess.

 

 

You can buy a decent inverter that will do both.

 

 

Figgy

Edited June 29, 2014 by figgy

[thepasty]

I wanted to learn to weld last year, did some research on the net, went and bought a Mig and got stuck in, if I struggled at all a quick look on the net would get me going again.

 

I can now weld

[welsh1]

There you go then .

Obviously you'll need to get your degree first

Then probably a risk assessment and method statement.

Then meybee you can have a go .

Take the advice anyway you like, but good welders have learned their trade and studied the technical side of things,it will always help if you know what you are doing when setting up your mig machine and simple things like rollers and sleeves won't have you scratching your head,learning about weld profiles and under cutting will help you recognise when your weld is not as it should be,there are a myriad of things that can be spotted by a good well trained welder and rectified.

 

You don't have to get a load of qualifications, just do a night school course at your local collage,in the long run it will benefit you when welding.

 

The op asked for advice,there has been some good advice from well qualified welders on here,and kent has laid out all your options for the different processes it is up to the op as to weather he wants to just jump in and muddle along,or get some good solid advice and be shown the right way giving him a good foundation to become a competent welder,who knows he might become good at it and end up a coded welder.

Edited June 29, 2014 by welsh1

[kent]

There you go then .

Obviously you'll need to get your degree first

Then probably a risk assessment and method statement.

Then meybee you can have a go .

 

Ha, trust me I have met plenty well qualified fools but I have also met a few so called pro welders who have "taught themselves" and I shouldn't like to think of them working on things that could o badly wrong, Roll cages and chassis are among those items.

[Ricko]

I think people here are confusing being a welder and doing some welding.

Thankfully I am of an age where I benefited from a good secondary education at the local comprehensive.

O level Metalwork grade A

Followed by a stint at a good old fashioned Technical College

BTEC HND

Get someone to show you the basics and then get practicing.

[kent]

I think people here are confusing being a welder and doing some welding.

Thankfully I am of an age where I benefited from a good secondary education at the local comprehensive.

O level Metalwork grade A

Followed by a stint at a good old fashioned Technical College

BTEC HND

Get someone to show you the basics and then get practicing.

 

Exactly get someone competant to show you THEN get practicing

[darren m]

i,d like to learn to weld too , just for my self , car repairs etc .

 

what would be the best kit to buy for beginners

[kent]

i,d like to learn to weld too , just for my self , car repairs etc .

 

what would be the best kit to buy for beginners

 

I still think gas has a lot going for it as regards a lot of car work. Car and vehicle welding is far more dangerous than many think trust me I have burnt two cars and had a burning tractor lurch its way into the workshop one day. Thing is they contain fuel and many other combustibles, one should tread carefully and carry good insurance if its someone else's car.

I suppose the most popular is MIG for this work now though popularity don't mean everything

[Ricko]

I bought a Clarke MIG 100 from Machine Mart in 1991

Still works fine

I used to weld sills on MOT failures with it

And have done some other constructions with it eg trailers etc

I use CO2 pub gas these days as it works out cheaper than renting a bottle