Learning to weld
- Thread starter CFSapper
- Start date
Took welding in high school for two years and I can agree with these guys. It's something you have to do to learn it. The more experience with it then the better you get. I used to hate blinding myself lol. I would forget to flip the hat down and strke the rod. Talk about some bright light. Getting the rod stuck was a bitch too.
hey whats up? im a welder, tig mostly. but is THE easiest weld is MIG. the only way your gonna learn anything is to do it your self. for thicker metals yor gonna want to set your volts higher and slow the wire feed a bit. for thiner metal it will be the opposite. there is not much of a weld pool cuz the arc comes strait out of the filler wire. as you weld the metal together make little circles along the seam. when it starts to look like its comin out of the back side of the seam thats called penetration.....LOL. but really the only way to learn is to start f**kin with it.
like others have said- practice, like with math and other things
though then again, I have a couple of friends that started to learn how to weld drunk- if anyone thinks that theirs is bad, I think I could find pics...
though then again, I have a couple of friends that started to learn how to weld drunk- if anyone thinks that theirs is bad, I think I could find pics...
Hang around welding places and get to know the people and you can get some learning and free welding out of it eventually.
I've had someone that was decent at welding use my shitty welder... and the welds came out like shit...
The welder has a lot to do with the qulaity as well. It's a lot easier to use a good welder than it is to fight with a cheapy...
The welder has a lot to do with the qulaity as well. It's a lot easier to use a good welder than it is to fight with a cheapy...
thats the second time ive heard someone say "circles". my other friend says to do that. thats not how i was taught as part of a Cert course..
i was taught to use a side to side U-motion, zigzagging and working my way down, or up... overhead, forehand, backhand, push, pull, butt, seam, lap, plug, butter, fillet, etc.
Lincoln and Miller make great welders and have entry level 120v mig welders that you can use with or without gas if you are on a budget. however, if you have money to play with and have about $800 to spend, i would HIGHLY suggest a Miller EconoTig. itll do ALOT of light and medium duty work as well as AC/DC for aluminum work, including a high frequency start featuer too.
i was taught to use a side to side U-motion, zigzagging and working my way down, or up... overhead, forehand, backhand, push, pull, butt, seam, lap, plug, butter, fillet, etc.
Lincoln and Miller make great welders and have entry level 120v mig welders that you can use with or without gas if you are on a budget. however, if you have money to play with and have about $800 to spend, i would HIGHLY suggest a Miller EconoTig. itll do ALOT of light and medium duty work as well as AC/DC for aluminum work, including a high frequency start featuer too.
If you want a good entry level (it actually is my main welder in my shop as it is fully digital) TIG Welder, check out the miller 180 or 200sd. Fully digital, and they are plenty capable of doing what ever you have in your garage.
They will struggle with 1/2" aluminum....
They will struggle with 1/2" aluminum....
I picked up the Miller 180 SD a couple of weeks ago. It is 1-1/2 years old in almost new condition. I got the welder, new tank of argon, 25 ft power cord and few month old Jackson EQC helmet for $1025.
Unfortunately, I haven't a clue how to TIG weld and know no one who does. This thread has been informative. Nonetheless, anyone wanting to help me out is welcome to beer and use of the welder. :1zhelp:
Unfortunately, I haven't a clue how to TIG weld and know no one who does. This thread has been informative. Nonetheless, anyone wanting to help me out is welcome to beer and use of the welder. :1zhelp:
The Millers mentioned are good choices for linear machines but I prefer inverters. They offer more advantages than just light weight. I own two Thermal Arc inverters, one multiprocess for SMAW, GMAW, and DC GTAW, the other is AC/DC GTAW and gets used the most. Problem is inverters aren't cheap. My two went for around $6K total. If I were to buy a new GTAW only machine today a Miller Dynasty would be the choice.
A few other comments:
Craftsman welders are made by Century. Not bad but not great either. You could do much worse though and they're good enough for most work. If you're going to do a lot of welding pay attention to duty cycle. Avoid stuff from Harbor Fright.
Much as flybyux2 pointed out torch/gun manipulation is dependent on several variables. Joint type, pool size, material, position, ect.
Aluminum (at least the weldable alloys, not all Al can be welded. 2024 comes to mind) can be DC tigged if you know what you're doing (again, bookwork and theory) but there are some limitations to the method.
GTAW machines can't do mig because they're constant current and while there are gadgets out there to run tig on constant voltage machines they suck. I've made better welds with a tig torch hooked across a car battery than using those things. If you want to do both processes you'll either need two machines or a multiprocess one. Expect to pay big money for a multiprocess machine that can also do AC GTAW.
Practice, practice, practice. I have a tiny 50 amp tig torch developed for Boeing that can be run down to 5 amps. I can weld Pepsi cans together with it. Be patient...it takes time.
A few other comments:
Craftsman welders are made by Century. Not bad but not great either. You could do much worse though and they're good enough for most work. If you're going to do a lot of welding pay attention to duty cycle. Avoid stuff from Harbor Fright.
Much as flybyux2 pointed out torch/gun manipulation is dependent on several variables. Joint type, pool size, material, position, ect.
Aluminum (at least the weldable alloys, not all Al can be welded. 2024 comes to mind) can be DC tigged if you know what you're doing (again, bookwork and theory) but there are some limitations to the method.
GTAW machines can't do mig because they're constant current and while there are gadgets out there to run tig on constant voltage machines they suck. I've made better welds with a tig torch hooked across a car battery than using those things. If you want to do both processes you'll either need two machines or a multiprocess one. Expect to pay big money for a multiprocess machine that can also do AC GTAW.
Practice, practice, practice. I have a tiny 50 amp tig torch developed for Boeing that can be run down to 5 amps. I can weld Pepsi cans together with it. Be patient...it takes time.
flubyux2 said:
It really depends on what your doing, but "circles" for the most part will always give you a strong and good looking weld on thin material (as long as you have a good rythem like Jon said.) Now for thicker materials with beveled edges whether it be XXX land, zero land, closed root, open root, ect.... then that is where the straight push or pull and weeve, U-motion, zigzag come into play and combiation of booth for even thicker material.
JJ: got any pics of a pepsi can welded together?
I've heard that if you can do that you can weld damn near anything...
My welder has been used only a couple of times. I used to to weld flanges to a new cat fro my truck (ugliest welds you've ever seen, but I was trying to pass inspection so I could sell it), and I use it for tacking things in place with hobbys and small projects.
The other question I have is about the self tinting masks, are they worth it and are they really safe?
I've heard that if you can do that you can weld damn near anything...
My welder has been used only a couple of times. I used to to weld flanges to a new cat fro my truck (ugliest welds you've ever seen, but I was trying to pass inspection so I could sell it), and I use it for tacking things in place with hobbys and small projects.
The other question I have is about the self tinting masks, are they worth it and are they really safe?
No pix at the moment but I'll see what I can do. When I say weld cans that means butt joints with them flattened or end to end. It's not skill as much as having the right equipment. Inverters typically produce very smooth arcs and mine also does sloping and pulsing. The torch ( http://tinyurl.com/yvem49 ) was designed for precise work. 5 amps of pulsing arc on it's tiny sharpened electrode (they come precision ground) makes it fairly easy. It's doubtful I could do it with a standard torch on a lesser machine. My hat's off to those who can.
I don't consider myself a great weldor. Don't do it enough. Every time I need to tig something thin or do an odd joint type I have go through the hassle of practicing beforehand. In fact sometimes I wonder why I even own such equipment but like most of my gear I got these machines busted and fixed them after chasing down the tech manuals. I'm nowhere near crazy enough to pay what some of this crap goes for new.
Some people claim the repeated flashes an auto darkening lens subjects one to is a problem if you weld all day, say for a living. I don't know how true that is but I prefer one. Mine is a variable shade Speedglas and seems plenty fast. They claim something around 1/25,000 of a second. I've never noticed any problems with it but again, I'm not striking all day long. Good gloves are important too. For GTAW I like kidskin.
I don't consider myself a great weldor. Don't do it enough. Every time I need to tig something thin or do an odd joint type I have go through the hassle of practicing beforehand. In fact sometimes I wonder why I even own such equipment but like most of my gear I got these machines busted and fixed them after chasing down the tech manuals. I'm nowhere near crazy enough to pay what some of this crap goes for new.
Some people claim the repeated flashes an auto darkening lens subjects one to is a problem if you weld all day, say for a living. I don't know how true that is but I prefer one. Mine is a variable shade Speedglas and seems plenty fast. They claim something around 1/25,000 of a second. I've never noticed any problems with it but again, I'm not striking all day long. Good gloves are important too. For GTAW I like kidskin.
Poodles said:
they are definitely worth it - The mask I have used at work is a miller auto darkening, adjustable shade, adjustable response mask - It is amazing, and I think I've been flashed all of once. Not exactly the cheapest masks though.
I use a Miller Elite series auto-darkening hood and do weld pretty much all day, 5 1/2 days a week. In my typical 55hr work week, I'd be willing to bet that I spend between 35 to 40 of those hours under the hood with an arc going and I have never had flash burn from it.
On the topic of equipment, the quality of your welds will very depending the quality of your equipment. This is especially true when it comes to GTAW (Tig).
On the topic of equipment, the quality of your welds will very depending the quality of your equipment. This is especially true when it comes to GTAW (Tig).
Damn cj, it must be second nature to you by now.
I didn't think there was anything to that claim. I've heard from some pros even if there was a risk they still prefer autos to avoid flashing from nearby coworkers.
Someone recently gave me one of those cheap bench top bead blasters. I'm going to turn it into a glove box and try my hand at Ti. I did some orbital welding back in the day but that was more machine setup than skill and about a year ago I had the chance to watch a 6 axis robot in action. I'll never be that good
I didn't think there was anything to that claim. I've heard from some pros even if there was a risk they still prefer autos to avoid flashing from nearby coworkers.
Someone recently gave me one of those cheap bench top bead blasters. I'm going to turn it into a glove box and try my hand at Ti. I did some orbital welding back in the day but that was more machine setup than skill and about a year ago I had the chance to watch a 6 axis robot in action. I'll never be that good