New to welding: Need a lot of Help!

Date 12-17-2002 15:35

Mark, there are three ways to learn to weld that I recommend. 1) Go to a school such as Lincoln Electric, Hobart or a local VO-ED, 2) Apprenticeship, 3) Self teaching with the help of text books and advice from peers. I taught myself to weld to a certain point with books such as THE LINCOLN ELECTRIC PROCEDURE HANDBOOK OF ARC WELDING. After obtaining several certifications I attended a school to learn even more. I later (after many years) obtained my CWI/CWE. I own a business with 9 employees (I started from scratch). I now have an educational program for my employees and for my customers maintenance people. I encourage you to obtain a SMAW (stick) machine first. I believe if you learn to weld SMA, you can easily learn all other processes. Just about every metal you will encounter can be welded with SMA. It may not be easy, but it can be done very inexpensively. You will be a better welder for it if you learn stick first. Also, a point to consider, I only stock two SMAW electrodes - E6010 AND E7018. I have been able to accomplish at least 90% of all SMAW jobs with these two electrodes. I now own many different machines and I do have a different machine for just about every job. But I started out with one old stick machine and I firmly believe it is the best way to start. A GMAW (mig) machine will also do just about everything you will encounter and it is easier to learn. It will generally cost you more to get started though and I personally believe you will be a better welder if you learn SMAW first. Good luck and remember, this is just my opinion and you really can't go wrong no matter what you start out on. Just do the best you can and never accept "just good enough".

Mike Sherman
Shermans Welding

By jwright650 (*****)

Date 12-17-2002 16:18

Mark,
I agree with the train of thought that Mike has for starting out with a good old stick machine and getting the hang of that 7018 rod. It is an any position rod that is alittle fussy to learn, if you never have done it before. If you start out with a 7024 or 7028 rod (drag rods) to learn on, you will get spoiled with it and will have a hard time learning to run the 7018. Stay with the 7018 and practice running some fillet welds and try to maintain a consistant size bead. And like Mike said, "Never accept just good enough". There is so much to learn and anyone who tells you they know all there is about welding, hasn't learned very much about welding.
Lots of good books are out there for reference. AWS has lots in thier store to choose from. Read back through the sections and posts and you'll gain a wealth of knowledge from them. There are alot of knowledgeable people that monitor and comment on various subjects.

To do this for a living you will have to love it, because there are jobs out there where you can go home clean every night. Welding and fabrication is dirty and hot and can be dangerous in certain aspects. But I find it very rewarding building and fabricating, the more complicated it is the better I enjoy it. I've been with our company for 18 years because I enjoy what I do. I've had the jobs where I went home clean, but was not challenging and I got bored with it. If this type of work is for you I say learn all you can about it.
Good Luck in your endevors,
John Wright

By Paul Gilley (*)

Date 12-18-2002 00:06

Mark, the statements from Mike and John are the best advice anyone can receive. Learn to weld with a "stick" machine before trying any other type welder. I used an old Lincoln Idealarc 250 for years before working with any other welding. In fact I still own the machine. It is probably 35 years old and still operates very well. If you learn to control a stick weld on all types and thicknesses of ferrous metal it will be a small task to move on to GMAW (mig) or GTAW (tig). Don't try to learn too much at once but concentrate on learning to do it right. You will learn that every person has a different approach to doing a good weld.

Modern Welding and Arc Welding by Lincoln are just two of many excellent books on welding. Miller Electric has numerous videos that could be helpful to you. I teach a welding program at a community college and we offer classes for nearly any level training you could hope for. The classes are offered day and evening to suit nearly any schedule. Why not check around your region for an entry level class that you could attend? Never accept what you have done as good enough. Remember that "winners never quit and quitters never win"!

Paul Gilley, Welding Instructor
Mountain Empire Community College

By Niekie3 (***)

Date 12-18-2002 20:39

The advice so far has been really good. Just a further point though. If you want to be able to weld thin gauge material (you mention sheet metal) and have a neat finish, I believe you will have to move to GMAW sooner or later.

As you will be just a "home project" welder, I believe that you need to more accurately decide what you will be welding most of the time. (Structural members, sheetmetal etc?) From this, the best approach will flow.

While I agree that the best training ground would be to weld with a 7018 SMAW electrode, I think that you need to ask yourself if you will EVER need to weld with this electrode? On my projects at home I only use 6013 electrodes because they are the easiest to use, and are adequate for my applications.

Welding materials 1mm and thinner using SMAW is a real bugger, and I fear that you may give up rather than actually trying to sharpen your skills to be able to finish your projects. For these applications you will need to use GMAW. It may therefore be cheaper in the long run if you just buy a GMAW set-up from the start.

Hope I have not caused confusion.

Regards
Niekie Jooste