Hey guys thanks again.. I have no idea what your talking about with the scratch-on stuff or whatever it's called tinker. That was someone else's question you answered. He seemd like he knew alot, but some of his words were a little discouraging. Anyway, a few new things to bring up w/ you. So you billvdh are saying that I can do mootorcycle projects with SMAw or O/A? Tinker Im sorry Im soory if some of my questions might seem redundant, thats another bad thing about my meds, and another reason why I need safety classes. The nearby tech instititute usually offers (through the community college) weekly, nightime, three hour courses in welding one for 10 weeks. This semester there aren't enough people. However, I can still go straight through the school the tech. school and register for their daytime classes. They are w/ HS kids, they only cost $7.25 hr., and I can set them up to however many as I like, which seems pretty good. However, they wont be the same as the adult classes, the pace will probably go alot slower so I got to talk to the instructor. Anyway, by now you guys know that I have MiG stuck in my head for some reason. Most likely because of the automatic feed. Whether the filler is in my right or left hand, it seems to me its going to be alot like soldering (I installed car stereos) which really can get frustrating. And one more thing, the new book that I bought "How to weld damn near anything",
states that flux-core-only MIG welders are out of the question, I can remember why, but most of the models I eyed up were just that ind. well thanks again guys
Bryan
Yes, but remember that I said skilled operator, so lots of practice is in order before you build something that could go to pieces under you at high speed.
You mentioned soldering- did you have a lot of trouble with coordination there? It makes some of the same demands on you that O/A or TIG would.
I don't know what your meds are supposed to correct but if they are causing side effects to the degree that it seems that they are you should grumble to your doctors. Perhaps they can be changed for others. If you will only need them for a short time, perhaps you should wait till you're better before trying to learn a skill that needs fair eye hand coordination.
$7.25/hr is cheap enough. Go, try it out, that's really the only way you can find out if this is for you or not. Slow pace is good if you want to learn well.
Scratch start is where you touch the work with an energized electrode then open a gap to start the arc (as in SMAW). Its disadvantage for TIG is that the tungsten is likely to be contaminated with metal from the work. The other possibilities are, lift start where the machine keeps a very low voltage on the electrode and then looks for the voltage rise or current fall that will happen when the electrode breaks contact with the work and responds with an increase in voltage to start the arc while the gap is still very small or high frequency start where a high frequency AC voltage is superimposed on the welding voltage. When this is present the arc will start over a reasonable gap without any touch being necessary.
A friend has one of the little flux core machines. If you want to weld an exhaust pipe you will never need anything more. If you want to resurface a bulldozer blade you would have no hope. As in many other things you need to fit the tool to the job.
Bill
Bryan,
I posted the question about the scratch start tig, ignore it. Nothing I posted was ment to discourage you. I used a stick weldor for about 2 years befor I new how to weld. Then I got to work with this guy who was willing to really teach me things. In 2 weeks I was welding like I never imagined. He even let me run a cap on a 6" line and it passed xray. Not a huge accomplishment but I learned soooo much when somebody was watching, pointing, and showing. Take a class, get educated, burn up their gas, weld up their metal, and just go into it for enjoyment.
Try o/a welding. It is very similar to tig and it amazes me how steady my hands become when I'm holding onto the torch. I do my best when I'm sitting and calm. It has actually made my stick welding better. Honestly I prefer o/a welding now because its quiet and no uv so I just use some #5 glasses and a t shirt. Tried sandals but you would not believe how sensitive the skin is between your toes.
It takes practice. It takes lots of scrap metal. And many tools you might be overlooking. You won't need them all, some are redundant and some just make things faster, you'll need to see what you like.
Just make sure you enjoy yourself
byron
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