Learning to weld

[Ride-or-die]

Something i really want to learn how to do is to weld in various ways and various metals. i figure it to be a very usefull skill. a couple of years ago i contemplated going to an evening class to learn. Is this the best/only way??

help from anyone in the know would be good

cheers

[Murray]

I would say my dad could teach you, but seeing as he works away 95% of the time I dont think thats a good idea :rolleyes: I would then say i'd teach you, but I dont know how to weld myself:grin1 Should do really though, my dad is an orbital welder by trade :grin2

[kasandrich]

Should do really though, my dad is an orbital welder by trade


..........whats one of those do they weld all round the world....you said he works away a lot :grin1

[Murray]

..........whats one of those do

High purity welding of pipes for pharmaceutical and electronics companys i.e intel.

[kasandrich]

Something i really want to learn how to do is to weld in various ways and various metals. i figure it to be a very usefull skill. a couple of years ago i contemplated going to an evening class to learn. Is this the best/only way??

help from anyone in the know would be good

cheers

Me too, I did a bit of gas welding 20 odd years ago, but due to lack of access to the gear I have not touched that for years. I had an ARC welder, until I lent it to someone and it never came back! But that is hard going, I was much more successful with Oxy-acetaline. I have only had one little go with a MIG, it was reasonably successfull.

I would love to be able to competently weld, I would buy a little MIG if I could reliably use it.

[stu600cc]

Take a class or buy yourself the kit and practice

[Gixxer-TeZ]

Most of the people where I work have done 5 year apprenticeships and/or are hnc engineers. I did 6 years but that was 2 courses comprising of 3 years plant engineering and a 3 year advanced welding course.
It depends on what you want to gain from it. Do you just want to do bits for yourself or do you want to do it for work ?
As perilous would probably tell you, there is more to welding than meets the eye. Most engineering companies want welders than can vertical and upside down weld and at least arc weld, mig weld and tig weld. Each, although similar, have their own attributes and things you need to know that in the long run only make for an easier life for the welder and give better results.
I personally like stick welding (arc) but am a better tig welder for example, where as one of my mates at work hates tig and prefers mig.

You need to define your targets first then you can approach people with a plan of action.

[Perilous]

Wot he says.:grin2

Yup stick's my favourite too although I probably not as good at it now as I was in the late 80s and nineties when all i seemed to be doing most of the time was coded pipework.:rolleyes:


As with most things though welding (properly) is all about practice and evening classes rarely give you enough time unless your working in the job too and most colledge welders get a bit of a cutlure shock when they arrive waving their bits of paper around and have to work alongside time served people.

Depends what you want to do really.

Evening class isn't bad if you want to just get the basics for a bit of DIY or just want to stand at a bench Mig welding down hand all day with someone telling you what to do.

If you are thinking along the lines of full time welder as a job then generally speaking the income these days no longer reflects the time an effort required to learn all the various diciplines.

Of course if you just want to become addicted to Low Hyrdrogen welding rod fumes like me and Tez then go for it. :grin2

[Gixxer-TeZ]

Yes has it's bad points (quite a few actually) :shooter

Take tomorrow for example. I'm working on scaffolding 170ft up the side of a manufacturing plant welding, and if there is one thing I hate is heights.
Another crap job is rolling and welding duct work in the workshop for 2 weeks solid and feeling like you have bad flu because the sheets your welding are galvanised. Particually bad if your like me and don't like wearing the breathing gear or the correct masks etc.


Has it's good points of course. I'll let you know when I think of one. :grin2

[Perilous]

and feeling like you have bad flu because the sheets your welding are galvanised.

Nothing wrong with a bit of snow in the air.:(:grin2

Fortunately the small amount of galv I have to weld these days is mostly outside so I don't have to suffer it much now.

On one off days of heavy galvanise welding it was a case of get back to the pub a get p1ssed before the symptoms set in. :grin2

I think probably the worst fume I get now (general farmer's stinks excluded) is probably off the arsenic based antifouling they use on the bottom of the trawlers when we (me usually, being the thinnest:grin2) have to get them through the DTI test.

All this air fed helmet and stuff all sounds very nice in the HSE book but not quite so easy when you've squeezed into a space only two inches wider than you are.
Ironic really. I've now had to put up all these smoking is illegal signs everywhere but even in our drafty old barn on busy days you can't see the cigarette smoke through the normal blue haze.:grin2

Most boring job of late has to have been spending a large part of the winter building up and grinding back all the chain cogs on a 40 year old lock gate winch because you can't buy imperial mining chain (used to pull the gate backwards and forwards) anymore. Paid well mind but only really because non of the other welding firms asked were mug enough to quote for it.:grin2

Personnally I just do it for the glamour. :grin2

[RaceMeNSee]

My dad can do most kinda of welding mate...has all the stuff for it...and has done like training and stuff.........But then again.....You know my dad...he used to throw me off the sofa when i was like 6 if i pronounced a word wrong when learning to read! lol NOT the best teacher! hahahahahah