How hard is it to learn to weld?

[dent]

I think its a lot easier to show someone how to weld than it is to talk them through it, an hours tuition with an experienced welder is worth days if not weeks of reading and courses.

 

Bob

 

Gotta agree with this im no expert

But i find thick steel plates with stick easy as you have lots of time to think about what your doing thinner stuff i cant do with the welder i use currently as it is a bit old and worn and is a bit funny on low amps

But i was shown how to do it sent away with some bits of metal then showed what i had done and they told me what i needes to change

 

As for kit auto darkening mask makes life alot easier

Wouldnt even consider anything else to learn with

The little sip inverters are good and allow you to do a variety of different things i think they are good value for wjat they are

[Craig.]

I you decide to go down a stick welding route (MMA or SMAW), and buying equipment, from my experience from having a relatively poor mains power supply here, is to buy an inverter welder rather than a tradition type welder, oil or air cooled. When we both an air cooler and oil cooled set using it after dusk, it would cause the lights to dip and flicker in the house, with the current inverter type you could weld with no problems at the same amperage.

[richy_B]

I did a 16 week evening course at my local college. 4 weeks arc, mig, gas and tig. Well worth it. In fairness all I ever do is arc weld now.

 

Arc welding is very easy to pick up, hard to perfect but isnt anything. What i like is you can have a decent arc welding set up for £250. I found a decent mig unit is more expensive and you need an air cylinder. Couldnt get on with coated wire etc. Like gas as you can also cut but same with mig, you need to rent gas cylinders - too much messing around for me. I have a 32amp plug and thats all I need.

 

In my opinion the key to welding is in the prep. Nice clean surfaces to be welded, test running settings to make sure you are getting enough penetration without melting and distorting.

 

Definitely a skill worth having.

[Mull]

Given that a welder/ plater or the like would serve a 3-4 apprenticeship says it all.

Now getting two bits of metal to stick together while you are playing with a welder is quite easy, how well they are stuck together only an X-ray or someone with experience who'd witnessed the welding could tell you.

 

Don't be welding any tow bars or the like for the first while.😊

[woody paul]

Good quality welder and rod for arc welding and you should be ok. A old welder / black smith said to me once when he saw my cheap welder and budget rod if you can produce that welding that good you can weld.

Never tried mig so can not comment.

[Chris Gagen]

I recently attempted a fairly ambitious project for a person of my skills with welding. Have played with arc welder but never really had great success, decided that practice was the order of the day. By the end of building this false floor I was very happy with my efforts, all I had to do was persevere.

 

My biggest bit of advice assuming you have a half decent welder is to take your time preparing the joints and if possible use new metal as you'll have a lot less prep to do!

Second advice with arc is play with the power level, a little either way can make all the difference. Keep an eye on the angle you're holding the rod to the work also, different joints require different positions.

 

Was really pleased to see the slag curling up of its own accord in the fourth pic!! sign of a good weld.

[agg221]

I thought GMAW (gas metal arc welding) was an other name for mig welding?

 

Yes, sorry, brain failure. I meant mma Given that I work for what was formerly known as The Welding Institute this is not a good thing!

 

Alec

[Stefan Palokangas]

Get a mig welder, point and weld away, read up about weld pool... Get some scrap metal and train... YouTube... I weld everyday and each MM gets tested that's hard.. But a mig welder and put parts together that any one can do.. No one rule keep it clean

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

[cornish wood burner]

I would have thought stick welding would have suited you especially for repairs. However the 1 to 2 mm is as Alec says pushing the boundaries for stick. It would be a while before you could reliably weld that sort of thickness. Do you need to weld 1 mm or can you rivet/ bolt it to a heavier frame if not go with what Alec says. Welding 2 mm is a piece of cake so if that is you limit then stick. Wellington welding Plymouth do a reasonable ESAB 180 inverter which is good value. They would also sort you out with some MIG gear but it will be more expensive and bulkier.

[agg221]

It occurs to me that if you can find somewhere to have a play, trying out mma and TIG would be a good option. This is because you could then consider whether to go with an inverter set up to run both mma and TIG. This would be about the most flexible set up you could go for as it will deal with a wide range of thicknesses and with the right rods it will let you weld most steels (inc. stainless) and even cast iron but do look into this one first as the technique is not trivial - if you can run to it then I would go for an AC/DC inverter as it will let you weld aluminium too with standard gas.

 

A few years ago it was difficult to get the gas for TIG (pure Argon) as you had to rent cylinders paying by the month, but there are now rental deals like having a Calor gas cylinder which work out a lot better.

 

Alec