How many members here know how to weld?

[Intlcutlass]

I think I need to learn.

 

If anyone here knows how to weld, give me some sort of direction as to what type of equipment to look into.

Any tips or tricks to any specific method?

[jeremy]

take an introductory class at a local Community College....

[lukee1982]

I would suggest if you are going to teach yourself i would got a wire feed welder most people refer to it as a mig welder. one that will except a gas tank later on but to start out i would buy a machine that uses flux core because it cost's a lot for a tank and the gas to go in it. That is my personal oppinion this all depens on what you are planning to weld and where you are welding if you are welding outside the gas would be blown away from the weld and make the weld not be as strong so a flux core or a stick welder is best.

[GnatGoSplat]

I know I need to learn.

I asked around on UseNet and some truck forums where lots of people know how to weld. I also did Google searches.

 

I think general consensus is the Lincoln WeldPak 100 is the best beginner welder to get. I think they're about $300.

 

I haven't bought one yet because I have enough unfinished projects without adding more to the list.

[patgizz]

when do you need to learn? i'm probably going to do some fab work in the spring and you are welcome to come out and watch/try/learn a little

[Intlcutlass]

Well, I took advantage of where I work (Newark Electronics), and lookad at one of our customer web sites (Lincoln Electric).... I was looking at a model SP-135...... It seems to be a 110v Heavy duty mig unit. My brother in law knows how to weld so I can have him teach me. Looks as if it's in the family of around $500.00. Anyone ever use one of these types... I have jobs like the body work on my cutlass, the trunk in the Fiero, frame rails in the Fiero, mounts & such for the turbo so that I can mount it to the 5 speed going on the Cutlass, piping for air intakes, crossovers, & exhaust......

Can anyone else recomend anything?

[Intlcutlass]

when do you need to learn? i'm probably going to do some fab work in the spring and you are welcome to come out and watch/try/learn a little

 

 

Thanks for the invite Pat. I might take you up on that. I'm looking at doing something in the next few weeks. I started cutting out all the troubling rust areas in the Cutlass last night. I have some areas of my hood cut out, drivers quarter panel, rear bumper (the steel underneath is rusted, but not the frame that it bolts too (thank god). I have learned the hard way, that I don't have the patience for fiberglass.

...... you still have that Lumina???

 

What about that z28 in the garage?

[patgizz]

the camaro is gone, decided to put my time and effort into the 54(which i dont think you saw)

 

lumina is getting z34 body panels one of these days

 

on body panels you will want to look into a panel flanger. what you do is cut out the bad area and use the flanger on it to make a flange where the new metal overlaps the old. overlap welding with thin sheetmetal is definitley easier than butt welds.

 

with the welder even on the lowest setting you can only do a little at a time or it could burn through. you would do like 1/2" here, then move over to another area and do 1/2" there, then move back until its done. that way you dont run the risk of warping the panel either by putting too much heat in one spot. i've only done a little bodywork, just the bottom of the 1/4 panel on the camaro actually, so i dont have alot of sheetmetal experience.

[joey b]

my buddy is teaching me how today. It is the same guy that helps me out with all my car troubles. We are building wood burning furnaces for a barn/garage out of large drums.

[95 3-4]

I would say if your looking to buy a welder I would say to stay away from the 110V models, the 220v lincoln only costs $100 more and it can do so much more and it works so much better, alot easier to learn with good equipment than mickey mouse equipment, also for learning using gas will produce a heckuva lot better welds than that flux core crap, flux core wire isnt cheap either

 

at the shop we have a welder we dont use, a Lincoln "squirt welder" it is 440V and 600Amps, uses 150 pound rolls of 1/8" wire and has a nozzle that sprays powder flux on its welds, we've never used it but I think its name implies it can squirt weld like a hose squirts water, it welded electric motor cases and the "gun" was mounted to a stationary arm, I think the 1/8" wire would kick some if you were to hold it and try to weld, not to mention the heat @ 600 amps

[J]

if u have to learn try it on a mig like it has been stated, u can do a lot on w's with a mig, u don't need tig or anyhitng like that for our cars really. I love to weld it's fun, EXCEPT UNDER YOUR CAR! taht is not fun at all. Like someone said try and go to a community college and take a class that'd be the best way to learna nd get the most knowledge. Later Jay

[conley3.1]

My auto tech teacher kinda sorta taught me how to weld, but i only did it for about 30 minutes... I'd like to learn better too

[Goph]

the easiest thing to weld with is a wire welder and the hardest is a Tig. there are alot of things to do when welding and the best way to learn is to take a class or find someone around you that would be willing to teach you.

It take alot of time to learn how to weld, i been doing some for about a year and I'm to the point that some of my welds are really good but then again i have a 2 welders at my house that i can use when ever i want.

 

also don't have good cloths on when your doing it i start a shirt on fire and also melted the face on my $65 watch(now i take that off). you know it hert when a spark go in your hair.

[Steve LS]

Dont buy a cheap welder. I did. I bought a used 110v gas that appeared to work fine. The money I saved was - it already had a cart made and a regulator. It has a crappy gun and the wire feed is very cheap. I have alot of problems keeping it feeding. It slips so easily in the feed drive. I put a new liner in hose & gun and it helped but not for long.

 

I bought a spool of flux core once. Never finished using it and gave it away. Its something like $45 I'd reather spend the money on the gas. I believe the Lincoln 130 or higher looks to be a better machine than I bought. I now want a $700-800 machine. Im looking at the Hobarts Im seeing in Tractor supply, used to be Central Tractor. I could have afforded a more expensive one when I bought this one. The time I have lost screwing around with that thing was not worth what I saved. Plus being my first welder the problems it was giving me I though were because i didnt know what i was doing. I couldnt figure out why sometimes I could do a great weld and half a minute later I couldnt get a weld going. It would just keep sputtering. I did do a lot of welding with it. Its too slow for big steel so I bought a Lincoln buzz box. Thats a AC stick welder. That thing will melt some steel but not good for sheet metal Chippin flux, sux.

 

Im self taught, take some lessons or classes as suggested, I still want to but havent got to it. I just bought a flanger, much nicer than butt weld as mentioned. Welding with out warping is hard, lessons would help here, but I dont know if they would teach on sheet metal, that would be more of a speciality course.

 

welder just breaks the surface of body work. You need flanger, hamers/dollys, cuttof tool or nibler. Sheet metal cutters suck for long cuts. air tools, compressor. Never ends. tools, tools, tools

[OldsmoBeast]

I learned some basic welding in 10th grade auto class at school, with an oxy-acetylene torch....its fun as shit, and not too hard once you get the hang of it....its just hard to make shit look good...it just needs some good direction to start off and some decent practice....apparently melting coins is also illegal

[dalejr]

Start out gas welding. Grab a coat hanger, a set of oxy/act tanks ,torch head and a couple peices of scrap sheet metal( fender hood quarter etc). Grind them clean on the seams . Then comes the fun part butt them up and have at it. Heat both edges until you see a red puddle and dip the hanger in the puddle using a circular motion of the torch to provide fill. You learn this then you can graduate to a Lincoln 225( buzz box) with a 7018ac rod and about 75-90 amps on 3/16 inch thick and above. 7018 ac rod is very forgiving. THEN ytou can get into the wire feed stuff. If you can foot the bill forget about the flux core stuff cause in my opinion its much harder to LEARN to weld with the coated stuff than to learn with argon gas (unless the wind is blowing) Also try very hard to purchase a 220v unit. They seem to be much more forgiving than the 110v Walmart stuff. Just spot weld sheet metal. WOW Thats the most I ever typed!!

[GnatGoSplat]

Where would you plug in a 220V welder? No such thing as a step up transformer, I don't suppose?

[patgizz]

you would put a 220v outlet in. your breaker box should be 110 down each side, pull a hot from each and a common and you have 220, or something like that. i just watched when my dad put in the outlet for my campbell compressor.

[GnatGoSplat]

Wow, that sounds expensive. My breaker box is in the basement, nowhere near the garage.

 

Will a 110V MIG be good enough for nothing thicker than 1/8"? I can't picture ever needing to weld anything thicker than 1/8".

[Steve LS]

Yea you can weld 1/8th with 110 wire. Since I bought my AC Lincoln stick I dont bother though. I can get done much faster.

 

I put 220 single phase in my shop. What I did was bought the 220 grey underground wire 8 - 3 if I remember right .Maybe 10 - 3. Thats 8 or 10 gauge 3 wire. It doesnt need to be buried to deep, just remember where you put it, incase. I took 220 power out of the house box . and into a box in the shop. You have the ground or neutral wire, thats the bare one. The other two are 110 each. Called legs, so thats two legs of 110. Run your 110 outlets of from one of the two legs but equally like 2 walls of outlets off one leg and the other two off the other leg. Same with overhead lights. Then I have 3 220 outlets. One for the compressor, one for the welder and my table saw is also 2hp 220. One used for the Planer. They are - center wire is the neutral and one 110 leg on one side and the other 110 leg on the other. You want to keep all your wiring the same in the outlets as to which side is the black and which is the white. 220 motors draw half the amperage as 110 thereby saving $ and having more power. The 60gallon 5 or 6hp single phase upright compressors are the biggest you can hook to single phase. I dont have 3 phase so I know nothing about it except that I can't get the compressor I want to really do some sandblasting. I get by.

 

This was the first electrical I did and it wasnt hard at all. Same as mechanical, if you take your time and think about it first and while your doing it it will be right. Double check your work and always be sure that all connections are tightened. Thats what causes electrical fires, loose connections, they get hot and dont blow fuses because that are not shorts. Only strip wires enough to fit into the connectors. Looking at how your house was done by examining the wireing inside your house box will help you catch on quick. Theres always books on the matter too.

 

110 welders on long lead cords dont perform well either, you loose your amperage. This was another of my learning problems. I was welding on my big truck, outside(another problem with gas) and the welder was on a 100' 16 gauge (WRONG! should be as short of 14 gauge as possible) lead cord. You cant draw the amperage the welder needs to perform strong. Kinda like low fuel pressure.

[brian89gp]

I second learning on oxy/acetaline. It is amazing how much you can weld with that thing, all it takes is patients cause it will take twice as long to weld anything. Its also nice cause you can attach a cutting torch to it.