Learn how to weld suggestions

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First rule in welding shop. Don't touch that its hot! I was 8 and there was a neat circle of metal on Dads shop floor I nearly picked up.

Around here vocational high schools have reasonably priced adult ed classes in most technical/trade areas. NJ may be the same.

Just a suggestion... Find a fabricating shop that will let you trade time sweeping up, doing inventory, organizing tools, measuring, cutting, setting-up and so forth in return for some instruction and 'seat time'. There's an awful lot of that needs to happen besides just running beads.

Just a word of caution. If you are planning on doing any structurally related welds for your customers, Due to liability reasons you may want to become certified in welding. This will require testing after your training.

Greg

if you have the time, the community college is the way to go. The one here has MIG TIG subarc and stick courses. Cheap too, I think about $450 for a few weeks of classes. If you just want to screw around for non-structural stuff, the $90 harbor freight flux core mig welder will let you do a lot, I have one and its "good enough". Dont go and weld on a car frame with it! all depends on what you want to do.

I will do the fun stuff at home and leave the real welding for for work... (picture isnt from work, but some of the same type i get to deal with).

Lot's of ways to learn. CC, welder friend, y-tube, welding forums. I am working on a degree in welding right now. What do you want to weld? How thick? What metal? ect....

gzecc said:

I'm a self employed contractor that has interest in learning how to weld for projects. How would you guys suggest learning fresh? I suppose county college course to begin, but maybe there is a better route?
I'm in north central NJ.

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Here in NJ we have a pretty robust county college/vocational system-I would look into that route definitely. Are you in Middlesex by chance ("north" and "central" are in the eye of the beholder in NJ )? They have a great system and probably cheap rates for in-county residents. My dad took a small engine/small equipment repair course at Mercer County Vo-Tech after he retired and now makes a nice little side living picking up dead OPE, fixing it up, and reselling it. Also, Youtube is a great resource. You can spend hours watching videos of dos and don'ts for all kinds of welding. I found a series of a guy who showed all of the common problems (amperage too high, amperage too low, moving electrode too fast, moving it too slow, etc...) and how the welds look afterwards. Just from that video I was able to correct a lot of bad habits I didn't even know I had.

gzecc said:

Probably want general education at this time. Its probably for self use in the future, but who knows, maybe could turn it into something else.

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I have been a professional welder for over 30 years.
I started at the local vocational night school.
I tell everyone else to do the same.

You tube is full of mis-information. Welding has potentially deadly results. Nothing to play around with.

Yes there is some good stuff on you tube but plenty of BS as well.

Several of the jobs I have been called to were to correct a situation that had resulted in a death.

I am not kidding.

Dune said:

You tube is full of mis-information. Welding has potentially deadly results. Nothing to play around with. Yes there is some good stuff on you tube but plenty of BS as well.

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You could probably get yourself killed by doing a lot of the things seen on Youtube, or other areas of the internet. I'd guess anyone who is a member here likely has enough common sense to separate the crap from the good information.

I found out that I could "get by" with a drag rod on my Lincoln Tombstone, and minimal training/practice. Looking back- I can stick metal together, but I wouldn't say that I can "weld"

I did learn a few things about welding overhead while wearing an artificial fleece sweatshirt.

By the way- an article on the great molasses flood points out some welding issues. (My dad said you could smell the molasses in Boston for many decades after the flood)

http://www.scientificamerican.com/a...ction_type_map=["og.likes"]&action_ref_map=[]

Badfish740 said:

You could probably get yourself killed by doing a lot of the things seen on Youtube, or other areas of the internet. I'd guess anyone who is a member here likely has enough common sense to separate the crap from the good information.

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Not really. If you don't know anything about it, how would you know what is valid?

I have trained a LOT of welders. It is always easier when they have already taken a class.

Dune said:

Not really. If you don't know anything about it, how would you know what is valid?

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I get your point but I was referring more to the videos I had given examples of (ie: showing the effects of welding too cold vs. too hot, too slow vs. too fast)-doing any of those things isn't going to get you killed, they're just going to result in substandard welds. I suppose though, it being the internet and all, that somewhere out there is an idiot filming himself doing something stupid and telling the world via Youtube...

Dune said:

I have trained a LOT of welders. It is always easier when they have already taken a class.

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Taking a class was also my first suggestion. Just sayin...

Speaking from experience, don't spend all day arc welding in a short sleeve shirt.

The local tech college spent a lot of bucks on virtual welding training system. I haven't seen it but supposedly most of the welding is virtual, no arc required. The trainer holds a stick and runs it along a joint and the system grades the stick position and speed.

peakbagger said:

The local tech college spent a lot of bucks on virtual welding training system. I haven't seen it but supposedly most of the welding is virtual, no arc required. The trainer holds a stick and runs it along a joint and the system grades the stick position and speed.

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I wonder how it checks your ability to keep track of the puddle? Being a luddite is becoming quite difficult these days...sigh.

Badfish740 said:

I get your point but I was referring more to the videos I had given examples of (ie: showing the effects of welding too cold vs. too hot, too slow vs. too fast)-doing any of those things isn't going to get you killed, they're just going to result in substandard welds. I suppose though, it being the internet and all, that somewhere out there is an idiot filming himself doing something stupid and telling the world via Youtube...



Taking a class was also my first suggestion. Just sayin...

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This is your disconnect. Substandard welds CAN get you killed. Too many examples to begin to list them all. I have testified in cases where ten men died.

Welders need to adhere to a code of ethics similar to structural engineers.

Dune said:

This is your disconnect. Substandard welds CAN get you killed. Too many examples to begin to list them all. I have testified in cases where ten men died. Welders need to adhere to a code of ethics similar to structural engineers.

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Agreed. We were talking about two different things. I was thinking occupational safety and you were thinking the finished product. IMHO you have no business working on a project that concerns the life and safety of others (a pressure tank, a structure, etc...) unless you are certified by some governing body that sets standards for such things.

since we are way off topic here, i will add (since i deal with welds every day) that I dont trust the weld unless the welder is properly certified, the process is properly certified, AND (and most importantly) the weld was visually inspected, mag particle or liquid penetrant inspected as applicable, and hopefully i am able to get a radiograph inspection too.... then I will be happy....

but it all depends on what you are welding. for many things a good "kick test" is good enough. I trust the robots that welded my car, but how about a repair shop... the QA could be quite different...

when i was a tadpole I went to auto body school , learned some basic welding , worked welding lead panels for laser beam electron welders for a while ... I think if i were to do any of that now and "sell" and trust my skills I may as well smoke crack .... I agree with the benefits of training etc.....
If I wanted to do back yard crap and household projects I can go for it .... hell maybe this thread will have me doing some sculptures!

Told this story before. I asked a friend, trade welder, to cut a couple of 2" holes in my gasification boiler hot water storage tank and weld in female pipe fittings. Since the tank is pressurized up to about 25psi with 190F water, I asked him if I should pressure test the welds. He said, no. And then I asked exactly what he did. He said he welds 2500 psi piping at the nearby 2,400 megawatt electric generating plant. The welds were beautiful works of art. And the welder was a cheap, AC-DC stick welder.