Welding guys

[skeets]

OK since I do not weld, and was told when I tried to learn that i was,,, unteachable ,, so I am conceding giving it a try any way. So with that in mind I have some light things that need attention like the ainti scalp wheel bracket on the deck, and a few other things I would like to try. Money and experience are prime issues, here so please nothing about a bigzap 5000 welding parlor just down and dirty, so if I give up or die I aint lost nuttin.
I was reading about the laser welding ,easy and holds will, not good for heavy duty stuff expensive, Mig smaller units good for like stuff, not real easy to learn, still not cheap, stick welders not cheap good for just about anything, hard to learn.
These are things I read , how true I have no idea. SO input from you guys that know how to glue stuff together, and I do have 240

 

[Tughill Tom]

Mig is the go to. Practice, Practice..... And Practice some more. You'll get it, go slow.
You can get a basic 120/240 V volt unit and use Flux Core wire for under 1K when on sale.
A good Grinder is a big help as well.

 

[jimh406]

There are lots of videos on YouTube that teach welding.

I agree try a MIG. I have a Miller, but some people say their Harbor Freights and Amazon Migs work fine.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Laser welding in the ads and commercials that you see is for the most part a scam.
They suck you in with fancy trickery.

Yes there are units that can do that kind of welding, but they are expensive.

A mig welder is the easiest to learn, you can get a simple unit fully equipped for around $500.

 

[Workerbee]

Migs the easiest, but a stick welder can do a lot too, at much less cost. Id bet your local marketplace or craigslist has a few good units. Lots go cheap 1-200$ and lots come with most of what you’ll need. Rods wont break the bank either.

 

[85Hokie]

Believe it or not the Flux Core welder at Harbor Freight is not a bad beginner welder. For under $200 - it will handle 90% of the things you'll ever need, hell it is allllmooost idiot proof. I use it at work on all the things dumbasses break - which seems to be a lot lately.

Are there better welders? O yes - but for the cost, this aint a bad one, get cha a good helmet and gloves too.

 

[GeoHorn]

For a complete amatuer…the HF unit is likely fine. A really durable Hobart unit is better…but will run $800.

A wire-feed MIG unit…. is almost as simple as a hot-glue-gun. The most common mistake…is holding the gun too close, too far, ..and running the heat too cold.… all of which are easy to learn for projects like you just mentioned.

(Especially with the advent and now-common,self-dimming cheap visor-helmets.)

DO IT! (You’ll wonder why you waited so long.)

PS: KEEP FIRE EXTINGJISHERS AND/OR WATER HOSE NEARBY…. you WILL set the grass on-fire!

Also…KEEP PETS and Children away. Pets have no concept and will be blinded if you allow them to watch.

Get and USE proper welding clothing.

WEAR long-sleeve welding jackets. Your forearms WILL become cancerous if you expose the skin to what amounts to direct-sun.
Avoid clothes and shoes you value. You WILL drop a spark inside your shoes.
And you WILL forget…and grab a piece of work you just-finished…..with your bare hands and burn the sheet out of yourself.

And welding overhead will make you a believer in a cotton cap with a bill….which you wear over your EAR…. to keep sparks from dropping inside the ear-canal.
BTDAT

(A = ALL)

 

[PoTreeBoy]

Mig is the go to. Practice, Practice..... And Practice some more. You'll get it, go slow.
You can get a basic 120/240 V volt unit and use Flux Core wire for under 1K when on sale.
A good Grinder is a big help as well.

I recommend a Yeswelder MIG205, Arccaptain MIG 200, Primeweld, . . . 110/220v multi-process rig capable of MIG, flux, stick, even scratch TIG supposedly. Available for around $500. Or Harbor Freight Titanium equivalent for about $1000, if you feel more comfortable with a store front.

And, yes, a good grinder with good grinding disks. Grinder and paint make me the welder I ain't.

 

[AndyM]

"Grinder and paint make me the welder I ain't."

I like that.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

If possible, I recommend taking a class at the local college.

The term “Train Wreck” comes to mind when I look back at my “YouTube learning to weld” attempts.

After the 2nd college class, the difference was “night and day”.

And by the end of the class's, the difference was incredible.

Having a guy that knows what he is doing standing there, correcting you as you go, makes a Yuge difference.

 

[PHPaul]

If possible, I recommend taking a class at the local college.

The term “Train Wreck” comes to mind when I look back at my “YouTube learning to weld” attempts.

After the 2nd college class, the difference was “night and day”.

And by the end of the class's, the difference was incredible.

Having a guy that knows what he is doing standing there, correcting you as you go, makes a Yuge difference.

Some Adult Ed operations offer a beginner course as well. Cheaper, shorter and an excellent way to find out what you don't know.

 

[Yooper]

It’s all about your eyes. They tell your hands what to do. If you wear bifocals or use cheater glasses to see up close you will have to use them under the helmet. I have cheater lenses in all my helmets that are available at the local welding store and they are not expensive. I’m sure you can find them online.

The advice given so far has been very good. I agree that mig is the way to go but I have to add that the surface preparation is critical to get a good weld with mig. It is not very forgiving. A 4-1/2” grinder to clean the surface of the metal will go a long ways to getting the welding party started

 

[ChiefWebb]

Mig for indoor and flux core for outdoor windy conditions. Get a decent Mig machine, bottle of C25 gas, spool of solid Mig wire and a spool of flux core wire. An auto darkening helmet will help you out. Spend a day of laying down beads on flat steel and after you get the hang of it spend a couple of days welding filet welds on two pieces. Watch some videos for visual basics. I bet you get the hang of it in no time. Of course you will need protective clothing, gloves, wire brush, grinder, pliers....

 

[Russell King]

For lighter work the MIG or fluxcore wire welders are the way to go.

MIG needs to be done out of the wind or the weld is not shielded. But it is super clean when you are done. It should be the first type of welding taught since there is less complications in getting the weld onto metal so it helps you get going faster and see results, sort of like the Suzuki method in music. You get to do a weld instead of getting frustrated by sticking a rod to metal several times and then get a bead going.

MIG does need clean material as already mentioned, but that is what grinders, wire brushes and burnishes are for. You will use an angle grinder about the same amount of time as on a stick weld, it is just used before the weld is placed in MIG but after the weld is placed in stick welding.

MIG welding is more of a “push the button and weld” system where stick is a “try to start an arc a few inches away from your hand with a stick that is shaking and don’t get stuck but you have to touch the metal with the stick to get started” system. In MIG you will need pliers to cut the wire outside the tip but then you just get the wire close to where you want the bead to start and push a trigger and the weld bead just starts. You only have to worry about how fast you are moving the weld along, not that plus having to move your hand closer as you weld. As stated it is sort of like a glue gun or a caulking gun, just hotter.

As far as being unteachable to stick weld, that is just a lazy teacher that didn’t want to put in the effort to correct several minor mistakes you were probably making. It is more difficult to get started with stick welding but unless you have some physical disability just about anyone can get a weld bead laid down and learn enough to get materials stuck together. You may never feel comfortable doing something that is complicated and deals with life ending failures but mostly you just want the parts to stay together through some abuse.

 

[Botamon]

It’s all about your eyes. They tell your hands what to do. If you wear bifocals or use cheater glasses to see up close you will have to use them under the helmet. I have cheater lenses in all my helmets that are available at the local welding store and they are not expensive. I’m sure you can find them online.

Absolutely true. But as you get older there's another factor....steadiness of the welding rod. Now that I'm about to turn 80 I find my hands are shaky...on another forum I saw a member call it "tremors". How do you put down a good bead when your hands shake? So far I've been able to get by with using two hands - one to hold the rod holder and the other (with welding glove of course) holding the welding rod itself to steady it somewhat. Otherwise the end of the welding rod is moving all over the place instead of right where you want the bead.

 

[D2Cat]

Skeets, even if you don't have a steady hand you can learn to support the dominate hand with the other at the wrist to allow almost anyone to weld.

I agree with checking with the local HS or Jr. college for a class. You'll learn so much so fast you'll kick yourself in the butt for waiting. You'll learn enough to do just about anything a welding machine can do. I remember to listen for the frying egg sound! Still think about that when welding.

 

[jaxs]

Mig CAN GIVE a false appearance of good weld when in fact it's weak. Done right it's great for projects that need good appearance. I'd suggest using the flux core until you get the hang of it. You can't go wrong with a $100 stick off Craigslist until you know what you want. You can always get your investment back. BTW, there's two versions of stick, ac and dc. A stick that does both can do anything guys like us want and do them well. If you can't take a class, at least have someone look over your shoulder a couple of sessions to ger started.

 

[PHPaul]

Absolutely true. But as you get older there's another factor....steadiness of the welding rod. Now that I'm about to turn 80 I find my hands are shaky...on another forum I saw a member call it "tremors". How do you put down a good bead when your hands shake? <snip>

I use a couple of approaches to steady my shaking hand(s) and tired old eyes:

1. Especially when just beginning, whenever possible, position the work so you're welding "flat" not vertical up or down and certainly not inverted.

2. I steady my nozzle hand with one of two techniques, either by sliding my pinkie finger along the surface of the object, or using my off hand to guide the nozzle as close to the weld as possible. Obviously, good gloves in good condition are required.

Don't obsess about buying a $300 professional grade auto-darkening helmet. My Miller Big Window died of old age and I replaced it with a $140 Harbor Freight Vulcan. Works just as well.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

weld....... WHAT ??
very important to know what you want to weld !
hmm... tin 'artwork', car body panels , build your own trailers, repair farm stuff ??

If welding 'thin tin', then a MIG or fluxcore machine is probably best,. For the heavy stuff like trailer building, an old skool 'AC buzzbox' is ideal. I've built +-25 utility trailers with my Lincoln AC-225-S over the past 40 years, using E7018AC rods as well as patch lawn mower decks.
Everyone has their favorite type and make of welder, just like 'oil'.

For sure get an autodarkening helmet ! I get them at Princess Auto for $30, have 2 spares now, have no idea what a $300 does better.

 

[hedgerow]

OK since I do not weld, and was told when I tried to learn that i was,,, unteachable ,, so I am conceding giving it a try any way. So with that in mind I have some light things that need attention like the ainti scalp wheel bracket on the deck, and a few other things I would like to try. Money and experience are prime issues, here so please nothing about a bigzap 5000 welding parlor just down and dirty, so if I give up or die I aint lost nuttin.
I was reading about the laser welding ,easy and holds will, not good for heavy duty stuff expensive, Mig smaller units good for like stuff, not real easy to learn, still not cheap, stick welders not cheap good for just about anything, hard to learn.
These are things I read , how true I have no idea. SO input from you guys that know how to glue stuff together, and I do have 240

Since you have the 240 Volts I say go old school and pickup a old buzz box off Craigslist or Facebook for a couple hundred dollars . I would buy a AC-DC one. Buy some rod and start teaching you self. That's how I did it when I was a kid. A adult class at a trade school won't be a bad thing. You don't need a mig to learn to weld . Learn on a buzz box and then move up to a nice mig when you are doing more welding. I have built a lot of things with a AC-DC welder before I ever had my first mig. I have a nice heavy duty AC-DC stick welder that I still use a lot.