Educate me

[jcman]

One other thing, when I told my uncle that my welds weren't very pretty he said, "That's why they make angle grinders."

 

[panamaguy]

Sadly, my only welding 'experience' is running and fetching for welders at my dad's shop when I was a lad. I know you cannot look directly at it without eye protection, and not much else.

I am wondering if it is worth learning a bit about welding (thinking a community college class or 2) so I can someone minor things for myself. In my head, I am thinking I may need to attach hook(s) to my bucket; d-rings or similar to the trailer.

What I would like to know from the community is two-fold. 1) what other things would I likely need to use welding for in my small retirement operation? 2) Do you think it is worth my time to learn at this point?

Thanks,

T

Knowledge does not weigh anything, you can fill your head and still lift it off the pillow in the morning. Go learn all the stuff. Professional welder my whole life and do not regret a minute of it

 

[GeneV]

Here's a couple pointers. The one thing that will make you a good welder as opposed to a bird shxt welder is seeing what your doing. Get as good a helmet as you can afford plus an extra 50 bucks. Next is a decent machine. I will strongly suggest 175 amp 220 volt machine. The little 110 welders have their place, but not for actually welding. Any of the name brand machines will be acceptable. Stay away from the off brand imported crap. You will outgrow it as soon as you learn to run a decent bead, if the machine will even run a decent bead at all.

Hmm, gotta give some pushback here. I got me an Antra auto-darkening helmet off Amazon for $40, and it does everything I need it to. Also off Amazon, Amico 160 amp stick welder (was like $150), dual voltage, and I've welded a bunch of stuff with it on 110v, include my debris forks which held up so far.

I don't think a new guy just starting out, needs to jump straight into expensive gear/equipment.

 

[ovrszd]

One other thing, when I told my uncle that my welds weren't very pretty he said, "That's why they make angle grinders."

 

[SLinc]

I would highly recommend learning how to weld. I can't imagine not having one. Recommend finding some one to at least give you pointers in addition to youtubing it. You'll get lots of satisfaction building and using something you made yourself. And the HF stuff is a economical way to start.

 

[cedricward]

Bought a 135 wire feed welder from Eastwood over five years ago.
(only welds fairly light guage metals) TIG would be better for heavier guage metals)
Bought an RV chassis and made a flatbed for hauling my large items.
Just learned what I needed to know on YouTube.
Learned to have TOTAL body protection (bare arms) to prevent radiation burns.
Have a good wide screen auto blacking helmet, good gloves, leather apron, etc.
You will learn lots by just doing many practice welds.
I got all my accessories from Harbor Freight including a LARGE spool of wire on sale from them.
You will burn up a lot of wire learning.
My Eastwood rig willss use gases, but I don't need them as they're too expensive for me
as is an aluminum gun for welding aluminum, but if you enjoy welding an making your own stuff\eventually you will buy what you need, hopefully before equipment is either not available or goes up in price to be unaffordable (almost there now)
USE A GOOD FACE SHIELD WHEN CUTTING METALS WITH A GRINDER DISK
they can break and explode and kill/hurt you.

 

[California]

USE A GOOD FACE SHIELD WHEN CUTTING METALS WITH A GRINDER DISK
they can break and explode and kill/hurt you.

On that last point, I use the portable band saw for everything it can manage.

It cuts as least as fast as a 4.5" cutoff disc. Its more precise and most important, there's less risk. Mine lives in the same filing cabinet as my mask and other welding tools.

 

[Little Red Tractor]

If you have a class available at a reasonable price, and you really want to learn all the facets before you start buying equipment, it would be a good investment. There are a lot of technologies that are out there now I never learned when growing up in my dad's shop with either gas or stick.
If I had the time and the need, I'd take a class just to find out the basics of all those new things.

 

[charlessenf]

Sadly, my only welding 'experience' is running and fetching for welders at my dad's shop when I was a lad. I know you cannot look directly at it without eye protection, and not much else.

I am wondering if it is worth learning a bit about welding (thinking a community college class or 2) so I can someone minor things for myself. In my head, I am thinking I may need to attach hook(s) to my bucket; d-rings or similar to the trailer.

What I would like to know from the community is two-fold. 1) what other things would I likely need to use welding for in my small retirement operation? 2) Do you think it is worth my time to learn at this point?

Thanks,

T

If you can get into a CC Welding Course as a Senile Citizen (big discounts or tuition Free) do it. You get hands on with equipment as well as mentoring - I'm looking to do it to get to 'play with' wire feed welders and maybe tig and even try aluminium - with someone else's equipment.

 

[Trackerjoe]

Sadly, my only welding 'experience' is running and fetching for welders at my dad's shop when I was a lad. I know you cannot look directly at it without eye protection, and not much else.

I am wondering if it is worth learning a bit about welding (thinking a community college class or 2) so I can someone minor things for myself. In my head, I am thinking I may need to attach hook(s) to my bucket; d-rings or similar to the trailer.

What I would like to know from the community is two-fold. 1) what other things would I likely need to use welding for in my small retirement operation? 2) Do you think it is worth my time to learn at this point?

Thanks,

T

Every time I learn a new skill or buy a new tool or machine I find uses for it I never imagined. Welding is one of those skills that's paid off for me big time. I think it would be helpful to have class instruction. You'll learn more than just how to run a bead or hold that wire feed gun you'll also have access to people that can offer insight into what kind of machine to look at or avoid.