How hard is TIG to learn

[Arc weld]

Oxy-acetylene is mostly obsolete because of MIG not TIG. TIG has been around longer than MIG but O/A was predominately used in muffler and exhaust shops. With the all in one machines like the Millermatic coming out in the early 70's, it didn't take long for the O/A torches to get phased out. MIG is much easier than TIG. My teacher in school worked a lot of huge construction projects and said Monel is about the hardest material to TIG because it has the consistency of butter when it's melted.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

I don't for a minute believe Oxy Acetylene welding is obsolete. Neither does the FAA. Oxy fuel is perfect for the repair of airplanes, in the bush areas, and even other places. It is good for repairing gates, chutes, and corrals on ranches and farms. Oxy fuel welding is really the best method of teaching puddle acquisition skills and basic manipulation skills.

I have found that a lot of instructors shy away from Oxyfuel welding because they don't have a grip on it, or never have done it. In my opinion, this is the gateway welding process. Sure you can skip it, but it offers valuable experience in heat control, penetration, manipulation and puddle recognition faster than any other process. And all the skills learned cross over to all the other main welding processes.

But even if it is a wash with advantages/disadvantages and is outdated, starting with Oxyfuel is a good idea anyway for the hobbyist, because it offers the option of cutting, brazing, or welding at an economical price point. A lot of guys I know want to buy a welder first, then later worry about how to cut the metal. For a few hundred dollars, a guy could even be welding aluminum with Oxy Fuel rather than spending several thousand on a AC/DC TIG welder to do the same thing. Every shop and home garage of a hobbyist should have oxyfuel backup, even if they have a plasma cutter. There are times when there is no substitute.

 

[k0ua]

It is handy for heating up and bending stuff too.

 

[IslandTractor]

I don't for a minute believe Oxy Acetylene welding is obsolete. Neither does the FAA. Oxy fuel is perfect for the repair of airplanes, in the bush areas, and even other places. It is good for repairing gates, chutes, and corrals on ranches and farms. Oxy fuel welding is really the best method of teaching puddle acquisition skills and basic manipulation skills. I have found that a lot of instructors shy away from Oxyfuel welding because they don't have a grip on it, or never have done it. In my opinion, this is the gateway welding process. Sure you can skip it, but it offers valuable experience in heat control, penetration, manipulation and puddle recognition faster than any other process. And all the skills learned cross over to all the other main welding processes. But even if it is a wash with advantages/disadvantages and is outdated, starting with Oxyfuel is a good idea anyway for the hobbyist, because it offers the option of cutting, brazing, or welding at an economical price point. A lot of guys I know want to buy a welder first, then later worry about how to cut the metal. For a few hundred dollars, a guy could even be welding aluminum with Oxy Fuel rather than spending several thousand on a AC/DC TIG welder to do the same thing. Every shop and home garage of a hobbyist should have oxyfuel backup, even if they have a plasma cutter. There are times when there is no substitute.

I agree 100%. Additionally the same setup can be used to braze and brazing is a very valuable and underutilized bonding method. Oxyfuel is also the welding kit that doesn't need electricity or helmet. And, it's just plain fun to do.

 

[handirifle]

Whoa there! Safety Police! Coming through! You really, seriously shouldn't be thinking of welding up a pressure vessel as a good reason to learn TIG. There is a whole set of tests people need to pass to successfully weld on pressure vessels. For good reason. I will do a lot of things myself, but this is well beyond anything I would dare try, especially as a learning experience... Learn TIG, sure, but not to do that. JMO

Point taken, but rest assured IF I learn TIG that would not be a first project, if at all with TIG.

 

[yomax4]

I don't for a minute believe Oxy Acetylene welding is obsolete. Neither does the FAA. Oxy fuel is perfect for the repair of airplanes, in the bush areas, and even other places. It is good for repairing gates, chutes, and corrals on ranches and farms. Oxy fuel welding is really the best method of teaching puddle acquisition skills and basic manipulation skills.

I have found that a lot of instructors shy away from Oxyfuel welding because they don't have a grip on it, or never have done it. In my opinion, this is the gateway welding process. Sure you can skip it, but it offers valuable experience in heat control, penetration, manipulation and puddle recognition faster than any other process. And all the skills learned cross over to all the other main welding processes.

But even if it is a wash with advantages/disadvantages and is outdated, starting with Oxyfuel is a good idea anyway for the hobbyist, because it offers the option of cutting, brazing, or welding at an economical price point. A lot of guys I know want to buy a welder first, then later worry about how to cut the metal. For a few hundred dollars, a guy could even be welding aluminum with Oxy Fuel rather than spending several thousand on a AC/DC TIG welder to do the same thing. Every shop and home garage of a hobbyist should have oxyfuel backup, even if they have a plasma cutter. There are times when there is no substitute.

I can't say that I do a lot of Oxy-Fuel welding anymore but Soldering, Brazing and actual Welding should be where you start. I agree that you can learn a ton about a puddle while running a big clubby Oxy-fuel set up. People that master this often make awesome tig welders. I think that if you weld. You should learn as many processes as possible including oxy-fuel.

 

[Arc weld]

O/A welding is very useful to know and although it isn't obsolete, it isn't used nearly as much as it used to be. Brazing, soldering and other non fusion applications are still popular but welding with O/A isn't. You can't lump everything that uses O/A in the same category just like you can't put all arc welding in the same category. For learning about the puddle nothing beats O/A.

 

[dickfoster]

As a former welder, welding instructor and quality assurance manager, we always teach stick welding first. That is the foundation on which a welding student builds his experience. Stick is not that hard to learn, but like all welding, it requires a steady hand, but much less eye hand coordination than TIG. TIG requires the use of both hands so ambidextrous students do really well with TIG. The best TIG welders will be able to hold the torch with either hand as well as feed the wire with both hands. Stick welding CAN be done with the strong hand braced with the weak hand although again, being able to use both hands equally well is a big plus. Sometimes you just cant get into position to use your strong hand all the time. When I learned TIG, I had been stick welding for many years having started leaning in 9th grade shop class in high school. I had been professionally welding pressure piping for about 3 years when the opportunity came up on a construction job to learn TIG. Actually they wanted a skilled TIG welder to learn to weld nickel and monel and I said sure I can TIG. I didn't even know how to hook up a TIG rig at the time but a kindly pipefitter foreman showed me how to do the basic stuff like hook up the gauges and set the flow rate, sharpen the tungsten, fit up the pipe nipples for testing. It didn't take me long (a couple of 10 hour days) to get good enough to TIG weld up a welding pipe test coupon that looked good visually but they kept me in a test booth for a full 40 hours before allowing me to go take the pipe welding test on nickel. This was in 1974 and the test cost the company over $1000 each so they wanted to make sure I would pass which I did and thus began my career as a Stick and TIG certified pipe welder. Over the years I certified on just about all alloys used in refineries and chemical plants but always, the stick rod test had to be passed first then the TIG was given if you passed the stick. Rarely did the company I worked for allow just TIG certified welders to hire on, it is just more difficult to assign welders to a job if they can only weld one process.
Anyway, the beauty of TIG is the arc and filler metal control that is possible with the right machine just about anything can be welded. I once tacked two pieces of aluminum foil from a cigarette pack together just to show a guy that I could do it.

MIG welding seems to be THE THING with most hobby welders now since it takes the least amount of practice to make a "pretty bead" which may or may not be a STRONG bead. The bad thing with MIG is that you can make a pretty bead but if the machine isn't set right, it wont be tied into the base metals very well and will break easily. Many times the non-fusion of the weld bead is hard if not impossible to see visually or even with an xray which is why many companies still wont allow its use for in-situ (field) welding of pressure piping. They allow it in fabrication shops where strict quality control of the voltage and welding process is possible but that is usually all that is allowed.

So in conclusion to my long post, if you want to weld, start with stick then TIG or MIG afterwards. Oxy-Acetylene is just about obsolete since the use of TIG came about. TIG can do anything that oxy-fuel can do and do it better and faster with lots less heat affected zone. About the only thing oxy-fuel is still used for is brazing of copper for plumbing fixtures.

I don't think so. Oxy/Gas welding, brazing, soldering, cutting and heating has many uses. oxy/gas is likely the most versatile and most economical welding setup one can buy while it teaches basic skills that can later be applied to electrical welding. It's very similar to TIG so I think TIG is likely easier for someone who can first weld with gas. Gas welding is not about to go obsolete and it likely the best first step for anyone getting into welding. If I had only one welder, it would be an Oxy Acetylene gas rig simply because it is the most versatile.

 

[Arc weld]

Just for the welding portion, for most projects other than thin material O/A would be cost prohibitive. Brazing, cutting, soldering and heating is not the same as fusion welding and all these applications have other options for fuel gas as well.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

I have found that a lot of instructors shy away from teaching oxy fuel welding and brazing for at least 3 reasons. 1) They don't know how themselves, or weren't taught this aspect along the way. 2) Don't have or won't take the time needed during the oxy-fuel part of the course to ensure proficiency is achieved and want to rush through this stage to get to other more common forms of welding. 3) Few modern teaching materials exist in the instruction of the art.

A smaller torch can be used, so it doesn't have to be as big and clubby. Even so, if it is a club, it teaches patience and control. Bonus Anyone that has learned to weld with a cutting torch won't whine about the size of the torch they are using. They can make a good, sound weld with anything they are handed in the way of a TIG torch.

 

[Arc weld]

I think part of the reason it's not included much in schools anymore is likely because to teach multiple students you need an acetylene manifold system. I've heard even in apprenticeship training there's not much focus on stick welding either.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

There's not a lot to a manifold system. Most welding schools I know of do teach stick, unless a person has a special focus.

 

[Arc weld]

An acetylene manifold has to have a flashback arrestor and the cylinders stored in a separate area. Then you have plumb it all it all in so it's a little bit involved. They still teach stick but where it used to be the main focus, that has shifted to MIG and flux-core. Wire feed processes have taken over most fabrication shops but there's still a lot of field work that is so much easier to do with stick.

 

[orezok]

I O/A welded for 30+ years before I got my first MIG. I got reasonably good at MIG but it took time and then bought a TIG. Hallelujah! TIG is an electric version of O/A and great welds happened almost immediately! I can see the puddle and control the heat perfectly with the pedal.

I feel like I have 30 years of experience with the TIG.

 

[IslandTractor]

I learned on oxyfuel and find it is by far the easiest way to learn about puddles and puddle control. As I do most of my welding outdoors I have to choose between stick, oxyfuel and flux core. If the job allows it I usually choose oxyfuel. I don't use it for welding much more than 10-12 gauge sheet but I just find it more satisfying. It's actually pleasant to weld with gas. No smoke. Like TIG, it is also much easier to clean up welds as you are welding and leave a weld that doesn't need much prep before painting than either stick or flux core. I'm glad I learned in oxyfuel and still use it. .

 

[Sberry]

It depends on the goal. Most of the worlds work is done in steel and a mig is the real workhorse for results in a small shop. Start there and see whats left once that is in place, I am a career welder and got them all, I could really do most of it small mig.

 

[GManBart]

I agree 100%. Additionally the same setup can be used to braze and brazing is a very valuable and underutilized bonding method. Oxyfuel is also the welding kit that doesn't need electricity or helmet. And, it's just plain fun to do.

Yep. I started with brazing, then oxyfuel welding and while I haven't done any oxy welding since starting to stick weld, brazing has come in very handy a couple of times already....as recently as last night. I'm still a novice at brazing, but have managed to get strong, if not super pretty, results so far.

 

[alexebdra453]

I also step up to a welder with a 220v stick. A lot less going on than with a tig. For a lot less $$$, you can pick one up and it'll handle the big stuff. You will need the welder with TIG, and then a tank and the consumables, a hand full of rods, and the welder with a stick, and you are good to go. You can just have a torch, thumb-slide or foot peddle and a rod with TIG. There's a lot more going on. If you're just an OK sort of MIG welder, I'd go to stick with the easiest welding process.