intro to welding books

[dennis leary]

Anyone have any suggestions about a good book for beginning welding? Or is a course the best way to go? Thanks.

 

[Arc weld]

A course would be the best because you can't hear or see what's happening in a book. Also having an experienced welder right there can show you simple things that will improve your welding ten fold. Lincoln has some good books at a very reasonable price if you buy directly from their website. There's a lot of good books on welding though. The Monster garage book on how to weld darn near anything by Jessie James has accurate info in it.

 

[R W]

Try to watch someone who can weld through another shield and get a basic idea on striking an arc and running a bead.
Arc Welding Lessons for School and Shop (A Lincoln Publication) would be a good start.

 

[Baby Grand]

Reading up on welding is great, and Lincoln puts out some great instructional books.
But I also took a class at a small welding school many years ago - 1978 to be exact.
The instructor, who had worked as an underwater welder, could tell from another room what I was doing wrong from the sound of my welding.
You just can't get that kind of help from a book - and let me tell you the first few hours of arc welding were very frustrating for me.
The instructor's help encouraged me to stick with it and made the learning much faster.

 

[FredH]

2 pictures of Books that Were posted here by a Very Knowledge Person with lots of real world experience and I miss him here on this board .



Fred H.

 

[flusher]

Anyone have any suggestions about a good book for beginning welding? Or is a course the best way to go? Thanks.

Watching is better than reading. Start with YouTube videos on the type of welding you're trying to learn. I learned quite a bit from welding videos like these

Instructional Welding Videos

Hanging around a welding shop is very helpful. Taking a welding course is highly recommended if you can find one in your neighborhood.

When all is said and done, you just have to burn rod and develop the necessary hand/eye coordination that's needed for successful welding. Practice, practice, practice and after burning your first 100 lb of rod, you'll be laying down pretty good beads.

Good luck.

 

[roadhunter]

Richard Finch has some good ones.
The Welders handbook is really good.
Welder's Handbook, RevisedHP1513: A Guide to Plasma Cutting, Oxyacetylene, ARC, MIG and TIG Welding: Richard Finch: 0075478015139: Amazon.com: Books

Monster Garage version
Monster Garage: How to Weld Damn Near Anything (Motorbooks Workshop): Richard Finch: 9780760318089: Amazon.com: Books

Farm Welding version
The Farm Welding Handbook (Motorbooks Workshop): Richard Finch: 9780760322512: Amazon.com: Books


Also look for you tube videos. Several good ones out there. ChuckE2009 has some good videos on you tube.

 

[cdavid1944]

I took a class at the local community college. Nearly all hands on with 2 excellent instructors. I bought this book to use as a reference because I can't Google from my shop. It's a question and answer book that has been excellent for me.
Welding Essentials: William L. Galvery Jr., Frank B. Marlow: 9780831133016: Amazon.com: Books

 

[dragoneggs]

I have really enjoyed Jody's videos on Weldingtipsandtricks.com. No BS, great video and demonstration.

 

[Big Barn]

Richard Finch has some good ones. The Welders handbook is really good. Welder's Handbook, RevisedHP1513: A Guide to Plasma Cutting, Oxyacetylene, ARC, MIG and TIG Welding: Richard Finch: 0075478015139: Amazon.com: Books Monster Garage version Monster Garage: How to Weld **** Near Anything (Motorbooks Workshop): Richard Finch: 9780760318089: Amazon.com: Books Farm Welding version The Farm Welding Handbook (Motorbooks Workshop): Richard Finch: 9780760322512: Amazon.com: Books Also look for you tube videos. Several good ones out there. ChuckE2009 has some good videos on you tube.

I think it was Arc Weld that mentioned the Monster Garage book by Jesse James. Glad it was written by someone else. Don't know if I'd want to buy a weld book written by Jesse James....

Terry

 

[Happy Gilmore]

I have really enjoyed Jody's videos on Weldingtipsandtricks.com. No BS, great video and demonstration.

I second that, great easy to follow videos.

 

[roadhunter]

I think it was Arc Weld that mentioned the Monster Garage book by Jesse James. Glad it was written by someone else. Don't know if I'd want to buy a weld book written by Jesse James....

Terry

+1. ^^

 

[Underdog57]

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2 pictures of Books that Were posted here by a Very Knowledge Person with lots of real world experience and I miss him here on this board .



Fred H.

Yeah!! Very much.

 

[Happy Gilmore]

I picked up the "Metals and How to Weld Them" book from Lincoln, haven't read it yet though.

 

[CNC Dan]

I picked up the "Metals and How to Weld Them" book from Lincoln, haven't read it yet though.

The books from Lincoln are a great bargin. They have been arround for a long time, so the writing is a bit dated, but the information is still valid.

 

[Welshman]

Richard Finch has some good ones.
The Welders handbook is really good.
[url=http://www.amazon.com/Welders

I'll second (or third) Finch's Welder's Handbook. I picked mine up at Lowe's. I read it first, then went to the online video's.

 

[Lazy]

Modern welding is the best book on welding there is. I have the 1984 model about 700 pages, the now has maybe a 1000 pages. mine was 20.00 they might be $100.00 now.

 

[IslandTractor]

Welding Principles and Applications 6th or 7th edition by Larry Jeffus. About $120 new 7th edition from Amazon or, as I did, you can get a used copy of the sixth edition for less than $40.

Really excellent for a beginner as it goes through theory and practical issues. Also has exercises to do at each stage. Book was written as a textbook for a professional introductory welding course so it is not so much a reference manual for an engineer but rather a very well thought out and illustrated welding course. Book is about 900 pages so is not a quickie intro to welding but can be used to self teach. I will reemphasize that the diagrams, charts and illustrations are really top notch. About the only thing the diagrams/illustrations etc cannot do is show you exactly what a puddle looks like through a welding hood. Otherwise it can teach welding through self study. I've collected a half dozen welding books and this one is way better as a comprehensive introductory text than the others.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

The Jeffus book is good...but I find that he gets bogged down in non critical discussions and forgets teaching the basic principles of welding. Yes, the exercises are good, but people need tips and tricks and what to watch out for if they are a beginner. That book is designed for someone with an instructor around to give the core part of instruction, imho...

For basic information for welding, Haynes puts out a decent primer. It's not advanced and is in laymen's terms. But it is chock full of the does and don'ts of welding and gives a decent overview and detail of actually "How to". So many welding publications give little more than theory and don't discuss actual technique. I won't post a link directly to some free available copies in pdf (easily done with a google search) in order to prevent a conflict with copyright issues and this site...though I suspect in the older editions with essentially the same information, it may have expired.

I also found an old Military welding manual (Technical Manual and Instruction Guide: Welding Theory and Application, War Department 3 June 1943, Pub.# TM9-2852) that is basic and to the point written in WWII about principles of gas and stick welding. I've not found anything to compare in basics and explaining detail like it. It's a little outdated in technology, but written in plain language that so many manuals and instructional books were back then. Nowadays, just as Jeffus' book is or has become through many redos and editions, books/manuals gets bogged down in the language and just don't communicate simply or plainly anymore
Here is one on Amazon: Welding Theory and Application: Technical Manual & Instruction Guide TM 9-2852: War Department: Amazon.com: Books

I also have an older one from the 70's which incorporates most everything Jeffus book does but in a more straight forward approach and language. It's out of print, but I think there are new, old copies around. It is: Welding Technology, 2nd edition (don't think there ever was a 3rd) by Giachino/Weeks/Johnson published by American Technical Publishers. I think ATP became AAVIM.

I found it here:
Welding technology - Joseph William Giachino, William R. Weeks, George Stewart Johnson - Google Books

 

[IslandTractor]

I agree that the Jeffus book is best used in an instructor led course. That's why I commented that it cannot show you what a puddle really looks like. I'm not sure any book can substitute for at least a bit of hands on instructor backup but the Jeffus book comes closest of the books I've looked at. Combining it with some good youtube videos would be second best if no formal instruction is available.

And, thanks Mark for the tip on the old US military welding manual. Just ordered a used one from Amazon for five bucks.