Learning to weld

[Mancar1]

I am going to get a welder and learn how to weld. 60 yrs old and never welded. Done just about all mech. on older vehicles, but not welding. Would a 110 be good? Wire feed? What kind? All input welcome. Thanks

[fordman]

that depends on what you are welding. if you are welding body panels you want a mig wire welder. if you are welding plate steel and pipe a arc welder is fine for that. arc welding fo rme is easier than mig welding. but that may be the material i weld up too.

[fireguywtc]

110 is ok for welding sheet metal. In my opinion it needs to be mig with shield gas or else you are just waisting your time. Flux core is only good for welding stuff you don't care about like fences or something. Shield gas makes it go so smooth and regulates the heat much better. It is just mandatory for welding on vehicles in my opinion.

[stephen44]

I did the same as you - I bought a Hobart Handler 140 with gas - and used the easy grind 0.25 wire

http://products.esabna.com/EN/home/fill ... ory_id.504

"Spoolarc Easy Grind is a fully deoxidized wire designed to weld over moderate levels of rust and paint as are commonly encountered in auto body repair work. Easy Grind produces welds that easily exceed the tensile requirements of ER70S class wires.
Easy Grind is produced in small diameters and are appropriate for the low current welding machines commonly used in body shops."

this made it possible to weld the panels on my truck

- Stephen

[big block]

having burnt up a couple welders in my career all i can recomend is a miller or a lincoln 110 / 145 amp will be fine for all sheet metal if you want to weld plate 1/4 in or more you need a 230 v 260 amp welder grab some old metal panels and practice first before you do truck good luck wes

[Mancar1]

Thanks for the input.

[fordman]

in learning to weld they tell you to make small circles while you are welding. that is what makes the puddle on the weld itself.

[Racer Z]

220 volts if you want to weld anything real and not overheat your welder. Check into the "duty cycle" of the welders. Most of the small "home units" can only run for 2 minutes and then need to cool for 8. That depends on how high you turn up the amps. The thicker the metal, the more amps you need.

Take a welding class. I'm starting one in January at my local high school. It's an evening Adult class.

[eggman918]

I have an old Lincoln 220v A/C buzbox it is fine for most garage work but 75 amps to the rod is as high you can run it constant.
Go to the local steel yard and buy various remnants sing up for a class get an auto darkining hood that will help a lot and start burning rod
that way when you start the class it will make more sense to you faster
Good luck and have fun!
Steve.

[Racer Z]

We picked up an old Hobart 300. It's almost as old as my truck and almost as heavy. Has a 100% duty cycle at 230 amps. Next time your freight train needs welding, just bring it over. But we can't use it yet, it needs a 100 amp feed which we don't have.

[Ranchero50]

http://www.millerwelds.com

Lots of good welding info and techniques.

I love to weld, have a little Lincoln 110 gas mig setup, a Miller 210 Mig with a 3035 spoolgun for aluminum and just picked up a 350 Synchrowave for Tig work but so far I like the spoolgun vs. the Tig. The Tig has an add on filler feeder so maybe I'll like it better once I can afford some wire

Built this the last two years: http://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=8385


I also built a '84 Chevy rollback (actually that job bought the 210). Cut a 3500 crew cab in half, welded on a one ton box truck frame and added a rollback unit to it. Worked out pretty good except it was just under 10k empty...

Jamie

[Will]

If you can afford a Tig that is the way to go but if you are looking for a mig look into the miller 180.It is a nice unit and will probably do all the home hobby stuff you want to do and its compact and not that expensive.I just bought a new Miller 350X tig and a miller 350 mig with the spool gun for aluminum.For the best looking and some of the strongest welds the tig is my favorite and I have been welding for 20 years.

[Racer Z]

P.S. Any tips on getting started learning the tig process is welcomed and appriciated.

I'm going to start a welding class in January at my local High School. This is part of the Adult Continuing Education. But you summed it pretty well, "Learn the basics and practice, practice, practice."

[BobbyFord]

If you can O/A weld then tig will be no problem.

[Mancar1]

Thanks all for the great input.