Anything welding

It's funny the things that go thru your mind when welding. Once you are comfortable welding and muscle memory takes over, your mind will wander. It's a good thing.

I've played around with a personal blood pressure monitor while welding. When you are in the groove and the perfect weld is produced, the blood pressure is perfectly normal. It's very odd.

 

@koditten when I weld I just think about what's for lunch . Haha

 

I disagree with this.

If you are willing to welcome feedback from the web, then you are way ahead of the curve.

In a class, you have one person instructing what changes you need to make. With the web, you get info and opinions from many people...and in many cases, these are people that make a living welding.

If you want to weld and have no problem posting pics, you will have no shortage help.

If you want to move towards welding as a pro, then you will have to get structured welding training.

Again, just my opinion.

 

I'm usually thinking about my next ocean fishing trip.
Every extra project is 4 hours in the gulf stream.

 

Perspectives are nice. But the difference is you can have a good welder, but if he doesnt know how to relay the information in a way for the trainee to understand, you hit a wall. That's the teacher aspect of it .

Also the other factor is material wise. They recycle all of their material. You'll burn way more plate and wire in the class money wise, than what you actually paid for the class.

Also, the community can be great and helpful. There's lots of info to be had. But it's only helpful if it's the right info. I see it a lot, and not just on here. There's a big difference in joe the garage welder giving his opinion and a career welder who takes 3 different weld tests a month giving the test.



Like the crown thing. Sometimes it's a feeling or looks thing. Other times it because some of us have personally cut dog bones, done a tensile test, side bend, v notch, etching, x-ray, and clipped meters on to meassure joules input. And that's not to say the garage welder is a bad welder or not a good person. It's just saying that some dive a little bit deeper into weld science.

 

Haha gotta get that Tarpon!


Hammer out that pulse WPS. I officially removed using wire on a certain amount of hardware. Probably a $30k move right there. Feeling pretty good about it

 

Very nice!

 

Yup for sure. Just another tool in the belt.

 

I agree with this most definately.

My issue is that this site (TW) is geared towards the hobby welder. Most people on this site are just wanting to enhance their truck. I see no real benefit to push people towards the specialized welding procedures. The people here want to build sliders, racks,bumpers and skids.

Why would a person invest $3500 for a TIG rig with many bells and whistles when they can do everything listed above for less than $1k for one of these very nice HF MIG units?

I think there are some specialized sites for people who want to dive deep into the welding pool, that would be a better place to check out.

Honestly, the last dozen pics posted here we're MIG welding pics. I'm thinking the thread leans towards MIG welding by default.

 

All very good points and I can certainly see both sides. Realistically I doubt I’ll take college classes as I view my welds as acceptable for the stuff I’m doing (simple truck mods) but some would definitely benefit from a more advanced class. If I were trying to build a roll cage or something, that’s a different story.

 

Nobody is talking about specialized welding procedures. It's just a matter of making the most of your time and learning the right way to do things, the first time.

The CC up my way does a 12 week class for $500 and by the end most people come out with propper welds. And with that skill set you can now take a harbor frieght welder, build a trailer, and know that it's sound.

It's not for everyone, but it's certainly helpful for those who will be welding frequently

 

When I want to nerd out on welding processes and stuff that I'll never do, I watch Weld.com videos on YouTube. The way I leaned was hanging out with fabricators for a few years and watching them, then cutting the front frame off my truck one night and bought a welder to get it all put back together.

 

LOL. You got off cheap. I had to buy the welders in the shop an extra 12 pack on Friday nights to get "free" welding training.

 

I’ve been using Benchmark jumbo 4.5” flap discs for a couple years now and gone through hundreds of them. Best bang for the buck for sure.
I wish they’d make 6” flap discs.

 

Lol! I also got sick if having my friends weld shit up for me, and had axle swaps in the plans. So I had them teach me, and I started cutting the truck up and the rest is history!

 

I will just put my 3 cents in.

Pros and cons to both methods .

Being used to self taught welders from before the internet and videos and different forums does tend to make me a little dubious of the skill . I have seen so many examples of Cold lap to the point of causing failures in the field at least no one was hurt.

There is something to having hands on teaching .

being able to do bend tests and tensile see the results

I was lucky I had some Great teachers over the years then I know some that got into teaching for the money and benefits

Your welding on your vehicle all well and good all it takes is something failing falling off going down the highway going through the radiator or if your luck sucks the windshield .

I lost a condenser and Radiator from just that .

Maybe getting older makes me think more about things like this when I think about the misguided events of my youth.

We won`t talk about fire safety !!

 

its been a looong time since I posted anything actually about welding ( lol, and I'm still not quite there yet! ), BUT the shop is at an acceptable state of chaos. Its time to start welding up some of that stuff I posted pics of in the fall ( Gutter holder for a house, and tube bender for some DIY sliders )

also used some bonus $$ and Christmas gift cards to buy some goodies the past few weeks.
Plasma cutter
5" rotating pipe vise
10LBS of wire
welding pliers

Pipe notcher and other 5" vice is on loan from a friend.



this is the picture I'd share if I wanted everyone to believe I was the neat and tidy sort



aaaaannnnndddd reality!

 

Picked up a Hobart 140 today, looking forward to learning how to weld with it. Been a while since I last welded but since getting the Tacoma, I've been itching to start doing some of my own work again.

 

Since my machine doesnt have digital readouts I measured wfs for all the settings on my welder. Gonna try to add an led voltmeter too.

 

Put the settings on the side of the machine