Welding

[whenisayjump]

Well. As I've been reading through the pages, welding has become as recurrent theme.

This has led me to do some research on the subject. It would seem that welding involves getting two pieces of metal, and melting them together?

Kindof like big soldering? But there must be more to it than that?

I was always under the impression that it was something that was extremely hard, attempted buy only the handiest men, with mustaches. Admittedly this was only an impression I gave myself.

[Orkney]

cant find the link on this machine but there are a couple of amazing welding how to websites.
was just saying in another thread that i'm saving for a small gasless mig, coming from a building & joinery background my welding skills stop at just being able to stick weld farm bits together, ugly stuff but functional and no doubt would be a complete failure without the decent welding rods I got given.
Woudlnt even attempt to do welding on a car without a reactive mask and a mig, migth just be able to get to a passable level then.

[jon1739]

get yourself a mig welder (best you can afford) and some scrap metal and have a go yourself, not hard to master just takes time and practice. There are also lots of colleges around that offer night school courses where you can try all the different types of welding.
For car body/chassis repairs tho Mig is the easiest to master and the most suited to the job HTH

[bigginger]

Nothing like 'big soldering', in that soldering is melting metal onto the two pices to be joined, and welding (as you said) melts the pieces together. As for "extremely hard",well yes, actually, certainly to do well, and cerainly on thin sheet. As Kevin says, get hold of a MIG and some scrap steel, then practice,then practice more, and more, and eventually swear a lot, give up and save up for a pro to do it

a

[whenisayjump]

Yeah. I was being a bit flippant in my first post, I imagine there's a certain amount of finesse that takes a while to master.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

[chickenjohn]

get yourself a mig welder (best you can afford) and some scrap metal and have a go yourself, not hard to master just takes time and practice. There are also lots of colleges around that offer night school courses where you can try all the different types of welding.
For car body/chassis repairs tho Mig is the easiest to master and the most suited to the job HTH

This is good advice, although I ignored it and spent hours in the garage swearing at bits of metal. I went on the night course later- go on a car restoration course not just a welding course if you can find one- they are brilliant value for money, and can save you loads of money in the long run.

Facial hair is optional!

[whenisayjump]

get yourself a mig welder (best you can afford) and some scrap metal and have a go yourself, not hard to master just takes time and practice. There are also lots of colleges around that offer night school courses where you can try all the different types of welding.
For car body/chassis repairs tho Mig is the easiest to master and the most suited to the job HTH

This is good advice, although I ignored it and spent hours in the garage swearing at bits of metal. I went on the night course later- go on a car restoration course not just a welding course if you can find one- they are brilliant value for money, and can save you loads of money in the long run.

Facial hair is optional!

I've just had a look, they don't seem that expensive (welding courses, that is). I would imagine the restoration ones are a bit harder to come by.

[alex_holden]

I was always under the impression that it was something that was extremely hard, attempted buy only the handiest men, with mustaches.

Yes, I can't emphasise enough how crucial it is before attempting to learn welding that you make sure you have adequate facial hair!

cant find the link on this machine but there are a couple of amazing welding how to websites.
was just saying in another thread that i'm saving for a small gasless mig,

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/

I think you might be better off with a gas MIG and an argon/CO2 mix, or at least a dual purpose machine. Apparently with gasless you can't see the weld pool because of all the slag, which is obviously going to make things trickier.

eventually swear a lot, give up and save up for a pro to do it

Ever the optimist, Andrew?

This is good advice, although I ignored it and spent hours in the garage swearing at bits of metal.

Me too. The problem was that because I was teaching myself from scratch I didn't have a clue how to set the machine up and spent a lot of time experimenting with different settings. When I eventually got the machine working properly and also switched to CO2/Argon gas and a reactive helmet, it suddenly became way easier to get a decent result.

[chickenjohn]

"Me too. The problem was that because I was teaching myself from scratch I didn't have a clue how to set the machine up and spent a lot of time experimenting with different settings. When I eventually got the machine working properly and also switched to CO2/Argon gas and a reactive helmet, it suddenly became way easier to get a decent result."

snap! although I still use CO2 at home and Argoshield at college. I think on reflection the time was well spent- learning the hard way! I have had a beard (goatee) since before starting to weld, but I do know some very good clean shaven welders.

[dunketh]

Welding is one of thos skills I'd like to learn but the wife would never let me fire up the welder indoors and my extension lead wont reach down to the ground floor and 100 yards across the road to the car park.

Finding folk who'll do it for 'beer' is rather difficult these days.

[jon1739]

One of the best things you can buy to help speed up the learning process is a light reactive mask, they have come down a lot in price recently and once youv'e got one you will wonder how you ever managed with out one. Another good tip is to make sure the metal is 100% clean and that all rust is banished, I know that sounds obvious but you wouldn't beleive the amount of times I've seen people trying to weld new metal onto dirty or rusty old metal!

[chickenjohn]

It also helps if you actually enjoy welding as well. When I was first practising, i was a bit scared of the whole thing, sparks, electricity, fire risk, red hot metal- hence muscles tense up and the technique suffers.

When you get comfortable with welding it becomes easier and enjoyable. Safety equipment and a fire extinguisher are important and I 2nd the reactive mask comments- so much easier and you can get a reasonable reactive mask for £50 now.
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/- good site![/i]

[Orkney]

Alex said ...

I think you might be better off with a gas MIG

Your probably right, but seriosly cant be doing with the hassle of getting gas, and intentionally trying to stay away from pubs so the chap option is out!
Plus i believe the coated is more practicle here what with a still and wind free day being the exception and it will be mostly used outside or under the carport on the side of the garage when it gets finished.

Think i can get to grips with not exactly seeing whats occuring from stick welding experience. Think having a static point of reference will be my biggest help.
Plus of course bashing the slag off is a good way of knowing your weld is good

I did once buy the hatmes book of welding (how to) and it was brilliant, till i loand it to some smegger who never gave it back! migth see if theres a second hand one on fleabay, this thread and looking at poor scabby has inspired me to get shot of on fleabay all the redundant 35mm slr lenses ive got and hopefully that should fund a basic little mig

[Spag]

Find someone local who has the kit and ask to have a play, start on nice thick stuff so you don't just explode it - you have lots more time to see what's happening and get a nice pool of weld going.

That's the easy bit...

Translating that onto thinner materials or joining different thicknesses while under the car with a trolley jack digging in your back is where it becomes more challenging

Seriously, it isn't difficult, just takes time and patience to learn, so someone on hand for advice will make a big difference.

Auto blinky masks are silly cheap - like £30 or so on the 'bay.

Get the best mig you can afford, higher capacity will have lots of headroom so you can weld bodywork all day long without it tipping over in a hot flush - but make sure it still has low enough settings!

Gas/gasless is most flexible, so you can run flux cored for convenience or outdoor use, then switch polarity and use gas for really thin fiddly bits or where you want a cleaner weld straight off. Flux core splatters more, heats the surrounding work more.

I dunno how peepl manage with out the magic glue gun for metal

[whenisayjump]

Looking at that site, they talk of Co2/Argon... but I've heard oxy/acetylene banded about. Is acetylene just another shielding gas?

[alex_holden]

No, oxy/acetylene is a totally different technique where you use a torch with a very hot concentrated flame to melt the metal, then feed in a filler rod by hand.

[bigginger]

If we're not moving too far away from your question, it's in some ways superior to MIG, as it leaves a much more malleable weld, which is easier to dress down and reshape if necessary - good for bodywork - plus the torch can be V useful for other things, like heating rusty nuts and bolts to undo them. If you go down that route, check the insurance of the property where you keep the bottles, as they are potentially explosive
a

[bpr81a]

My first welds visit the MOT man tomorrow........

[Orkney]

Good luck Jon, sure it will be fine - daresay done with a lot more care than would have been in a back street get it through the MOT garage.

[chickenjohn]

Yes, good luck, but as long as the welding is continuous where the body of the car used to be continuous, the job should be fine.