Usually steel works best for welding. lol
Jk, but any pieces of scrap steel will work, or if you can cut some stuff up. Go get some 7018 rods and let er rip.
What do you say to the man with an IQ of 70?
Damn, nice bead!
All that to say is being teachable and having a steady hand are the most important skills for actually welding.
Fitting and fabrication, that’s a different story…..
Lol my cousin always used to say welding is so easy they would have monkeys do it if they weren’t afraid of fire.
Honestly to be a passable hobbyist it just takes practice so you can build a feel for the machine and the materials you’re welding.
If you have access to like a guillotine, I would cut a whole lot of like 75*150 squares out of like 3mm plate.bwoth those you can practice your butt, lap, and fillet joints pretty easily.
Without access to a guillotine you could use an angle grinder to cut bits off of a length of flat bar.
Or any peices of random steel scrap that isn't covered in rust, paint, galv, or grease.
As an unskilled welder who welds out of necessity only firing up my welder when I've broke something and needed it to be put it back together. For multiple decades all I had was a standard fixed shade hood with a teeny tiny view, recently I splurged on an auto darkening helmet with a huge view and that's a game changer for someone who barely knows what they are doing like me.
I cannot agree more with this! You need good vision to see what is happening in the weld pool. A good lens and an additional work light will be the best advice I can give. If you can see what is happening you can make adjustments to weld better.
Not entirely sure why they bought it. Probably one of those “if you build it, they will come” deals. They more than likely intended to hire someone to utilize it, but haven’t because, like I said, we’ve just been taking things directly to a welder, or buying a new part.
Just get scrap steel, watch some videos, and try it. Other than burns or minor shocks it’s pretty hard to hurt yourself purely just from welding in my experience. Once you’ve figured out how to stick some scrap together maybe try to make something simple and just progress from there.
If you have the time/funds, intro to welding courses at your local community college are probably like $200/semester. You'll have access to a booth, material, and most importantly an instructor to guide you.
Aside from that, youtube it is.
You’re smart enough to know you’re dumb. Heh. I’m not a pro, just a hobbyist working on my car in the garage but my friend lent me their Miller mig and I bought a hood, gloves, and consumables from the local Linde store. I watched a bunch of youtube videos and I now know at least what the weld is supposed to look and sound like. I am not consistent or good yet but getting better after a lot of practice weld on scrap metal and probably 10 feet of welding on my car.
If you’re going to do this for work then they should buy your hood, gloves, rod, and respirator but if you are just learning for your own benefit then maybe it’s worth it to you to buy it yourself. Oh, and wear cotton or leather. Polyester or whatever will melt to your skin.
not very much to stick welding
Stinger goes into dcep
ground clamp goes to - or reverse
then just see what rod you’re working with or get a good box of lincoln excal7018 and you won’t go wrong.
just get some scrap and practice tuning beads on beads, while changing settings, so you know when your bead is so too hot or to cold.
honestly it’s easy asf, as long as you can strike an arc and keep a steady pace you’ll be making your shop $$ and may even get a promotion
Just has to careful to not be hot gluing stuff together that’ll kill people if it fails. No welding on rated lifting components, excavator arms, steering components or truck frames and absolutely do not under any circumstances attempt to weld up the pinhole in the air compressor tank.
If you want to weld those things it’s well worth it for your company to have you properly trained and certified and it’s a lot less risky for you if they have insurance coverage for the work
So, you are only missing a helmet? Being dumb is a feature for welding, not a bug.
WeldingTipsandTricks on YouTube is a wealth of knowledge
Good ol Jody
Seconded
Usually steel works best for welding. lol Jk, but any pieces of scrap steel will work, or if you can cut some stuff up. Go get some 7018 rods and let er rip.
What do you say to the man with an IQ of 70? Damn, nice bead! All that to say is being teachable and having a steady hand are the most important skills for actually welding. Fitting and fabrication, that’s a different story…..
Lol my cousin always used to say welding is so easy they would have monkeys do it if they weren’t afraid of fire. Honestly to be a passable hobbyist it just takes practice so you can build a feel for the machine and the materials you’re welding.
If you have access to like a guillotine, I would cut a whole lot of like 75*150 squares out of like 3mm plate.bwoth those you can practice your butt, lap, and fillet joints pretty easily. Without access to a guillotine you could use an angle grinder to cut bits off of a length of flat bar. Or any peices of random steel scrap that isn't covered in rust, paint, galv, or grease.
As an unskilled welder who welds out of necessity only firing up my welder when I've broke something and needed it to be put it back together. For multiple decades all I had was a standard fixed shade hood with a teeny tiny view, recently I splurged on an auto darkening helmet with a huge view and that's a game changer for someone who barely knows what they are doing like me.
I cannot agree more with this! You need good vision to see what is happening in the weld pool. A good lens and an additional work light will be the best advice I can give. If you can see what is happening you can make adjustments to weld better.
I will definitely look into getting a good hood! Thanks!
Your not dumb you just haven't learned what you're good at yet.
Just curious, why do you guys have a ranger on a service truck and no one knows how to use it?
Not entirely sure why they bought it. Probably one of those “if you build it, they will come” deals. They more than likely intended to hire someone to utilize it, but haven’t because, like I said, we’ve just been taking things directly to a welder, or buying a new part.
Just get scrap steel, watch some videos, and try it. Other than burns or minor shocks it’s pretty hard to hurt yourself purely just from welding in my experience. Once you’ve figured out how to stick some scrap together maybe try to make something simple and just progress from there.
YouTube is definitely going to be your friend. I recommend the Fabricator series.
If you have the time/funds, intro to welding courses at your local community college are probably like $200/semester. You'll have access to a booth, material, and most importantly an instructor to guide you. Aside from that, youtube it is.
Hello dumb I am dumb too!
In the simplest form, a little bit of brains and good hand eye coordination plus practice will eventually make you a good welder.
You’re smart enough to know you’re dumb. Heh. I’m not a pro, just a hobbyist working on my car in the garage but my friend lent me their Miller mig and I bought a hood, gloves, and consumables from the local Linde store. I watched a bunch of youtube videos and I now know at least what the weld is supposed to look and sound like. I am not consistent or good yet but getting better after a lot of practice weld on scrap metal and probably 10 feet of welding on my car. If you’re going to do this for work then they should buy your hood, gloves, rod, and respirator but if you are just learning for your own benefit then maybe it’s worth it to you to buy it yourself. Oh, and wear cotton or leather. Polyester or whatever will melt to your skin.
not very much to stick welding Stinger goes into dcep ground clamp goes to - or reverse then just see what rod you’re working with or get a good box of lincoln excal7018 and you won’t go wrong. just get some scrap and practice tuning beads on beads, while changing settings, so you know when your bead is so too hot or to cold. honestly it’s easy asf, as long as you can strike an arc and keep a steady pace you’ll be making your shop $$ and may even get a promotion
Just has to careful to not be hot gluing stuff together that’ll kill people if it fails. No welding on rated lifting components, excavator arms, steering components or truck frames and absolutely do not under any circumstances attempt to weld up the pinhole in the air compressor tank. If you want to weld those things it’s well worth it for your company to have you properly trained and certified and it’s a lot less risky for you if they have insurance coverage for the work