welding class / lessons

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I went to my lws company and the guy said they would teach me how to mig weld for 3 hours at a cost of $175.  Or  I could go to my local adult high school where they have a course of 18 three hour classes that offer: Learning to handle a variety of demanding applications in welding and allied process. Includes hands on training ARC welding, basic metallurgy, joining process selection (MIG, TIG and STICK). Certification test in structural plate and pipe, in destructive testing and x-ray quality. Blueprint reading and welding symbols for $309.  Way more than I need since I just want to learn how to make a decent weld with my little mig MM 140.  The lws seems a bit high in comparison the to community high school especially since it offers so much more.  I don't plan on becoming a welder so my real question is does $175 for 3 hrs sound fair?Thanks
Reply:Originally Posted by hotrod123I went to my lws company and the guy said they would teach me how to mig weld for 3 hours at a cost of $175.  Or  I could go to my local adult high school where they have a course of 18 three hour classes that offer: Learning to handle a variety of demanding applications in welding and allied process. Includes hands on training ARC welding, basic metallurgy, joining process selection (MIG, TIG and STICK). Certification test in structural plate and pipe, in destructive testing and x-ray quality. Blueprint reading and welding symbols for $309.  Way more than I need since I just want to learn how to make a decent weld with my little mig MM 140.  The lws seems a bit high in comparison the to community high school especially since it offers so much more.  I don't plan on becoming a welder so my real question is does $175 for 3 hrs sound fair?Thanks
Reply:Why gamble on the quality or lack there of an over-priced LWS 'course'?IMO, 3 hours for $175 is a rip off and is not enough instruction - even for 'Monkey' Mig.I'd pay the $309 for 54 hours of proper instruction - sounds a good course that covers a lot of useful material.  BTW, that's really inexpensive.  Here we pay more like $500 for 30 hours of instruction.Rick V 1 Airco Heliwelder 3A/DDR3 CTC 70/90 amp Stick/Tig Inverters in Parallel1 Lincoln MIG PAK 151 Oxy-Acet
Reply:Sounds a BIT high but of course that could be for a great instructor, one-on-one training with that instructor and for 3 hours of actual welding time.  Conversely, it could be for a whole lot of lecture on theory of welding that you could read yourself from Miller's MIG handbook.  Do they require you to read up on MIG and show up with a working knowledge of your machine and how to operate it?  If so, and it's for an instructor to stand with you and help you improve your welding, I'd say the price is okay.  If you're going to show up and sit in a class of 10 people while he points to a machine and says "this is where the spool attaches..." then no, it's not worth it.I don't know their current prices but I found a 2009 flyer from my LWS and see that they were charging $130 for a 7 hour TIG class and $90 for a 7 hour MIG and Plasma class.  I've never availed myself of their training but I know these classes are hands-on welding with 6 students to 1 instructor.Lincoln AC225 & MigPak 140, Lincoln Magnum SpoolGun, Miller Spectrum 375-X Plasma, Syncrowave 200 TIG, Millermatic 252 MIG, Miller Digital Elite, General 7x12" horiz/vert bandsaw, 3' box/pan brake, 20 ton press, milling machine, 12x28 lathe, etc.
Reply:I will PAY you 10 dollars a day---same thing I pay my greenhands---AND teach you to weld!!6 Miller Big Blue 600 Air Paks2 Miller 400D6 Lincoln LN-25's4 Miller Xtreme 12VS2 Miller Dimension 812 4 Climax BW-3000Z bore welders Hypertherm 65 and 85Bug-O Track BugPair of Welpers
Reply:Thanks for the suggestions and advice.  I wish my LWS would charge $90 for a 7 hour MIG class but I will see if they will give me an hour or 2 of lessons if I buy a few hundred dollars from them otherwise I will probably sign up for the adult community course.  I put a call in to the local AWS to see if they have a suggestion or maybe someone would be willing to show me the basics for a reasonable fee.Thanks,
Reply:Hotrod123, you could post your location; there may be someone on this site that lives only a few miles from you who would be glad to spend a few free (read beer) hours with you. Rick V 1 Airco Heliwelder 3A/DDR3 CTC 70/90 amp Stick/Tig Inverters in Parallel1 Lincoln MIG PAK 151 Oxy-Acet
Reply:take the full course. you may not need it now but the bug will dig deeper in your soul and when the worm takes hold you will get the fever and find a need for all that will already be embedded in your memory bank. before you know it you will feel the need to surround your self with the comfort of various welders. you will find that few on this site can argue with this advice. or as was already mentioned, buy the new machine and tell them to have the manufacturers rep come to your place and give you a crash course. when i bought my lincoln tig the area rep spent about 4 hrs at my place attempting to educate me on the art of sharpening the tungsten.  i can put a mean point on one now. one day i hope to be able to use them lol.225NT bobcatAEAD200LEScott 125mm175, mm252 w 30A, PT225mm211, TA 181iHyper Therm 380, cut master 529100X & XX, Digital Elite6 Victor setssmith little torch, meco midget kalamazoo band sawsteel max saw evoulution circular saw
Reply:I would do the whole course. I recently took my first welding class which was done by our local community college. It was $85 for an 8-hour day. The first few hours were basic introductions to welding/mig, then the rest of the day was pretty much open. If there was a machine in the shop you wanted to try you could just ask and they'd show you, or you could just start making your own little project. I spent most of the day trying out all 4 types of welding (mig/stick/tig/oa) then had a couple hours left over to make a mini decorative bicycle. My wife made a coffee table. Some other chick made a pretty huge chandelier, etc.All that being said, I left the class thinking that I really got my money's worth, however I would have LOVED to have more time. Not only more practice time, but I would have loved to learn more about metallurgy/metalwork in general, and then the whole "destructive/x-ray testing" would have been very useful too.Another option is, if you already have the MM140, you could just buy more scraps and just keep practicing. People on here seem to be very helpful in terms of critiquing welds and/or giving advice. Just take some pictures and post and you'll have an answer in a matter of minutes it seems.
Reply:I would go to the high school and take a look at the facilities and if possible talk to the instructor.  I have taken two courses similar to what you described but less inclusive.  If there were courses near like that one I would take it.  Knowing more than you need is really nice.
Reply:Yea I will probably sign up for the class. It starts Jan 23rd and  I'm sure I'll get my money's worth.  But in the meantime if I am able to find someone who lives near Fort Lauderdale and is willing to share their time and knowledge for an appropriate fee I would be very interested in going that route as well.Last edited by hotrod123; 01-04-2012 at 03:01 PM.
Reply:Not to mention that the classes generally include materials. When we took that $85 course, the coffee table that my wife made had about $30 of materials in it.
Reply:Originally Posted by Rick VI'd pay the $309 for 54 hours of proper instruction - sounds a good course that covers a lot of useful material.  BTW, that's really inexpensive.  Here we pay more like $500 for 30 hours of instruction.
Reply:Search other threads about what to bring, making sure you can SEE (current prescription suitable for clear vision at welding distances), and post some pics of your practice beads in these forums for advice.