16 yro wanting to learn to weld

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i wont an don t have the money for welding schoolnor does my highschool offer itwhats the best way to practice with my lincoln 225 ac boxwhats the right way to practicethe best and most effective drills
Reply:Dont know what type rods you have got - find some 3/32 6011 look at amp setting on box -set welder mid-way and go from their - find some kind of old scrap metal to weld on - anything fron old lawnmowers to old scrap bolts - Touch rod to metal to start arc or drag start it like stricking a match - most of all enjoy and have funThe main thing is not to panic or get excited Bobcat 250, X-Treme 12VS,  MM211Meltabo, Milwaukee,Porter Cable,Dewalt,MakitaVictor O/A, Ingersoll-RandEvolution Rage2, 40 amp PlasmaLincoln 225 AC/DC
Reply:location ???Miller Xmt 350Lincoln Ln-25Ahp 200xSmith Gas Mixer AR/HTig is my Kung FuThrowing down dimes and weaving aboutInstagram http://instagram.com/[email protected]
Reply:7018 to me was the easiest to learn to weld with.  I remember learning with 1/8" 7018 in the evenings with my cousin helping to teach me....never had I imagined somebody in a t-shirt, shorts and crocs showing me how to strike an arc
Reply:Back in the old days, I would recommend going to the local Library for welding books to get ideas.Now I will tell you to google/youtube to find ALL kinds of videos on welding.(some good/some bad)Bed frames, large bolts, short pieces of pipe will give you most  of the basics fitups you will need to become familiar with the art of welding.Tell us where you are, there maybe someone locally that can help you practice/train.
Reply:http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...0398_200310398http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...0400_200310400I like the Steve Bile videos, you can probably download or get them at a library too.
Reply:Like WookieWelding posted, location ???  There maybe a member right next door that would help.
Reply:As much as people like to slam Youtube welders, you can learn a lot by watching somebody like Jody or Lanse run a rod. Pay attention to how the puddle looks and try to make your puddle look like that when you're welding. Watch the size of the puddle relative to the width of the rod (maybe about 2-3x the width of the rod) and watch the shape of the puddle (round or oval, not V-shaped in back).I felt like I learned a lot watching the Wall Mountain SMAW videos. You can buy them--and they're well worth the money if you have it--but if you're the kind of person who does that sort of thing, you can also torrent them.http://thepiratebay.sx/torrent/40476...DVD_video_ripsTry not to get distracted by the host's Epic Moustache. He's a good instructor and a good welder.Jody's youtube channel is weldingtipsandtricks. Lanse's is chucke2009.Last edited by joshuabardwell; 07-19-2013 at 01:01 PM.Everlast PA160-STH... and that's about it!
Reply:To supplement what has already been said, get a copy of the ESAB welding educational cd's.  They're free.  The ESAB site is running slow for me right now, but if you go to http://esabna.com/us/en/education/index.cfm you should be able to find the linkEDIT: Here's the direct link: http://esabna.com/us/en/education/Ed...al-Request.cfmLast edited by crax; 07-19-2013 at 01:27 PM.
Reply:please do take two minutes to post your location on your forum settings.  Why do that?  Folks here are VERY helpful.  If someone is local to you they might be inclined to offer help, face to face, show you how to setup your own equipment, etc.  I'd be happy to help if you are in my locale.
Reply:Originally Posted by bullfrogg07018 to me was the easiest to learn to weld with.  I remember learning with 1/8" 7018 in the evenings with my cousin helping to teach me....never had I imagined somebody in a t-shirt, shorts and crocs showing me how to strike an arc
Reply:@ rodburner21 - your profile shows you're local to Thibodeaux, LA.  Check?  Near Houma, LA.  Check?  There's def a ton of commercial welding work going down at Bayou DuLarge, with Gulf Island Marine Services.  Automated girder beam welding, pipe welders/fitters, etc. Confirm your local to Terrebone Parish and you may find our WW folks willing to assist you in your quest."Discovery is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought" - Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
Reply:I was told by an old welder to get a 50lb box of 6010s and in your case that would have to be 6011s.  once you have your box of rods goto welding everything in sight.  I know there are several things that you must learn to be proficient and it doesn't cost anything but time a few scraps and electrodes.  I would take a 2x2 angle iron and weld it solid.  Fill it up laying bead after bead.  Try different amps and rod positions.  read as much as you can and stay under the hood as much as you can.  YOU CAN NOT become a weld by reading welding forums.  They help, but you only become a welder by time under the hood.  After you finish that box of 6011s then buy a box of 7018 and get after it.  Do the same thing.  weld up pads, anglels weld vertical, overhead, horizontal, and flat.  After you finish that 50lb box of 7018, do it again repeating with the 6011 and 7018.  once you have 200lbs of rods burnt then you will know enough to begin asking appropriate questions and most importantly you will understand more of the answers given.Make yard art, small yard implements and repair everything non critical in sight.  you will get there.  It just takes hood time.  Most guys I have seen post questions don't have any hood time and haven't burned through half a box of rods.The old welder I had show me said most things can be worked out by yourself given that you know what to look for.  That won't come flapping jaws, it only comes through burning rod.  It must have worked for me as I only busted one test and it was because I didn't pay close enough attention to the interpass temp on an unlimited test.  I was in a hurry and knocked it out and went back to work.
Reply:As others have stated, or implied, getting someone who can weld to look over your shoulder and guide you is the best way to learn.Some rods are easier to weld on AC than others. But any rod is better than none. Since finances seem to be an issue just use the cheapest rod you can find to practice. That means you'll have more rods to burn for your dollar. Once you can weld with those cheapies you will likely be able to weld with anything.A friend of mine, a professional weldor, was taught in school to practice with a chunk of metal clothes hanger as a rod. Frustrating to be sure but cheap. The lessons learned will help you run any rod.
Reply:Originally Posted by GWDA friend of mine, a professional weldor, was taught in school to practice with a chunk of metal clothes hanger as a rod. Frustrating to be sure but cheap. The lessons learned will help you run any rod.
Reply:Originally Posted by zipzitStick welding with uncoated hanger rod?  I've seen hanger wire used as oxy/acetylene filler but never with a stick welder.  What does that combination do?  I guess I can go into the shop and try it, but does that even remotely work?zip.
Reply:Originally Posted by rodburner21i wont an don t have the money for welding schoolnor does my highschool offer itwhats the best way to practice with my lincoln 225 ac boxwhats the right way to practicethe best and most effective drills
Reply:I'd start with 6011. You can use it on dirty, rusty metal, so anything you find will be usable for learning and practice; you won't need "clean metal." Also there is little, if any, difference between brands of 6011.  Get a 50 lb. can if you can afford it.  Use 3/32" rod if your metal is under 1/4" thick.  Get a wire brush attachment for your electric drill (assuming you don't have an angle grinder) for removing slag. Also use it to make a "clean spot" for attaching your welder's ground clamp. That can make a noticeable difference.Practice seriously, don't just run the same old messy bead over and over without learning anything.  Practice keeping a consistent arc distance, rod angle, speed, weave, etc.  Critique your beads.  Post them on here and get some analysis; this is a GREAT place for that.  Start off running beads on flat plate, then horizontal, then vertical.  Practice them with t-joints.  Thin-on-thick filet welds (a thin piece lying flat on a thick piece) require practice, too; they can be tricky.  Focus your practice sessions as if you were in a formal class.  And don't just lay 4 or 5 beads and say "hmmmmm."  Lay hundreds of beads, over and over, making each one better than the last, until you can do it in your sleep.Some good YouTube videos were mentioned. I would also check out Stretch's videos ("ChuckE2009"). He's involved with a welding school and has made several hundred YouTube welding videos.  Do a Google YouTube search for chucke2009 .Of course, as you were advised, you don't learn to weld by reading internet forums. But that being said, there is a HUGE amount of knowledge available, and there are at least a dozen welding forums out there besides this one. You can spend months reading them. But of course, remember, "on the internet, everybody is an expert."  For every user saying "Never do A, always do B," there's another one saying "Always do A, never do B." You get the picture.Good luck, and stay with us!-RuarkLincoln 3200HDHobart Stickmate LX235TWECO Fabricator 211i
Reply:I'd start by responding to some of the good advise the guys here gave you! I hate being bi-polar it's awsomeMy Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Reply:Originally Posted by weldermikeI'd start by responding to some of the good advise the guys here gave you!
Reply:Originally Posted by rodburner21i wont an don t have the money for welding schoolnor does my highschool offer itwhats the best way to practice with my lincoln 225 ac boxwhats the right way to practicethe best and most effective drills
Reply:I learned when I was 16.The local Vocational Training Highschool - part of the public school system - offered 'adult' welding classes at night.  Something like 2 nights a week for 8 weeks and taught gas welding, stick welding and gas cutting.  The county offers lots of adult educations stuff - from cooking, auto repair, karate, photography etc. etc.  I don't think they offer welding anymore - but autobody.  Your area of course will differ.For something like welding there is usually a shop fee to cover material.I can't remember what it cost, but I do remember it being very informative and a great way to get practice with a skilled observer pointing out mistakes and techniques to improve.  One key part is the safety aspect.  Yeah, yeah, the part in the manual that everyone skips over.So...   Check with your county, check with the public school system, check with local community college.  See what is offered and go to your parents and ask for a few bucks.  If money is an issue (when is not?) ask the school about financial aid - and if you can talk to the teacher ask him as well.  Maybe they have student discounts?  Maybe the county will wave the tuition for students.  Who knows?  Never know what is out there till you ask.BTW, since the time that I learned, there have been many more sources of videos, both free on-line and DVDs that can help a great deal.  I'm not one to say if they can replace a live teacher.  I would think not, but I don't know.Oh, I would actually put purchasing a welder off until I took the course.  Nice to know how to drive a car before you go out and buy one.  If you do have extra money at the beginning of the course buy a quality auto-dark helmet first.  (Then a personal set of gloves).  You can rent welders until you have funds to buy the one you want (see Craigslist).Con Fuse!Miller Dynasty 350Millermatic 350P-Spoolmatic 30AMiller Multimatic 200Hypertherm PowerMax 1000G3Miller Maxstar 200DX
Reply:I know you said you don't have the money for classes, but I'm pretty sure that when I took a class at the local community college I burned more rods than I could buy for the cost of the class. If you can find one near you, it's the way to go. Note that I wasn't an average student... most people didn't weld as much as I did. I showed up during different sections etc, did all the welding I could.Lincoln 175HD
Reply:I Absoloutly hate that machine!Thermal Arc 186 AC/DC Tig SystemMillermultimatic 200 with spool gunFisher Norris 124lbs AnvilLiebherr Mining and Liebherr Nenzing Craneshttp://www.etsy.com/shop/ShootAphoto
Reply:A bit of cut and paste from a few other posts I've done in the past on the subject of learning to stick weld.I'd suggest starting out with 6013 or 7014.  Personally I prefer 7014 to 6013 when teaching students just starting out. Most students have an easier time running 7014 vs 6013 on average at the start. 6013 and 7014 are both drag rods. That means you can simply keep the flux coating in contact with the plate as you weld. Keep in mind that a standard rod will make about 6" to 8" of bead and leave you with about a 2" stub. If you get done welding and find you have a lot more rod left, you are probably going too fast in your travel speed. If you used up the rod and still have more to weld, then chances are you were moving to slow. The bead will also have a distinct "V" shape to the ripples if you are going too fast.At the tech school we have students start out simply running beads on flat 3/8" plate roughly 3" x 6". This lets you simply concentrate on travel speed, rod angle and arc length. Since both of these are drag rods, if you keep the flux in contact with the plate, that will eliminate that variable. Travel speed you can work out from how much rod you burn as described above. This just leaves you with rod angle to maintain as well as doing everything as consistently as possible. Pipefitter here has posted up some nice picts of 6013 beads where you see the slag peeling off in one big piece with no chipping. That's usually a sign you got everything almost perfect. 7014 acts the exact same way when everything is right.  If you are beating on the slag, you have something wrong and need to make some adjustments.After students can run some decent basic beads, we move them on to overlapping beads on flat plate. Aim at the root of the previous bead, and run the next bead so it overlaps 50% of the previous one. Don't forget to cool the plate down every 2 or 3 beads, or the build up of heat will make it seem like you have increased your amps. I tell students if they can pick up a piece with their bare hands, it's cool enough to run the next bead. This drill is the exact same thing you will need to do if you ever need to run multiple beads, so it's not a s pointless as many think it is. It also lets you get a lot of practice on very little material. After the students can do a nice consistent overlap of beads on flat plate, then we move them on to lap joints. It's very similar to the last drill, but now you are running up against the edge of a piece of plate, rather than a bead. I suggest most students try and concentrate the bead on the lower plate near the corner and "wash" the puddle up against the upper on until they see the very edge start to melt, then swing back down to the lower plate.After Laps, it's T joints. Same basic drill, but now the vertical "wall" is taller and you don't have a reference to judge how high you are going. Most students have issues here with rod angle and it quickly shows up as undercut on the upper plate, or beads that are "aimed" poorly and don't tie in well to one piece or another. After they do a single pass on the T and get signed off, we have them do 2 more passes over that one over lapping 50%. When that gets signed off, we have them do a basic weave across  the beads to cap. T's usually take the most time as there's quite a few steps to get signed off on with this and stick.After T's is outside corners. That's where the inside edges of the plates just touch and leave a V groove to fill. This one requires a bit more skill as now you have 3 thin edges to work with. Top 2 and the root. It requires a bit more finesse than the previous beads.The trick here is to get complete fusion to the root without melting down the top edges too much, or burning thru to heavily.We usually have the students do each one of these previous drills with 6010 ( Use 6011 instead with an AC only machine like you have) , 7014 and finally 7018, so they end up doing 3 single bead plates, 3 50/50 plates, 3 laps, 3 T's (with 3 parts to the T's, single bead, 3 stacked with the top ones half on half off, and finally the weave over everything) and 3 outside corners with stick before they get to but joints.Finally the students move on to but joints. With stick, it's usually bevel buts as we run 3/8" plate for our coupons. With thinner material you can get away without bevels, say with 1/8" or 3/16", but the basics are still the same. Drill here is with 6010 for the open root pass, followed by 7018 out to fill and cap as the class is designed to work towards pipe eventually.  What kills most students at this point is simply prep. If they are in a rush and don't prep their pieces nice, consistent and even, they have nightmares and can't understand why. I don't know how many times I'll prep and tack bevel coupons and the student has no problems, but as soon as they try on their own, they fail miserably. The drill honestly isn't all that much harder than the outside corner except now you have a gap at the bottom. Not having a consistent gap and thickness is what kills them. Once they get a decent root pass done, most don't have too much trouble doing the fills and caps.After this they do it all over from single beads on flat plate, but now horizontal... When those are all done, then Vertical, followed by overhead. The only way to learn to "see" the puddle is to run lots of rod. Don't be at all surprised if it takes 50 lbs or more of rod to even start to learn the basics by the time you get thru all the positions and joints...Good luck and post up some picts of your practice with settings and material thickness, rod size and type etc and we'll help as much as possible. Be aware doing this on your own is the hard way to do things however. It's much faster and easier to learn when there is someone there who can watch you weld and make corrections and suggestions. There's only so much info that can be passed on with still picts of beads. Honestly when you sit down and add up what it costs in materials, rod, electric etc, no to mention the instruction, a class is usually stupid cheap. Around here it works out to roughly $11-15 per hour depending on what school you go to. That's tough to beat, especially since some of the schools will allow you unlimited materials and rod to practice with in class. If you apply yourself you can burn up way more in material and rod than the class costs if you apply yourself diligently..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reaganim here guys
Reply:here some stuff and my rigged chipping hammer lol Attached Images
Reply:any guys my step dad is a certed welder but hes ben working night for over a year now and he never has to time to check my work much less show me
Reply:Originally Posted by rodburner21any guys my step dad is a certed welder but hes ben working night for over a year now and he never has to time to check my work much less show me