Really bad hands

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As I gradually get better welding with more practice I'm still kinda finding my biggest battle is the fact that I probably have the most unsteady hands on earth...   The only times I really shine are when I have small projects I can put on the table, sit down, get close to the work and prop myself up real good. any other time my hands shake and twitch so much control is really hard. Anyone have this problem? Anyone have any tips, tricks, or excersizes to help with this problem? Practice only does so much when you cant physically make your dang hands stop twitching around...  or am I just destined to be a crappy welder?I like to party!
Reply:I always try to build a pile of bones no matter what the position. I also use both hands unless just impossible to do.The difference between art and craft is the quality of the workmanship. I am an artist.
Reply:I've got some shoulder and joint issues. Use a heavy glove on your off hand (for me it's the left) and nearly always use that as a prop and guide aid. Make dry runs to see how it's going to work, then give it heck. Make sure the left one can come off quick ..I got used to cooking the left ones and just replace them when they get too wrinkled.
Reply:I used to shoot pool in a league that was very competitive. My team finished top three almost every year and one of our top shooters(not me) had the shakiest hands I've ever seen. I frankly don't know how he did it, but I did notice that he drank quite a bit of windsor.This could be problematic in a work situation though.As much as I don't like to go visit them myself, maybe a doctor could help.Sometimes when welding and really concentrating I find myself tensing up alot, and if I relax and keep just a very light grip on the stinger I do better.This could be a real good excuse to drink more
Reply:Relax!!! Stop trying to control it. Try to use it to your advantage. You may be able to incorporate it into your welding technique. Normally if you try and control it, it only gets worse. My hands are pretty steady but I do have times that they are shakey (caffeine usually) and I find it best to just ignore it and weld.
Reply:I was beginning to shake a lot before I quit drinking. Give yourself a break and don't fight yourself, try to allow your shaking to do the slight weave, or manipulation, as you simply move in a straight line. I found that with a lot less effort, I was able to make beads. I shake very little since I started taking better care of myself. Eat right, plenty of excercise.City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:I don't know any old welders that don't have shaky hands, and hanging that electrode out there just magnifies it, but they still hang them in there. Tensing up will not help at all, lol. Relax as much as you possibly can. You can learn to compensate for a lot just through practice and experimentation. I lost about 70% of the range of motion in my right wrist as a result of an accident while in the army. I basically had to completely relearn using a cutting torch and welding as the techniques I used before were physically impossible. I can still cut just as smooth as ever, but my beads never have gotten back to the way they were before the injury, but still not shabby. It just took a lot of practice.The difference between art and craft is the quality of the workmanship. I am an artist.
Reply:I noticed when I started stick welding I would tense up and hold my breath. If I didn't think so much about what I was doing and do it, that helped alot. Sometimes your own worst enemy is yourself.
Reply:Captain Willy, are you working with tig, mig, stick, or O/A?? For mig, I lay a block of wood, or something suitable, and rest the gun over one hand as it lay on its' side, and guide the gun with the other. With tig, I try to get something between my elbow and my wrist to steady the whole arm on. Many times, I rey on other people being far sighted or blind to not notice my shaky beads when I get them on a roll!!! I find that I smooth out so long as I breathe, and get myself into a semi-comfortable position, especially one where I don't need to start/ stop quite so often. Sems the more I have to shift position and move around, the harder it is to get really smooth.And then, after so much work...... you have it in your hand, and you look over to your side...... and the runner has run off. Leaving you holding the prize, wondering when the runner will return.
Reply:Originally Posted by tanglediverI was beginning to shake a lot before I quit drinking. Give yourself a break and don't fight yourself, try to allow your shaking to do the slight weave, or manipulation, as you simply move in a straight line. I found that with a lot less effort, I was able to make beads. I shake very little since I started taking better care of myself. Eat right, plenty of excercise.
Reply:Some guys are better off without it.Stay off the cigs...check out zaps cancer thread.Hang in there man.
Reply:Originally Posted by big wormRelax!!! Stop trying to control it. Try to use it to your advantage. You may be able to incorporate it into your welding technique. Normally if you try and control it, it only gets worse.
Reply:Hey Willy,I have to agree with the guys regarding learning to relax, concentrate of the weld, and use whatever resting procedure will help alleviate some of the shakes. A good friend who had a physical nerve impairment solved a lot of his control by using a modified bowlers' glove that had a metal brace that went from his backhand past his wrist. He removed all the padding and strapped it tight with the velcro straps and it was not a hindrance with his welding gloves. Yup...the booze & butts contamination will have to wear off a bit with time, but you will see an improvement. Good Luck....keep at it....  DennyComplete Welding/Machine/Fab. ShopMobile UnitFinally retired*Moderator*"A man's word is his honor...without honor there is nothing.""Words are like bullets.... Once they leave your muzzle, you cannot get them back."
Reply:I'll add the relax recommendation once more, just relax and enjoy what you are doing, always the best thing, once you get comfortable with it it will be almost second nature. I always find that if I am tense or nervous doing something, A) I do a worse job of it and B) it's uncomfortable, goes for anything really, especially welding and construction work.
Reply:I agree with everyone also,relax ,don't think about it and get as comfortable as possible.lean on whatever you can to stablize yourself.I found sometimes I use my off hand to run a finger down the edge of the plate and stablize my whip hand on that.    good luck!!!
Reply:i thought shaking was part of welding  i concentrate on the puddle, also bracing on something helps me.Last edited by tortis; 02-03-2008 at 01:03 PM.
Reply:Become one with the rod grasshopper, Just kidding. Everyone has given good advice. Make sur that you're not trying to support the weight of any more welding cable than you have to. I drape it over my shoulders behind my neck and run it down my arm. I'm told that's a bad thing to do now days but that's where you big muscles are. The wrist just wasn't made to hold steady very much weight for very long. Look for other ways to hold the cable. Drape it over a near by object. If I'm working on scaffolding I double up the cable ,wrap it around a bar and make an overhand knot leaving me just enough cable to work with.
Reply:My dad told me to make the torch an extension of your arm.  Wrap the hose around your arm.  I don't have a clue about EMF, but it sure helps.I shake too, but if I am "in the zone" I am only concentrating on the puddle and the rod and torch stops shaking and I just weld.  A weave or circling the torch helps.  Maybe like a person that stutters can still sing.DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.