questions from new mig welder

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hi all;I have just began welding, and have been using an old car door to practice on. I learned very early the lesson that the work clamp has to be on clean metal and not on paint (couldn't strike arc). So one question is, when welding on a car, what are some suggestions for where to put the work clamp if you don't want to grind paint off to clamp it, since most areas are painted? Is there a limit how far away you can be from the area you're welding on? The car I'm working on only has some wiring in it, no battery and no electrical devices other than some light bulbs. Also, is it OK to use a big magnet (assuming the magnet is attached to a clean area of the car?) then attach the work clamp to the magnet?One final question is, when is it OK/not OK to hold something you're welding? Like if I want to weld with one hand and hold up what I'm welding with the other (with gloves of course)? At least for tacking purposes?
Reply:Howdy Crush....welcome to the wonderfull world of welding! First off, since there are no electronics, battery, etc in the car any grounding point on the frame should work...but yer gonna have to either remove the surface rust or paint in order to get a good ground. Ordinarily you want to put the ground clamp as close to the welding area as possible but thats not always pratical....so grind off a little spot on the frame and attach yer grounding clamp...should work just fine. If you have one of the magnetic welding clamps that will work as well.  Secondly its ok to hold on to the work while ya tack or even weld...even without gloves...I do it all the time at work(yeah I know I should be wearin gloves)....just make sure ya dont touch an energized contact tip in the gun and touch the grounded metal yer welding on at the same time(thats kinda hard to do anyway). As a side note make sure to keep yer nozzle clean....I was doing a lot of overhead welding at work the other day and the splatter had built up so much in the nozzle that it made a connection between the contact tip and the gas nozzle..I was working in an enclosed space and was sweating really bad, my gloves were wet and I went to hold the gas nozzle fer postioning, hit the trigger and ZAP...got a nice little shocker....so make sure yer gloves are dry just to be on the safe side. Hoped this helped in some way.Take it easy....and keep welding!Rod
Reply:Secondly its ok to hold on to the work while ya tack or even weld...even without gloves...I do it all the time at work(yeah I know I should be wearin gloves)....just make sure ya dont touch an energized contact tip in the gun and touch the grounded metal yer welding on at the same time(thats kinda hard to do anyway). As a side note make sure to keep yer nozzle clean....I was doing a lot of overhead welding at work the other day and the splatter had built up so much in the nozzle that it made a connection between the contact tip and the gas nozzle..I was working in an enclosed space and was sweating really bad, my gloves were wet and I went to hold the gas nozzle fer postioning, hit the trigger and ZAP...got a nice little shocker....so make sure yer gloves are dry just to be on the safe side. Hoped this helped in some way.Take it easy....and keep welding!Rod
Reply:Apparently, I've finally gotten the definitions of "welder" and "weldor" firmly established in my mind.  When I saw the subject, "questions from new mig welder", I thought to myself, "your machine has questions, that seems improbable?"
Reply:Thanks Navyguy, Sandy (and Halbritt  )  for the kind welcomes and useful info, very much settling to get this info from real weldOrs.I'll remember that welder/weldor thing.. but my machine can't weld without me and I can't weld without it, so I don't think it would be offended if I mixed the terms up!
Reply:Oh, I'm not claiming to be a real weldor by any means, just that I know the definition.  That, and I imagine welding machines that talk, that's got to qualify me for something.