Any welders here?

I just started to stick welding in a metals class of mine. And once the whole class gets proficient at it, we’ll move to mig, and possibly tig. Though I doubt we’ll get to tig, being that we all suck at welding :(. What I was wondering though, is if we have any welders in tha house? And if you have welded before, what’s your favorite type? Any PITA metal/typeofwelding combos?

Kinda sucks that our teacher isn’t very good though, never told me how far to keep the electrode from the metal. We watched a video and he demonstrated to some of us. He just said you strike the arc then start welding…not exactly the most explanation. So, if you are still reading this, know any good youtube welding videos?

Nope, but I do get to learn in a few months. :D My hope is to get to the point where I can chop a maglite in half and weld it into a 1D maglite.

sintro. If you learn how to stick (arc) weld first, mig welding will be a walk in the park. Tig welding is a little trickier though.

Learned to do some TIG welding and resistance welding in a beginner engineering class in college. Didn’t use it much since I’m a biomedical engineer, but towards then end of the class, I was able to get some nice looking welds. Resistance welding is super easy with the right tools (note, do not touch the copper, it’s hot). I can also solder decently (SMD parts etc.).

Get some spare piece of metal and practice. That’s what I did.

I heard welding Aluminum can be hard.

Good to know! Mig just looked easier because you don’t have that long stick to control anymore.

Also, cool Scaru. Once I saw the class(metals and manufacturing) while I was singing up, I was like .; this could possibly be the most fun class ever. Not to mention useful! We just finally got in the lab today to actually weld. But it’s looking to be even more fun than small engines. My highschools even getting some program that allows you to go straight to miller or wackernoisen out of college at $20 an hour. And they pay for any additional schooling you want. Because they are always looking for welders. Apparently you get 3-10 job offers depending on the schooling you took right out of highschool in my area(Milwaukee).

The sad thing is I probably won’t get a job in the field ever, even though this kind of stuff is EXTREMELY interesting to me. I’m looking for something that makes you think a little more and has more steady work. I’d ask my welder uncle how welding is, but it’d be a little hard because he’s deaf and translating through my Mom and relatives just isn’t the same as talking in the same language as him.

I took a welding class years ago so I could mod an old Schwinn King Sting. I only got through stick and brazing. If I remember correctly the distance between the stick and the puddle is a function of the stick diameter and the current and the technique is a sort of 2 steps forward 1 step back. An overlapping waver that produces the signature half moons of stick welding. Too close or current too low and you get a cold weld. Too far away or current too high and you get spatter and premature stick melt. Moving the stick too slowly can cause burn throughs, too fast and the base metal is not fused deeply enough. It’s maddening, stinky, finicky, exacting work but a good weld can be a work of art. Oh, and make sure you practice with good posture or your back will pay.

I’m actually reading some articles/forums on aluminum welding right now!

Tell me what you find out. :)

I can do capacitive discharge spot welding. My welder: Build your own CD battery tab welder for about $100.00+- | Endless Sphere DIY EV Forum

The welder also has a cutter mode which can be used like a mig/tig welder. It can also (sort of) do pulse-arc welding… it needs a better pulse-arc weld head to do it correctly.

I think aluminum is best done under inert gas(mig or tig)and super clean to start with. Not sure but I think that in general the gap should be ~1/2 the stick diameter and add current as stick size increases.

I stick and MIG weld. Not to try and oversimplify how to weld but after you strike your arc adjust your arc length till is sounds like sizzling bacon frying in a skillet. If the arc sounds like a buzz it is too long. Too close and it will sputter and stick. Starting out try making little circles about the size of a dime with the tip of the rod. What type of rod are you using and are you using AC or DC? Welding just takes a lot of practice.
I prefer a DC reverse polarity for most work with 7018 rod. If I need to burn through a lot of rust I will run AC with 6013 rod on flat work or 6011 on vertical work.

I am a fair welder but my brother in law is crazy good! Here are a couple of pics of a dinosaur he did out of aluminum