I wanna learn to weld, what's the best wY to go about it?
College course?
Book?
DVD?
Just buy a welder and practice?
All of the above?

I wanna do some work on the car. It doesn't have to be the neatest but obviously it would b nice if it was, then later on I can do more as I get better.
I'm thinking of getting an old shed to start cutting/welding different parts on for practice.

Any1 got any tips for me?
Also what's the best welder for a beginner and how do I know what gas/wire/settings/speeds..... To use?

Cheers peeps.

 

Personally I'd say the college option, you get the theory, you get the practical, they provide all the gear, you might meet some people who have stuff you can borrow.

 

I would agree, college is probably the best option, that way you get to understand the effects of what you are doing as they will cut up test pieces etc and explain the causes.

 

teach ya self mate i did get some old panels an away you go sod paying some one teach ya not that hard mig welding anyway

seting up is easy to much wire an you get to much build up as for settings you learn when you blow holes in tin to turn it down ,

 

but college electricty is free

 

sod going to college,
i just looked up the courses and its £200 and 10 weeks of evenings, 6-9.30 and the nearest one is about an hour away.
guess i will do the book/dvd/just dive in route. lol

 

You can forget everything they teach you at college if your gonna be welding a car!

 

i think setting up the welder is the hardest bit, get use to that and your kind of away, you tube is good for guides normally

 

yea i wanna weld the car.
theres loads of jobs i want to do to it and wanna do it myself.
the price of the college course will cover the welder, mask, scrap car to practice on.....lol

 

just buy a welder and equipment for the cost of the course and practice with spare metal. unless your doing it in a money making capacity then im sure itll be ok for diy.

 

i've just bought a mig welder and starting to teach myself.
i found this forum very useful and friendly, there is a titorial on there too.
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/index.php

 

What mig welder did you buy? There are loads out there and I appreciate you get what you pay for, but for repairing/replacing panels on cars I guess you don't need a rolls royce model?

Whec choosing one, is there anything specific to look for or avoid?

Thanks for the help.

cheers
Billy

 

if you buy a welder get a second hand one and make sure its got a eurotorch, anything without is just shite

 

a titorial? i like the sound of that.

 

Get your self a 150 note mig welder , tap into youtube how to mig weld , get in the garage and get practicing.

 

i lent my mates then went down the local metal place asked the fella if i could have some offcuts out the bins told him why he gave me a lil box of of allsorts.

And i just started welding em together looked like pigeon to start off with but practice makes perfect and all that

 

Take a simple course or read a book. Internet has tons of shite on it.

But until you have the gun/stick/torch in your hand it means fcuk all. go guy a crap .99p car and weld on it with some scrap. Learn on THAT car. Weld up some exhaust that doesn't leak then you are ready to play.

I recommend mig and flux core to learn on. If you like it and want to move on to other people's projects or tinker some more buy a cheap chinese tig inverted and a bottle. that's my next step.

 

i got a 10 minute crash course from my next door neighbour and off i went,once you get the nack of it its easy. 150 amp gasless mig i use now and i would weld anything. you will blow the odd hole but you soon get past that and with a bit of practice you will be welding like a pro in no time

 

as said buy one n practice bud-best way by far

 

the others have said the most now i will give the best lol

buy a good speedglass mask

as the others aint worth a wank as soon as you spark up you cant see sod all through them

and a speed glass you can see as if you never had the mask on


paul

 

i did a one year evening course in fabrication and welding cost me £200 and was well worth it. it would have cost more than £200 for the materials i used up. learnt MMA first then went on MIG which is much easier, done a bit of gas welding. learnt oxy cutting, plasma cutting, shaping, bending, rolling - plus loads more. i recommend the college route.

 

dad learnt at colledge and swore by it

that way you know you doing it right and wont hurt yourself

 

If you want to do it for a living or not is the key to the replies here.

From the OP and title it appears he just wants to learn how. Practice!

 

practice, practice, practice, MIG and ARC are the easiest.
get some scrap, have a read on the above mig welding forum, watch a few youtube videos and have a play, setting up the welder is the trickiest bit, the actual welding is a piece of piss.
when buying a mig, buy the best you can afford, i borrowed a mates clarke 110e to start with, and it was crap, then i bought a new clarke mig pro 90, and it was crap, now ive got a clarke 160 turbo EN and its not a bad little welder but it is over double the price of the 90.
remember, cheap shit is cheap for a reason, its shit.
the 'turbo' fan cooled is definatly worth it.
oh and i agree with the auto darkening mask, one of the best bits of kit ive bought, although some people dont get on with them, i love it!

 

Agreed - the auto helmet rocks. Mine is a little fussy when a work light is shining beside it but I love it.

 

Borrowed my mates mig 100 clarke and practiced on old panels overlapping and but welding.Practice makes perfect,butwe all have our off days!

 

i bought a used clarke 90pro off ebay, 75 quid and will weld up to 3mm steel and got an auto darkening helmet for another 30 odd quid.
from what i read then for reliability, price and ease of use then the clarke migs are recommended on the welding forum i linked to earlier. other makes suffer from wire feed problems

for car repairs its best to get one that goes down to about 25-30amps for doing body panels as it wont blow holes in the metal as easy as a higher rated minimum amp one.
some are gas or no gas,(the one i got uses small disposable bottles of gas)
the gas version is easier/better to use but ideally suited to use indoors as any breeze blows the shielding gas away and affects the weld. you can create a windbreak to prevent this.
the gasless version uses a fluxed wire and can be used indoors or outdoors but isnt as easy to use.
you can get the disposable bottles of gas from motor factors or a welding supplies company. around 15 notes a time.

 

Cheers guys, yes I wanna learn just for me/my cars, not to earn money from. I've had a quick look on eBay and seen a lot of the 2nd hand 1s go for almost the same as new machines.
I might buy a cheap 1 to start with then get a better 1 when I get better.

Is it better to get a face mask or goggles?

 

depends, id find a mask clostraphobic (sp) but they are safer, personal preferance

 

although i'm new to welding i think the helmet offers best protection from spatter etc especially if you are welding above your head. with goggles the hot sparks etc can fall onto your face. an auto darkening one allows you to position the gun without having to keep pulling the helmet up and down and when the arc is formed they go dark instantly

 

here's the "titorial" lol i was on about earlier.. http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/tutorial.htm

 

done some welding today
looked like shite because the metal was crap, but on the new metal it was fizzing along really nicely

but i had to do some of it upside down and left handed, that was a trick and a half i tell thee