Wannabe Welder

[Charlie Velasquez]

….….….
…..Anyone who says flux core doesn't penetrate or is weak doesn't know how to weld. Flux core penetrates very well. Where people screw up is they get a small flux core welder and think they can weld 1/2" thick steel with one pass….

Alex said a lot, but I think this needs more attention.

There is a learning curve. Temperature, amps, speed, angle, wire/rod size, gas/coatings, material, thickness… just some of the variables that will affect a weld. For some welds -who cares?? But, I had a newbie welder friend that bought a welder and fabbed his own utility trailer. He was so proud, till a weld failed as he was pulling it down the road. With one side of the trailer digging into the gravel road it pulled him into the ditch. No injuries, but it could have.

We weld with steel because we expect to put it under a lot of stress. Your welds need to be as strong or stronger than the rest of the structure. One bad thing about mig is they come out looking pretty after little practice. But that prettiness can hide some pretty bad defects.
Consider taking a class at a community education center. You will have an experienced welder/teacher to evaluate your work to help you get better.

Until you get good, stay away from any critical projects; and you may not realize a weld was critical until it is too late (personal story: when I was about 12 or 13 my dad was tasked with welding some black pipe into coat racks for our church. He let me weld a couple times. I thought I did well. A year later a kid was hanging on one and it broke. He slid down the pipe and the sharp metal from the broken weld put a nice cut on his head. Before the days of instant litigation or it could have been bad for the church and my family.)

[Chris Parks]

Alex said a lot, but I think this needs more attention.

There is a learning curve. Temperature, amps, speed, angle, wire/rod size, gas/coatings, material, thickness… just some of the variables that will affect a weld. For some welds -who cares?? But, I had a newbie welder friend that bought a welder and fabbed his own utility trailer. He was so proud, till a weld failed as he was pulling it down the road. With one side of the trailer digging into the gravel road it pulled him into the ditch. No injuries, but it could have.

We weld with steel because we expect to put it under a lot of stress. Your welds need to be as strong or stronger than the rest of the structure. One bad thing about mig is they come out looking pretty after little practice. But that prettiness can hide some pretty bad defects.
Consider taking a class at a community education center. You will have an experienced welder/teacher to evaluate your work to help you get better.

Until you get good, stay away from any critical projects; and you may not realize a weld was critical until it is too late (personal story: when I was about 12 or 13 my dad was tasked with welding some black pipe into coat racks for our church. He let me weld a couple times. I thought I did well. A year later a kid was hanging on one and it broke. He slid down the pipe and the sharp metal from the broken weld put a nice cut on his head. Before the days of instant litigation or it could have been bad for the church and my family.)

It took me 5 years of night courses to learn how to weld Oxy, Arc. MIG & TIG right up to pressure welding on small bore pipe with a TIG. I can quote instances of people getting killed because they thought they knew how to weld. Tig is electronic oxy welding and refines the process somewhat especially aluminium which everyone seems to rave about but it can all be done with two gases and the right skill level, the electrons just make it easier and there is nothing wrong with that.