Learning to Weld-- Tips for Beginners on Welding and Gear

I bought a wire feed welder from Harbor Freight for $99.00, works great and weld allot with it. I will be doing my C's and CA skids here soon.:thumb:
 
Figure out what you want to weld before you buy a welder... and by what I mean thickness.

Most 120v welders are crap and dont have the duty cycle to weld even 3/16" steel for very long (10 to 20% duty cycle).

Lincoln, Miller, and Hobart make good machines, but would stay away from the home depot specials because of the poor duty cycle.

I would personally not weld anything structural on a vehicle with a 120v welder.

Take a class at a local community college to decide if you actually like it. If you do, check out craigs list for a used miller or lincoln 220v. Assuming you can put a 220 service in your garage.

Do not buy a 220v 3 phase welder, they are tempting because they are cheap, but your house wont have 3 phase, and getting a drop from the electric co is big $$, and so are inverters.

I like to stick weld, but thats because I have a stick machine, and you can do it outside. If I had a nice 220 mig like a miller 212 I would prefer mig. Then you can get a spool gun and do Al too.
 
SDG said:
Figure out what you want to weld before you buy a welder... and by what I mean thickness.

Most 120v welders are crap and dont have the duty cycle to weld even 3/16" steel for very long (10 to 20% duty cycle).

Lincoln, Miller, and Hobart make good machines, but would stay away from the home depot specials because of the poor duty cycle.

I would personally not weld anything structural on a vehicle with a 120v welder.

Take a class at a local community college to decide if you actually like it. If you do, check out craigs list for a used miller or lincoln 220v. Assuming you can put a 220 service in your garage.

Do not buy a 220v 3 phase welder, they are tempting because they are cheap, but your house wont have 3 phase, and getting a drop from the electric co is big $$, and so are inverters.

I like to stick weld, but thats because I have a stick machine, and you can do it outside. If I had a nice 220 mig like a miller 212 I would prefer mig. Then you can get a spool gun and do Al too.
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Well, as far as what I want to weld. I would like to be able to weld on things like sliders, ca mounts on axles and frames etc. My big picture is to be able to do a junk yard type build off of an old xj or something like that. At the same time it would be nice to be able to do my own gusset s and sliders for my jk.

What does duty cycle mean in regards to welding? Also, I did not think if having to modify my homes electrical plus I am renting so ill have to make a few phone calls if I get to that point. Over all, thanks for the info. :beer::thumbup:

2014 JKUR
 
Duty cycle related to the on/off duration. a 10% DC means for every 10 seconds of weld, you need 90 seconds of rest.
 
I taught myself. I would recommend take some tech school classes at night.
I bought myself a Hobart welder and just read some books. Then practice. If you ever come to Rausch creek I'm on the way and will be happy to let you try it out.
 
Emptybrass said:
I taught myself. I would recommend take some tech school classes at night.
I bought myself a Hobart welder and just read some books. Then practice. If you ever come to Rausch creek I'm on the way and will be happy to let you try it out.
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Are you going to be a RC on the 200th? If so we could talk a little more then and maybe plan something. :thumbup:

jnabird333 said:
Duty cycle related to the on/off duration. a 10% DC means for every 10 seconds of weld, you need 90 seconds of rest.
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Gotcha! Thanks for the info. :beer::)

2014 JKUR
 
Do you plan on staying over Saturday night? I am getting a room then coming home Sunday. I don't know if we are wheeling or not. If your saying over we can hit my shop up on the way back and you can do some welding. I'll bring the book(s) I read either way.
 
Emptybrass said:
Do you plan on staying over Saturday night? I am getting a room then coming home Sunday. I don't know if we are wheeling or not. If your saying over we can hit my shop up on the way back and you can do some welding. I'll bring the book(s) I read either way.
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The books would be great. I am going to have to pass on that offer to stop by your place though. I promised the wife id be back by lunch time on Sunday. Ill probably be leaving the hotel around six in the morning. :eek:

2014 JKUR
 
I got a Lincoln weld Pak 100 for free and have been teaching myself. I was looking into a class at the local JC but the wait list is huge and my time is pretty limited. I found some great YouTube videos from weldingtipsandtricks to be extremely helpful and its filmed from behind the hood so you can actually see what he is explaining ie...puddle, patterns, pushing, pulling etc. Just practice and start on small non-structural jobs until you become comfortable with your machine and skill.
 
I too like watching and learning from Jody at Weldingtipsandtricks on YouTube. He currently has a series on MIG basics. I am a very unskilled welder but am also teaching myself.
 
I learned by local college. I would recommend. Also maybe check out you tube. As for welders HB would not be a bad idea to get a welder there, try a local automotive supply store, or a big box store. I learned years ago with arc and oxy. I know I might get slammed for that. The new style of welders are much more easier you could probably teach yourself. I use to make extra money welding cars for people in Germany at the auto hobby shop. Started a few on fire as well.:cheesy:
 
I learned to weld in high school, got a job welding before the economy tanked and learning to gas weld was step one. Now, that was in a learning environment and I would never consider myself a pro or knowledgable welder, but you can def self teach welding with a mig gun. Even if you get a crazy deal on cl with a lower end machine just to learn with, you'll quickly see if you wanna pursue the hobby (I only say hobby bc I doubt you quit your day job to weld, given you can't.) If you decide to grab a decent machine, it'll pay for itself after you burn in the gussets, skids, and maybe a track bar mount.
 
Thanks everyone for the continued input. Looked into my local college and they follow the semester schedule so for now that isn't an option. Going to check out a weekend workshop and go from there. :thumbup::beer:

Sent from a galaxy far far away.
 
liljohn850 said:
I learned to weld in high school, got a job welding before the economy tanked and learning to gas weld was step one. Now, that was in a learning environment and I would never consider myself a pro or knowledgable welder, but you can def self teach welding with a mig gun. Even if you get a crazy deal on cl with a lower end machine just to learn with, you'll quickly see if you wanna pursue the hobby (I only say hobby bc I doubt you quit your day job to weld, given you can't.) If you decide to grab a decent machine, it'll pay for itself after you burn in the gussets, skids, and maybe a track bar mount.
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Lol no, not going to quit my day job. :D

Sent from a galaxy far far away.
 
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