How did you learn to weld?

[ntaj*ep]

I'm now tired of asking favors and paying for my welding work. I learned to weld in high school and was pretty good at it but have not done more than a tack weld for sometime now. I will be buying a welder here soon and most likely be taking a basic refresher course as well. But I recall my high school teacher and that class and how much fun we had figured I'd ask the rest of you how you learned?

 

[divorced]

I learned when I was 12 while working for the farmer that lives a couple miles from us.

 

[85mudblazin]

what welder are you going to be using???
I bought my self a mig welder and just taut my self, just get some scrap metal and make the welds look pretty

 

[Russell]

My father sat me down infront of our old Lincon stick welder with two peices of big steel pipe and had me weld it together about 8 years ago, lol! Nastiest welds ever, but I have learned quite a bit since

I spent the whole last summer welding up a correl with that same little stick welder, and I've gotten pretty good at it Next is to try sheet metal welding with my little MiG, outta be rather interesting

I was the best welder in my class at school, both mig and arc, but I am a bit aggressive with it to get good penetration, so I'll probally end up warping stuff pretty bad the first couple times with some thin gauge sheet metal...

 

[zeroz400]

2 of my freinds always made stuff like mini bikes and what not and welded alot. I would just watch them then i tried it with my uncles welder when i gusseted my atv frame. I did a pretty good and got tips from my uncle and freind. Only prolbem i have now is i cant weld without a autodimming mask.


Later

 

[84gmcjimmy]

I learned at school, then my dad bought a welder and I use that!

 

[tRustyK5]

I went to trade school...

Rene

 

[joez]

Learned in High school.

 

[mr_beer]

I've been on a dairy farm all my life and have been welding since I was a kid. I'd say I was around 8 or 9 years old. My dad put a pile of scrap metal in front of me and told me to start burning rods.

 

[big_truxx]

i loearned in auto shop at the vocational; center while in high school. which was nothing more than the teacher, who was really cool with me, showing me how to weld once maybe twice. then i practiced on my own at the shop and an odd job on the farm that needed done. i rewelded my grandfather's headboard on the dumptruck once a few years ago after a tree tore it up good. and its still holding today. i was impressed.

 

[cbbr]

Bought a MIG and "How to MIG Weld" and some scrap metal just after I bought my Burb. Trial and error (mostly error at first).

 

[Emmettology 101]

I learned how to use a stick welder from a few friends and my father. After I got my own garage, I bought a 110v mig then just practiced on my own and asked friends for advice!

 

[Hossbaby50]

I am still learning. I am taking classes at my local Community College to learn. It is basically a learn by practice class with the teacher telling you what you did wrong. It is working pretty well sofar. I have learned to weld with an Oxy/ace setup, Arc, and Mig. Next semster I am going to start on Tig.

Harley

 

[Ruthven13]

I simply just stole my buddies MIG after he left it down at the towing yard where we work. Actually he prefers me to have it, since it is safer at my house! I just weld stuff and see how it comes out. Use that info for the next time or the rest of the job. Kinda like trial and error. And no, I still can't weld that great!

 

[diesel4me]

I taught myself more than trade school did!

I was taught basic arc and oxyacetelyne welding in shop class at trade school,but I found it difficult to learn to use a welder when the other kids were messing with the dials on the arc welder while trying to run a bead,or them screwing with the pressure regulators on the torches,while your buried under a welding mask--many of them used the welding "booth" and the arc welder to light ciggarrettes and sneak a smoke in,right under the teachers nose--I got only enough practice to make me realize I wanted to learn it for real--I brought a few "projects" to school and welded them together(one was a tricycle made from old water pipe,"adult sized",with a briggs and stratton motor from a go-cart on it--I nearly got suspended for racing it around the school parking lot!)--but I learned a lot more at home with my 25 dollar hand me down "P&H" arc welder over the next 10 years--
-I still cant weld that great,my welds are never really good looking,but everything I built is still holding!--I've never used a mig welder long enough to get used to one--they are very different from arc welding--and I've gotten good enough with the arc welder to weld even thinner stuff like floors and patches--so I dont see a mig welder in my future unless I start doing more body repairs,or if I come across one real cheap.

 

[ryoken]

learned a little arc and gas back in autobody votech days. then got my crash course restoing mixers, etc at the concrete plant. tons of arc welding and plasma cutting doing battery box fab, boat motor test tanks and general truck stuff... honed my mig skills doing full sheetmetal restos on AutoCars, and torch welding patchs on the rusty Macks.. then off to a collision shop i went for more mig and torch... i've never tigged tho...

 

[ntaj*ep]

Well I see everything from learning at school to needing to learn on the farm. I really liked doing it in high school and I also did some in a diesal program I took at the local Voc. tech school. Which is where my "refresher" welding class will take place. I will just be buying a small 230v mig. and messing around with that for a while. I'm just looking forward to all the fun I had when I was younger. I like fabbing stuff up but its a let down when you have to bring it to someone else to have it (finished) welded.

 

[big83chevy4x4]

my grandpa's lincoln 100 was sitting in the garage, i grabbed a few scrap peices and tried it. it wasn't the best, but wasn't the worst either. im still getting better at it. practice makes perfect.

 

[tx_sub]

my uncle bought me a little lincoln when i was about 14 and toyed around with it for a few years. then i worked in a steel shop building architectural staircases and sculpture for four years. now i'm taking a class how to learn it again next semester. i'm fairly good with a mig and cutting torch. oxy welding, stick, and tig are next on my list to master.

here's the company i worked for. all the pics are old but similar to stuff i did.
www.bigdmetal.com

 

[rjfguitar]

I'm a farmer...we are a jack of all trades but masters of none. I learned how to weld when my dad taught me when I was about 14 years old. My dad used to have a welding business until he decided he liked trucks better.

Wire feeds are easy, a monkey can mig weld. Stick welding is trickyer, it's easy to blow holes in your material and it's hard to patch them up sometimes. Learning what amperage that is needed takes some time too. It is easy to pick up though, just start by making buttons and beads on a piece of material and then move on to welding small pieces together.