Never Welded, Bought Welder Anyway

[Davey4000]

I always wanted to learn how to weld, but never got around to learning. The other day I took the plunge and bought a MIG welder. Before I start learning I need to buy the required accessories. Other than gloves and helmet can someone provide a list of items I need?

I will probably enroll in an adult ed course, but would still like to get a jump on purchasing the accessories/tools while I'm looking for a course.

 

[-lecroix-]

Other than a set of side cutters and a bunch of C clamps, I think you are all set.

Got get yourself some scrap metal and start melting things together.

P.S. Don't cut corners on the helmet. You've got the ONLY 2 eyes you are ever going to get, take care of them.

 

[RPH]

Autodarkening helmet was the best thing I bought. Allows you to see what happens just as the trigger is pulled. Training will help out alot. Avoid the galvinized metal as it will make you sick.

 

[bmwpower]

Which welder did you get?

 

[Davey4000]

P.S. Don't cut corners on the helmet.

Do you have a suggestion for a helmet? I would like to get a good one, but don't want to go overboard on price.

 

[Davey4000]

Which welder did you get?

Hobart 187. I got it from TSC.

 

[-lecroix-]

Do you have a suggestion for a helmet? I would like to get a good one, but don't want to go overboard on price.

What do you consider "overboard" ???

 

[kartracer55]

My advice is to hold off on welding until you can get some instruction, either by an experienced weldor/fabricator or take the class. Mig is really easy to pick up bad habits with, and Ive been through enough night school adult ed classes to see this. In the general welding classes (as opposed to TIG specific classes) there is always atleast one idiot who thinks he is an amazing weldor because he can make a nice mig bead.

Read on welding forums about the process. Whenever I decided I was going to take a class and learn a new process, I read as much as I could before I even started welding. Not just how it works, but WHY it works and different problems and variables involved. This way, as everything was being tought, I kept my mouth shut and filled in the gaps instead of trying to learn everything all at once.

Jim

 

[Davey4000]

What do you consider "overboard" ???

I wish I knew. I haven't done any research or talked to anybody yet. Can you get a decent helmet for $100 or less?

 

[kartracer55]

Do you have a suggestion for a helmet? I would like to get a good one, but don't want to go overboard on price.

Skip the Autodark and go for a cheapy single shade hood for now. Oh but Jim, why? Well, Because you will get addicted to the auto-dark. The Always dark hood will help you to develop a better sense of where the gun, stick or torch is before welding.. it gets a little more difficult when you can not see what you are doing and need to rely on a steady hand until you get an arc going. Try learning on an auto-dark without learning to use a regular hood, then go try and weld when all you have is a regular hood.

But whatever, Im just a kid

 

[Rory Bellows]

Well a good start is an auto lid. Don't forget a bottle of gas (c25) I recommend an 80 cf tank and a 4 1/2 grinder.

After you get into it you'll want a chop saw or bandsaw. ( I got both & love only one) Then build a welding table and welder cart. Get a selection of various clamps and you will be pretty much set up.

Look in the phone book for local scrap yards and buy old steel cheap. In my area it was .10/lb but went up to .25/lb at one place because of insurance costs. Still pretty cheap and you'll never know what you will come across there. I found a complete cj-7 windshield w/ good glass and solid frame and took it home for $4.00. I love spare parts for my jeep.

John

Edit: I have HH 180 and like it alot. The 187 is supposedly way better. Great choice! Check out the Hobart welding forums and read up.

 

[PAToyota]

Have to say that I'd recommend an autodark for a beginner - one less thing to try to master when you are learning... And I also agree on getting the lessons rather than learning bad habits. Much better to do it right from the beginning.

 

[1fastvx]

Here is a real nice Hobart welding helmet. Has some good features and wont break the bank!!

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?in_merch=1&storeId=6970&productId=200320563&R=200320563

John

 

[rickairmedic]

Davey for a reasonably priced auto dark helmet I would recomend going back to TSC and looking at the Hobart auto darks there I picked one up there for 70 or 80 bucks . I will let you in on a secret I have several harbor freight auto darks that dont come close to comparing to the one I got from TSC. and it wont break the bank .


Rick

 

[Coach James]

I would add a long sleeve shirt or jacket that will button up around the collar. Preferably in cotton. It will keep the hot metal off of you and keep you from getting sun burned.
Coach

 

[Uncle Buck]

Don't forget safety, a charged fire extinguisher, gloves, spats etc... also look at your area for flammable & combustible liquids in close proximity. If you have kiddies of course you do not want them around while you are welding. I agree, take a class first, one more thing to add to your list is a can of anti spatter paste to coat that gun tip with. Keeps weld spatter down. Rotsa Ruck!

 

[jhn9840]

A local technical or community college would be a great place to get some practical experience. It's where I got my start. Welding is a trade that is very tough to learn out of a book.

If you try www.aws.org or www.hobartwelders.com these are two very informative sites that have excellant forums on them. There are many others also if you google up welding forums.

You can never have to many different types of tools when welding. The tools needed to do the job your on will be different from the next job you have.

A good quality hood and set of leather sleeves or jacket are very important. A chipping hammer, wire brush and pliers/wire cutters along with a good pen knife are always needed. 41/2" angle grinder is almost a necessity, 2 of them if you can afford it 1 with a grinding wheel and 1 with a wire brush. An assortment of C clamps and vise grips.

Down the road a set of torches and a chop saw will be needed for fabrication work that you want to do.

It all takes money, but like everything else buy the best equipment that you can afford.

Best of luck to you
jhn9840
John

 

[Major Ramifications]

My advice is to hold off on welding until you can get some instruction, either by an experienced weldor/fabricator or take the class. Mig is really easy to pick up bad habits with, and Ive been through enough night school adult ed classes to see this. In the general welding classes (as opposed to TIG specific classes) there is always atleast one idiot who thinks he is an amazing weldor because he can make a nice mig bead.

Read on welding forums about the process. Whenever I decided I was going to take a class and learn a new process, I read as much as I could before I even started welding. Not just how it works, but WHY it works and different problems and variables involved. This way, as everything was being tought, I kept my mouth shut and filled in the gaps instead of trying to learn everything all at once.

Jim

Kartracer, Wow I am impressed. You said weldor instead of welder. The weldor is the person doing the welding. The welder is the machine. I also agree with everything up there in your quote. Good Job.

 

[markl]

You can try renting a welding video from WWW.Smartflix.com. You can rent videos on just about any subject. It wont make you a pro welder but it will give you a better understanding of how the process works and will help get you started.

 

[kartracer55]

Kartracer, Wow I am impressed. You said weldor instead of welder. The weldor is the person doing the welding. The welder is the machine. I also agree with everything up there in your quote. Good Job.

Thanks. Im glad to hear that some people agree with me. Alot of the posts in this thread are contradicting what I wrote, but I want Davey to know I dont just pull things out of my *** lol

 

[TNToy]

A lot of the posts in this thread are contradicting what I wrote...

Sure. But you're the one who's right. Take pleasure in that.

I seriously talked to a guy once who thought it was a major revelation to learn that you want to try and nearly burn through (read: penetrate) the work. He was running his 250A machine nice and cold on 1/4" plate (****-welding it, too), and running a chilly-*** bead across the top like it was hot glue. But it looked pretty.

There are a lot of semi-clueless goobers out there who think they know how to glue steel together with fire.

I've learned from a buddy who stands out in the heat inspecting steel bridge assemblies all day, and not from a formal class. So I'm probably in the 'goober' category somewhat... but I've been upside down twice in a rig whose rollcage I assembled, and I'm still here.

 

[-lecroix-]

There's a whole damn lot of "semi-clueless goobers out there who think they know how to" do a lot of things that they have no business doing ... much less telling someone else how to do it.

 

[Ironcrow]

Yeah, autodark helmet is the only way to go. I would avoid flux core wire. Use solid wire and shield gas.

My Miller welder came with a dual gauge regulator, which seems to be common. My 'cheat sheet' for voltage, wire feed, and gas for a given thickness of material gives the shield gas in flow rate, not pressure. So, I bought a flow meter at the welding shop and set the dual gauge regulator aside.

Welding is a topic that always seems to bring out at least one guy who says he's the only person in the world who knows how to weld.

 

[markb1]

Autodark helmet for sure, using the old flip helmet is like a star drill... it works but why use it.

 

[Junkman]

Can't speak from experience, but when I was considering a auto dark helmet, I was told that one of the main differences between the inexpensive and expensive helmets was the window size. The larger the window size, the more expensive the helmet. I was also advised to stay away from the no name made in China helmets, but was never given a reason. My guess is that it was a quality issue. Like someone else said, you only get one pair of eyes. Back in the dark ages when I was in college, I was welding with an old fashioned type of helmet that you would just nod your head, and it would fall. It wasn't that fast of a fall, and I burned my eyes. The next morning, the eye lids were glued shut. I gave up welding after that experience for about 6 months. That is how long it took for my eyes to get back to normal. It is a good thing that your eyes have a remarkable ability to heal themselves when we are careless. One of these days, I will try my new auto dark helmet that I bought 2 years ago............ Junk.......

 

[Ironcrow]

With my old whiplash injury, I really CAN'T jerk my neck to flip an always dark helmet down. To say nothing of the improved usability of autodark hats.

 

[ZRX61]

Can't speak from experience, but when I was considering a auto dark helmet, I was told that one of the main differences between the inexpensive and expensive helmets was the window size. The larger the window size, the more expensive the helmet. I was also advised to stay away from the no name made in China helmets, but was never given a reason. My guess is that it was a quality issue.

Yup, my Miller XLi is a dream compared to the 4 POS Horrible Fright helmets that I went thru in almost as many weeks.... Didn't even take the 4th one out of the box, just PX'd it for something altogether different.

 

[Vicegrip]

What no recomendations for a hand held angle grinder and some wheels? Read the book that came with the welder then use the welder. Make some welds on some scrap. Make em' and break em' to see what worked and what did not . THEN take the class and become a weldor. Taknig a class with no prior is harder to catch on IMO.

 

[jrod60]

wheels? Read the book that came with the welder then use the welder. Make some welds on some scrap. Make em' and break em' to see what worked and what did not . .

Good idea there. For sheet metal, bend back and forth til something breaks. If its the base metal, you did good. On thicker stuff, zap up a tee fillet on some 1/4" plate, cut it in half and grind the edges smooth to have a look at the penetration. 86% nitric acid mixed 10% by volume with alcohol will make the weld visually "pop" from the base material. You can see it ok without this solution, but it sure helps. You want to be sure the weld goes beyond root of the joint (the tee) and you'll probably have a good weld.

Someone said to stay away from flux core wire; why? It's a little more spendy, but welds fine.

Welpers are awesome welding pliers. Nozzle and tip grabbers, wire cutter, needle nose to clean the nozzle, plus some other stuff. http://www.weldingmart.com/Qstore/p000299.htm

J