Learning to weld

Beta Ray Bill

Hey

Not really a DIY question but I figure the best place to get an answer is here.

Id like to learn to do a bit of welding. Nothing heavy, just sheet metal welding.

I dunno if anyone does crash courses in the basics of welding.
Im not even sure what type of welder to buy.

Any suggestions / help would be much appreciated

G.

darragh o meara

grahambo wrote: »

Hey

Not really a DIY question but I figure the best place to get an answer is here.

Id like to learn to do a bit of welding. Nothing heavy, just sheet metal welding.

I dunno if anyone does crash courses in the basics of welding.
Im not even sure what type of welder to buy.

Any suggestions / help would be much appreciated

G.

How I learned was by getting a cheap arc welder from buyandsell (the donedeal of the nineties) and went around some of the workshops in town and blagged a few offcuts, brought them out to the house and messed around with them until I got something half decent.

Done similar when I wanted to learn mig welding but got a decent enough second hand gas mig welder. Learning Mig wasn't as easy as you have a gas flow and wire feed rate thrown into the equation to worry about. In the end I got a local welder to show me how to set it up properly and to show me what to look for when I needed to adjust the gas/feed etc.

Really depends on what you want to do with it. Gates etc would suit an Arc welder whereas welding cars would be better suited to a mig.

Check out your local VEC, I know mine does evening courses every so often and they offer a welding one from time to time.

Btw. Welders are cheap enough at the minute, I picked up a real nice arc welder ( inverter type ) for about 200 quid and it works really well. Aldi often have them cheaper again... Just make sure you get the right gear to with it, gloves, apron and mask. Blobs of weld on your skin or arc eye are no fun at all.

Hope that helps.

shanec1928

have came across these a few times on facebook not a clue what they or the courses are like. http://arcsandsparksweldtraining.com/

martyc5674

A cheaper halfway house between mig and arc is a gasless mig(basically you use a different wire which has a flux core negating the need for gas)
Way cheaper to own for a hobby welder as you don't need to rent gas bottles etc. also can be used outdoors/windy conditions as the gas shield won't be blown around. Results are good with them but wouldn't be quite as neat as a gas shielded mig.
For light work I'd recommend something that goes as low as 30amp and up to 150amp (Clarke en151 I think would do the trick... I'm sure there's others)

I have one and it's great...
I have an Aldi arc aswell and it's also great.
Marty.

martyc5674

Oh yeah... get an automatic mask, and welding gloves!!

porsche boy

Lidl were selling a decent auto dimmi g welding mask for 40 quid last week. Well worth the money.

EIRE forever

not sure if your working or not, if not you can do a FAS course that does 3hrs once or twice a week an they do arc,mig,gas & tig. that's how I learned how to weld an got qualified then in arc & mig on the 4month day course. that's one option.
welding is not as easy as you might think if only starting, you'll deffo need experienced guidance from someone who knows how to weld. there's technuiqes & different positions you need to learn, otherwise you just gonna waste your money on a welding machine an welding rods or wire if you doing it yourself. plus, NEVER weld without the proper safety gear, overalls, gloves & welding mask.
and whatever you do don't buy the aldi or lidl welders, there heaps of junk, even for small jobs. sh*t keeps on tripping on them. tripping I mean blowing fuses.

grahambo wrote: »

Hey

Not really a DIY question but I figure the best place to get an answer is here.

Id like to learn to do a bit of welding. Nothing heavy, just sheet metal welding.

I dunno if anyone does crash courses in the basics of welding.
Im not even sure what type of welder to buy.

Any suggestions / help would be much appreciated

G.

porsche boy

EIRE forever wrote:

.... and whatever you do don't buy the aldi or lidl welders, there heaps of junk, even for small jobs. sh*t keeps on tripping on them. tripping I mean blowing fuses.

I've not had that experience with my Lidl wire welder.

martyc5674

porsche boy wrote: »

I've not had that experience with my Lidl wire welder.

My 160amp arc kept blowing fuses till I fitted a dedicated 16amp outlet in my garage, no fault of the welder, just shouldn't come supplied with a 13amp plug.
Marty.

Beta Ray Bill

Cheers for the replies guys

I managed to get sorted with an ARC welder

Let the learning commence.

darragh o meara

grahambo wrote: »

Cheers for the replies guys

I managed to get sorted with an ARC welder

Let the learning commence.

Good luck. It takes time and lots of patience.

Remember material preparation is key, unprepared metals won't weld well at all.

CPS84

EIRE forever wrote: »

not sure if your working or not, if not you can do a FAS course that does 3hrs once or twice a week an they do arc,mig,gas & tig. that's how I learned how to weld an got qualified then in arc & mig on the 4month day course. that's one option.
welding is not as easy as you might think if only starting, you'll deffo need experienced guidance from someone who knows how to weld. there's technuiqes & different positions you need to learn, otherwise you just gonna waste your money on a welding machine an welding rods or wire if you doing it yourself. plus, NEVER weld without the proper safety gear, overalls, gloves & welding mask.
and whatever you do don't buy the aldi or lidl welders, there heaps of junk, even for small jobs. sh*t keeps on tripping on them. tripping I mean blowing fuses.

Hi EIRE forever, how did you find the FAS welding course? I want to learn how to TIG weld, particularly stainless steel. There's an evening FAS course starting near me in Shannon next month which is 2 evenings a week for 10 weeks. Each evening is 3 hours so that's 60 hours in total. https://www.fetchcourses.ie/course/finder?sfcw-courseId=205532

I've also seen a similar evening course at LIT which is 1 evening a week for 10 weeks. Each evening is 2.5 hours so that's 25 hours in total. https://flexiblelearning.lit.ie/course/welding-stainless-steel-tig-a-s-m-e-no-9/

I'm a bit unsure which one to go for. Any advise which course to go for?

case_sensitive

I did a 10-week, two nights a week MIG course in Ballyfermot CDETB 2 years ago, and the TIG course (10 weeks again) last year. Brilliant, can highly recommend it.
I welded mild steel, stainless and aluminium between the courses. If you only have time for one, I'd pick TIG, but be aware the plant is pricey, particularly if
you want to work with aluminium. One lad even brought in some titanium to play with (but that's mad expensive, they don't provide it).

I'm working, and they reserve 2 places on each course for paying punters. €450 each course, which would scarcely cover the PPE and materials you get through.
My instructor, Dave Ryan was brilliant, and hilarious which made my experience more positive. both courses come with certification if you're interested in that.

I sold my MIG plant about 2 weeks after starting TIG;it's much more expensive, but far more flexible. 1 gas and 1 plant for just about any metal, whereas with MIG you potentially need different gases for different materials.

Personally, I'd do the course(s) and save up €1,300 for a TIG plant and never buy another one again.
I got the Parweld XT202p (AC/DC) in the end, and I love it, I've welded aluminium, lots of different kinds of steel and autogenous (no filler) you can weld anything that'll melt, even a porcelain mug!

Magown3

After that reply, I've just enquired into doing a welding course in Finglas that starts next week.
Truth be told, I should have done it a long time ago as I've always had an interest. Bought an aldi arc welder some time ago and started practicing with it lately with little to no positive results!
Hopefully there's a space on the course for me.

Nekarsulm

http://arcsandsparksweldtraining.com

Or you might be able to get a few hours training on a Saturday with these guys.

Magown3

Nekarsulm wrote: »

http://arcsandsparksweldtraining.com

Or you might be able to get a few hours training on a Saturday with these guys.

Checked them out already but they're a good bit away in cavan.
I'll just wait for the new term in finglas