How did you learn to weld?

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OhioMopar

OhioMopar

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I am kinda fed up with not being able to find a bodyshop that either won't do what they say they will or charges my first born along with my dominant arm. So it is time to learn to weld, among other things. Any good books or material out there to help with the welding end of things? I want to start on my Dart GTS in the next month and want to do the welding first, then I will worry about dent removal and straighening. Then prep work and paint... Mechanical stuff is simple to me, so that isn't a problem. But body work is like reading Japanese to me.
So thanks in advance for any help you can give.
 
Do your self a favor, and enroll in a local night class at a community vocational center, or college.
If you have never welded before they will teach you the right way from the start, so you do not pick up any bad habits.

FYI my parents bought me a set of Harris torches when I was 13 for christmas so I could braze together go carts from old scrap metal.
Still have them and use them today after 31 years and only had to have torch rebuilt once.

After you learn the basics do not buy the crap from china, spend the money for USA made equipment. There is a huge difference on the welding quality.
Years from now you will still be using the USA equipment.
 
I grabbed the welder in the gas station where I worked as a kid and had at it and taught myself. Same with mig same with stick welder. Just buy you a nice little mig welder get you some scrap metal, read the deestrukshuns and teach yourself.
 
i learned the basics in jr. high shop class with an arc welder. kind of had to re-learn after i got my millermatic 135 mig welder but the basics i was taught years ago still apply.
 
Night classes are hard to do with my schedule right now. Third shift. But I will look around.
I was looking at some Miller machines on Craigslist, not in the budget go buy new. But I want good equipment.
 
StrokerScamp said:
I grabbed the welder in the gas station where I worked as a kid and had at it and taught myself. Same with mig same with stick welder. Just buy you a nice little mig welder get you some scrap metal, read the deestrukshuns and teach yourself.
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I thought the deestrukshuns were for if all else failed????
 
a few tips here and there, watching videos, getting set up with good mig/tig welders and equipment.theres no subsitute for hands on experience. i started with various guage metal scraps and diving right in and learning hands on. you will develop a feel for whats going on.ask questions and experiment with your welder and heat ranges and wire . i have had only a limited amount of hours in my welding class in high school and i just picked it up 2 years ago, 20 years later, and i did all the sheet metal patching and all the frame and various other welding jobs on my jeep with great results.there is a ton of info all over the net ,but like i said nothing beats getting right in there and doing it and learning as you go and developing a technic. i found that it can be a lot of fun and very rewarding ,and its not as hard as people think.of course it takes years to achieve very professional results if appearance is an issue.i have never welded aluminum ,i hear it takes a ton of skill.
 
Yeah, the welding scares me the least. It is the dent removal and the straighening that makes me wake up in a cold sweat. Thanks guys...
 
I just picked up a new holbert 140 with cart shipped from nothern tools for $499 as an extra small sheet metal welder.
Why pay $200 for junk?

Do you have any friends with welders?
3 weeks ago I showed a friend how to mig.
Gave him some scrap sheeet metal, and let him go at it.
After about 3 hrs, he started to get the hang of it.

Welding takes alot of practice.
The basics are the same if it is brass, mig, tig, al,.
Heat the metal and lay a bead.
 
OhioMopar said:
Yeah, the welding scares me the least. It is the dent removal and the straighening that makes me wake up in a cold sweat. Thanks guys...
Click to expand...
for small dents ,door dings ,any flat panel, i have done this ,with great success, AIR duster and a heat gun, check it out on u tube under dent removal.
 
OhioMopar said:
Yeah, the welding scares me the least. It is the dent removal and the straighening that makes me wake up in a cold sweat. Thanks guys...
Click to expand...


Post some pictures of what you are trying to straighten?
Banging dents is easier than welding.
Most dents can be easily taken care of unless it is a major crush / crumble.
 
I first learned to weld when I shorted a pry bar across a battery. After that I just practiced on scrap alot. Then took a nite class. I love it. I bought a hobart handler 185 from tractor supply years ago with everything in one kit, bottle, hood, cart ect. $550 on sale.
 
Since you work third shift maybe hit up craigslist and see if you can find a welder that would be willing to show you a thing or two. Offer up what you can for payment. And see what you get. I would ask questions to weed out the unskilled welder. Ask about different positions, the proper way to weld vertical. Ask them to explain a root face, root gap, and bevel face. Ask them for the common name of an AWS vertical fillet joint. (should be 3F) and if you get the questions answered correctly. The guy can probably teach you the "proper" way to weld. As most "self tought" welders can stick two pieces of metal together. But are the actually done correctly?

I'm not bashing anyone. Nor am I saying i know it all. I'm just trying to help the guy find a qualified person that could show him to weld. There is a right way and wrong way, I'm about half way through a 10 month welding school. It's amazing how much i have already picked up.
 
A really good book that covers all types of welding is The Welders Handbook, by Richard Finch. Easy to read and lots of useful information. Covers everything from gas welding to plasma cutting. Its under $15. on Amazon.
A few months ago I bought a Miller sincrowave 200. I've been practicing tig welding mostly on sheet metal. It's not as easy as some people make it look but I'm getting it. Do yourself a favor and save your money for a good name brand machine. You'll be much happier in the long run.
Ted
 
03ramit1 said:
Since you work third shift maybe hit up craigslist and see if you can find a welder that would be willing to show you a thing or two. Offer up what you can for payment. And see what you get. I would ask questions to weed out the unskilled welder. Ask about different positions, the proper way to weld vertical. Ask them to explain a root face, root gap, and bevel face. Ask them for the common name of an AWS vertical fillet joint. (should be 3F) and if you get the questions answered correctly. The guy can probably teach you the "proper" way to weld. As most "self tought" welders can stick two pieces of metal together. But are the actually done correctly?

I'm not bashing anyone. Nor am I saying i know it all. I'm just trying to help the guy find a qualified person that could show him to weld. There is a right way and wrong way, I'm about half way through a 10 month welding school. It's amazing how much i have already picked up.
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Very good point.
Learn the right way.
Most vo-techs have day and mid afternoon class also.
If you are close I can give you some hands on.
 
My dad owned a weld shop, he was very good! My welds look like bird poop, thank God for grinders and paint. I never did get that good at it, but it's fun. My Mig is a Cebora, not Chinese, Italian!
 
Bin welding since i was 14. My DAD had a welder and just picked it up from there. First it was some MIG then TIG and even some FAB. I would like to learn more it comes in handy with all this stuff we end up doing to the cars;and even saves money!!!
 
DusTed74 said:
A really good book that covers all types of welding is The Welders Handbook, by Richard Finch. Easy to read and lots of useful information. Covers everything from gas welding to plasma cutting. Its under $15. on Amazon.
A few months ago I bought a Miller sincrowave 200. I've been practicing tig welding mostly on sheet metal. It's not as easy as some people make it look but I'm getting it. Do yourself a favor and save your money for a good name brand machine. You'll be much happier in the long run.
Ted
Click to expand...

TIG is like welding with brass.
Do not "floor" the petal, too much heat.
The easiest welder to use, but also the slowest.
 
Will put some pics of the dents on my R/T to bang. They are over the body line. Hope they show up. haven't stripped the GTS yet to see what the dents are like, but there is a couple on the hood, a couple on the trunk, ect.
 
OhioMopar said:
I am kinda fed up with not being able to find a bodyshop that either won't do what they say they will or charges my first born along with my dominant arm. So it is time to learn to weld, among other things. Any good books or material out there to help with the welding end of things? I want to start on my Dart GTS in the next month and want to do the welding first, then I will worry about dent removal and straighening. Then prep work and paint... Mechanical stuff is simple to me, so that isn't a problem. But body work is like reading Japanese to me.
So thanks in advance for any help you can give.
Click to expand...
Night School is a good answer. I went to a local BOCES night school where they have auto body classes etc. They started a new classic auto body restoration class and I jumped right in. I learned to weld a basic stitch, bang dents, plastic fill, paint etc. It helped that I did that work in my driveway for 30 years but now I know the right way and reafirmed some things i already knew.
 
Here are the R/T pics. Some are hard to see.
 

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OhioMopar said:
Will put some pics of the dents on my R/T to bang. They are over the body line. Hope they show up. haven't stripped the GTS yet to see what the dents are like, but there is a couple on the hood, a couple on the trunk, ect.
Click to expand...

Everybody is here to help.
Give us some pic's
 
Started stick welding mild steel and stainless in high school. Since then I have been self taught and picked up things from certified welders along the line. Quite a few years ago I was hired at a bronze hardware company (one of those places that charge you $20 for a cabinet knob) and learned to weld bronze with a tig. About 6 years ago when I was hired on as a mechanic I had to take a very thorough welding test at the local technical school on every method that you could imagine. I smoked it. I am now a full time industrial mechanic and fabricate and weld on a daily basis tig, stick and mig, stainless, aluminum and mild steel and even cast on occasion. Practice and having good equipment goes a long way.
 
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