Welding when you’re not 40 anymore…

[mopar head]

??? Why not?
I wear contact lenses every day. I'll sit at the computer in the morning wearing +2.75 glasses, then put contacts in to do things afterwards.
What is wrong with welding while wearing contacts? I've done this for 10+ years now.

If not doing it for a living 8-12 hr. days and have other guys welding around you, you`ll probably be fine, I`ve just heard horror stories of guys getting bad arc flash and the lenses sticking to their eyes. My Dr. suggested not using transition lenses too. A heads up for guys doing it for a living, I guess.

 

[Kern Dog]

I have to wear cheater glasses to see well enough to weld.
I have noticed that if I've welded for a couple hours, the lenses get sticky. I've added saline solution to my eyes, that helps.
I thought it was the smoke from the weld that dried my eyes out but maybe I am wrong.
To the guys that advise practice, practice, practice....That is nice but I have practiced for 30+ years and while my skills have improved, I took the class to UNlearn whatever mistakes that I have been repeating all this time. You need to know the proper way to do this, then practice to get better at it.
I've been good at doing things wrong for years!
One thing was the direction that you weld. I've always dragged the bead with the MIG. My reasoning was that by dragging, I can build up the weld slowly and add more wend on the previous one. For sheet metal, this works to close up gaps. The instructor said that when doing MIG, you PUSH the weld. I tried that at home and was surprised to see my weld beads improve.

 

[mopar head]

My reasoning was that by dragging, I can build up the weld slowly and add more wend on the previous one. For sheet metal, this works to close up gaps. The instructor said that when doing MIG, you PUSH the weld. I tried that at home and was surprised to see my weld beads improve.

Sounds like the instructor worked at a high production bar joist structural shop.
You can go either way. He`ll tell you supposed to go up hill on a vertical joint too. Yeah you get more penetration but a lot of instances I`ll go downhill.

 

[Kern Dog]

I'm open to trying new techniques.
In wood frame construction, I didn't need help because it was my profession. I taught others to help them get better.
With many things, there is no right or wrong way, just what is right for you.
Imagine way long ago when it was unacceptable to be LEFT handed. Those poor people were forced to learn to do things right handed which went against their nature.
The next week at school is supposed to get deeper into MIG welding so I hope to pick up some more skills and knowledge.

 

[George Jets]

At 18 years old took a 2 year course at Dunwoody Industrial Institute for Auto Body Repair and Painting.

First thing we did was go into the welding shop and do one month of Oxy-Acetylene gas welding.

This was after the classroom training explaining the theory of it all and how it worked.

Then next it was another month of Electric Arc Welding, stick welding.

Instructors would come into our shielded vented cubicles and show us how to exactly lay down a perfect bead, technique and all actually doing it. They would even reach around and help guide our hands as we were getting started to learn.

By far it was the "Slowed Down" version of the process of Gas Welding that laid the foundation for all future welding.

Heat, Angle, Distance, Speed.

Setting the right mix of Oxygen and Acetylene to achieve a Neutral Flame > Heat.

Creating a molten puddle with the right handed torch at the required Angle and Distance.

First ran Puddle beads with just the torch in sheet metal pieces running right to left. Then when we had that mastered then we added the filler rod to the same molten puddle. Warming the filler rod and dipping it into the puddle, coordinating not to freeze the puddle by introducing too much filler rod too fast.

Then after all this was achieved it went to Speed of Travel to keep from blowing holes in the work or ending up with too cold of a weld and no penetration.

Lots of aspects had to be coordinated here in the manual mode gas welding operation. This is where I aquired all the skills for all future welding. During that first month of Gas Welding exercises.

The Gas Welding really slowed down all the steps of welding so a person could get good at each step.

Then it was on to Stick Welding where everything speeded up by 10 times faster.

Then out into the trades working on aluminum truck bodies, learned the TIG welding operation from the talented people who worked there... my boss.

Tungsten Inert Gas Welding, even had an electric foot pedal to control the Heat output of the TIG welder, so that was one more coordinated aspect to work into the welding process.

Aluminum takes a lot of initial Heat to get the puddle flowing, then had to back off the heat and keep moving while adding the aluminum filler rod > being careful not to freeze the puddle in the process.

Then Wire Feed Welding came into play later on in the Auto Body Career, speeding up the whole operation once again with great, fast, slag free results.

Just to recap, it was learning how to Gas Weld where all the basic welding skills were aquired.

The future was pretty easy, having had learned the basics at first.

☆☆☆☆☆

 

[Jim Lusk]

Imagine way long ago when it was unacceptable to be LEFT handed. Those poor people were forced to learn to do things right handed which went against their nature.

I'm left handed and 65, but fortunately I never had a teacher or parent who tried to make me right handed. I did, however, have a Little League teammate who was forced to be right handed up to about 8 years old. He was a good athlete, but couldn't throw well. And, his dad was our coach...

 

[George Jets]

I'm left handed and 65, but fortunately I never had a teacher or parent who tried to make me right handed. I did, however, have a Little League teammate who was forced to be right handed up to about 8 years old. He was a good athlete, but couldn't throw well. And, his dad was our coach...

Became ampidextrious welding left handed or right handed.

Working inside a driver's side rear wheel well, welding in replacement steel for the rust out areas.

Then flip around and do the same process on the rear passenger wheel well, using opposite hands for holding the torch and filler rod. (Gas Welding).

There was lots of control for intricate pieces welding them in with gas welding.

Especially welding in replacement fabricated wheel well lips.


☆☆☆☆☆

 

[Dartnut]

I am a journeyman welder and did it professionally for over 20 years until my (body) health came into play and I switched occupations.
I still do welding occasionally on my car projects. (usually mig sheet metal repairs/replacement).
Some advise for you guys from me is the most important thing is to understand how it works.
It isn't about ''sticking'' two pieces of metal together, it is about bonding the pieces together properly through a heating and cooling process to make the weld strong.
If you understand what you are looking at while you are welding, you will make adjustments in speed, amperage, angle, and position as you go to achieve the best result, and that takes a lot of practice!
Vision of the weld is crucial (as many have mentioned), and as you get older, it can be a big challenge, but it is key...
The other crucial thing is fit up and cleanliness of the metal and the welding machine and it's parts.
This is VERY important.

Mastering the 6010 rod is quite easy, as long as you realize that it is meant to be a ''cleaning and penetration all position rod'' for rusty or scaled surfaces or bad fit ups.
The 7018 is a finishing all position rod over 6010 or used for clean surfaces with a good fit up.
Most other common rods (6013, 7014) are best used in the flat or horizontal positions.

As for mig welding, I always use a ''push'' technique rather than a ''pull'' technique if fit up is proper for sheet metal.
Good fit up means at or slightly less than the thickness of the wire.
Push technique means that the gun is angled behind the weld toward you and your line of sight of the weld and joint is better, and ''pull'' or ''drag'' is the opposite. Push technique is a lot easier to see too as a bonus, as well as lower penetration for sheet metal.
The bottom line is that when I was in school, we started with an oxy-acetylene cutting torch, then on to gas welding mild steel (brazing) and then on to electrode or stick welding, we spent hours and hours and used up a few hundred pounds of rods to get the technique down pat for it all over several months in all positions.
And I loved every minute of it!

To you people new at it, get the basics and go from there, it is a great idea to get a beginners course under your belt, and it will give you the skills to do basic work on your projects as well as some understanding on how the process works.
Good for you!

 

[Kern Dog]

My helmet light was a hit in class today. The teacher said that I should buy a batch of them and offer to install them for $50 each!

It really did help out. I suggest that you consider it if you struggle in low light.

 

[Woody500]

My helmet light was a hit in class today. The teacher said that I should buy a batch of them and offer to install them for $50 each!

View attachment 1716373811

It really did help out. I suggest that you consider it if you struggle in low light.

As a former Indcar fabricator & TIG weldor, I have to say Auto Darkening Helmet lenses are horrible. They don't react at the same speed as your eyes.
I've been using a #10(dark) lens, with Gold layer, for 40 years and your eyes need to adjust when you light the arc.
You can buy magnifying lenses to go inside the helmet, uses same lens set up you can get on headband mount, and come in different strengths, like reading glasses.