daniel buck that flashlight idea is awesome i need to do that. i swear it irritates me cause its dark in our welding booths at school. we have one light per booth and them one overhanging adjustable light built into the our extraction system. but 95% of the lights are broken.

ok guys a little update. i found a welding job over the summer and spent my summer mig welding up custom bike racks. even made a few tables and such from scratch. It was a temporary position and has come to and end but im back in school now so its all good i still weld everyday. i ended up buying a ...

Hey guys so I joined a while ago and ive started a few other threads ive been practicing with my hobart handler 140. Nothing cool to show off yet mostly playing with scrap. But I came here to relay some good news. I found a job welding nothing too awesome or crazy but its someone paying me to weld. ...

Thanks guys. ive actually run into another issue and thats a place to weld. At first i was planning on using a lifelong friends garage around the corner. Hes cool with it and i already had my own keys cause thats where i store my motorcycle. well he moved 20 minutes away and we have polar opposite w...

Thanks for the advice guys. My end goal is to have my own customization/fabrication shop. Thats after I travel the country for work for a few years. I would like to do that first just for the experience and hopefully save enough money to build a decent shop at home.

yeah i have no customers lol. maybe that needs to go on the back burner for a year or two.

yeah the thought crossed my mind and while i may not make much or anything at all its still good practice and experience. its still in the thought phase, so we'll see. i may dumb it down a bit and make a simple version. or make something from scratch my own designed to be cheap. i also picked up a 4...

lmfao ive welded in all positions other than while doing a handstand. the instructors did a lot of encouraging us to get as comfortable as possible. i mean guys building rigs to make any weld exactly where they want it and to the easiest height etc.etc. i just did em right off the table even did som...

So i talked with the boss today and got approval to buy the welder at a discount so its mine f0r 207.99 out the door. im super excited i rode my hayabusa to work so i left it there till i drive the truck one of these days but its mine now!

Yeah i took those pics to send em to someone not particularly because i was proud of em. i had some i was proud of but never took any pics. Maybe next semester ill remember to document the good stuff. That 7018 was super easy to me. it just felt right ..

yeah man ive burned myself pretty good a few times already. Yes it is 7018 i couldve cleaned it up better for the pic but. the other two are vertical up mig. butt and t joints. I honestly had some way better welds but these are the only pics i have.

ok so 1st semester is finally over and after getting some hours in this helmet and trying a few others i think this is all i will need. I even decided agains purchasing the digital elite in favor of my cheap little mp10. i really like it nice and comfy and works just fine. Not to mention takes abuse...

Ive actually been trying to figure out my first project already. My cousin saw a picture of this cool table/grill deal and i have like 5 people that say they would buy em if i built em. I tried finding dimensions online but wasnt able to find anything really. so im going make em up as i go. Here's t...

So judging by the 30 views and one response that response is pretty spot on??

Ok guys im a first semester welding student. "Just finished" ive been done with my first semester all of 2 days. And I have the itch to weld again. Im also a pawn broker at pawn America which is one of if not the biggest chain of pawn shops in the midwest. So I have a lot of opportunities ...

I like it a lot it has a bigger viewing area than most of the ones I've seen in class and is way more comfy than the school supplied cheapo most guys have. I mean it works. I really like it. I cant wait to get the digital elite. Also another bit of good news a friend of mine's dad owns a heavy machi...

here ya go guys this is my first set of welds with the new helmet. Stick welding 6010 rod. I could've cleaned it up Better but no phones in the shop. . Lol I had to be quick and discreet.

Thanks I appreciate the kind words. Ill post some pics of the work ive done so far. Maybe start a new thread elsewhere. Some of it isnt so pretty but id say im making solid progress. Teacher also said if we keep up our pace he'll shoot a personal recomendation to a dry dock that repairs tugs on the ...

Well I see a ton of great advice and I greatly appreciate all of it. I ended up grabbing a miller mp10. http://www.millerwelds.com/products/welding_protection/head_face/helmets/mp-10/ I got the all black one I figure ill decorate it myself with burns, scratches n cuts lol. As fait would have it thou...

Ok so ive decided to go with something cheaper 30-80 dollar range? Mostly because we were told we wouldn't need one until feb.5 when we'll begin arc welding. But there are 3 or 4 of us in the class that blasted through the basics in oxy and brazing and they're going to allow us to move on starting M...

Hey guys new guy here just joined the forum about a month ago and this week is the first week of school im attending for an associates degree in welding. Im doing every welding class the school has to offer and some extra classes I dont need to graduate but I feel will benefit me later on in life an...

I appreciate the kind word's. I just see so many people struggle because they have children/car payments/wives/husbands/mortgages at such a young age they're basically stuck with what they got they roll the dice on a career and can't afford to explore other options later on.

Yeah I'm 26 and kinda worried about having to deal with the young punks again. I was always ahead of my age as far as maturity goes so I hated dealing with them even in high school. I'm just gonna do my best to mind my own and learn everything I can. I appreciate the good wishes hopefully I'll be in...

It's not an actual welding school it's a tech college with welding courses available. It's st paul college i have friends that have gone there for other trades and fields and they don't have any complaints other than some of the shit heads that attended school with them. Due to the schools location ...

What's up guys? I'm a complete and total noob with welding in general I've tried a few times in a factory I used to work in but it was under the watchful eye of our experienced welders. They set everything up prepped it the whole 9 yards and 9 out of 10 times I screwed up. But I was always envious o...