Welding Tips and Tricks

G'day everyone,

Went to my first welding class last night. I have not held a MIG gun or any other welder for over 15 years.

Spent about 2 hours straight MIG welding and enjoyed it.

No theory at all, all practical. Put us in our own welding booth's and just let loose. We pretty much get what ever we want out of the class. Can be left alone to just practice on your own or ask for help when needed. I can see I may need to volunteer somewhere to learn more as the instructor was mainly focused on getting us set up and just let us go practice on scrap metal.

We did MIG last night with a short demo before hand and run down on Health and Safety.

Had a go at welding 3mm plate but welds and T joint welds. Went ok but I think my fear of heat is holding me back a little.

Next week we try STICK welding. The week after is TIG.

I wish I cold afford to build and buy my own set up for home, but alas, a 6 week class will have to do.

Any questions welcome.

P.S. For those playing along at home, I live in Werribee, Victoria and the class is held in Geelong.

Congrats.

My time in welding class was great.

I prolly helped the other students more then the instructor did. Me and the instructor are great friends....

Burn all the filler metal you can.
The more you burn, the cheaper the class gets.

Hey as an ex welding instructor i can tell you first hand that patience is a virtue. The beginning of the class has alot of exciteability because you are already a welder whether old or intermediate so use your experience to help someone in need and don't use this time to brag or complain about what the Instructor is or isn't doing to meet your specifications because he or she isn't there for your approval but are in place to answer your questions, test your knowledge and teach you things you may not know at all, so have fun, learn and enjoy this experience and good luck. Remember you can learn alot from a crash dummy.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Im looking forward to next weeks class where we get a demo on Stick welding then let loose for 3 hours on scrap metal.

Learning more about each welding process I think ill eventually own all 3 machines. They all have their uses, pro's and con's.. :

As a current welding instructor, I do have students like you, who are taking classes for some specific reason. I really question the guys to find out very specifically what their career goals or welding goals are. For example, I have guys from automotive program who have to take a welding class or two. With them, I teach them TIG and oxy/fuel welding on thinner materials, trying to simulate what they might run into doing welding on a car body or exhaust system. Before they finish, I will show them some MIG, but I want them to have the other skills nailed down.

I would suggest you talk to your instructor about what your 'end game' is and why. Maybe he can help you 'dial in' your practice a bit!
Gary

I had my first welding class as I was going in for my diesel program, after that evening I switched my program to welding. I know how ya feel. Best of luck to you.