Thinking Of Getting Into Welding?

[WFM]

I've been welding since 1988 and currently make a good living doing do so.
I have a Miller 180 mig , Miller aluminum spool gun, Miller 250 synchro wave, Miller 180 tig, Lincoln 140 mig, Thermodynamics 75 plasma cutter, Pexto hydraulic shear, Iroquois 100 ton press brake and lots of other hand machines and tools.
Welding is a great career and the UV rays can get you. This past fall I had two spots removed from my chest. Pre cancerous. So I'm glad I had them looked at. And one tig welder I met years ago had his fingers peeled from skin cancer and not wearing gloves.
Seldom have I ever met anyone who was not a welder. The criteria is short to become a self professed welder. Watch someone weld=your a welder. Welded one quarter in high school=your a welder. LOL...and believe me I'm not saying that to be rude to anyone here. There are hundreds of thousands of very very competent folks who weld and do something else as a career.
I weld stainless mostly. Some projects have been Alpaca manure grinders and cheese presses and everything else farmers can dream up.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

I will definitely test it on low and medium before hauling the rig up the hill. I bought some smaller rods that supposedly draw less but whether or not they'll melt metal is the question. I'll try some simulations in the shop first, using the generator as power. I just need two good tacks per hinge.

I have tried the flux wire in my MIG for gasless welding but, the result looks like crap!!! I am hoping 30a 220 will step down enough to do the job. We shall see.

 

[Russell King]

Some projects have been Alpaca manure grinders and cheese presses...

I certainly hope this describes two separate machines!


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[CaveCreekRay]

WFM is right. Just when I think I know what I am doing...

I had two gates on my remodel. The wife wanted new gates to match a picture she tore out of a magazine. I noticed our old gates matched the outline of her "new gates."

I had the local welder look at what we had and what we wanted. He said they could fab up new for the price of de-constructing what we had and re-doing them. Price? $1800 per gate. GULP. We had had a gorgeous gate made up for our last house and it ran $1200 25 years earlier.

Here is what we started with... nasty.

I bought a Lincoln 180 and a horizontal metal band saw for $1200. I made these up with about $100 in materials...

Its not "structural." Nobody's life depends on it. But it works for me and it looks as good as what I see coming out of professional shops these days. And, I have plenty of money left over to redo the gate I pictured earlier and, fab up a new gate in the back, and STILL have money left over after paying for my equipment. I guess that is the point of my thread. If you have an interest and a project you need doing, don't be afraid to try it on your own. I am by no means a welder. And I don't play one on TV.

Oh... and don't forget to change the battery in your auto-darkening helmet every now and then.

 

[D2Cat]

Ray, I have an attachment I guess you'd call it that reduces the welding amperage by 50%. It has a 6' lead that get pinched in your existing electrode holder and then at the other end is a smaller "stinger".

I bought this before I had a mig welder. It actually worked pretty good. It used rod like 1/16 dia. I've still got a whole bunch of them!!

I'll get a picture for you.

PS. Your gate looks nice. That takes patience.

 

[skeets]

I hate you guys,,,,

 

[John T]

Every garage needs a few welders ....


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[D2Cat]

This is the "stitch welder". Here's all it info. https://www.eastwood.com/images/pdf/19045_instructions.pdf

 

[hagrid]

I saw the diode. It cuts out one half of the AC cycle. It also pulses the arc since half the cycle is deleted.

Nifty.

 

[Yooper]

Nice looking Lincoln Idealarc! Absolutely bulletproof.

 

[John T]

Nice looking Lincoln Idealarc! Absolutely bulletproof.

1961.


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[CaveCreekRay]

Two years ago, on one of my very last of nearly 300 trips through my back gate with the tractor, I forgot to lower my bucket and snagged my gate. The damage was bad but I was too busy to repair it, until yesterday.

I cut out the damage and made a patch...

Here is the damaged piece to the left...

I finish paint with a roller and that fills in any grinding or welding boo-boos. This was slapped on with a parts brush. The white stuff is a new latex metal primer that works well.

While I had my local welders out, they looked at the damage and said it would run between $100-$120 to do what I did yesterday, if I brought the gate to them. They figured about an hour and a half labor, which is what it took me.

 

[D2Cat]

The more little projects you do your confidence grows and your skill level grows, and then your project list gets longer!

The satisfaction of making/repairing something yourself is a feeling that is hard to describe until you been there. Success is good for the mind and body.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Thanks Len!

I added this as just another example of how handy it is to be able to stick metal together. My ulterior motive was to show you can make your own bone-headed goof-ups go away too with a little effort. That gate damage bothered me every time I went through the gate...

Life is all good now, -until I booger up another item.

 

[Lil Foot]

I forgot to lower my bucket and snagged my gate.

I did the same sort of thing this past week, only I hit a tree. My property in the high country is very heavily treed, so things can get tight. I tried to make a tight turn but forgot the new Piranha toothbar adds another 5" or so the the length of the bucket edge, and a nice pine paid the price. Thank God for pruning seal.

Nice repair, Ray.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Bill,

Hope you tree comes through.

Yeah, I was tired and in a hurry. I didn't notice the bucket was about face high. My concrete threshold (26 bags of concrete) is like a big gentle speed bump with a metal lip for the door to close against as a snake barrier. I cross it at a slight angle which means, as the tractor rolls back and forth going over the threshold, the bucket tracks a bigger arc if the stupid operator leaves it up. I was lucky it did not tear the hinge out of the wall or off the gate. It just tweaked it.

 

[Lil Foot]

I think it will, don't think I hit the inner bark too hard, just "barked" all the outer bark off. When doing my driveway project, I hit several with sides of the Gannon, wheel weights, backhoe outriggers, etc., and then zapped the wound with pruning seal, and they've all made it so far.

 

[skeets]

Ray I just want you to know I still hate you,,,

 

[lugbolt]

There's money in welding. BUT.....you had better be good at it. Around here, there's lots of competition. When the gas & oil boom hit, people were lined up at the doors of the companies looking for good paying jobs and they found them. People were learning how to weld, and they got good. Then when the gas & oil went away (and it always does), they had the choice...move with the work, or stay here & find other work. Many stayed and opened up both side and full-time welding operations. Some of them are pretty good. Some aren't worth taking your stuff to. Most are average, myself included.

My problem...eyesight and holding a steady hand. Specifically GTAW. Mig, I can hold my own with both Al and carbon steels. GTAW not so much mainly because my left eye is no good. I just can't get a hang of it even on steel. Aluminum, have a tough time with it because I have a tendency to not clean it well enough--then add in the eyesight thing and it's a disaster. Almost wish there were an evening class to help me out but there isn't, they're all GMAW and SMAW which I'm proficient with already. Just GTAW is where my issues lie. I dip the tungsten constantly because I can't get the arc length quite right and when I do, then move the torch, my hand doesn't stay steady enough to maintain the arc length, either too tight or too far, to is affects the quality, appearance, and many times dips the tungsten...then stop, regrind, start over. Frustrating. But I like doing it. It's sorta like an art. I wish I was better at it.

I've taken on some welding jobs and done ok with them. Thing is, some jobs are impossible and you have to know your limitations. I tell people that if I don't feel comfortable with a particular job, I won't do it, and if they insist, it's their responsibility if it's not right. That happens too and it makes me mad. I did a skeg repair on an outboard lower unit last week which came out ok, but it's cast, and is tougher to weld because cast has porosity, and the pores hold contamination of all sorts, as well as oxidation. The oxidation is what really gets you when welding aluminum, as Al oxide melts at something like 3500 deg F, where bare aluminum melts at around 1250. So if the piece is oxidized, and you're trying to weld it, you gotta try to melt the Al oxide...which is impossible without melting the bare Al under it, so it just melts away and leaves a big mess.

 

[bgk]

There's money in welding. BUT.....you had better be good at it. Around here, there's lots of competition. When the gas & oil boom hit, people were lined up at the doors of the companies looking for good paying jobs and they found them. People were learning how to weld, and they got good. Then when the gas & oil went away (and it always does), they had the choice...move with the work, or stay here & find other work. Many stayed and opened up both side and full-time welding operations. Some of them are pretty good. Some aren't worth taking your stuff to. Most are average, myself included.



My problem...eyesight and holding a steady hand. Specifically GTAW. Mig, I can hold my own with both Al and carbon steels. GTAW not so much mainly because my left eye is no good. I just can't get a hang of it even on steel. Aluminum, have a tough time with it because I have a tendency to not clean it well enough--then add in the eyesight thing and it's a disaster. Almost wish there were an evening class to help me out but there isn't, they're all GMAW and SMAW which I'm proficient with already. Just GTAW is where my issues lie. I dip the tungsten constantly because I can't get the arc length quite right and when I do, then move the torch, my hand doesn't stay steady enough to maintain the arc length, either too tight or too far, to is affects the quality, appearance, and many times dips the tungsten...then stop, regrind, start over. Frustrating. But I like doing it. It's sorta like an art. I wish I was better at it.



I've taken on some welding jobs and done ok with them. Thing is, some jobs are impossible and you have to know your limitations. I tell people that if I don't feel comfortable with a particular job, I won't do it, and if they insist, it's their responsibility if it's not right. That happens too and it makes me mad. I did a skeg repair on an outboard lower unit last week which came out ok, but it's cast, and is tougher to weld because cast has porosity, and the pores hold contamination of all sorts, as well as oxidation. The oxidation is what really gets you when welding aluminum, as Al oxide melts at something like 3500 deg F, where bare aluminum melts at around 1250. So if the piece is oxidized, and you're trying to weld it, you gotta try to melt the Al oxide...which is impossible without melting the bare Al under it, so it just melts away and leaves a big mess.

You’re right on the “better be good at it part”. Another key facet is being able to do on site work and being mobile. I have a friend who is my age, just over 30 and does exceptionally well, and it’s his passion. He could weld your butt crack and not burn either cheek. Super talented and he has carved a niche for himself with on site work and has recently been very busy with stainless applications for marine vessels after I hooked him up with a few captains I know. Something I never mastered, but have immense respect for. Meanwhile, we don’t have enough welders but too many “liberal artists” in college studying art history. Lol