Learning to weld.

[defenderbilby]

I want to learn how to weld.
I enjoy reading what some of you get up to. Building sliders, winch bars etc.
My project Land Rover 120 is starting to look like it will possibly get finished. There have been times when I wished I never started but mates come over and give me motivation. Over all has been fun and a great learning curve.
I need sliders, and need to build a frame to mount a traytop to the back, then mount tanks etc underneath. The hydraulic pump needs a mount, all needing some welding skills.
I have searched the web for adult education classes and cann't find any basic welding courses. Plenty for those doing specialist welding apprenticeships.
What options do I have to learn the basics? I have not brought a welder yet as want to have some ideas of what is required before I invest in a unit.
I live in South West Sydney and prepared to travel for education.
Thanks,
David.

[dmdigital]

I assume TAFE where you are would be the running the same courses as in the NT. I did one over 8 weeks (1 night a week) which gave me the basics of arc, mig, and a few other things. It was a sub module of the apprentice courses. Well worth it!

[defenderbilby]

I assume TAFE where you are would be the running the same courses as in the NT. I did one over 8 weeks (1 night a week) which gave me the basics of arc, mig, and a few other things. It was a sub module of the apprentice courses. Well worth it!

Thanks, I had a look at TAFE and couldn't see a basic course. Will give TAFE a ring tomorrow and see what is on offer.
David.

[dirtdawg]

just buy a mig and some practice steel its very easy to mig weld

[defenderbilby]

Rang TAFE today and they dont do a short welding course. On offer was a course of 36 weeks, two days a week at cost $418. Not what I am looking for.
Anyone aware of adult education with introduction to welding?
Might have to do as dirtdawg suggests and buy a machine and learn by trial and error.

[dmdigital]

That's a shame. The course I did through NT TAFE was actually based on old NSW TAFE material.

[dobbo]

I enquired about this a few months ago as well as a course in polycarbonates, both replies were you have to be employed in the industry to apply (I'm not about to leave my job to learn how to weld and fibreglass)

[rar110]

I agree buy a mig and practice. I did a short tafe course in brisbane. I picked up stuff I could probably have got from a book.

don't bother with bottled gas, go gasless as bottles cost about $100 / yr.

try and get someone to get you started and to show the different effects of wire speed and power, what to do and not to do. That would have saved me some time. I never really understood wire speed.

I bought a portable 170 amp SIP brand. It has been a good unit.

[mcrover]

I agree buy a mig and practice. I did a short tafe course in brisbane. I picked up stuff I could probably have got from a book.

don't bother with bottled gas, go gasless as bottles cost about $100 / yr.

try and get someone to get you started and to show the different effects of wire speed and power, what to do and not to do. That would have saved me some time. I never really understood wire speed.

I bought a portable 170 amp SIP brand. It has been a good unit.


Im not a fan of gasless, you may as well just have an arc welder but they do work and are good enough for small jobs.

1st thing to do is to work out what you want to do, Mig is the easiest but there are a few tricks to it in regards to amps/wirespeed and gas sheild but once set up is all pretty easy to use.

2nd thing to do is get a heap of scrap and try welding it together as practice is about the only way you will get good at it.

Basics to start with MIG:

get so thick scrap angle iron or the like and set your amps to the max and put a piece on the bench and working away from you pull the trigger and see what happens.

If it is not feeding the wire through and is getting stuck on the end then increase the speed and if it is jumping around and hard to control the arc then slow it down.

If you buy a new mig then most of them will come with a book that will tell you what to set the wire speed to in comparison to the amps.

Once you have it set up, then try welding 2 pieces together working away from you in a slow sort of fashion to try and keep it straight and neat and after each practice run doit a bit quicker and quicker until your happy with the look of the weld as in not too much weld beading but not breaking arc.

You work away from you so that the arc is within the gasious shield.

Also look at the heat mark around the weld, it should be about the same width of the weld on either side and even along the length of the weld to ensure you have adaquate penatration.

The difference with arc welding is that you initially need to strike the rod to get a clean end and a little heat into it and then weld toward you, dragging the rod along holding it at about 40 to 45 deg to the material working in either small circles or from side to side with out welding over what you already have before you knock the slag (carbon remains of the flux coating of the rod) off.

ARC I think is a bit easier to start with as there is only you amps and rod thickness and material to worry about but the technique takes a bit more practice.

You can pick up reasonable cheap DC inverter ARC welders these days which are brilliant and easy to use and do a much better job than the old style ones and are also much smaller and lighter and can easilly be upgrades to a TIG and in some cases even a plasma cutter with aditional fittings.

You can also buy disposable gas bottles of ARGON from Lindy, BOC and most other gas outlets these days for about $40 which would do most DIYers for a year doing a little bit of MIG or TIG welding on an occasionable basis.

Good luck and I hope this might be of use and will get you started at least as like I said, it takes more practice than anything.

[sclarke]

Courses... i went to a Melb Tafe to learn how to Tig weld as i knew how to Mig and Arc and Oxy.

the cost.............................................. $67 for the half year...

there is info on the web on how to weld... i found a few in PDF's a while back...
dont know of any links thou..

What i would recommend for you to buy as i have done alot of welding... panel steel right up to 12mm plate.

Get a Good Mig and one about 190amps will do light stuff and stuff up to about 8mm. Get a GAS mig... gasless is for amatures... your a Pro... you own a Landy, your a PRO.

2nd hand will be about $300-$500. New about $800-$1000.
Mine was 2nd hand and in good nick...

Then get lots of steel and find some notes on the web and practise... it really is easy.. to much current and you melt crap... not enough and it looks like dog poo on a lawn...

there are lots of varibles to welding.. but if you buy one from a welding shop thay will help you and might even give you a few lessons for FREEEEEEEE

[procrastination inc]

"just buy a mig and some practice steel its very easy to mig weld"

and very easy to make a bad weld look good...

the best tip I can give you about welding is to be very careful in preparing the joint for welding.

No rust

No galv

no paint within at least 1/2" of your intended weld bead. contaminants in the weld can cause porosity, cracking and other bad things.

It is easier to weld 2 bits of metal that fit well together than to try to fill a gap with weld metal

practise on scrap a lot.

learn about welding, research:

penetration

cold shuts

checking

quench cracking


don't make safety critical welds until you are competent

[defenderbilby]

Thanks all for input. Firstly I will check with electrician if he can install 15A plugs in my garage.
I am prepared to spend reasonable money to get a decent Mig, looking at a Handymig 170i so far and I will be asking for education when I buy the unit.
Then will practice........
It is a pity that hobbiests can no longer get short education courses from TAFE.

[HangOver]

Thanks all for input. Firstly I will check with electrician if he can install 15A plugs in my garage.
I am prepared to spend reasonable money to get a decent Mig, looking at a Handymig 170i so far and I will be asking for education when I buy the unit.
Then will practice........
It is a pity that hobbiests can no longer get short education courses from TAFE.

try calling a few tafe's I'll be surprised if none do any short courses.
Failing that get the contact details of the long course tutor he might do private lessons lots do. Or maybe an AULRO-ian who lives close to you might offer a hour or two's assistance if there are beer n snags thrown in :D

I bought a real cheap gassles mig because I use it VERY seldomly and didnt want the hasle/expense getting gas.
Best advise I can suggest is get an automatic darkening helmet, makes life much easier and spray your mig gun/nozzle with spray canola oil,(yes th ekitchen stuff). Smells like frying bacon but helps stop bits of crap sticking to your nozzle.

[JohnE]

Mr Bilby
don;t know how west you are,
and cant; remember the name, of the adult education group
zook should know he only lives down the road,
but at Menai Highs school they have night classes in welding graham? runs them.

http://www.sgscc.nsw.edu.au/s/about_us


thats the link, give them a call, I think they still do the night classes, I did mine 4 1/2 yrs ago when I lived there.



john

[defenderbilby]

Thanks John, followed that link and there is a course in Feb. next year.
Cheers, David.

[dirtdawg]

also the thing with a mig is if the weld looks **** then it is and if it looks good then you know its bit in, so if it looks bad grind it and start again

[Bushwanderer]

Thanks, I had a look at TAFE and couldn't see a basic course. Will give TAFE a ring tomorrow and see what is on offer.
David.

These days, in TAFE NSW, they tend to "farm out" short courses to the Community Colleges, however, the equipment need in your eg. may preclude such an option.

[Ruslan]

Hi David,

IMHO, this is the best place: MIG Welding - The DIY Guide (http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/)

Cheers,
Ruslan

[JohnE]

Thanks John, followed that link and there is a course in Feb. next year.
Cheers, David.
well if your not in a hurry, I can recommend grahams classes, you get a chance to try stick mig oxy, and tig, plus work on your own projects.
I did two semesters with him and it was great, using someone elses gear.
and Graham had an adage that if you weren;t happy with a weld hit it with a lump hammer, if it broke it was no good, simple and effective.


john

[matbor]

well if your not in a hurry, I can recommend grahams classes, you get a chance to try stick mig oxy, and tig, plus work on your own projects.
I did two semesters with him and it was great, using someone elses gear.
and Graham had an adage that if you weren;t happy with a weld hit it with a lump hammer, if it broke it was no good, simple and effective.


john

That's cheap, most the ones in Melb are $300-$400 !! Anyone know of any around Melb that are cheaper courses ?

[Tank]

I want to learn how to weld.
I enjoy reading what some of you get up to. Building sliders, winch bars etc.
My project Land Rover 120 is starting to look like it will possibly get finished. There have been times when I wished I never started but mates come over and give me motivation. Over all has been fun and a great learning curve.
I need sliders, and need to build a frame to mount a traytop to the back, then mount tanks etc underneath. The hydraulic pump needs a mount, all needing some welding skills.
I have searched the web for adult education classes and cann't find any basic welding courses. Plenty for those doing specialist welding apprenticeships.
What options do I have to learn the basics? I have not brought a welder yet as want to have some ideas of what is required before I invest in a unit.
I live in South West Sydney and prepared to travel for education.
Thanks,
David.
David, get in touch with BOC or CIG, they used to have basic welding courses, I have a Cigweld Transmig 135 and it will weld anything that you would want on a L/R. A 130 to 140 amp arc welder is easy to use and you can pick them up for around $100, and once you become proficient at that you can get a Mig. If you decide to get a MIG dont go for Gasless, the whole idea of mig welding is to get away from slag getting in your weld, anyway ring me if you need any help, Regards Frank.

[defenderbilby]

I have enrolled in Grahame Kerslake's class at Menai, starts February.
DiscoDave is joining in as well.
If any others from AURLO interested then search welding on link.
St George & Sutherland Community College (http://www.sgscc.nsw.edu.au/cgi-bin/WebObjects/StGeorge.woa/wa/search)
Will try and make my sliders in class.
David.

[Bushie]

I want to learn how to weld.
I enjoy reading what some of you get up to. Building sliders, winch bars etc.
My project Land Rover 120 is starting to look like it will possibly get finished. There have been times when I wished I never started but mates come over and give me motivation. Over all has been fun and a great learning curve.
I need sliders, and need to build a frame to mount a traytop to the back, then mount tanks etc underneath. The hydraulic pump needs a mount, all needing some welding skills.
I have searched the web for adult education classes and cann't find any basic welding courses. Plenty for those doing specialist welding apprenticeships.
What options do I have to learn the basics? I have not brought a welder yet as want to have some ideas of what is required before I invest in a unit.
I live in South West Sydney and prepared to travel for education.
Thanks,
David.

This may be more what you are after

St George & Sutherland Community College (http://www.sgscc.nsw.edu.au)

Either do a search for welding or go to "Lifestyle - Do it yourself"- then bottom of the page, I can't work out how to link directly to it.
(no idea what the content is like)


Martyn

[Bushie]

Well I see I took too long trying to work out how to link to that page :o:o


Martyn

[defenderbilby]

Well I see I took too long trying to work out how to link to that page :o:o


Martyn

No worries Martyn :). Thanks for trying out the link, they dont make it easy to find from the home page.
David

[bobslandies]

Hi Dave and others interested. Here are the links. All the courses are run by the same instructor. I have a professional Mig but don't yet know how to use it properly - might get there myself.
Welding - look here:
St George & Sutherland Community College - Welding (http://www.sgscc.nsw.edu.au/cgi-bin/WebObjects/StGeorge.woa/wa/module.shtml?ID=12178MTN) - $154.00 (inc GST)
and for introduction to welding here - Welding, A Taste of:
St George & Sutherland Community College - Welding, A Taste of (http://www.sgscc.nsw.edu.au/cgi-bin/WebObjects/StGeorge.woa/wa/module.shtml?ID=13253WJ) - $89.00 (inc GST)
Motor Vehicle Body Repairs start Thursday 14 Feb 2008:
St George & Sutherland Community College - Motor Vehicle Body Repairs (http://www.sgscc.nsw.edu.au/cgi-bin/WebObjects/StGeorge.woa/wa/module.shtml?ID=11408JXN) - $154.00 (inc GST)
Motor Vehicle Body Repairs start Wednesday 13 Feb 2008:
St George & Sutherland Community College - Motor Vehicle Body Repairs (http://www.sgscc.nsw.edu.au/cgi-bin/WebObjects/StGeorge.woa/wa/module.shtml?ID=11250JWN) - $154.00 (inc GST)
Metalwork start Monday 11 Feb 2008:
St George & Sutherland Community College - Metalwork (http://www.sgscc.nsw.edu.au/cgi-bin/WebObjects/StGeorge.woa/wa/module.shtml?ID=12090MMN)
Regards,
Bob