how hard is it to weld?

MarkMoore · Post by **MarkMoore** » February 22nd, 2005, 6:29 pm

welding is something i wanna pick up, but i'm kinda intimidated. how hard is it to learn how to weld? i want to pick up welding in hopes of doing my own exhaust, but i need some advice from people who've already traveled down that road... thoughts?

Franko · Post by **Franko** » February 22nd, 2005, 6:32 pm

It cant be that hard.. Id say pick up a welder and some scrap steel and see what you can do.. Play with the settings and stuff.. Just be careful with it. Id like to learn welding too.

JWMX3 · Post by **JWMX3** » February 22nd, 2005, 6:41 pm

Its like learning to drive stardard...... give it a day of practice and you're pretty good at it

of course theres different kinds of welding... you should buy a MIG welder, which is wire-fed

like franko said.... get some scrap steel and weld away

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » February 22nd, 2005, 6:43 pm

Depends on the type of welding.. Wirefeed Welders are cheap and pretty easy to use and you'll get proficient pretty quickly.. Acetalene/Oxygen or Torch welding is much more difficult.. heh.. you should see the amount of scrap I had left over from torch welding in metal shop LOL And I never did get good at it.. I considered myself lucky if I didnt destroy what I was working on LOL. There are a lot of different types of welders.. get a wirefeed welder from Harbor Freight and read the instructions.. you will be up and running (and this welder works excellent for doing exaust work) in no time. ALWAYS WEAR PROTECTIVE EYE GEAR WHEN WELDING.

Tunes67

Grants · Post by **Grants** » February 22nd, 2005, 7:41 pm

Yep, learn the theory first - if you know what you should be doing it will be a lot easier. Then practice, practice, practice. If you know someone who can weld, get a lesson off them. Its not too hard but there is a real knack to it. Good luck.

Talon_66 · Post by **Talon_66** » February 22nd, 2005, 7:48 pm

Open phone book to Yellow Pages, find 'W' search page until you find 'Welder'. Pick up phone, dial 'Welders' number...

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » February 22nd, 2005, 8:36 pm

I didn't do too bad in metal shop either. Oxy/Acetalene took a little more effort and skill, and arc welding was fun too. Never tried the tig or mig welding and wish I new how to weld aluminum for all those one off parts I needed for the motorcycle. I nice skill for a hobby, but if it's only so that you can do your own exhaust....well...a lot of effort exerted not to mention cost. Hey, go for it, who knows where it will take you.

johnnyb · Post by **johnnyb** » February 22nd, 2005, 9:50 pm

I took welding in high school. I got awesome at it after a few weeks. I learned mig, tig, arc, oxy/acetalene. After you learn oxy/acetalene everything else is simple as hell.

mx3TT · Post by **mx3TT** » March 3rd, 2005, 7:53 pm

johnnyb wrote:I took welding in high school. I got awesome at it after a few weeks. I learned mig, tig, arc, oxy/acetalene. After you learn oxy/acetalene everything else is simple as hell.

Yup I agree 100%. I learned how to MIG oxy/acetalene and braise weld(spelling?) in school. MIG is by far the easiest. TIG I hear is quite hard but I never tried or learned. Make sure you get a MIG welder with wire feed and that has gas. The gas is called stargon and protects the welds and it comes out very nice. Without it, it will pop and not really weld right. You can also get a wire feed welder with special wire that has flux(i think) around it and it does the same thing basically.

Vanished · Post by **Vanished** » March 3rd, 2005, 10:14 pm

Yah, I aslo learnt in high school. Taking welding again twice next year, and yah it's easy. Took me about a couple of days to get mig down, oxyacelatyn was about a week, and i haven't tried TIG yet but it works great. Bike frames are made using it, if they're not done automaticly (well not quite auto but it's hard to explain) But i'd say defantly buy a welder and look on the internet about tips.