Learning to Weld-- Tips for Beginners on Welding and Gear

FrankenJeeper

FrankenJeeper

New member
Learning to Weld

I've always favored stick welding myself.

When my buddies and I go wheeling we carry a couple spare batteries, jumper cables, hood, gloves and a handful of 309 stainless rods.

Poor man's welder for sure!


2010 JKU Sport
1977 CJ5

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Off Road Evolution

Off Road Evolution

New member
Learning to Weld

wayoflife said:
LOL!! You were totally safe. If I thought you wouldn't be, I would have welded you up with the welder I had with me :D

I'm not expert at welding and but can get the job done well enough. If you can't take a class, I would get a basic mig welder and start practicing. Most welders will come with enough info on what it should be set at for the thickness of the steel you plan to work on and then the rest is just a matter of doing it enough that you become comfortable at it. Practice makes better and do it long enough will make you good at it. Of course, there are some people who are just naturals at it like Cindy :crazyeyes:
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Cindy had a good teacher ..,
 
ssh6314

ssh6314

Member
Re: Learning to Weld

Gas is a must imo. You wont get the penetration, or the clean beads without it. Harbor freight specials spatter like nothing I've ever seen, and spatter going into your weld just leaves an air pocket. Then its just a matter of when. Not if. It breaks. Theres a lot to it. But anyone can learn tack welds or small tack beads easily enough. If you have the cash and the option, always get the gas with a wire feed.

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P

paychex.308

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Re: Learning to Weld

I wish I had learned to weld growing up. My pops is a welding instructor at Cerritos college and has welded his entire adult life. I do know one of the biggest things is getting familiar with your temps and materials. You need to know what you can weld on, i.e. steel vs aluminum and such. But practice practice practice. Learn basic stuff like flat beads and once you have that down you can move on to more technical stuff like fills and verticals and the like. Good Luck!


sent from my Razr-M while driving my JK-U.......
 
ridg3runner

ridg3runner

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catahoula said:
I know this is an old thread, but I have not welded in a few years. Just welded with gas and stick. I may be showing my age. I need to get a mig and just finished watching some of these videos from Welding-TV. Thanks for sharing that. To summarize...looks like mig with gas is way to go.
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Let me know when you're ready, we'll burn some wire. I have a brandnew mig and a bunch of small projects to do.:D

We are Jeep..Resistance is futile..
 
SDG

SDG

Caught the Bug
A real nice little portable welder is the miller passport. You can use a small little co2 tank for gas and the 110/220 power option makes it real nice. Still kicking myself for passing one up on CL about a year ago.

With a bernard gun you can also mig Al. Which is a pretty cool option.
 
MR.Ty

MR.Ty

Token East Coast Guy
I would like to learn to weld...

Have a few questions for the welders among us. How did you learn to weld, what type of welding do you use on your Jeep and why? I would like to learn and I would like some help in figuring out how to go about learning. Thanks in advance for the replies. :thumb:
 
jnabird333

jnabird333

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OJT and later I took a class at my local vocational school to be certified. I use MIG on my Jeep the most. When fabricating I prefer TIG, but no longer have a set up to allow me to do this. I never have been able to stick weld worth a crap (especially vertical).

If you don't have time for a class buy a decent MIG welder and get some scrap metal.... Then turn to YouTube. There is lots of good info there.

I would suggest at least 180A machine to properly weld brackets and such on your Jeep.
 
mikefishes

mikefishes

New member
MR.Ty said:
Have a few questions for the welders among us. How did you learn to weld, what type of welding do you use on your Jeep and why? I would like to learn and I would like some help in figuring out how to go about learning. Thanks in advance for the replies. :thumb:
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I know you are a few hours away, but there is a pretty cool class here held by a local shop in NoVA that is usually taught over a weekend every few months. They are pretty well reviewed by some of the local jeepers.

PM me for details. If it's a 2 day event there are plenty of places to stay locally.
 
pvanweelden

pvanweelden

New member
A few suggestions-
I would try to find someone local and get tips from them, and hopefully they will let you try welding with their equipment before you spend $ only to realize you don't have the patience for welding.
Check out a local community college for evening or Saturday classes.
Pick up a decent welder, helmet, gloves, etc and scrap metal and start practicing.
 
MR.Ty

MR.Ty

Token East Coast Guy
jnabird333 said:
OJT and later I took a class at my local vocational school to be certified. I use MIG on my Jeep the most. When fabricating I prefer TIG, but no longer have a set up to allow me to do this. I never have been able to stick weld worth a crap (especially vertical).

If you don't have time for a class buy a decent MIG welder and get some scrap metal.... Then turn to YouTube. There is lots of good info there.

I would suggest at least 180A machine to properly weld brackets and such on your Jeep.
Click to expand...

Any particular brand or are they mostly the same?

Thanks for the reply. :thumb:
 
MR.Ty

MR.Ty

Token East Coast Guy
pastorwug said:
Look for a class at your local Jr. College - ours has wonderful Welding Classes
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I feel kind of silly now. I didn't think to look at community college. Most of the info I found was about being an apprentis at a shop, which I don't really have time for.

mikefishes said:
I know you are a few hours away, but there is a pretty cool class here held by a local shop in NoVA that is usually taught over a weekend every few months. They are pretty well reviewed by some of the local jeepers.

PM me for details. If it's a 2 day event there are plenty of places to stay locally.
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That would be cool. I'll shoot you a PM.

pvanweelden said:
A few suggestions-
I would try to find someone local and get tips from them, and hopefully they will let you try welding with their equipment before you spend $ only to realize you don't have the patience for welding.
Check out a local community college for evening or Saturday classes.
Pick up a decent welder, helmet, gloves, etc and scrap metal and start practicing.
Click to expand...

That is a worry of mine. I hope I like it becuase I do have an interest in doing a junk yard build one day. I'll check out what the community college I'm going to has to offer. Thanks for the info. :thumb:
 
jnabird333

jnabird333

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MR.Ty said:
Any particular brand or are they mostly the same?

Thanks for the reply. :thumb:
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I like Lincoln welders, but have also used Miller. Both are great and won't let you down. Hobart makes some nice welders, but I think their ground clamps and guns are cheap feeling when compared to others in the same price range.

There are all sorts of cheap China made ones too... I can't comment on them as I've never used one.
 
Canvas JK

Canvas JK

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I was at Lowe's a few months back and they were discontinuing the Lincoln 125 Flexcore welders and picked up one. It is still in the box due to all the stuff going on. Anyway check a couple of pawn shops for welders. Might be able to get one fairly inexpensive. I am in the same boat about wanting to learn just do not have the time right now.
 
MR.Ty

MR.Ty

Token East Coast Guy
Canvas JK said:
I was at Lowe's a few months back and they were discontinuing the Lincoln 125 Flexcore welders and picked up one. It is still in the box due to all the stuff going on. Anyway check a couple of pawn shops for welders. Might be able to get one fairly inexpensive. I am in the same boat about wanting to learn just do not have the time right now.
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I bet it is hard with your huge move you've got going on. Ill start browsing the pawn shops, thanks for the idea. :thumbup:

2014 JKUR
 
MR.Ty

MR.Ty

Token East Coast Guy
Thanks for the replies everyone. Definitely given me a better sense of direction. :beer:

2014 JKUR
 
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