Teach me to weld...

[stoinkythepig]

I recently inherited an arc welder and a set of oxy-acetylene torches. I have very little experience using these sorts of tools and was hoping an experienced welder could show me the basics. Willing to trade bike service or food for the training.

[legalspeed]

Practice. I did some welding 15 yrs ago, worked the red iron for a couple years.

We used to practice with two plates, cut spuares with slots in them, put them in an "X" and fill in the valleys so you wind up with a solid block. Then we cut it in half and magnafluxed it to see if there were any voids.

You need to stay in practice.

[beet]

i can weld but im not a welder!!!!!!!!! mig makes it easyer @ far as i see ...the oxy-acetylene torches.dont catch notin on fire !!!!long sleves thick welding gloves !!!!!stick welding sux just practice
start low amps & go up is how i would start
ya aint a fool you b ok

[stoinkythepig]

Thanks for the tips. MIG would be nice but it's not what I have. Looking forward to playing with the stuff. Got plenty of other things to keep me busy right now though.

[Matt K]

check this out, they have a basic tutorial:

clicky clicky

I took a oxy-acetylene class years ago and learned how to do that shit, and I have an arc welder now. all I did to learn that was go buy a bunch of scrap steel, cut it apart, and weld it all back together. I'm not great yet, but I am passable... it's not hard, just make sure you wear long sleeves or you'll get a sunburn (ask me how I know). Also gloes and eye protection. the eye protection for arc and oxy is different, so you'll need 2 sets.

[stoinkythepig]

Thanks