# I guess I'm going back to school



## Kenbo (Jan 13, 2017)

For years, I have wanted to learn how to weld. The more work that I do on my Jeep with my off roading and off roading add ons, the more I want to learn how to weld. My local union has offered a welding course for years but I just haven't taken advantage of it. It's difficult to get a seat in the course as it fills up quickly. I don't know why I haven't tried to register as the course is free to me with my union membership as long as I am a journeyman. I finally bit the bullet and decided to try and get a seat and they accepted me today. So starting February 6th, I will begin the welding course for 6 weeks. Then after that, I will hopefully be attending the 7 week course for level 2 welding and my certification. I will find out in another week or so if I have managed to get my seat secured in that one. I'm looking forward to this. It's always good to learn new things.

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## Tony (Jan 13, 2017)

That's awesome Ken! Welding is one of those things I've always wanted to learn but haven't gotten to it yet. Good luck! Tony

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 2


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## duncsuss (Jan 13, 2017)

me too!

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## ripjack13 (Jan 13, 2017)

Awesome!! I learned to weld in the 90's at a Hollywood set shop. I loved it. I have thinking about getting back into it also....
Congratulations Ken!!!

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## NYWoodturner (Jan 13, 2017)

Thats awesome Ken. Not only will it help with your jeep but will open many doors artistically as well. Keep us posted.

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## TimR (Jan 13, 2017)

Cool. I know how to turn on a welder and make inconsistent little molten globs that sometimes hold together and sometimes not. A structured class would be a huge improvement. Soak it in, good stuff to know. Just be careful who you tell.

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## DKMD (Jan 13, 2017)

Color me jealous... I just learned to JB Weld...

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## Brink (Jan 13, 2017)

Good for you, Ken. It is a handy skill to have.

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## rocky1 (Jan 13, 2017)

I learned as a kid on the farm... Never had any formal classes, just burned a lot of rod and made it stick. Must do OK at it, about half the neighborhood brings stuff down here for me to weld up when it's broke. Probably because I have a press, and a torch, and a chop saw, and a MIG, and the baddest Stick Welder on the block.

When you get ready to buy a stick welder for your garage Ken, with all your newfound welding skills. Buy a good one! Don't run out and buy one of those damn dime a dozen red Lincoln buzz boxes. They weld, BUT..........

I don't know what the newer ones are like, but I swear by my old Miller Thunderbolt AC/DC. Yes, they do cost about 3 times what the basic Lincoln stick welder does, because it's about 3 times welder! Most of your cheaper buzz boxes jump 5 - 10 - 15 - 20 amps at a crack on the selector, the Thunderbolt you can dial in to the precise amperage you want. That's not always a big deal on flat work, but when you're doing vertical and overhead, it makes a HUGE difference!! 

https://www.millerwelds.com/equipme...nderbolt-xl-225-150-ac-dc-stick-welder-m16100 

I bought a used one years ago, blew something up in it, carried it down to have it repaired, they were supposed to call when it was ready; never did. Next time I got down there and checked on it, they'd gone out of business, doors were locked, shop was empty. I was NOT impressed. Got where I needed a stick welder again, and had a place to keep one, found another one on Craigslist. Guy listed it just before leaving town on business, reasonable price, I was sitting in his driveway when he got home. Nice little cart under it, hooks for the leads, casters, really nice LONG set of leads. (_The leads alone were worth more than he was asking._) Said it had been parked in the closet in the garage, since they had moved in from the farm 9 years earlier, just decided to clean the closet out. Said if it didn't work he'd come get it and bring my money back to me. No way to go wrong on that deal!! I've never regretted it either!!

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## Schroedc (Jan 13, 2017)

Good for you!!! I love having a little wire feed. my Miller 135 is a nice machine. can't go wrong with one of those.

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## woodman6415 (Jan 13, 2017)

That's great ..
I have a Cracker Jack welder 220v stick and a small wire feed ... self taught ...but I can get by .. if it's needs tacking or gorilla weld ... never very pretty but always good enough for what i need

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## CWS (Jan 13, 2017)

that;'s great.

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## Clay3063 (Jan 13, 2017)

I picked up welding several years ago to supplement my income. As I progressed in the business I added more and more equipment. I had had a Lincoln cracker box earlier in my adult life and lost it somewhere along the way. Never really did much with it then. A fellow minister had one he had used in a construction business and said I could have it if I could fix it. So I replaced the power cord and started welding. Next door neighbor gave me some tips and I just practiced a lot. I built a 16' lowboy trailer with it and I still use it today. (Been hauling logs with it lately). I soon purchased and SA-200 Lincoln gas driven machine that I had to spent 1400.00 getting it running again. And used it to make rig calls in the oilfield. During that time I bought a millermatic 210 mig welder. Miller 675 plasma. And other stuff to build the shop up. Then I bought a Lincoln Vantage 400 diesel driven machine. It is 500 amps 100% duty cycle. It'll run anything and everything including mig and tig. I've still got it all and still do a lot of welding, thought not as much as I was doing 10 years ago. Spending more time in the wood shop now and loving every minute of it. The trailer in this picture is the first trailer I ever built. It's probably got 500K miles on it as it has been pulled behind 3 of my own vehicles and been loaned out man times over the years. The heaviest thing I ever hauled on it was a 17K pound Case Backhoe.

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## Nature Man (Jan 13, 2017)

Sounds like we might need a welding forum. There's got to be a lot of potential woodworking connections. Chuck

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## Kenbo (Jan 13, 2017)

Thanks guys. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to learn a new skill and be able to apply it.

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## Clay3063 (Jan 13, 2017)

Nature Man said:


> Sounds like we might need a welding forum. There's got to be a lot of potential woodworking connections. Chuck


I've got a couple of friends who make live edge furniture, tables, etc and build their own metal stands to go with the tops. Very nice stuff. Your idea isn't a bad one. I've seen a lot of really nice projects that would have been a lot nicer had the welds on the metal pieces been of as high quality as the wood work. I've welded everything from pipe to drilling rigs to stuff around the house. So I've got a little experience in the field.

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## rocky1 (Jan 13, 2017)

Don't worry about practice, once everyone figures out you have a welder and know how to use it, you'll get plenty!!

You are about to become everyone in the 4 wheelin club's best buddy!!

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Funny 1


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## Clay3063 (Jan 13, 2017)

rocky1 said:


> Don't worry about practice, once everyone figures out you have a welder and know how to use it, you'll get plenty!!
> 
> You are about to become everyone in the 4 wheelin club's best buddy!!


True Story! LOL!

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## Kenbo (Feb 14, 2017)

Well, last night was my third class in the welding course and we finally got to some arcing and sparking. I've never done any kind of welding before and I have to say, that it takes a lot of concentration for me to lay a half decent bead. I didn't stick any rods to the base metal and I didn't burn myself so I guess it was a good start. I'm enjoying it though. I'd show my beads but I wouldn't want you guys to spill your drinks on your computers while laughing at them. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

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## ripjack13 (Feb 14, 2017)

Got Milk?

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## CWS (Feb 14, 2017)

Like everything else we do, practice makes perfect. Stay safe. Have fun.

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## Kenbo (Feb 16, 2017)

I know it's a little premature, but I'm just doing a little research. For all you welding folks out there, if you could only choose one, what would be your recommendation for the perfect, all around "at home" welding machine? Brand name and model, and why? All input is appreciated.


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## rocky1 (Feb 16, 2017)

Personally, I wouldn't opt for just one, having had 2 for quite some time now. They both have their strong points.

However, if I absolutely had too...

https://www.millerwelds.com/equipme...nderbolt-xl-225-150-ac-dc-stick-welder-m16100

Miller Thunderbolt AC/DC Stick Welder - With the right rod, and a little practice, almost as versatile on light steel as a mig, yet when you need the ability to weld heavier steel it has the power to do it. 

With a mig, you're tapped out at about 3/16" - 1/4" steel. You can work around that to some extent by preheating your material as you weld, but even then you aren't going to reach the upper limits of the stick welder. Welding up bumpers for the jeep is out of the question.

If you do the stick welder and a decent torch, anything to light for the stick you can braze with the torch. 

When you buy a helmet, buy a good auto-darkening helmet; they're really tough to beat no matter what you weld with. You want to check the reaction time on them, some darken slower than others. I bought one at Northern Tool, for the shop in North Dakota, looked it up later and it's one of the fastest available. Paid like $35 on sale! Spent a $100 on a Lincoln auto-darkening helmet down here in FL, and it's nowhere near as good a helmet.

A good 4 1/2" side grinder is a must, chipping hammer, chop saw is nice, die grinder.

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## barry richardson (Feb 17, 2017)

I gotta stop reading this thread or I'm gonna get led down another rabbit hole, lol

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## Kenbo (Feb 18, 2017)

Any other recommendations?


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## ripjack13 (Feb 18, 2017)

Well...let's narrow it down, what do you "plan" on welding with it?


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## rocky1 (Feb 18, 2017)

The bigger question is... What do you intend welding with it Ken?

If you're just going to patch holes in the neighbor's bar-b-que grill, weld up occasional broken exhaust clamps after 4-wheelin, weld up a little light angle for furniture or shelves, you probably don't need a $650 stick welder, you can get buy with a 110 volt wire-feed. 

And, should you buy a wire-feed, yes I would by all means recommend the 110 volt unit for the simple reason that it affords you a great deal of flexibility. Let's face it, 110 volt outlets are far more plentiful than 220 volt outlets. With flux-core wire, you can take it pretty much anywhere you have electricity and weld goodies up. In which case, you may want to consider the Lincoln Weld Pac 140. (_If the 10lb. spool adapter isn't with it, buy it! You'll save enough on the wire to pay for the adapter in the first 20 lbs. of wire you burn to pay for it._)

More welders than you know what to do with just to confuse hell out of you...

If you look at the Weld-Pac 180, and say geez I can weld 1/2" with that; please note that is a 220 volt welder. And, that is multiple passes, not factoring in Duty Cycles.

However... if you go wire-feed, then you have to decided whether you want to hook up the gas bottle and make smooth pretty welds with no splatter, and have to drag the gas bottle wherever you go to weld, or do you want to use flux core wire. Because it is not going to make smooth pretty welds with no splatter. It's going to make a mess! If you clean everything up, it isn't quite as bad, but it still doesn't make real pretty welds, like gas does.

1.) I use Flux Core. 

A.) I don't need another bottle out here to try and keep full.
B.) I don't need a bottle to drag around everywhere I want to weld with it. 
C.) I don't need the added aggravation surrounding using gas.

2.) Flux Core - is very forgiving in respect to rust, paint, dirt.
3.) Gas Shielded - everything has to be very clean to weld it.


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## rocky1 (Feb 19, 2017)

Don't have Home Depot... Lowes has them too, but they have the Lincoln Pro-Mig

What's the difference... One's built for Lowes, one's built for Home Depot!

Good part about that is, both stores carry tips, both stores carry wire, both stores carry a few parts for them.


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## Kenbo (Feb 19, 2017)

That's some great information there Rocky and I really do appreciate it. I guess you and Marc are right in that I should really think about what it is that I want to weld first. I have some ideas rolling around in the vast spaces of my head and they include, metal shelving units, gussets for the axels on my Jeep, different types of metal fabrication like shelving brackets and tool dollies, different forms of artistic welding that I can add to my woodworking and general metal repair. I have only just begun into the welding world and I'm not intending to purchase a welder just yet. Being an electrician, I'm not too concerned about the 220 volt receptacle as it wouldn't take much for me to install one. I'm also not concerned about price. I've always been of the opinion that I should purchase the best machine that I can afford because I'd hate to purchase a welder, only to find out 3 months down the road that it wont do what I want it to do and now I have to buy another machine. I'm not sure it the Mig welding is my thing but I'm not going to discount it either. I don't think that I will be welding more than a couple of times a month as I don't have that many projects right now. I can, however, seeing this becoming an addiction and I just don't want to waste money on a machine that wont suit my needs. I liked the link for the Miller machine that you posted and it is available locally as far as I can tell. I trust the opinion of our members on this site and I'm just looking for good quality options that are out there. Thank you very much for your input. You've given me a ton of information to play with for sure.

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## rocky1 (Feb 19, 2017)

Being able to install the receptacle is great, but one can't afford to install them everywhere you may need to weld. The 110 volt wire-feed is portable enough to carry anywhere you have power, and make quick repairs. They really are very handy to have around! As I initially stated, I wouldn't opt for one or the other, I'm spoiled and want both. 

With exception of gussets on the Jeep axle, pretty much everything you listed there could easily be handled with the wire-feed. The gussets might be handled with a wire-feed as well, but more heat for the sake of penetration in something of that nature is typically advisable. All of that could easily be accomplished with lighter rod on the Miller stick welder, and gussets on the Jeep axle would be in reach there too. Typically I've got to get into some pretty light stuff, or need something welded more than 35' from my Miller, before I break out the wire-feed. 

If you aren't in a hurry, you might think about looking for a good used one Ken, they're much easier than the new ones to add lead too, swap leads as needed. My first, I left the ground lead at the stock 15' and bought 50' of cable to make up a second hot lead. If I needed to weld on the other end of the tractor, I got out the longer lead. Current welder the previous owner had bumped them both up to 35' leads. With the older machine it's easy to swap back and forth, if you don't want to deal with the additional cable all the time. One can usually find a good used one for about $400 US. I paid $350, and mine's in far better shape than this one I stole the picture of off Google.

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## woodtickgreg (Feb 19, 2017)

I'm a total hack when it comes to welding. I can weld but I am not a welder! I can stick weld but I don't like chipping off all that damn flux. I like mig better because it is so much cleaner. But my favorite is tig because of the control I have. For most of the stuff I do a tig welder would suit me the best. If I was building trailers or doing heavier welding like that I would probably get a larger mig. But if I found a good old school stick welder for the right price I would not pass it up!

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