Welding Tips and Tricks

Welding is one of those things that when ya' need it done, ya' really need it done. I've needed some welding done around the house. So I recently took an Intro into Welding course at my local university. It was an awesome introduction but kind of overwhelming since it covered everything.

I'm basically a newbie welder who just wants to become better at my welding skill. I think I will be doing mostly MIG. But, I just want to learn and improve at the other types of welding. I will be welding mostly for things around the house/garage and stuff I want to build. Mostly steel with some aluminum.

So a few of questions:

1 - I'm 45 years old, my eyes are starting to change. I have some bifocal safety glasses with 1.5x in the bottom of the lense. But, I'm not sure I really like these. (* I'm still trying to get used to the whole reading glasses thing. *) What do people use/recommend for reading safety glasses?

2 - Fixtures. The welding class taught me a lot about welding. One of the biggest things it also taught me was fixtures, or how to hold your work piece down. "Damit! I'm trying to weld here on a moving object." Is there a place that people go to, like a welding "supermarket", in order to buy fixture tools? I really am no interested in the Harbor Freight stuff. But, where do people shop for these types of tools? Websites?

3 - Will my welds improve with practice? I've got to tell ya' the welds my instructor did made me say to him "I quit. It's better to pay you for the welding." because they were NICE! Some of my welds made the Titanic look like a rugged steamship. Does ones skill with welding generally improve with practice?

Thanks for any advice/insight.

-brad w.

Brad,
First off welcome to the forum.

There's hope, yes your welding should improve with practice and if you want to get really good you'll have to practice a lot. If your just welding as a hobby then you can be the judge of what's good enough. If you're like most of the people here you'll find that welding is addicting and it will never be good enough.

Most people build a welding table as one of their early projects and a cart for their welder. There's lots of good ideas on here if you do a search and an internet search will give you enough ideas to make your head explode. Fixtures can be as simple as some heavy duty c-clamps, some visegrips and a couple pipe clamps or as fancy as a Stronghand Tools Pro Build table. There's no amount of clamps and jigs that would ever qualify as too many and most people have collected many. You'll find yourself making them for certain jobs. But for beginning I would suggest you get a couple pairs of 11R vise grips and a couple Pony clamps and a few c-clamps from the hardware store.

You can get a "cheater" lens for your welding helmet that go from .5 diopter to 3x diopter that comes as a clear lens that replaces the cover lens on the inside of the helmet. I wear bifocals and use a cheater lens so don't think your alone. I used a cheater lens long before I needed bifocals as it's good to see what's going on in the puddle.

We have folks here with all levels of experience in many fields so when you come on something you can't get past on your own, throw it out here and we'll set about getting it answered for you.

Len

Braehill wrote:Brad,
First off welcome to the forum.

There's hope, yes your welding should improve with practice and if you want to get really good you'll have to practice a lot. If your just welding as a hobby then you can be the judge of what's good enough. If you're like most of the people here you'll find that welding is addicting and it will never be good enough.

Most people build a welding table as one of their early projects and a cart for their welder.
Len

Thanks for the moral boost.. Every time my instructor did a weld, well... It was beautiful. A work of art. I'll never get to the level of a professional as it's not my profession. But, I just want to get better than my welds looking like something my little guy did with playdoh..

I have a couple of project ideas. The table was my first idea. The next one was a tool cart..

Thanks for the comments. If anyone has other suggestions about my original questions, I am all ears..

-brad w.

Brad welcome to the forum.

Welcome, Brad,

To answer question #1;
I got by (yes, I mean I did not "excel", but "got by" on readers for about nine years. See an eye doctor, and get prescription lenses. It will make a world of difference. I have bifocals, and had the "near vision" lens set very high on my work glasses so I don't have to lean back and look down through the bottom edge of my weld lens to see close while welding. Those "reader" safety glasses had my neck in a bind trying to see, and, frankly, I needed different lenses for each eye, to complicate the issue.

#2;
For fixtures, Horrible Freight has improved a lot in the past few years. If you're serious, though, Irwin "Vice Grip" products are excellent. A good bench vice is a must, and Horrible Freight is a fair place for that. There are many more options, which others will suggest, but I'm so accustomed to making my own that Vice-Grip is about the only fixturing I'll buy.

#3;
Absolutely. Follow suggestion #1 to get your vision right, and practice. We all started somewhere with welds we won't post pictures of.

Steve S

Hello Brad! I have been welding since about 1975, and currently teach welding at a college in Indiana. I have to tell you, not to discourage you, but guys your age and above don't generally do well in welding. Not that you can't learn, just that you will GENERALLY learn at a slower rate than the obnoxious, annoying younger cats who get it right on the first try. The biggest problem noobs in your age group have is seeing. I have these students who just don't want to wear any glasses or use cheaters. If you need them, you need them. Period. If I am in the field and doing overhead work, I need a safety glasses that is 100% cheater lens; no bifocal. However, I can't walk around with the cheater glasses on, so I have to switch ... and switch .. and switch. But I get the job done. What I am saying is that if you have to wear your dollar store reading glasses under you hood, then do it! Get used to it! Get the magnification you need, not what you wished you needed!

Another thing is practice. Keep after it. Never compare you skill level to anyone else. Everyone learns at a different pace. Every once in awhile, a genuine 'natural' will come through my lab. These are the guys who are total noobs. They watch you do it, then in a day or two are doing it better than you. Like I say, don't worry about anyone else. Get set up at home and practice, practice, practice. Pay attention to your rod/gun angles. Watch your arc length. Look for consistency within each stringer, and from stringer to stringer. Practice!

Don't get too hung up on clamps, etc. When you build your welding table, make sure that the edges of the table run extend out beyond the frame a few inches so you can easily put on clamps. Don't worry about screwing things up; you can cut it apart and put it back together again later.

Practice!

Keep us posted on how you are doing!
Gary