Welding

Either get yourself down to a local college as most seem to have evening clases for welding/fabrication. Cheap too. Otherwise get yourself a good quality secondhand MIG welder of about 120-140Amp rating, capable of

0.6/0.8mm to 1.0mm diameter wire, and rent a cylinder of 'Argoshield' or similar (Argon/CO2 mix. Much easier to work on thinner steel than pure CO2) Then have a go yourself on some clean scrap. It doesn't take long to get used to the basic welds and once you've got a full or half size cylinder, the gas is pretty cheap too. Don't start on metal too thin either; it's not too forgiving for beginners. Try some 2-3mm and then try the thin stuff later. Once you've got the hang of mild steel, then change gases (to pure Argon) and wire (1.0mm ali wire) and try ali if you need to. You can pick up a good s/h unit for about £75 in local rags or free ads papers or a new one will only cost about £250-350. Have fun.

JB

There's a little book on Ebay sometimes, a few quid or so and it covers all the things you'd want to know from a theory side of it and as said it's all a lot clearer the minute you start practising. :-)

Splash out on a decent helmet though, makes it a lot easier and less to be worrying about while your learning.

Mark S.

Agreed. Get an LCD mask or mask insert if you can afford one. It *does* make the learning curve less steep.

JB

Try:

Sci.engr.joining.welding

Best website I've come across for tips & info etc. is:

In message , Guy King writes

Stop it. You're reminding me of my "before cushy office job" employment and globs of hot weld burning holes in me from whatever old nail I was welding underneath at the time. *ouch*

The message from Chris contains these words:

Best tip I can offer is "Clean the metal first". Shiny all along and on both sides and the edge. Makes /such/ a difference. You can weld through paint and rust and millscale and so on - but it ain't as easy and the results aren't as good.