- Joined
- Dec 12, 2022
Your dad was a smart man. Mig has a skill ceiling, easy to learn, harder to master. If you know Stick and Tig, I'd try certifying in them, both of them are in big demand and can do pipe.
Welding General Thread - A general guide on turning hot steel into trucks, trains, and airplanes as well as posting your own welds.
- Thread starter WelperHelper99
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2019
I took night classes DURING high school. I'm sure I could cert in stick and tig on plate all positions. But I already have a career. I do use the knowledge a lot for structural steel inspection though.
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2022
Well good for you man! I'm glad welding impacted your career at least. It's a skill I hope more get interested in, it's fun knowing how things are built and explaining it
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2019
It was always (and still is) my backup plan. I love it, so I don't want to ruin it by doing it for work if I can help it.
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2022
That's a good mindset. I'd recommend picking up Flux-Core self shielding, it's great with heavy steel, faster and cleaner than stick, and if you know mig, you're half way there. Aluminum Mig is also interesting, but it's very finniky with the machines it likes, but you basically get a aluminum glue gun once it's working; it gets hot, but it's good for thicker material tig is less suited for
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2016
@WelperHelper99 yo bro was thinking about you
The topic of welding came up this week.
Short version 10 years ago a friend (lets call him big burger) of mine went to the local trade school and got some welding certs....never ended up working in the profession. Another cousin of mine went to a rather respected but pricey training school (thats now defunct)....he also didnt end up working in the profession.
Any way another gentleman I know started working at a new job, that makes things for power sports. He said they were having issues finding people to do grunt work (namely pulling product and packing it for shipping) lots of people not showing up to work, cause they aint feeling it. The also have a need for welders. I mention Burger to the dude and his eyes light up and I m all
"no no I said he did the course and has certs, I never seen him work in the field" I m told that the parts they make are to standard plans and if he can do a clean bead they d be interested
So I m thinking of my old pal Burger who for the last 20 years showed a good work ethic, he will show up an do as he's told. But he aint the brightest. last summer he finished paying of his car quit his job for rather understandable reasons went out west to visit family, and is spouting stupid bullshit, about how he s helping look after his nieces this summer cause bother their parents works. Like I get it bro its nice to have the summer/year off.
But I think this place might be a good fit for him he could start doing the grunt shit, and maybe a door would open for him.
So I call burger up and mention this to him I front load the statement with "I know you re enjoying your summer but when your ready to enter the work force I know a place that might be a good fit"
His reply was "well.....you can give me the guys number, and I can call and see if its something I m interested in" translation....."lol no"
but he said his certs are expired, like how long to certs last and how do you keep those up?
The topic of welding came up this week.
Short version 10 years ago a friend (lets call him big burger) of mine went to the local trade school and got some welding certs....never ended up working in the profession. Another cousin of mine went to a rather respected but pricey training school (thats now defunct)....he also didnt end up working in the profession.
Any way another gentleman I know started working at a new job, that makes things for power sports. He said they were having issues finding people to do grunt work (namely pulling product and packing it for shipping) lots of people not showing up to work, cause they aint feeling it. The also have a need for welders. I mention Burger to the dude and his eyes light up and I m all
"no no I said he did the course and has certs, I never seen him work in the field" I m told that the parts they make are to standard plans and if he can do a clean bead they d be interested
So I m thinking of my old pal Burger who for the last 20 years showed a good work ethic, he will show up an do as he's told. But he aint the brightest. last summer he finished paying of his car quit his job for rather understandable reasons went out west to visit family, and is spouting stupid bullshit, about how he s helping look after his nieces this summer cause bother their parents works. Like I get it bro its nice to have the summer/year off.
But I think this place might be a good fit for him he could start doing the grunt shit, and maybe a door would open for him.
So I call burger up and mention this to him I front load the statement with "I know you re enjoying your summer but when your ready to enter the work force I know a place that might be a good fit"
His reply was "well.....you can give me the guys number, and I can call and see if its something I m interested in" translation....."lol no"
but he said his certs are expired, like how long to certs last and how do you keep those up?
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2022
Assuming these are AWS certifications, he has 6 months to use the process he certed on, weather at home or on the job, or else the certs are revoked. Sheet metal workers have a year to turn in the paperwork. If he's been out of it for years, needs to retest.
Now, if he knows how to weld and still remembers enough, the job might just take him I'd it's low level enough, though he'll be fighting against anyone with certification
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2018
Protip: When using 100% Argon shielding gas, only clean your workpieces with chlorinated brake cleaner for the best results!
(don't actually do this it will kill you)
(don't actually do this it will kill you)
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2018
Do you have a satisfying answer as to why you run flux core electrode negative? The closest to anything I found was that it needs the wire to be the hottest point ie where the arc jumps to in order to properly like get the flux to flash off and shield the weld so it was sounding a bit like stick to me until a buddy who loves his buzzbox pointed out to me every rod he's ever run is electrode positive.
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2022
You only run EN without gas. It just works better that way. If you're serious and looking to get certified, use gas and set to Electrode Positive.
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2018
"Satisfying answer" was wanting more after the fundamental "why?" Like why are oxy-acetylene welds structurally sound despite no shielding gas? Well no reactive gases get past a 6000 degree flame envelope; that kinda answer. I'm just self taught welder for my own use and curiosity, being a machinist makes me wanna know the more nitty gritty of a process, what works matters less to me than why it works.
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2022
If I had to think, EN transfers less heat into the material. It's how shelf shielding doesn't immediately blow holes in steel. Gas bypasses that and you can use EP, as it's being cooled
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2016
Heres a story you guys might fing amusing.
I have a buddy who changed careers rather late in life, he became an engineer. Got a new job at place that does fabrication of after market truck parts. Control arms and shit like that.
The owner learned a hard lesson that his welders will jump ship and you should totally give them a reason to not do that.
Anyway this engineer dude got on boarded and his job for the time being is to document the production process for all the parts they make, meaning he needs to photo graph the production from start to finish, and write up the production process.
The idea being that the welders will have like ipads or something and be able to recreate work from eachother.
Talking to him the other day and it crossed my mind that its not really a good use of his skill set. you could in theory have a high school grade do that work.
I have a buddy who changed careers rather late in life, he became an engineer. Got a new job at place that does fabrication of after market truck parts. Control arms and shit like that.
The owner learned a hard lesson that his welders will jump ship and you should totally give them a reason to not do that.
Anyway this engineer dude got on boarded and his job for the time being is to document the production process for all the parts they make, meaning he needs to photo graph the production from start to finish, and write up the production process.
The idea being that the welders will have like ipads or something and be able to recreate work from eachother.
Talking to him the other day and it crossed my mind that its not really a good use of his skill set. you could in theory have a high school grade do that work.
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2019
I’d love to see the burn imprinted in the ipad display because it was open when someone struck an arc next to it
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2016
Oh heres the funny part. There is some sorta software front end. But hes just posting photos into word, for the back end, aka the front will call the back.
I m surprised they arent doing autocad models rendering some nice exploded illustrations.
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2020
Project Farm just tested 7 MIG welders, spending nearly $5k in the process. No Vevor sponsorship shit here.
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2022
I've used the Lincon 210, it's alright, multi function, just pricey
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2022
I'm not a professional welder, but I do weld as part of my profession. I also know a lot of professional welders. Let's be honest. The guy burning sticks for 8-12 hours a day probably isn't a metallurgist. He knows what works because someone told him what works and it does work so that's what he does. I'm going to try to get a bit technical from here. I need to lay down the fact that electricity actually flows from negative to positive. That is kind of important with arc welding. Generally when you are burning rods you want a dc positive electrode because the arc is burning up the stick. It is easier that way and it works. The reason it is easier is because the flow of current is moving towards you keeping your rod from sticking and it works because you are basically jamming your rod into the base metal. If you have ever stick welded with ac you will know that it can be frustrating if you aren't used to it. When trying to strike an arc the stick just wants to stick to the base metal and if you get too close with the rod in the middle of a weld it will stick. That's because when the electrode becomes negative it is burning down towards the base metal. The arc is basically sucking your stick into whatever you are welding half of the time. That is the answer for dc positive stick welding and mig as well. With mig you set your wire speed for a happy place where the arc isn't burning up the wire to the point it sputters or the wire is moving so fast it bottoms out and pushes your gun back towards you. I tig weld a lot of aluminum. I don't do it by choice. I'm just the only guy in a hundred mile radius that can do it. Tig is a whole other beast. You tig weld aluminum with ac. The reason is because aluminum has a zero tolerance policy for pollutants. Raw aluminum also auto generates an aluminum oxide coating basically instantly. This coating protects it and is what makes aluminum so weather resistant. This coating is also a pollutant when welding aluminum. When you tig weld aluminum you use ac because when your electrode is in the negative phase it is drawing in heat from your distant electrode into the base metal and when it is in the positive phase it shoots the little impurities into the shielding gas to be swept away. This is called a self cleaning weld. On the subject of tig welding I also tig stainless from time to time. Stainless likes negative electrode pulsating for whatever reason. The good thing about it is that when you get it dialed in you can weld stainless as thin as a sheet of paper. I've never done any oxy-acetylene welding. I have done some brazing. The only reason I have ever done some brazing is because I had to go behind someone who did a shit job. They brazed a cast iron piece that needed to be water tight and it wasn't. I managed to get it water tight, but I've never welded cast iron that didn't end up water tight. When brazing you brush on a paste flux that reacts with heat from the torch and creates a protective barrier. It's just fancy soldering. I can't imagine oxy acetylene welding being much different. Getting back to your original question; I don't have a satisfying answer. I have a flux core pack machine. It is electrode negative because that is what is supposed to work and it does work. I'm just a dumb old welder anyways.
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2021
@WelperHelper99 I have to ask, is the welding really that OP? I remember years ago when I was talking to my English teacher, she told me about how her grandfather, after going into retirement, decided to learn welding as a hobby, it turns out that there was a crisis of welders in the country (there were like just a couple of them, 2 or 3) which turned his hobby into an extremely profitable business. He earned more money than ever in his career and at one point he jokingly said "What was I even doing most of my life?". So now I'm wondering is the welding really this good?
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2022
There are two general purpose welders left in my area. These are guys with a truck a stick welder and a torch. The youngest one is like 55. They make all the money they can want. The only obstacle is buying the welding machine to put on the truck and knowing how to use it. You can work for a corpo welding transformers for $22 a hour for 40 plus hours a week or go weld up a tractor part for a farmer and charge him a hundred bucks for 20 minutes of work. @WelperHelper99 just hasn't realized his potential yet.