Any welders out there????

[annguyen1981]

Gee...  What a dumbass question.   I've been thinking about all the cool stuff I wanna make for my GS and car and home and work and WHATEVER!

The problems?

1)  No experience
2)  No equipment to work on, therefore no chance to practice to GET experience.
3)  Not enough money to fund a new hobby such as this (unless I make stuff to sell, such as a fender eliminator kit for the GS...  I've got one designed in my head, but can't make a prototype yet because of reasons 1, 2, & 3)

ANYWAY...  What kind of welding is the best?  I'm a nood when it comes to this stuff.  I know there's arc, gas, MIG, and plasma cutter/welders.  What type is good for what application?

[CirclesCenter]

Depends on the metal you are welding.

I'm assuming steel because that's very common. (And less expensive to weld!)

Oxy Acet. It's pretty easy and with patience and practice you can get good penetration for the weld. (It's no resistance welding but hey, it's cheap)

A set of tanks and regulators should set you back about 150 used (have them tested, and this testing is NOT optional, do IT!)

Learn this first and you'll be a master with the TIG torch.

(BTW this is my 1200th post. WOOT!)

[blue05twin]

Welding would be a cool skill to have, but ummm wife won't let me play with fire anymore 

I wonder if they have welder jobs with on the job training.

[sledge]

Its not hard to tack metal together if you know the basics but it takes years of practise to become a skilled (coded)welder. There are many methods and techniques all of which depend on the materials and final applications. Years ago I went to evening classes for a year to learn the basics and my employer paid. If you are keen on, check out the local tech-collages and see what they offer.

[werase643]

sign up for a night class at your local comunity college or tech school

they teach you
you use their equipment
you use their space
and after your done you take the class again....
you use their equipment
you use their space....

i've met people who restore/fix autos at a tech school....cause they don't have a garage
cheaper than renting a garage and....you get to use their eqiupment

Tig is best
mig is easiest
with steel mig is fine
AL....Tig

[scottpA_GS]

I wonder if they have welder jobs with on the job training.

Here in PA there are TONS of OJT Welding jobs. One of the factorys in my town hires 20+ people weekly 

I am certain that in Atlanta there is a need for skilled or unskilled welders 

[Cannon Fodder]

Depends on the metal you are welding.

A set of tanks and regulators should set you back about 150 used (have them tested, and this testing is NOT optional, do IT!)

Maybe for a small set of bottles, 125/145 around here has be leased at something like $150/5 years a bottle.

[annguyen1981]

So in these welding classes, they let you do just about anything during class as long as it's welding???

I gotta check this out...

[LimaXray]

If you want to weld as a hobby, get a flux-core wire feed welder.  They're cheap, I got one on eBay for $100 and it does everything I need it to do.  It's also super easy; my only education was reading a few things on the net and then played around with welding things.  I may not make the prettiest welds, but they're good and strong and good enough for what I need. (although I don't think I'd weld a frame together or something like that where my life depended on my weld, I'd leave that to the pros in any case)

Flux core welders are a lot alike MIG welders, except MIG welders require a tank of a shield gas (usually argon and carbon dioxide) and a regulator while flux core wire has the sheilding chemical in the middle of the welding wire.  MIG does produce a nicer weld, but flux core is fine if this is a weekend wonder deal and you're on a budget.  There a lot of welders that can configured to do either flux core or MIG, so that may be your best option

In any case, MIG/flux core can do mild steel very well, stainless fairly well, and a perhaps some light aluminum if needed.

[RVertigo]

You totally should look into a class...  I work with a guy that's taking one.  He's built so many custom things for his bike, it's not even funny...   No, really...  It's NOT funny.  It's all Mad-Maxed out...  He even got a custom plate for it:  M4DM4X.

See what I mean...  It's NOT funny. 

[3imo]

I am a self taught AMATUER welder.
I went to Home depot and bought a few how-to welding books.  Read one end to end and read it again. 
Then I used that information to decide wether or not I could really get into this sort of thing.

So I bought a Lincoln ARC welder and scrounged a shitload of scrap.  Then I dissapeared into my garage every night.

After a few weeks I realized I was no good at it.

Then I bought a Flux-core welder 110v walmart special from a  pawn shop for 100$

I got some more stock together and began tediously practicing on joining plates like the books suggested and got the hang of it pretty quick like. although playing with the ARC welder probably helped.


anyway, the moral of the story is that you can teach yourself.   A professional class is of course better, but the amount you pay for the class can pay for your own equipment.

In my opinion if you can pay someone to do it, you can teach yourself to do it.

Check out my thread on my 01' project.  http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=24409.0

I welded an 95' GS500 frame to carry the 01' GS500 fairings.

Good luck.

[GeeP]

I would suggest you read the following books in this order:

1)  "Modern Welding"  by Althouse, Turnquist, and Bowditch
2)  "The Procedure Handbook of Arc Welding", The Lincoln Electric Company.

Stron and ductile welds result from three main things:

1)  Proper setup
2)  Proper equipment
3)  Proper technique

Most garage-shop types get 1 of the three correct.  Generally speaking, setup and technique are lacking.  These are things you will learn by reading the above books carefully, then practicing until you're tired of it.  Then practice some more!    

I suggest you start out with Oxy Acetylene, partly because it promotes good puddle control, and partly because a cutting torch is practically a requirement for any form of fabrication.  When you have mastered flat, vertical up, vertical down, and overhead positions, and you welds pass the bend test, you can start all over with SMAW aka "stick welding".  After that, the sky's the limit.

[annguyen1981]

Does anyone have any used welding equipment they wanna sell?  Let me know.

[average]

So.....which one of you guys wants to weld up my bracket for my 04 conversion