Chris Parsons Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Ryan, You have gotten some good advice here. I have been welding for close to 30 years now and I will leave you with a few thoughts. First, safety is paramount. Buy good quality personal protection equipment. I.E. gloves, pants, BOOTS (not tennis shoes), heavy cotton long sleeved shirt or leathers and cap. Above all, hearing and eye protection. Don't scrimp on these because once you injure your eyes and ears, they don't heal well. Second, a class at the local junior college or vo-tech is a great idea. At our local J.C., if you're not seeking a degree or certification, you can use their equipment, consumables, and materials for very little money to explore the welding world. Third, don't get hung up on one type of welding versus another. Every type has it's own pros and cons. Practice, practice, practice. Hood time is the best teacher. Learn all you can from whomever you can. I was fortunate enough to work beside a retired pipeline weldor for several years who taught me stuff you will not learn in school. Little tricks for this and that and those have helped me a lot. Enjoy your time behind the hood and be safe!!!! Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Yates Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Ryan, You have gotten some good advice here. I have been welding for close to 30 years now and I will leave you with a few thoughts. First, safety is paramount. Buy good quality personal protection equipment. I.E. gloves, pants, BOOTS (not tennis shoes), heavy cotton long sleeved shirt or leathers and cap. Above all, hearing and eye protection. Don't scrimp on these because once you injure your eyes and ears, they don't heal well. Second, a class at the local junior college or vo-tech is a great idea. At our local J.C., if you're not seeking a degree or certification, you can use their equipment, consumables, and materials for very little money to explore the welding world. Third, don't get hung up on one type of welding versus another. Every type has it's own pros and cons. Practice, practice, practice. Hood time is the best teacher. Learn all you can from whomever you can. I was fortunate enough to work beside a retired pipeline weldor for several years who taught me stuff you will not learn in school. Little tricks for this and that and those have helped me a lot. Enjoy your time behind the hood and be safe!!!! Chris Welcome Chris, I agree with you Safety is Priority 1 in my Book and I teach my students to NOT scrimp on EQ. either they need the Best or the Very Best they can afford NOT cheep stuff just to get by .You have covered it just as I did emphasizing how important is is for very good welding EQ. in my Welding 101 post . It is good to have yet another experienced welder here on the site to help teach others about welding even though it is a forging site I really think they go hand in hand . Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Good to see your post Chris. The more Myth busters around the better for everybody. Even after several examples in this thread I just realized I didn't say boo about proper PPE. My bad. <sigh> Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Parsons Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Thanks Sam and Frosty! I'm happy to share what I know with whomever will listen. I have recently taken an interest in blacksmithing, and this seems to be one of the best sites I have looked into. I'd really like to add this craft into my welding business, but the more I read, the more I see there is to learn. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Thanks Sam and Frosty! I'm happy to share what I know with whomever will listen. I have recently taken an interest in blacksmithing, and this seems to be one of the best sites I have looked into. I'd really like to add this craft into my welding business, but the more I read, the more I see there is to learn. Chris We'll be more than happy to help you develop your skills as best we can. Blacksmithing has more place in a modern welding/fab shop than most folk would believe. I have a few heart warming stories from my years as an exploration driller who wore the fabricator hat but took hammer to hot steel often. More to learn than we all thought, steel is like that itself. Blacksmithing has the best of both learning curves, it's a VERY viscerial craft demanding several skills sets to perform at a basic level. Good eye hand is a must of course but you have to be able to judge color and manage heat, no surprise but you must have feel for the steel and listen to it as it speaks to you. then there's the other thing, steel itself, it's such a varied metal with so many characteristics without getting into high alloy. I short, a super skilled high genius could dedicate his/er life 24-7 for several lifetimes and not learn but a small fraction of what there is to learn. It's a heck of a trip, enjoy the ride. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WraithsNinja Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 The thermalarc 211i is a mig, stick, and tig combo, it is also 110 and 220v. It runs $1259 on welders-direct.com. It's the one Im going to get when a get a little extra cash. To be honest I have found that there are times when it would be nice to have multiple processes for projects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caintuckrifle Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 I personally use and like a Lincoln electric wire feed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Parsons Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 RKM556, How's the apprenticeship going? Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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