Hi folks.

[ShivJG]

Hi folks. New here and new to welding, kind of. I'm a woman in the North East of England, and as said, I'm new to welding, though I've been trying to start it for years. I've had my tig 3 years, but only had a few attempts at learning to weld with it.
I bought a mig welder this week to start work on a van project I've bought, and for doing future projects. Hopefully that'll go better than my stalled tig welding attemp. I bought the tig as I was wanting to start building custom motorbikes, but things never really got started, and it's just gathering dust until I can bring myself to start learning how to weld with it.
I'll no doubt have loads of questions, and will be seeking advice from the members here quite soon.

 

[redlig]

Welcome to the forum. I.m sure you will be helped along the path to welding perfection via a mixture of serious and ,sometimes, not so serious help. Most importantly just have fun .

 

[DeBangis]

You are welcome to the workshop.

 

[galooph]

Welcome aboard!

 

[bourbon]

Welcome from me as well. It's all just practice, practice, practice and then practice some more.

 

[gaz1]

welcome to the site theres a few ladies on this site that do a multitude of things

so you wont be the only lady on here doing other things

so what type of mig welder have you bought as there is 2 types out there gasless and the ones that are gas needing an account to get the bottle of gas for it

gas is easier than gasless but both can be done by one machine if you have the right machine that does both

have fun and get asking your questions

 

[Robotstar5]

Welcome aboard it's worth checking out the tutorials in the green banner at the top of the page.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

 

[Beanwood]

Welcome along.
My first bit of advice would be get some lessons, get a decent auto-darkening helmet, some gloves, some steel, some gas and some wire and start to practice.
If you don't know anyone to help you, try local evening classes.
If you still can't find anyone, shout on here to see if someone can recommend someone/somewhere.
It's VERY much easier to be shown, have a go, be corrected, than watching Youtube videos, which in itself can be quite disheartening if you get it wrong a lot - as you're likely to do when starting without guidance.

And don't start on the van, or motorbikes until you've had a lot of practice!!!

 

[ShivJG]

welcome to the site theres a few ladies on this site that do a multitude of things

so you wont be the only lady on here doing other things

so what type of mig welder have you bought as there is 2 types out there gasless and the ones that are gas needing an account to get the bottle of gas for it

gas is easier than gasless but both can be done by one machine if you have the right machine that does both

have fun and get asking your questions

Thank you. My mig is an Autostar mig 160. Essentially a cheaper version of the Jasic 160. Made by the same factory for Wilkinson Star. It does gas and gasless, and much against everyone's advice, I'm starting gasless, but simply because I've already spent double my planned budget on the machine, and I'll be working outdoors on the driveway. Everything I want to weld will be hidden, so it doesn't need to be the best just as long as it's strong and will last.
My tig is an Oxford Tigmaker 220e Pulse. I spent a fortune on that thing! I'll get around to using it eventually, but for now I'll get used to the mig and get the van on the road.

 

[ShivJG]

Welcome along.
My first bit of advice would be get some lessons, get a decent auto-darkening helmet, some gloves, some steel, some gas and some wire and start to practice.
If you don't know anyone to help you, try local evening classes.
If you still can't find anyone, shout on here to see if someone can recommend someone/somewhere.
It's VERY much easier to be shown, have a go, be corrected, than watching Youtube videos, which in itself can be quite disheartening if you get it wrong a lot - as you're likely to do when starting without guidance.

And don't start on the van, or motorbikes until you've had a lot of practice!!!

Lessons would be great, but it's time and money. I've looked for lessons around Darlington, and short of joining a full time engineering course or mechanics course, I've not been able to find any.
I've pretty much decided to teach myself, and hope for the best. I taught myself to use a lathe and milling machine, and that hasn't turned pout too bad. Totally different I know, but I'd never touched the things before.
I can get help off my brother who can mig weld, though he hasn't done any in a long time. I can also go to the garage my cars usually go to and get help off them if needs be. They're good guys, and as long as they're not drowning in work they'll give some of their time to help.

 

[Beanwood]

No evening classes in local colleges?

 

[Barking Mat]

Another warm welcome.

YouTube has a wealth of good and less so, tutorial vids.

 

[ShivJG]

No evening classes in local colleges?

Sadly no, not last time I checked, though that was last year. To be honest, I'm more the type to try and teach myself anyway and learn through trial and error.

 

[Richiew]

Middlesbrough College teach welding if that's not too far for you. The evening City and Guilds courses run from early September so you've missed out for this year.

 

[gaz1]

ive used arc welding before so for me it was a different learning curve as i had the general idea of the welding

now bed framing or office 2x1s can be used there thin and can be a real pain to weld

so i will give you this one

im welding this with an arc welder 2.0 welding rods the point is dont use speed its slow and move around whilst the metal cools

the metal is 0.8-1mm the other material is 1.5mm sheet to be welded into strips


your other alternative is 2or 3mm either chalk lines to follow or as i prefer grind lines down the metal and weld those

i prefer to build something whilst welding or learning to weld another one i can give you is a rocket stove

Rocket Stove

I made my first rocket stove today. Dead easy to make and a great project for welders of all experience. I'll give it a test run later and post more pics.

www.mig-welding.co.uk

 

[MetalMonkey]

Welcome!

Building motorcycles with a Tig is certainly jumping in both feet at the deep end
I think you will find Mig a lot easier to pick up by comparison.

Sounds like you have got it all sussed, but all I would add is that welding bodywork is a different beast to welding on thicker stock.
It is more like a series of short spot/tack welds with the primary concern being heat and distortion.
The welding itself is pretty easy, with most of the time and effort going into forming and fitting the panels.

A couple of excellent youtube channels for bodywork (whether you are starting off or a seasoned veteran), are Fitzee's Fabrication (especially his Cut-n-Butt technique) and Trevs blog.
Both have extensive back catalogues, and several videos aimed at beginners starting off, tools, tips, technique etc. I'd really recommend them.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6JPmJ_aicru8XPWr3EvJnw

https://www.youtube.com/@trevsblog

My own tip, is to get some fibre discs and backing pad for your grinder - I find I use these a lot more than flap discs and they are a lot cheaper, last longer and more aggressive/faster too.
More useful for general fabrication than on bodywork but still come in handy.

If you have access to air, a small right-angle die grinder with roloc sanding discs is a very handy thing for bodywork and grinding down welds.

Oher than that, see if you can source some scrap to practice on, and just crack on and get some hood time in.
It isn't a substitute for tuition, but if you put up pictures of the results on here, there is usually a few who are pretty good at giving some constructive feedback.
Also check out the tutorials on the website as a starting point.

 

[BarrieJ]

Welcome, good to have another lady join the forum, you won't find better people than here. Like you I was pretty much self taught but when I did get professional tuition I learned so much that I'd been doing wrong or could do it better or easier. There's a lot to be learned from people who've been doing it all day everyday for years. Anyway, best of luck with the van. There's plenty here who'll help.

 

[ShivJG]

Middlesbrough College teach welding if that's not too far for you. The evening City and Guilds courses run from early September so you've missed out for this year.

That's not too far at all really. Depends on the time it runs and whether I can get there after work. Last time I asked there they didn't do a standalone welding course

 

[Richiew]

They used to do City and Guilds level 2. You used to be able to choose between dc tig, arc or mig. I checked the prospectus earlier this year and they seemed to be offering a dumbed down general course instead. I didn't look too closely to be honest and maybe the old courses were hiding somewhere I didnt look. I've done all three over the years and they were good value. Usually half five to half seven one evening per week. It will be a shame if they've stopped the old evening courses.