LandRoverV8
New Member
- Messages
- 5
Hi,
I'm new to the forum, so hope I'm posting this in the correct place.
I've been arc stick welding with a 200A transformer machine since I was in my teens. Although I can make reasonable welds for most of my simple structural projects, I am totally self taught, so I inevitably make the odd cock up and am not sure why - usually slag inclusion in the weld. Now in my 30s and with enough money to afford a course, I thought I'd enrole on the Practical Welding Skills evening course at Brooklands College, Weybridge, and learn to do it properly. It appears to be very popular and is often over subscribed, so I had to wait a year to get a place on the course.
Now on my 4th lesson, I'm really disappointed at the quality of the teaching. There's no practical demonstrations (instructor didn't have his PPE), instructions on machine set up, lesson plan, or even a safety briefing. You just pick a bay of your preferred welding type (Gas, MIG, TIG or Arc) and get on with it for 3 hours. If you hunt down the instructor (not an easy task) and ask why you keep having a particular problem his response usually is something like:- "The rods are probably damp" (college provided!) or "You need a steadier hand mate!" None of which are helpful to solving my slag inclusion problems!
Has any one else had a similar experience?
Am I expecting too much? I thought he might have all of the students gathered round a table, do a demo - say a butt weld and then have us all practicing that for the eve. Then come round watching us / giving us pointers as needed.
The course is £550, so I'm very disappointed.
Cheers,
James
I'm new to the forum, so hope I'm posting this in the correct place.
I've been arc stick welding with a 200A transformer machine since I was in my teens. Although I can make reasonable welds for most of my simple structural projects, I am totally self taught, so I inevitably make the odd cock up and am not sure why - usually slag inclusion in the weld. Now in my 30s and with enough money to afford a course, I thought I'd enrole on the Practical Welding Skills evening course at Brooklands College, Weybridge, and learn to do it properly. It appears to be very popular and is often over subscribed, so I had to wait a year to get a place on the course.
Now on my 4th lesson, I'm really disappointed at the quality of the teaching. There's no practical demonstrations (instructor didn't have his PPE), instructions on machine set up, lesson plan, or even a safety briefing. You just pick a bay of your preferred welding type (Gas, MIG, TIG or Arc) and get on with it for 3 hours. If you hunt down the instructor (not an easy task) and ask why you keep having a particular problem his response usually is something like:- "The rods are probably damp" (college provided!) or "You need a steadier hand mate!" None of which are helpful to solving my slag inclusion problems!
Has any one else had a similar experience?
Am I expecting too much? I thought he might have all of the students gathered round a table, do a demo - say a butt weld and then have us all practicing that for the eve. Then come round watching us / giving us pointers as needed.
The course is £550, so I'm very disappointed.
Cheers,
James