newbie , recommendation on good book, and any tips or hints :)

[Daithi2015]

Hi All,
Firstly, compliments on a great forum, very helpful. I am reading various posts and learning a lot.

I have done no welding before and so am a complete beginner , but am keen to get stuck into some art/ light furniture pieces. I tried doing a course before before ( years ago) but time restraints couldn't complete it.

So, from what I see here , I want to start with MIG with Gas to keep it simple and easy at the start. I haven't bought any equipment yet but my local metal shop has an SWP 150turbo starter machine for 325euro which seems like a good start machine ??? ( any suggestions ?) http://www.colmsteel.ie/product.asp...64&CAT_ID=64&P_ID=125&btnProduct=More+Details,
plus all the other stuff, has to be bought, safety, gas, etc. ( assuming all goes well can get adapter to use cheaper larger gas tanks and keep power down as will be on 13amp in garage to start with ?)

I understand the best way to learn would be to revisit the class I should have done before and failing that, practice is the best way to get better.i note there are also tutorials on here and elsewhere which will be great when I get a machine, however I would really love to have a fuller understanding of what is happening and learn more about the various techniques, tips and safety issues, gases etc. At the start which I am sure would be a good backup for actual practice.

I didn't see much chat about what the best book might be to explain and learn the process and was wondering if there is commonly used "bible" or is anyone had any suggestions on a good learning book. I am focused on MIG so something focused on that would be great. I got "Learn to Weld" by Stephen Cristena on kindle for cheap which is focused on MIG and will be useful I think and was just wondering if there are any other suggestions?

Sorry for rabbeting on !
Thanks

 

[cumbriasteve]

Welcome to the forum, I am not personally aware of any specific book as such, although anything would be of help I suppose.

Youtube plus the tutorials here should be enough to get you started, followed with any questions to the members if something is not happening correctly and to obtain hints on improving.

Don't make the mistake of trying your first attempts on thin steel, get some 3mm, make sure it's not coated, clean it up and play around with power and wire settings, it's much easier to learn when you are not constantly blowing holes through the steel.

An SWP would not be my first choice of machine although in all fairness I have never used one of their latest offerings.

 

[J.F]

This 6 part mig basics video set is very helpful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPxqErIVQ9I

 

[blenkie1]

The book we were told to get and study was this also a vol 2. Maybe a bit intensive for hobby(?) welding and expensive

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Science-Pra...=UTF8&qid=1441551641&sr=1-11&keywords=welding

 

[Kent]

Don't think it can be learnt from a book. Much as I like books you need hands on a demonstration
Jody and his U-TUBE is about as good as it gets without a tutor in the flesh

 

[blenkie1]

I don't think it can as well but if you want to know the ins and outs of it all it's the book to get and it's what we were told to get at collage although like I said its very intensive for learning.

 

[Jan]

As I see it, the problem with learning to weld is that it's a very steep learning curve at first. On top of that you have the cost to consider. Obviously you will want to learn the simpler methods first, but that involves all the costs of buying a MIG machine, welding wire, gas, gloves, brushes, helmet, etc, etc. Even second hand you'll probably looking at well over £200. But if you start - like most people - with a used stick welder and similar cheaper tools you can be 'ready for the off' at a cost of comfortably less than £100.

The latter route is the one I took with varying results, but I didn't envisage me doing much welding. That I was wrong is irrelevant, but that old SIP stick welder, despite it's poor reputation, is still going strong after 20 years in my custody and an unknown term with the previous owner(s). However getting good results from plain stick welding is considerably harder than MIG for the newbie.

The obvious answer would be a local Further Learning College. Unfortunately few bother with DIY courses of any type as there's much more profit from professional qualification courses leading to NVQs and similar. Instead of a few tens of quid per term plus consumables, you could be looking at £500 or more per term and a full course spread over several terms. The only alternative would be a helpful forum member in your area being willing to giving you one-to-one help just for the cost of the consumables. After that the world's your lobster - as someone used to say. Other than that there are a wide variety of helpful tutorials on YouTube. Just use the search box at the top of the screen and enter the term you're interested in - TIG, MIG, arc, welding, etc.

 

[Daithi2015]

Hi Guys, thanks for all the hints and suggestions.
great videos by Jody, he actually recommends a book himself in one of them, but it was published back in 1963 or something so the principals probably haven't changed but not sure about that one. There are lots of other videos also so that seems to be the way to go.

I have also called into local shop and now looking at the SWP180 which is a bit more money but slightly better etc. so debating that.
One thought, I came across some comments that the min amps is worth keeping an eye on, this machine only goes down to 40amps.
Since I will probably be working on smaller pieces, tables/ art and I don't know what yet,( but not fixing cars or fabricating roof beams) how important is that ?
I note the Portamig sells its feature of ultra low 15amp, but that's more money and shipping an issue so hoping that not a major issue ?
any thoughts ?

thanks again.
David

 

[Kent]

I haven't used either but the swp has the advantage of a very large amount of dealers as swp are an Inporter distribution firm of many welding product
In the past I have welded a lot of thin stuff with bigger plants and even 1mm wire! It can be done for sure and I shouldn't fret it the best trick is to give rusty junkers a wide birth as it's nasty work anyhow- usually carried out for those lacking the cash to do a proper job (obviously there are exceptions)

 

[jinjahbiscuit]

"Farm and Workshop Welding" by Andrew Pearce, 20 quid from Amazon. Covers most welding types that we would use in a simple to understand way. It's far from comprehensive, but very readable.

 

[Kent]

You know there are books that can give you info on development of shapes and some that can give structural advice on design and weld layouts. Distortion issues and building various fixtures if that's any good?
Actual welding with the hood down butt up though I think any will be of questional use. We have been using film and practical demonstrations for this from the ti m e electric welding was first developed