Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Around The House). This thread is read-only.
Ok, I recently acquired a Lincoln Electric Arc welder in trade. I traded it for a pancake air compressor and a couple of older nailers that I rarely used anyway.The issue is that I have never used a stick welder. I’ve Mig welded many times, but never Arc or Tig. Anyone have any tips or know of any good websites to get me started?
The hardest part of stick welding is striking an arc, when I was learning, I was shown that a piece of copper can make life a lot easier, just put the copper near where your starting your weld and hit the copper when you want to start. The stick will not get stuck on the copper and will allow you a second or two to get your bearings through the glass. Probably learn a lot more in an hour with an experienced welder than with a month of web browsing, not saying there are not some good tips to be found on the web, but a pro will find where you are going wrong, and point you in the right direction.
Just an idea but it may be worth hiring a good welder to show you how to weld.
There are a lot of guys looking for a few extra quid at the moment and some just retired guys are sat there with a lifetime of knowledge going to waste.Maybe run an ad asking for a recently retired guy to learn from? 🙂
I am the last person to ask. I’ve tried to weld a couple of time, but just can’t do it. It really is an art and science.
I found a bunch of videos on youtube. I think that will get me started. I’ve got a buddy thats a Boilermaker, he gave me a few tips to get me started out. He also offered to stop by one day and give me a crash course.
Conductor562 wrote:
I found a bunch of videos on youtube. I think that will get me started. I’ve got a buddy thats a Boilermaker, he gave me a few tips to get me started out. He also offered to stop by one day and give me a crash course.
Welding is an awesome skill to have, once you have it mastered, it can become a zen like experience. Oxyacetylene welding is an often forgotten about yet still useful welding method. If you can master it, you will be on your way to mastering TIG welding (vice versa as well)
My fave is lead welding it is very rewarding but because of the nature of lead you need a touch like a midwife to get it right. 🙂
I know it is gas and not arc welding but lead work is a dying art and I love it.
Wayne Burgess wrote:
My fave is lead welding it is very rewarding but because of the nature of lead you need a touch like a midwife to get it right. 🙂
I know it is gas and not arc welding but lead work is a dying art and I love it.
So true, I tried a bit of it myself, and I sure ended up with a mess. We pay much money to hire this work out, here in the South East.
What I would really like to get involved in is electron beam welding. The people I know who do this wear white lab coats, and hardly ever get their fingers dirty
I’ve never even heard of electron beam welding.
I know this an old thread but most beginners don’t have heat set right, so whatever hand your holding your stinger with use other hand with gloves of course to break away flux from tip of rod before you strike……
also try to have ground clamp close to welding area especially on vehicles……..
use anti-splatter and clean area before welding ……..
I have an example of how not to stickweld,This was my first time welding of any kind and was merely messing about..I lay the hammer&trowel down in a bag of tools after ild finished.My dad saw the funny side of it when he went for it next.. haha