new to welding - sick of paying someone to do it and want to learn

Local college has courses (9x2hrs at £90) but been advised to buy a welder and have a "play"

So - any advice for a novice, needs to be able to weld 3 or 4 mm angle iron and box section (I think)


Cheers

Stu

Its well worth going on the course, its a skill you will have for a lifetime, as for welders, if its advice on which one then most 135-150 migs will do what you want with ease, 3mm is not that hard too weld its when you get too the thinner stuff.

Do the lessons and get a cheap TIG welder, the finish you get is so much better than MIG also you can play around a bit if you need to just like gas which is IMHO the best fun and the most controllable.

I think MIG is a bit crude unless you get really good and spend a fair amount on a machine, the getting good is a matter of lots of practice and getting a good chance to work on it regularly for a long time.

Best of luck and you should get a lot of fun and possibly Kudos from welding.

Caber

I went on a night class for welding & was slightly disappointed in that the instructors were more interested in getting all the students through an NVQ than teaching them what they wanted to learn. As it turned out, it proved to be a benefit to me because, although I wanted to practice welding bodywork at the time, the thicker material we had to weld for the NVQ tests has been a good learning experience for working on a chassis. I think some College funding is based on the number of qualifications they award.

Stu,
Don't know where you are but I've been on the Brooklands College welding course and was very impressed by it.

Well worth a course and learning how to weld properly if you ask me!

Cheers,
James

Hi,

Tip No 1, say where you live.
Might be someone just round the corner who could help.

Tip No 2, do the course.

Tip No 3, don't buy anything till your sure what you want.
Three or four weeks into the course you'll have a much better idea.

hth

Paul G

Agree with Paul's comments - wait longer if necessary. It could be a big financial outlay and you don't want to get it wrong. You also may absolutely hate it, though that I doubt. I do a lot of (tig)welding at work, and even bought a MIG so I can do it the evening as well

ATB

Simon

I agree, don't buy anything until you've completed the course. You need to have a go at all types, gas, mig, tig, stick.
Cheers John