Where and How did you learn to weld

[3faze]

I am just wondering If anyone would car to share experience about where and how they learned to weld or even manybe some of the mistakes you have made. I am young (16) and am a decent tig welder, (the dynasty 200dx makes everything easyier) and would like to hear about how you got into welding.

I started stick welding on my uncles farm and in grade 8 i took a course at the local college in the evenings I was only 13 but the requirements were 16 but my parents submitted the application without my birthcertificate saying i was 16. First time i went to the class i was a bit nervous but once i learned to tig weld better then most of the adults there, the nervouness simply went away. Last christmass my parents got tirred of me talking shop and welding at the dinner table and finally got me a tig welder . Both my parents work at 3M and when 3M bought out speedglass my mom was transferred to the welding department area and now i have a few speedglass helments that i got for free . Anyway lets here what you all have to say. Brandon

[aametalmaster]

My dad had a company in the backyard. Taught others to weld while in high school metal shop. Went to work full time 1/2 way thru my senior year working for my dad, never ended from there...Bob

[bretsk2500]

I just decided one day that I was going to weld (I was 13 at the time), so I plugged in my dad's ultra crappy no-name 225A AC welder, grabbed a 6013 rod and began to lay down some of the crappiest beads ever. it pretty much stayed that way until I took a class called "industrial design" in HS. I actually learned how to stick and gas weld there. that was 16 years ago... went away from it for a good 10 years, then I bought that Lincoln WP-100 for $349, starting using that, found that it was like riding a bike and my employer bought me the 225NT. I've been doing all the primary fab stuff @work since my uncle retired about 2 years ago. we went from farming out all welding 6 years ago, to me doing 100% of it (provided I'm not needed elsewhere). sometimes it's great; working inside on a rainy day, sometimes it's not so great; spending a week on my knees puddle welding down B-deck.

[katiebo]

I had an interest in welding for about 15 years. When I was laid off a year ago June I went from full time mechanical engineer to full time stay at home dad (while looking for work too). I bought a MM210 and proceeded to try to weld. When I realized that I needed help I signed up for a couple of courses at the local community college. I wish I had more time to dedicate to welding and building things but the kids have to come first. Maybe some day I'll have the opportunity to teach them.

[CoMax Racing]

welding training

I took a pre-employment welding course at the Technical Institute in my city. Decided to do that because I need to know how to weld if I wanted to persue my hobby of building cars. After the course was over they let anyone who wanted take the 1st year apprentice exam for 100 bucks. I took it,passed the test. I figured then I would look for work as a welder,got an apprenticeship at a fab shop in town and eventually became a journeyman welder. That was in 1990 and I've never regreted becoming a welder. Its done good by me. It allowed me to open up my own racecar chassis/fab buisness.

[clintonwelding1]

just wanted to learn to weld, went to lowes and bougt an oxy-mapp gas set. Learned to stick weld from my neighbor bought clarke 95e and was hooked.

[weldone]

Well 3faze,got my start in New York.At a voc.school named Apex.(class of 93) Learned the trade from scratch.And never looked back.For me and to me welding has been great.Its opened alot of doors and gave alot of exposure to the type of life few will get to see in N.Y. involving the construction trade.

I quess the main reason its good to me has to be a combination of things good ol'school weld instructors for one. That didnt take the crap alot of students try and dish out nowa days soely because they feel they are paying the cost to be the boss And once in the field.. ol'school welders that took a young fella under the wing to hone in his skills. Wich I also find that lacking in the field & shops.On top of my being able to have a nack for the trade,and the willingness to think outside the box. Is how I knew welding was going to be a perfect fit.Yes there was and to a degree still is a bunch of do-do to put up with but whats kept it real for me is the open mind state wich is needed to be sucessful and the FACT in knowing NOT everyone can be a welder. SO that makes me & those like me very SPECIAL tradesmen & women.

See its also like this. Alot of employers dont really care how much you know
But who you know can land you the job reguardless. Yeah that sucks.Thats why its important to know whats needed in addition to just being able to preform.Trust me on this ...MANY of jobs have been lost before ever entering the shop. Im not saying be a Eienstien but know what you need to know when it comes to the welding processes that you say you know.

Dave.

[3faze]

wow some awsome stories, and I definatly agree welding is awsome and it opens up soo many doors and opportunities. I just love to work with my hands and when you are under the welding hood its just you and mig gun, tig torch or the stick stinger. I feel very relaxed when i amwelding because you leave all the bullsh** and things that are bothering you behind. I have good grades and will probibly go on to mechanical engineering but after that I would not be surprised to see myself working in a fab shop. I have friends who sometimes say Brandon your a good student and you could make alot of money doing an engineering desk job so why the heck would you want to weld. All i say is I love to weld and thats what I'm going to do. Thanks for all the posts so far Brandon

[katiebo]

Brandon,
If you are considering an engineering career consider civil engineering also. The country will always need highways and bridges and such. The testing end of things may be very interesting to you.

[Jim-TX]

It was about 1974 and I was working for my dad on our family farm/ranch. Let's see, that would have made me about 23 at the time. I had never welded, but we had a lot of stuff done by commercial welders. I always enjoyed being around stuff like that and running machinery so I told my dad that I would learn to weld if he would buy a welder. We went down to a local welding supply and picked up a little Airco AC cracker box (stick) welder. The guy that wired up that welder knew how to weld and we probably spent 30 minutes that day with him showing me a few basic things. An engine driven welder was added after a couple of years. I just started building stuff and doing farm and ranch welding projects such as gates, panels, fence corners, and building a couple of flat beds on pickups. I never took a lesson and just pretty much figured it out and got better as I went.

About 3 or 4 years ago I got interested in ornamental iron work. I stayed with the old reliable stick method until about a month ago when I got my first wire machine, a MM210. BTW, the old original Airco was replace by a Miller Dialarc 250 about 1985. I instantly became a better welder! Maybe everyone should learn to weld on a little AC machine. It's sort of like learing to drive in a little under powered car with a manual trans. Once you get something better you have it all pretty much down pat.

I'm not a code welder but can pretty much do what I need to with a stick. About a month ago I got a MM210 wire machine and I'm still getting used to it. I think I'm improving but I still let the old stick habits take over once in a while. It's different and everyone says it's easier. I hope so. No, really it is, especially on thin stuff.

[zmotorsports]

I was born and raised on a farm so there was always something broken or needing to be built/repaired. We didn't have much money so my dad was one of these individuals who could look at something and go home and build it. We were building a hay elevator to store hay in the upper portion of the barn and my dad decided it was time for me to learn to stick a couple of pieces of metal together, I was 12 years old at the time. I learned on an old AC buzz box with a box of 6011 rod and practiced whenever possible. I had a great interest in it and continually tried to improve my skills. I read everything I could get my hands on (probably why I like this site so much) and started to take on odd jobs in high school. Most of the jobs were mechanical which was something I seemed to have a God given talent for but I struggled with welding. I wanted to build a street rod right out of high school so I bought a 40 Chev coupe and started to go to car shows and ask questions. I bought a Mig welder and started to teach myself because my dad didn't know anything about this "new technology" and said I was on my own. So from there I continually learned and advanced eventually buying a Tig setup then a multi-process machine and welded anything I could for extra money until I have acquired the shop and setup that I currently have. The difficult part is to try to teach my son to appreciate what we have now because he doesn't know any different, he doesn't remember when my wife and I first started out and had to struggle for every dollar. I think sometimes it is good to struggle at something at first because it really makes you thankful and have to work a little harder than someone who has it come easy. Anyway sorry to drag out such a short question.

[snootworks]

Definately some interesting journey's here!

Personally, I picked up the interest and introduction from my dad and the rest I discovered myself, with lots of time reading and perusing places such as this.

When Dad was in his 20's, he worked at a local shipyard as an O/A burner. From his many stories and words of wisdom, it would seem he had quite the reputation for being a fine hand with the big torches... I can still witness his skill today after all those years; he can make a cut on 1in plate that looks like(good) plasma. Later on, when I was young he spent some time driving trucks in the constuction/excavating industry. Always being handy, his welding skill came into play now and again doing general repair. I can still remember watching him on a Saturday, while I was "helping" do some repairs on a back-hoe bucket with an old buzzbox. When I was a little older, he taught me to O/A weld in the garage.

I've always had a fascination with it, and it's no wonder why. I dabbled here and there throughout highschool, but just the basics. I'm 29 now, two years ago a friend of mine opened a performance shop. After lending a hand on a couple of jobs, I figured it was the perfect excuse for me to buy some equipment and actually learn something.

I've got a long way to go, but I have to say I don't think I've ever felt more proud than when my Dad was taking a look at a couple small pieces I'd tig'd up and said "What? Did you weld this?? Looks great!"

Thanks Dad.

[admweld]

My short story

I started too learn how to weld when i was 14 my next door neighbor owned the local welding co. in my home town.He was retired and already sold his co. but still had a lincoln 225.AC Buzzbox wire in his garage.I was a freshman in the local vocational hs and was in welding./metalfab at this time.Also spent many afternoons working in my dads autorepair/transmission shop he ran his buisness for 30 yrs as a mechanic/trans rebuilder.I have too explain to many customers that i do not rebuild transmission and my dad can,t weld at all But i can turn a mean wrench in a bind, but do not claim to be as good as a mechanic as my dad.

[welderdan]

my dad and grandpa were both welders, so i was kinda raised into it. i also took some pipe welding classes in college. i got a job with my wifes uncle working for a drilling contractor ,running their truck. then got my own truck when i was about 23. now i'm 28, and i don't see myself ever wanting to do anything but run a welding rig, although i would like to take some mig/tig classes just for kicks

[Steve]

When I started to weld...

It was ugly. First machine, Lincoln square wave 300 all bells and whistles. So many dials. First item welded - 3\8 inch build up on Mercury 13 1\4 17 pitch prop, tigged, 1\16 filler 4043. Like I said it was ugly . Fortunately for me I was able to practice for a week on that prop. After 375 props that year it was better. After two years I started getting stuff nobody else would touch. Like the broken base on the mitchell 300 fishing reel, or the thread puller on the sewing machine. Seen a guy weld a soda can together but nowdays they are half as thick. Now working at construction outfit repairing everything. 7018, 6010,6011,6013, flux core, wire, the gambit goes from the 637 earthmover to aluminum fuel tanks. iron, steel, aluminum, magnesium, copper, stainless whatever. Arc gouging is a favorite. Slice rods are fun too. If that ain't nuff then there is the mill and lathes to get er done. Weld it once forever and the two shall become one.