Help from welders needed.

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Dec 12, 2002
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My 18 yr old is taking a community college course on welding and I would like to be able to help him out on tools/gear when he graduates.

He bought some inexpensive stuff to get through the course but better gear "can" help with the job. He can upgrade once he is making money but what things will help him while getting started?

He has basic helemt, I loaned him my Dad's slag hammer and brush and he has gloves/apron.

On the area of boots- aside from steel toe- anything welding specific to look for?

Thanks,
Bill
 
We talking Mig Tig or stick welding here?? I mig weld all the time at my job, and may be able to help you out, but if it's tig or stick welding , well thats a foreign language to me...Clamps clamps and more clamps As many c clamps as you can find, A good adjustable wrench , a carpenters square, a grinder, wire cutters, you can get him a fancy smancy auto darkening helmet, but they are so stuffy I prefer to lift my helmet as much as possible when not welding or between welds, so you can spend a couple hundred on those if you want , but I really don't know many people who like them, especially for the price...
 
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Get him a pair of the Metatarsal Timberland boots. Super comfy and they have Kevlar thread that won't burn up when hot slag hits them. The high temp soles are nice too.
 
I have a Makita battery powered angle head grinder that works well for removing mill scale from hot rolled steel and also knocking off weld spatter. An ipad/iphone WaterLevel app or a digital clinometer can help with tricky compound angle jobs. Magnetic squares keep things aligned while doing tack welds. I like the auto-darkening helmets because I wear multi-focus (varilux) glasses. Shoulder leathers are useful for overhead welding. Cotton clothes are more resistant to sparks than Dacron/cotton blends. A lot of the guys like the gloves with the leather palms and cloth backs and gauntlets because they are not as stiff as the all leather gloves.
Go to the welding supply store and look around.
 
Neck kerchief for overhead welds.

I wore nomex jumpers, bloused the cuffs of my pants and sleeves.

Maybe toss him some blousing straps.
 
Like what was already said, it will depend on what kind of welding/job he does. I did auto body and fabrication. The last 8 years of my career I worked for a bulk milk hauling co. and was all over(and under) milk tankers, and I used the auto darkening helmet all the time because most of the time there was no room to flip it up and down. Thats where it depends what type of work you do. I always wore ROCKY logger boots, always held up well. I second the "clamps, clamps, clamps". I'd also suggest a good split leather jacket or cape, good heavy lined leather gloves if MIG or STICK, Fabricators gloves if TIG welding. I

I"d like to add a old trick that will help him too. Get him a few packs/box of the foam ear plugs. If you cut just 1 of the plugs in half and put a half in each ear you can still hear whats going on around you well, but none of those pesky welding spalws going in your ears. Anyone that ever got a burned eardrum(or just burned in the ear) will appreciate. Good luck to him.
 
Angle grinder, welding sleeves, a file or something hard to scrape weld bb's off parts. Good set of squares, a lot of clamps, but the school should provide that, but non the less if he is going to be a welder buy clamps. All sorts of clamps. A good helmet, no auto darkening, those are for girls. Good set of gloves, like true fits for tig welding, heavy gloves for mig. A weld cap. I can go on, but those should be a good start.
 
On the foam ear plugs: squash the cylinder into a disc and reduce the diameter of the disc with a small scissors. The resultant smaller diameter cylinder is very comfortable to wear and will protect your ears from spatter and excessive noise.
 
A 14" metal cutoff saw and a pile of 1" square tubing: Aluminum and steel. Cut a bunch of chunks and practice making random objects till you're efficient.

BTW: A person is the weldor, and the machine is the welder.

One of the greatest supplemental skills for anyone good with their hands. I have a $1000 inexpnsive TIG in my garage. Unbeatable. Good going!

Coop
 
Coop- sorry for the misnomer ;) I will have to spell it right when I congratulate him after his class.

Thank you all for chiming in. For now I gave him a slag hammer and a couple sets of good vise grips. I have a few sizes of ball peen heads in need of handles so I will get to work on those. I have a nw in the box angle grinder- mid grade maybe- that I bought for a future project that I can give him. I will start hitting flea markets looking for C Clamps and welding clamps, maybe a variety of hammers and look for metal squares.

As to what type welding he will be doing, I cannot be sure until he gets out of school and gets a job so I will stick with non specific tools for now and be prepared to help him get better once he is working.

My Father welded in the service and kept a small arc welder in the basement but did not use it much. I tried some but did not have the patience and "Stuck" one too many times. I wish I had stuck with it and may yet find time to go back and drag his box out. Dad is gone now- shame he cannot be here to help refine my sons skills he is now learning.

I have a list to work form and will gather things as I can to suppot him gettign started.

Thanks,
Bill
 
Just spent a week teaching a 12 year old grandson how to mig weld..........He finished a 1 in. tubing cord wood rack and painted it.....He had more trouble with the painting............Its great to see young people learning how to work with their hands...........carl
 
Coop- sorry for the misnomer ;) I will have to spell it right when I congratulate him after his class.

Thank you all for chiming in. For now I gave him a slag hammer and a couple sets of good vise grips. I have a few sizes of ball peen heads in need of handles so I will get to work on those. I have a nw in the box angle grinder- mid grade maybe- that I bought for a future project that I can give him. I will start hitting flea markets looking for C Clamps and welding clamps, maybe a variety of hammers and look for metal squares.

As to what type welding he will be doing, I cannot be sure until he gets out of school and gets a job so I will stick with non specific tools for now and be prepared to help him get better once he is working.

My Father welded in the service and kept a small arc welder in the basement but did not use it much. I tried some but did not have the patience and "Stuck" one too many times. I wish I had stuck with it and may yet find time to go back and drag his box out. Dad is gone now- shame he cannot be here to help refine my sons skills he is now learning.

I have a list to work form and will gather things as I can to suppot him gettign started.

Thanks,
Bill

Hammers a good! Look into different sized dead blows as well...
 
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