How to start welding?

I am self taught and later took a class at a tech school, the class taught me a lot, mig tig stick oxy. I have a Hobart Champion on an F350, and love it. I have the mig attachment for it but to be honest, usually just use stick, you can do a lot with stick, turn the welder all the way up and cut steel also. I have not seen anyone mention "duty cycle" look into it before you buy. The cheap welders only have a 10% duty cycle which means you weld for 6mins out of an hour or you can burn out the rectifier. Get at least 50%. When you are just learning you will not want to stop just when you get a good bead going.

Bryan
 
Stick is cheap and practical but I have found it quite difficult to learn (mainly getting the hang of keeping a steady hand and consistent gap. However just to learn its probably the best thing. You will probably find that when you havent welded in a while you have to sort of' get back into the groove', but when you have done a welding project for a couple of days it grows on you and you get quite good again. I dont own a TIG but having used them previously in industry, they are a pleasure to use once you have got the settings right... then its like using a glue gun!

Have fun
 
find a class at a local community college or tech school like i did. then make up your mind. I like lincoln's 110 mig/flux core setup for light welding. I think it has about a 30% duty cycle which will be okay.
 
So, after looking at many places online I am pretty set on the HF 90A flux-core MIG welder. Is this a good choice for my first welder? How fast would I go through a spool of wire (2lbs I believe)?. Is the splatter really that bad, and if weld in the garage will it leave residue that I cannot clean up? The duty cycle is something around 10-15%, is this ok for a first welder?
 
I don't remember if a hose came with it. Even if it doesn't come standard,
it should not set you back more that $2 . Regulator is extra, not included
in the kit.
 
I like to learn through discussion and example. I have discovered that about myself over the years. I am currently wrapping up a course at my local community college (Welding Fabrication Technology 100) and the experience has been invaluable to me. It was important to start with oxy-acetylene so I could learn how to make a proper weld. It's a slow process, thus perfect for learning to watch the puddle and learning how much wire to add to make a good weld. From there I moved to MIG (GSAW) and I was completely amazed at how much faster it was, and how much more metal you can put down! So I'm still working with GSAW and I think for my needs (automotive) it's what I'm going to stay with. If I ever need to do detail welding, then I'll take the class again and learn TIG (GTAW).

Last night I brought my 4x4 to the shop and did some grinding and surface prep and then I did my first functional welds. It is highly rewarding doing the work myself, especially when it doesn't turn out so bad!
 
spyder - do u have the main electrical panel in the garage ? If you do, you can easily add 230V circuit by installing proper breakers into the panel.
 
rashid11 said:
spyder - do u have the main electrical panel in the garage ? If you do, you can easily add 230V circuit by installing proper breakers into the panel.
Click to expand...

Nope, electrical panel is in the basement, along w/ all the other 230V outlets. This house was not built by an intelligent being:grumpy:
 
How far from the house to the garage. When I got my house the garage had an ancient overhead 110 wire. I went thru the foundation with a hammer drill (you can rent) and had dug down on the outside to that spot and ditched to the garage and went under the foundation and drilled tru the floor. I used undergound wiring and plastic conduit and grout for the thru holes. I went under the sidewalk by using a piece of pipe on a garden house and washing my way under. I used a 100 amp breaker in the house and then installed a small panel in the garage.
 
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