Any of y'all know anything about welding?

[2dimes]

Take a course. It's not difficult but it's real easy to do wrong.

Also the only way to improve is by doing it as much as possible. Taking it at college/trade school is mostly practical actual welding.

If there is any of these in your area they will likely be pretty good.
https://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/aviation-edu ... p-schedule

[DoomYoshi]

You need to buy a thermic lance, whether or not you want to weld anything.



It's on DoomYoshi's Top 10 List of Items (somewhat below real-size replicas of Yamato and Musashi)

[notyou2]

Imagine if they had those lances in King Arthur's time

[TA1LGUNN3R]

Okay, that can happen. So, let's start over...

Since you wanna start welding, is there a particular thing you wanna make? Or start with learning the art and see what you can come up with along the road?

Yeah, I just wanna get the basics down.

I kinda planned to start with mig and move on to tig when time allows. It seems like tig requires a bit more skill. Also, the torches are just for cutting (it's an oxy-acetylene set up).

OK... for starters your Oxy-acetylene torch gives you the ability to cut all sizes of steel if you have the right tips. It also gives you the opportunity to forge, weld thin metal and braze.

The ability to gas weld is the same skill required to TIG (tungsten inert gas) weld metal. The big difference being TIG supplies instant heat with it's arc where you are welding as well as the ability to weld any metal you have filler rod to match. Stainless, brass, bronze and aluminum can all be TIGed, also known as heli-arc.

Your torch can weld thin mild steel easily, the process is just slower than TIG and transfers a lot more heat. When you weld you're fusing the metals together. The torch will also allow you to braze steel, which doesn't fuse the steel but joins it with brass instead and requires less heat since only the brass melts. Brazing is a very handy skill and will let you join (and repair) all sorts of things with just a torch, brass rod and some flux.

The MIG (metallic inert gas) or wire welder is handy and pretty easy to learn, but a cheap MIG won't weld thick or dirty metal like arc welding does. A MIG --like TIG-- will also weld any type of metal that you have wire to match.

If you're in school maybe there is a class offered there (industrial arts or sculpture) that can introduce you to the processes and get you started. Where I live there is an art center with welding classes and students of all ages & backgrounds have learned to weld there.

Hm, okay. I'll keep this in mind.

You need to buy a thermic lance, whether or not you want to weld anything.



It's on DoomYoshi's Top 10 List of Items (somewhat below real-size replicas of Yamato and Musashi)

Haha. "6000 degrees.....

Cuts....

Anything."

That was pretty sweet.

-TG

[oVo]

Yeah, I just wanna get the basics down.

Oxy-acetylene cutting, welding & brazing is about as basic as you get. Find someone to nudge you into the shallow end with the basics and you can probably take it from there. If you have a safe place to actually play with it.

Be aware that welding equipment is a popular snatch & grab for thieves and needs to be safely stowed all the time. Stealing your torch to pawn by cutting it off the hoses is even a common method.