# The value of hood time and community colleges.  Some thoughts from a hard head.



## Rbeckett (Oct 23, 2011)

Many new and inexperienced welders fall into this trap and never seem to get out.  So I am gonna tell you  lucky folks the secret to getting beyond this and laying down some great beads when your done.  First off it is called practice.  Not aimless burning for the fun of it.  The goal should be a recognizable performance measure such as gun angle, stick out or travel speed every time you strike up.  Beads should be run with the goal in mind and a critical eye shoul be applied to the result.  I recomend starting on minimum 1/8 thick mild steel and conquering all of the positions and joint preperation techniques before moving into thinner stuff.  Once you got it down to the point of consistent, very high quality beads every time,  it is time to learn Aluminum.  Alli is not that much harder or magic, it just requires good technique, and very clean base metal to get good results.  Your technique should be evolving after all the mild steel practice you have just completed, and we all know cleanliness is next to......, but it can be done fairly easilly.  All the hype you hear about stainless brushes is true.  get a flapper wheel and dust off the alli well, then a good thorough wipe with acetone on both pieces of the weldment and the filler rod you are planning to use.  Then a good thorough brushing with a dedicated wire brush will remove the layer of oxide that formed while you read the last sentence and your off.  Start again at the 1/8th thickness and move through all of the possible joint and prep configurations and you should have a pretty good foundation to begin a little welding.  One of the most important things any new welder should do is to sign up at a local Community College or Tech school and own both of the recomended texts as a minimum.  The Lincoln 14th edition of "The Procedure Handbook of Arc Welding" and the Miller student pack are both invaluable while you are learning and will become oft referred to texts when you have moved on.  .  The wire, consumables, gas and raw material you use during this short period at the local Community College would actually cost  more than the tuition and allow you the opportunity to have your skills improved  and you technique critiqued by a qualified welder.  One on one time with a real welder who knows what good and bad look like and what causes both is priceless.  Those two facts alone will help you to improve and get beyond the trap faster.   I have made an assumption that all of us would like to be tig welders.  If your aspirations do not extend to the pinacle then your climb will be considerably shorter and easier.  Keep in mind that does not minimize or negate any of the above steps.  It only removes one process and the skills neccessary to be proficient at it.  I also recomend keeping a notebook in you shirt pocket that has the info on the welds you perform for a year or so.  It will be a roadmap of what works and what does not and why.  Once you get in the habit of keeping this info you will see trends as they develop and shorten your time in the trap.  I know these recomendations seem overly simplified and banal but you would be surprised how many novices remain novices through their entire welding careers.  They never read any of the literature, and "practice" aimlessly or on "work" for others and generally stumble through and luckily manage not to kill themselves or others.  A good strong respect for the forces involved and the possible results of a poor weld cannot be over emphasized.


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## Highpower (Oct 23, 2011)

Good information there sir.

It would be a lot easier to read though if you would hit the enter key once and awhile, and break it up into paragraphs.

Thanks for taking the time to post it.


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## ScrapMetal (Oct 23, 2011)

Since you are talking "new" welders, what would you recommend for them to learn with?  Stick, mig, or tig (and wire-feed or not, etc.) and why?  The reason I ask is that I originally learned on stick as that's pretty much all we had available at the time.  Now the choices are a little bewildering.

-Ron


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## Starlight Tools (Nov 11, 2011)

Ok so after a few years of attempting to get back to school to do a bit of upgradign, I got a chance this year to do just that.  The local trade college offers a night school program that is geared towards teaching basic welding to those who have never welded before.  It went on to say that it was also good for those that wanted to upgrade towards C, B or A level tickets.  So i figured, great should be just the course I need.

So I paid my money, about $300 and waited for the course to start. 

At the start of the first class, the instructor, Dick, a young retired chap, that had actually started the welding courses in this college many years ago, started out by asking each student what ecperience they had and what they wanted to get from the course.  Well the first row of students all said to the tune of, Just bought a mig machine and all I can get is blobs, never welded but want to learn etc.  Then he came to me, Well I am a registered C level welder and want to upgrade my Tig welding skills in Aluminium and Stainless steel.  Well poor Dick's jaw hit the floor.  Um, well, umm, well, yup, i am sure we can get you your monies worth, Next.

Well tonight was the last class and I must say that it was a good time.

For everybody else, it consisted of tow nights Oxy-Acetylene cutting, then Oxy-Acetylene welding and brazing agian about two nights.  The they went on to stick welding and spent about 4 nights.  Then another 4 nights doing Mig welding with a one part of one night spent Carbon Arc Gouging and Plasma cutting.  Then the final night was project night and each student was expected to build something they could take home with them.  Chair, welded statue or WHU.

Each night was started by classroom time, Anywhere from 1/2 hour to an 1 -1/2 hour.  He went through the processes, the safety involved, tips tricks and showed a video or two each time.

Even though i was there for TIG welding, the first two nights I had to stay with the rest of the class as the electric arc machines were not opened up.  First night after making a couple of cuts, I swapped back to a n O-a welding tip ad proceeded to weld the stool together that was at my stationaand was all broken.  Next night he handed out a cutting test, proceeded to mark out and burn the plate, and that was the last time I was up with the rest of the class.  Every night after that, i would hide away in the TIG room, a separate room locked away and I practiced all sorts of joints and welds.  

For my project I decided that I needed to put a guard on my compressor, so Dick said no Prob.  we have some sheet steel around, but Dick, I am here for TIG of Aluminium, not steel, OK well I am sure we can handle that.  To make it easier I ordered in a length of 4" 6061-T6 Channel and some expanded Mesh, 1/2" x 0.081" flattened and proceeded to cut and fit all the pieces I needed here at my own shop then took the pieces in and welded them up.  

Next on the list was a bunch of casting that I had here that were cracked and broken.  So I prepped them here and welded them up in class.  Oh and to boot, I even welded up some thin steel, just to get the hang of that.

Here are pictures of the Compressor, the Mock up cardboard template to see how to cut out the guard and the guard welded up.  Also pictures of some of the castings I welded up.

Now was it worth it.  Every person in the class said that it was a great way to get started and everybody was saying the class was worth it, even me.

Guys, and gals, do not hesitate, if you are interested in learning to weld, sign up and take a course.

Walter


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## nctoxic (Nov 11, 2011)

I agree with those posts above.
While my experience with the community college course wasn't as extensive as Walter's, it was invaluable to me as a newbie since I had been trying to learn on my own.  I took an 8 session course in the Adult/Continuing Education program at a local community college for only $65 and it was worth much more.  The hands-on instruction and helpful hints and tips were just what I needed.  I don't claim to be even a good weldor yet. but now when my welds aren't satisfactory, at least I have some idea why.


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## Highpower (Nov 11, 2011)

Ron,
I first learned on stick as well back in high school. Now that I have experience in most of the processes, in my opinion that is the way to go for beginners looking to learn welding *in general*. If someone only wants to learn to do sheet metal welding on auto bodys etc., then MIG would be a better way to go for them. But I think stick (SMAW) is the better way to learn how to make *good* welds, vs. making good _looking_ (but poor) welds with MIG.

I have oxy-acet, plasma, MIG and TIG/stick rigs in my home shop now, and I would really hate to be without any one of them. Each has its strong and weak points, so I just think it's best to go with the one you are likely to use the most for the types of welding you want to do. Just my 2¢ ...

Walter,
What model/size machine did you use when welding up those castings? I imagine it had to be a beast of a welder!  :yikes:


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## Ulma Doctor (Feb 14, 2013)

well said!
I spent 2 years at community college to learn both tig and arc welding simultaneously.
 i used a mig at work ,while i was taking welding classes at night to learn tig and stick. i even stayed after class just to talk to the instructors, to pick their brains to find out how i may improve.
my instructors were beyond reproach, and i payed attention like they were E.F. Hutton .
I came to fall in love with the Miller Synchrowave , welded both processes with the very same welder.
 if i came across one today, i'd snatch her up in a heartbeat.
Community college is an excellent way to learn, i would recommend it to anyone.
thanks for reading,
Mike)


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## macrnr (Feb 14, 2013)

Ulma Doctor said:


> .
> Community college is an excellent way to learn, i would recommend it to anyone.
> thanks for reading,
> Mike)


I totally agree, when I was a young man working as carpenter apprentice they enrolled us in a welding coarse at the community college. It taught us the proper techniques and machine setup that helped me throughout my career. Before I was learning on the job and picking up a lot bad habits. All in all, it was career defining event for me as I went on to become a welder by profession for a number of years.


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## ScrapMetal (Feb 15, 2013)

I'm glad this thread came back up.  I just received a copy of available courses at our local community college.  I expectantly went through the whole booklet to see what they had in the way of welding courses and was surprised and, yes, disgusted.  It was bad enough that there were virtually no "trade" courses listed, and absolutely nothing related to welding or metals, but they had an entire page devoted to different classes they gave on Bicycles!  They had an entire class devoted to "Brakes" and another one called "Chains and sprockets".  Oh, and another class devoted to "Changing your own pedals".  Are you kidding me?  I learned that stuff on my own when I was fixing my bike at around the age of nine. :banghead:

I am speechless,

-Ron


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