hello all, not been about much, for that i do apologize.
anyway, in my few months away from the board i've started doing a part time college course in TIG welding, this one to be exact:
www.sutcol.ac.uk/adult-learning/search.aspx?pid=98&aid=8&level=2&courseid=414&searchType=3
3 weeks every Saturday morning, over the winter while its too cold to be stuck under an escort....
anyway, not being a complete stranger to MIG, (usually as a spectator) i got pretty stuck in with gas welding (oxygen and acetylene), a few weeks playing with the torch left me with this:
quite pretty i thought, not great but a nice passable piece of welding, i urge anyone who gets a chance to gas weld, or wants to learn to start with gas welding, as its quite easy as there's less to faff with so you can concentrate on feeding the wire and the heat separately.
anyway, after my (brief) encounter with gas welding and feeling quite proud of myself i moved onto TIG.
when i picked up the TIG gun it took a bit of getting used to, the electricity comes out of the gun different to MIG, it seemed a little similar to gas cept you have to remember to turn the gun off when you draw it away from the plate otherwise you end up with a rather unruly arc of electricity all over the place ;D ;D ;D
i started off doing a few dry runs, which means that theres no filler wire added, just running the gun along the metal letting the arc melt the metal
then after messing with that i started to add the filler wire, changing the amount i was adding so i could understand how the weld looks with different amounts
once i did them 2 i had about 30 minutes left so i started to experiment with different ways of feeding the wire, such as going round in circles or stabbing the pool of metal etc.
anyway, basically, i thought i'd start this thread to add to what I've done each week and pick up any tips as i go along. plus it might show some of you whats what and (hopefully) how a complete beginner can eventually weld ;D I'm on week 6 of an 18 week course.
I'll try to take pictures as i go along but i think i already probably look a bit funny taking pictures of pieces of metal the last 2-3 weeks ;D
anyway, in my few months away from the board i've started doing a part time college course in TIG welding, this one to be exact:
www.sutcol.ac.uk/adult-learning/search.aspx?pid=98&aid=8&level=2&courseid=414&searchType=3
3 weeks every Saturday morning, over the winter while its too cold to be stuck under an escort....
anyway, not being a complete stranger to MIG, (usually as a spectator) i got pretty stuck in with gas welding (oxygen and acetylene), a few weeks playing with the torch left me with this:
quite pretty i thought, not great but a nice passable piece of welding, i urge anyone who gets a chance to gas weld, or wants to learn to start with gas welding, as its quite easy as there's less to faff with so you can concentrate on feeding the wire and the heat separately.
anyway, after my (brief) encounter with gas welding and feeling quite proud of myself i moved onto TIG.
when i picked up the TIG gun it took a bit of getting used to, the electricity comes out of the gun different to MIG, it seemed a little similar to gas cept you have to remember to turn the gun off when you draw it away from the plate otherwise you end up with a rather unruly arc of electricity all over the place ;D ;D ;D
i started off doing a few dry runs, which means that theres no filler wire added, just running the gun along the metal letting the arc melt the metal
then after messing with that i started to add the filler wire, changing the amount i was adding so i could understand how the weld looks with different amounts
once i did them 2 i had about 30 minutes left so i started to experiment with different ways of feeding the wire, such as going round in circles or stabbing the pool of metal etc.
anyway, basically, i thought i'd start this thread to add to what I've done each week and pick up any tips as i go along. plus it might show some of you whats what and (hopefully) how a complete beginner can eventually weld ;D I'm on week 6 of an 18 week course.
I'll try to take pictures as i go along but i think i already probably look a bit funny taking pictures of pieces of metal the last 2-3 weeks ;D
