Welding...

93Flareside

93Flareside

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So, I want to get into welding. Actually, I want to be able to weld exhaust. I was thinking of starting with a cheapy Cambell Hausfeld model from my local home improvement store. http://tinyurl.com/o4acnsw

I have some extra aluminized steel exhaust pipe laying around that I could practice with. What are some things I should do before starting this endeavor?

The one above is a stick welder, would I be better off with a mig welder?
 
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For exhaust I've used a Mig a couple different times. Seems to work alright.

I'd suggest going to a steel yard and getting some different bits of "drop" and playing with welding it together before trying a finished product.

Also a book like this would be a good read to understand the basics.
 
Some community colleges offer welding classes. I am lucky to have a friend who holds one the highest certifications you can in welding - he's certified to build bridges.

I've been hanging out with him and picking up what I can while we build Prius Plow MkI. I think Might is easier to use and control than stick welding, and you get less slag.
 
Welding...

Yeah my community college offers it but, with my current job, it doesn't allow me to take classes and learn that way. My only welding that I can see in the foreseeable future would be exhaust pipe and fixing the welds on the Mustangs Subframe Connectors.

Craig, I will check out that book.
 
93Flareside said:
So, I want to get into welding. Actually, I want to be able to weld exhaust. I was thinking of starting with a cheapy Cambell Hausfeld model from my local home improvement store. http://tinyurl.com/o4acnsw

I have some extra aluminized steel exhaust pipe laying around that I could practice with. What are some things I should do before starting this endeavor?

The one above is a stick welder, would I be better off with a mig welder?
Click to expand...
Exhaust systems typically have very thin metal. Anything besides MIG or TIG is a pretty bad idea to consider for anything less than a quarter inch in thickness. The reason being because the processes just burn too hot, and in the case of MIG, you have to do a process called short-circuit welding, which is different from how it would normally be done. Basically you have to run your welding machine on a very low voltage, and you have to use a wire that's small enough to be able to melt at that voltage.

Something you might have noticed already is that stick welders are pretty cheap compared to all the stuff you need for the other processes, but it takes a lot more work to master stick welding. I mean with any of the processes we might be talking about you sinking in 4-6 months of intense week-filled practice before you master any of the processes, and that's assuming you have somebody to guide you out of anything you might be doing wrong. It's a big investment of time and energy to become proficient at welding. You'll probably go through literal tons of steel by the end of it all, and then you have to maintain practice so that you don't get rusty at it, because it's a skill that's very easy to unlearn.

I'm not saying all this to discourage you, welding is a very good skill, you can get some damn good paying jobs as a welder, but be careful how you choose to get your education, as most schools are a joke in my experience (even the really expensive ones). If you want to look at welding sheet metal, TIG is probably the process you'll want to consider focusing on, but MIG could be an easier stepping stone to that process.
 
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Welding...

Yeah, I'm hoping I can barrow the Hobart MIG my father has at work. It's not used too often so, he could miss it once in a while.

If I got 480V ran in the garage, I could get a free welder(don't know the type) because a friend of my fathers has a couple he needs to get rid of...
 
Oh just a tad. WELD EVERYTHING.
 
93Flareside said:
Yeah, I'm hoping I can barrow the Hobart MIG my father has at work. It's not used too often so, he could miss it once in a while.

If I got 480V ran in the garage, I could get a free welder(don't know the type) because a friend of my fathers has a couple he needs to get rid of...
Click to expand...

480 or 230? A slight majority of welding rigs are 230/240. 480 tends to be rigs the size of a chest deep freezer or a refrigerator.

If they're 480s, you should get both and sell one - a 480V rig will bring enough money to pay for rewiring and a lot of beer afterwards to have someone show you how to use it. With a lot of change left over.
 
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