[DropBear8]

Hey im thinking of buying a welder, so id like to know like what type
and, as i have never welded before just some advice like should i go to
courses, or just have some one whos been welding for a long time teach
me? Or should i just go out their and practice practice practice?
Yes i do know safety hazards and so forth and i know the basics
so any suggestions will be helpful thanks.

[11_evl]

if your using a good welder its more point and shoot.

[PJ.zook]

Best thing to do is look up your local TAFE and do a welding course there.

[Rusho]

Tafe is a good idea like PJ suggested, a lot of welding is understanding how to set up a machine and how it works. Buy a good quality gas feed mig welder, anything else is waste of time and money really.

[31zook]

welding is easy till there is a problem for car stuff, a 160A (and above), 0.9 wire, and gas, as opposed to gas less. small enough to do rust repairs, large enough to melt chassis no worries. look for anything thats expensive, cheap means it's going to fall apart, and be unreliable. cig, wia, unimig, migomag, etc, are some good brands to get you started

[DropBear8]

Thanks for all the suggestions sounds like ill probz buy a mig gas welder i
was looking that way newayz so yea at least im on the right track and yea
i dont plan on buying a cheap one ill probably just get this guy i know who
welds for a living to give me a fair bit of training and then just go and do
lotsa practice on scrap metal so what price range would i be looking for a
decent gas mig welder?

[Rusho]

$1000-$1500

[daisy]

borrow a welder first or go around a mates and get some idea of what welding is all about.

few diff types of welding out there... common is mig welding, and problem with mig welding is you can get nice welds but shit penetration.

[Fatzook]

daisy wrote:

problem with mig welding is you can get nice welds but shit penetration.

If you don't know what you are doing.

And we are back to the TAFE coarse idea.

Understanding the physics behind welding is paramount to being a good welder. Also having some knowledge of material properties will help you to undersatnd the welding process, and assist when setting up your machine for a particular job.

And after all that.....

Practice your ass off. You will go through MANY bottles of gas, and rolls of wire before you have your technique sorted, but its good fun making stuff and knowing it won't fail ( or atleast the weld won't ) .

[PJ.zook]

Yeh as mentioned you can get a good lookin weld, but structurally its shithouse. Ie joining two bits of 6mm plate together in a butt weld. If you dont know what you are doing, you just mate em together and run a weld down the middle. You may get it to look shmick, but then turn it over and see its only penetrated a mil or two. They would teach you to 'V' out where its going to join, and leave a small gap between em, stuff like that you would learn in a proper course.

[steak_knife]

11_evl wrote:

if your using a good welder its more CLEAN point and shoot.

Other wise is point & splatter..