I start welding classes in a couple of weeks. What can I expect?

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>>1191956
>Youtube
Start with:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvvzjbibNsE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPx--2cOuyA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojjRznVcG_0
These will give you a head start on what you'll be learning in class.
Once you start welding watch the tutorial videos on Welding Tips and Tricks and Chucke2009.
Just don't go walking into class with a big swinging dick because you watched some youtube videos. Listen to your instructors and only use outside sources as a supplement to your training.
>Any magazines
Sign up for Arc magazine. It's free.
>What should I look for when buying tools/materials/safety gear?
Avoid the local welding supply at all costs. Amazon, Ebay, Cyberweld and Weldingoutfitter are where I get most of my gear. Get good anti-fog safety glasses and always wear them. Put them on before you enter the shop. Get hearing protection. I like Howard Leight quiet bands because they fit under a welding hood and are easy to put on while wearing gloves. Welding gloves with an unlined palm will give you better dexterity and will help give you more precises electrode/gun/torch manipulation. Tillman or Black Stallion elk skin gloves are great for stick welding. Deer skin is great for mig and tig. If you decide to get good gloves also get a pair of cheap driver gloves or cut resistant gloves for cutting, grinding or other prep work. Get a locking pliers/ vice grip for grabbing hot steel with. If you are going with a full jacket, get one with leather sleeves. If you live in the south you may want to just get leather sleeves or one of those leather man bra things with the optional snap on apron. Wear cotton, no synthetics unless it's nomex. No sneakers, leather boots or shoes. A cheap auto darkening hood will get you through school.
http://www.eastwood.com/extra-large-view-welding-helmet.html
I wore one of these while I was in school and it's been a great hood for the price.

>>1191956
What school you going to?

welding thread?

why am I having my base material/filler fall out when welding vertical uphill?

Jody makes it look easy, but shit just falls out of the puddle unless i run super fast

>>1191956
boring as fuck...unless you upgraded from the stop sign holder...a very low IQ job

>>1192028
Thank you my dude.
>>1192032
It's actually a state-funded course taking place in a workshop outside a library.
>>1192034
>welding thread?
Please do!
>>1192043
I don't give a damn, it's better than being a pharmacist and I want to learn something useful before I leave this shitty two-year school with nothing to show for it.

Are welders allowed to wear respirators so you don't lose decades of life?

>>1192028
These videos look pretty old, has the tech held up?

>>1192054
Why would they not be allowed to?

>>1192034
What type of welding are you doing mate?

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>>1192034
It's difficult to generalise a technique into a single post, so practice, and think like a weld pool.
It took me years upon years to get vertical down, and I'm honestly not that great compared to some of the old boys.

>Be weld pool
>Holy fuck it's that hot I'm like water
>These electrons are making me want to fuck that nice cool metal right next to my arc though
>I'm glad there's cool weld freezing beneath me or I'd be in that guys boots right now
>I'm getting really watery again, and my ass is beginning to dribble
>Ooh look at the plate over there, I should shimmy over & take a bite of that side until I get too hot.
>Eww I'm dribbling into the middle. I'll go back
>At least I'm freezing smoothly because God is keeping count of my pauses at each toe.

I hope that gay story helps. When you're vert welding all the danger is right in the middle. You run the risk of melting the supporting weld you just laid, and getting the pigeon shit bumps & warts even carpenters can lay.
Weave left (Be it 2mm or 10mm of travel) pause (0.2 seconds or 2, the pause makes the filler) then travel without climbing to the right side of the joint.
Repeat, without climbing. So you land in the middle-ish of the previous weave.
Give the side to side action your attention, the weld will naturally fill upwards without you.
Before you know it there's a glassy smooth vert there.
But fuck me it takes a while to get it right.

If you're wanting to single pass straight up a fillet then simply crank it to eleven & use the force grasshopper.

pic related was all done in position, the channel flanges were vertical root & cap with Mig. MMA is somewhat easier since the flux holds your hernias in.

>>1192060
>These videos look pretty old, has the tech held up?
The same tech that put up the Empire State building is still in widespread use today. Stick isn't going away.
New advances like MIG and TiG are for specialty and high-precision applications.

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>>1192085
>reading this entire post as a welder

>>1192180
Weirdly enough I always thought tig welding (what I used to call two-handed welding when I was a younger jackass) was the original method and something like stick where the material is already there would be newer.

>>1192287
oxy welding was first unless you want to count forge welding

>>1193065
And carbon-arc

>>1192047
MIG welding is the easiest, stick is scary, TIG is for the master craftsman

>>1194755
what's scary about stick? Shit is stupid easy. Mig being the retarded inbred cousin that puts out for either sex without hesitation

>>1191956
>Any magazines I should start reading or YouTube channels that'd help me get prepared?

Go to welding forums including Weldingweb and the Miller forums. The Miller site has free training vidyas too.

>>1192043
>boring as fuck...unless you upgraded from the stop sign holder...a very low IQ job

Maybe if you are running a MIG/FCAW gun in some fab shop and not doing anything demanding.

>I don't give a damn, it's better than being a pharmacist and I want to learn something useful before I leave this shitty two-year school with nothing to show for it.

Ignore the haters and underachievers. Welding is a wonderfully useful skill for any mechanic or serious DIYer. You'll learn a lot about metal.

>>1191956
yo son i've been going to a trade school for a 2 year degree in welding technologies for about a year now. expect to get burnt a lot, and sweat a lot. make sure to not get behind in class, thouroghly clean the weld in between beads, and make sure you get to know your machine well. ive found that most machines are off a little on the amperage. invest in a wire wheel grinder if your school allows them. other than that its pretty easy. good luck.

>>1194755

I would say stick is the hardest.

MIG is easy because the machine does everything for you. TIG (at least with a pedal) _can_ be easy because you have full control of the entire process.

Stick doesn't give you full control, but doesn't do everything for you, either. So you have to be very conscious of maintaining a good arc. I guess you could say that TIG has a higher skill ceiling, but a lower skill floor, maybe.

>>1194765

I kinda half to agree, though. While welding is an extremely useful skill to have as a DIY-er (and I wish I'd got into it earlier than I did), I can't personally imagine doing it for 40+ hours a week. I'd lose my fucking mind from boredom.

Part-time, maybe, but who the hell welds part-time?

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You're melting metal into metal. When you heat up metal it tries to oxide/get durty. So you need some sort of protection for your hot metal. Usually flux or a gas is used.

Stick/Arc/SMAW welding(put rod of metal that's covered in flux in holder and burn that).

MIG welding(use a gun that feeds wire from a spool, with Gas). Flux MIG doesn't need gas, but lots of places do 'dual shielded' meems now with gas and flux wire.

TiG welding is little holder with gas, usually doing smaller precise stuff, stainless/aluminum, etc.

Torch welding... using typical Oxygen+Acetylene setup with a welding tip and a rod of filler.

Should learn about Oxyacetylene torches, since they'll probably touch on that.

Angle Grinders too. Wirebrush and Chipping Hammer.

Don't flash yourself.

I find tapping is easier to start than scratch for learning. Just lightly tap and pull back the tip of the rod on the metal until you get an arc/flash/pop and then start to move. Build a little puddle and start to move it. Watch the molten puddle/glowing ooze.

Don't be scared if you accidentally stick your rod to the piece. just calmly untwist the stinger and pull it back. Then break it off by hand.

When you've got the electrode in the holder, it's live. Don't go putting it down on the table or anything while you take your helmet off to dick around.

Metal is hot when you weld it. It seems common sense but yeah.

Don't forget your ground clamp.

Don't go in like you're the teacher. Just shut up and listen. Ask questions. Don't weld on the fucking tables, he's likely gotta go grind it off later and will hate you.

If you've got small hands/head/body you might want to buy your own base equipment(jacket, gloves) rather than using oversized stuff. Don't buy a helmet until you've actually done some welding/like it(you'll probably like it).

Mig is easier to start out on. But if it's a good school they'll probably start you out on Stick.

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>>1194836

>the dog's tag

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>>1192028
>finished first video
>look at length of video to see how long I spent watching
>46:39
>mfw I just spent the good part of an hour learning how to weld when I don't even plan on going into welding or touching a welding stick in my life

>>1194972
You should learn even if you'll never use it. It builds appreciation for the work that goes into the things you use every day, you'll get a better understanding of how materials fail, and you might need to take it up again in the future.