turnerbend
New member
Trying to get welding skill back,
long time no weld....
- Thread starter turnerbend
- Start date
Xaviour_Onasis
Member
I did my trade qualifications but never worked in the industry. I'm a stay at home pensioner (course was done to keep brain active).
Every time I pull either an arc welder or my MIG welder out I spend more time grinding crappy welds (gassless MIG, ughhhh) than I do welding. I get it back after a while and last job I did I don't remember having to grind one bad weld out (it's amazing what paint will hide, lol).
No, last arc welding I did I had a great day and every weld was text book perfect. Now I want to know what went wrong, I don't do that (not very often anyway).
I do find after 30 minutes or so my welds improve. I just don't do enough to keep my skill levels where I'd like them.
Now I tend to grab some scrap, warm up the habits (coffee and cigarette) and drag around on the scrap till I feel I can safely do the job I want to do.
I built an engine crane out of scrap steel when I had to lift my 6 cylinder (4.0 litre) engine out of my car to rebuild it. It worked like a charm.
Every time I pull either an arc welder or my MIG welder out I spend more time grinding crappy welds (gassless MIG, ughhhh) than I do welding. I get it back after a while and last job I did I don't remember having to grind one bad weld out (it's amazing what paint will hide, lol).
No, last arc welding I did I had a great day and every weld was text book perfect. Now I want to know what went wrong, I don't do that (not very often anyway).
I do find after 30 minutes or so my welds improve. I just don't do enough to keep my skill levels where I'd like them.
Now I tend to grab some scrap, warm up the habits (coffee and cigarette) and drag around on the scrap till I feel I can safely do the job I want to do.
I built an engine crane out of scrap steel when I had to lift my 6 cylinder (4.0 litre) engine out of my car to rebuild it. It worked like a charm.
PILOON
Well-known member
Hey, it is like riding a bicycle, you really never forget how..
Xaviour_Onasis
Member
Never forget but it can take some time to find the balance again.
mrbearski
Member
Most projects I tackle are small or either repairs to something. I find that the first few welds look like my 10 yr old grandson did them, but by the end I'm thinking, dang I'm pretty good at this.
Bearskinner
Well-known member
A good grinder can “adjust” a couple bird poop welds, if it’s been a while, till you get them looking professional again.
Gary Fowler
Well-known member
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Having a steady hand and good eyesight is 75 % of making a good weld. The other 25% is getting the machine set which isnt that difficult with a stick welder. The more complicated the machine, the harder it is to set. If you have 10 dials to set before making a weld, chances are you will need lots of scrap iron to play with to get it set for what you are doing. Most folks dont need more than 1 dial on a stick machine and 2 on a wire feeder to adjust for a perfect weld.