I are a Welder
 

I bought some piece o' carp welder a while back. Just a farmers buzz box, but it didn't have cables, so it sat and waited for about a year. Got some wire for it yesterday and ran my first beads on a stick welder in I don't know how long. Many years anyway. I was pretty good way back when. Seems I haven't really lost my touch. I love the smell of a welding shop and now I have one. It made me smile and I needed to share with those who give a rip for these simple pleasures.

The wife will just say "thats nice dear, eww, you smell funny."

Re: I are a Welder
 

I hear ya!

Re: I are a Welder
 

I had a stick welder a few years back. I wasnt too bad. I could weld exhaust. I still can weld exhaust. Now frames on the other hand...I wouldnt trust it after I welded it.

Re: I are a Welder
 

:agree: I love the welding smell too!!!

Re: I are a Welder
 

BTW, with copper prices up, heavy gage wire is a bit spendy. I found some for $128 for 50'. So then I wandered over to the automotive section and bought the same gage wire jumper cables, $40 for 40' (two 20' lengths) They were good professional heavy duty cables. I just cut off the cheap clamps and installed the new welder ends. Saved a pile of money. Sales tax around 7% too.

Re: I are a Welder
 

I know what you mean.

Back in the olden days, if my wife & I were having some difficulties, I'd just go out to the garage and run beads.
Bead, after bead, after bead..........., on scrap steel, just to keep up on my proficiency (I'm wasn't a welder by trade, I just liked to "glue" pieces of steel together)

I'd quit when she came out to the garage & say, "You have to quit now! You're smoking up the whole house!"

I'd look and the "smoke line" went from the roof down to below the top of the kitchen door.

I pretty much hung up the stinger when my son was taking welding classes & he took over the welding chores.

I miss that ol' gal & them days.
Maybe I'll head over to the scrap yard and get some plate & start out by just running some beads to overlay it. Then try to move up from there.

Thanks for the inspiration

Re: I are a Welder
 

Man I tell ya', it sure is nice to know how to weld.

When I bought my first wleder, it sat in the garage for about two weeks, I was terrified of it. I didnt' knwo what to do and didn't want to burn down the house :lol: I finally deceided to watch the little DVD it came with, I watched that for a week then thought I better use it or take it back.....

Needless to say, that old lincoln went from a fear factor to my favorite tool in the garage, then I upgraded to a bigger miller.

I love going out in the garage and just welding, I can spend hours at a time out there. It's even better when you need to weld somthing up and you have the tools and the skills to get the job done.

Re: I are a Welder
 

Something about melting metal. Shop therapy
I don't consider myself a welder, but I can stick metal together.

Re: I are a Welder
 

Ed
Zachary.

I took a welding class over @ the local HS, a few decades ago.
The guy that taught the class was too cool for school.

The 1st night he explained how things were going to work:
"We're going to come in here to the classroom for a lesson, then we're going to move out into the shop.
When we're in the shop, you can practice on the classroom discussion, or you can work on something else. The shop is your garage."

I mostly practiced. But I did build an in the bed spare tire hanger for my '72 Chevy because the oversize tires I bought wouldn't fit in the factory hanger. And I built an engine stand. Crude to be sure, but I don't know how many engines have been hung off of it.
And I played around with the vertical mill & a few other things.
This HS had 1 of the better metal shops in the county.

One guy built a utility trailer. And later I learned that there had been a couple of AIRPLANES had come out of that shop.

I moved on & took a few classes @ the local JC, night school.

I never considered myself to be a welder, but I could glue a couple pieces to steel together & it didn't look like bubble gum.

I think I want to get back to that!

Re: I are a Welder
 

I remember going out to my grandpas shop. He was a plumber by trade, but would do just about anything. He made wood splitters and attachments for tractors out of his garage, built trailers, etc. My highschool had a better shop set up than a lot of trade schools. We had a welding shop that you could do anything except sub arc welding, which is where I got started. Also had an Ag shop, machine shop with CNC, foundry, wood shop, small engine shop, auto shop with some of the latest and greatest equipment for the mid 80's. Even had a small electronics class, carpentry and drafting. I took all of my grad requirements 9-11 grade so I could spend my senior year in the shop. Those were some of the best times of my life.

I learned how to weld better in the navy. I was on nuclear subs and was the emergency welder. That didn't really mean much, you hardly ever got to weld anything. But you did have to requalify every year and automatically got to spend a couple weeks each off crew in the weld shop to practice and do a test pipe. All TIG welding on stainless and inconel. I was good, but never did it as a trade.

I eventually became a boiler inspector and part of that is inspecting new construction of boilers and pressure vessels. One of the fab shops I worked with let me do a test pipe. I hadn't welded in 7 years and passed my 1st pipe on 4" schedule 40 in the 6G position (qualifies for all positions). I told them before I welded that if I passed, they had to give me a symbol (welder ID) and put me in their system. I framed that thing and still have it. They had every quality manager on site check the x rays and inspect it hoping to find a way to disqualify it. But being a weld inspector myself, I knew all the rules and specs.

Oh man, those were glory days. I woke up this morning thinking about a few items I need to pick up, weld clamps, chipping hammer, etc. and I need to bake my old rods to dry them out.

I just love that feeling when something takes over your mind that you like to do. Not the stresses of life and work. It makes everything feel a little better, taste a little sweeter and the days not last long enough.

Re: I are a Welder
 

i dont have a welder persay i use my cousins, and i did help weld together a cart for it..so i did my part btw we paid nothing for the metal its all scrap. re bar, angle iron, and old sheet metal lol

Re: I are a Welder
 

Man, I LOVE welding :D
I plan to go to welding school pretty soon, so I can get even better at it & hopefully get a good job doing it :cool:

Re: I are a Welder
 

i live 10 minutes from one of the best welding schools in america, hobart institute of welding technology

Re: I are a Welder
 

I are a good grinder.I got that way by being a poor weldor.I can weld but have never been able to make pretty beads because I just don't get to weld much.So I are a good grinder.Don't get me wrong I can lay a decent bead on a flat butt weld set up on a table but anything else is stretching it.I have found that a true weldor can put as pretty a bead on an overhead as on a flat.
I've also had some friends over the years that could TIG with the best of them.Some of them couldn't stick weld for crap though.Others could do it all.I guess it's what you get used to and do and how much practice you get.

Re: I are a Welder
 

I did some welding just after high school... but that was a decade ago... I did help a guy once a few years back and its like riding a bike... a few minutes of practice and you are right back into it... plus it helped that my dad has been welding at a power plant for 30 years and taught me well.

Re: I are a Welder
 

I got a cheap wire welder, and practiced some,, didn't hold together too well, so I'm going to watch the video (lol) and then take a night class this winter at the local HS.. they offer these from time to time..

Re: I are a Welder
 

Thats really awesome and yea I totally know what you mean man.

Re: I are a Welder
 

The smell doesnt get me near as much as the sound of it does. When I cant get to sleep at night I start thinking about making nice welds & off I go. Try it, you will thank me later. Maybe not... :haha:

Re: I are a Welder
 

Sweet

Here is my old Hobart
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...8_08100004.jpg

Re: I are a Welder
 

I have a good friend that worked with. Before we we worked together, he worked @ Mare Island and was qualified to weld on pressure hulls.

1 night @ work we were discussing weekend plans.
I told him I was going to weld brackets on my boat trailer for a "landing gear."
He told me he'd come over & do it for me.

I got the brackets built & when he showed up, he welded them on.
Then he asked if I had an inspection mirror.
Stupid question, "Of course I do."
I was told to hold the mirror "here"; just so he could practice welding the under side of the brackets, with a mirror, just for practice.

Damn! Ya gotta appreciate talent like that!!!!

Re: I are a Welder
 

that is a sweet setup

Re: I are a Welder
 

The smell is a toss up for me between welding and a burnout from a fuel (nitro) car.

Re: I are a Welder
 

LMAO I resemble that remark. I can weld and it will hold,but it ain't so purdy sometimes.I have 2 welders to make up for it though.And 3 grinders..lol

Re: I are a Welder
 

I probably went to the same navy welding school as him, except his course was much longer and covered more materials and techniques. I had to do the mirror thing also. We had them mounted to magnets and then mounted a test pipe under the table in the corner of the booth. You had the bend the weld rod U shaped to reach the back then view in the mirror. It was fun because it didn't really matter at the time how it turned out.

I'm totally with you on this. The burnt nitro is one automotive related smell even the wife likes. Man, the sounds and smells of top fuel racing is the best. When they start those engines, it doesn't matter where you are on the grounds, you feel it in your chest like another heartbeat.

Re: I are a Welder
 

I just picked up welding about 6 months ago, My dad bought a old power craft 220v stick welder to weld some skids on a old diner and while he was doing that I decided if he could do it I could too. I started playing with the stick welder and learned the difference between whip and drag rods on my own, after getting tired of having to drag the stick welder out to a 220 outlet I bought myself a hobart handler 135 about a month ago and started playing with that on scrap steel with flux core (since i dont have a shop yet) and finely bought a 4.5 inch angle grinder so i can start doing more than peicing together small peices of scrap steel, actually so i can make my own small peices of scrap steel :D