Well, winters coming and that means my slow season will be following shortly.
Anyone know any professional welding and fabricating classes in the area?
-Alex
Erie Boces
I know mahany welding in “rochester” runs classes, I’m sure there is something similar in buffalo
One of my friends went to the one on broadway.
I am sure you can teach yourself though. I believe Breetime did and he lays down some sick welds
I believe haun welding supply does classes
Probably won’t find fabrication classes. You will find welding classes, but most of for professional certification. Your money would be better spent buying a welding book, DVD, and getting yourself a MIG & TIG welder and practicing.
Eastwoodco.com has some pretty decent machines to start out with
http://www.eastwood.com/welders/tig-welders.html
millerwelds.com also has a very good forum
taught myself with some critiquing / advice from my dads friend who is a professional welder / weld inspector.
only classes ive heard of are for certification except for the boces…id say just get some scrap metal out and have at it, then get some advice from other welders on what to do / improve.
some basic points- groove where necessary for full penetration, undercut is bad. say anywhere you can catch your finger nail on would be considered undercut. you want a smooth transition from metal to weld to metal. the more “dimes” in the roll the better. if you need to stop and go when laying a bead, overlap the bead. dont just “butt” it up against where you left off. remember anywhere the metal is heated and cooled the molecular structure is changing, and the more heat you put in the more brittle the metal will become. only do what is necessary, try to avoid constant weld-grind-weld-grind when doing something structural.
MIG is really easy to pick up and learn, but you need to know the basics of burning the metal. Practice/experience is key though. A nice machine really helps as well. TIG takes a little more time to get a handle on. I’d also love to pick up a TIG machine and and master it; really don’t have a need for it at the moment though.
Good Tips.
Unfortunately, if there is one thing I have learned from Automotive type welding… its that approximately zero welds ever go as planned. Its one thing in a controlled environment where welds are for pre-machined parts that actually fit together, and that are strategically placed for access… but welding in the aftermarket is nearly always a match of wits against the thing you are welding. Welding in inaccessible areas. Welding rough edges that don’t always line up. Welding materials that have had who-knows-what done to them.
Its always a fun time.
stay in front of your weld…not behind it
ugh, i hear you there. just finishing up the cage in my s10, what a nightmare getting at some spots to weld it together. all i was thinking the entire time is FML FML FML.
Welding is trade I always secretly wanted to learn…
I picked up a Farmhand 125 MIG w/ gas a few years ago and have been playing around with small projects. Went through about 3-4 different homemade exhaust setups on the 540i (including an exhaust brace/mount made from flat stock) but I’m not really happy with the quality of my work. Always wanted to learn it the “right” way. May have to take the ECC course. Do you need to supply any of your own equipment for that, or do you just take the course?
I picked up a welder w/ gas not too long ago. Ended up welding my exhaust back on to my truck. Not that I needed to grind the weld down, but i did. Then put a few coats of high temp paint on it. Probably went a little too much on the grinding though. Not too shabby IMO
Quality Inspection Services used to run a very nice school in buffalo on William Gaiter Parkway…
Then it moved to broadway.
Then it shut down. 
There was just an AWS Section 6 (American welding society) meeting at Koike Aronson on Thursday… a great way to get in to welding (as a hobby or career). Meet up with the real pros.
Lowlyoilburner is a CWI-E I believe… He used to teach at QIS I think. He can probably offer the best advice around here. I have my CWI test scheduled for next year in Syracuse :
Boces is the only one around here left with a welding certificate available I think. I don’t think ECC offers anything.
If you’re not interested in learning the actual real mechanics behind welding, just practice on your own. Schooling will teach you proper technique, terminology, troubleshooting, etc… I think it’s usually a 4:1 welding-classroom ratio at Boces. They also will help you find a job in welding too, but I know you said you just wanted to do it as a hobby. We get resumes from Boces all the time… They just send them out to all the major companies for the students.
weldingweb.com is a GREAT place too. Also check out Miller and Lincoln forums… Welding web is a little more informal though, IIRC it’s owned by the owner of a Chinese welding company… So it’s slightly biased towards their welders. Don’t buy in to that trash. There’s a lot of great info up there, some bad info, a lot of misinformation… But good pictures of what welds should look like, what they shouldn’t look like, what to do to improve… etc…
Whats a good starter welder to buy if I wanted to try to teach myself?
hobart’s can be had for a pretty good deal on sale at tractor supply. they have miller guts in them as they are owned by miller. mine has been a fantastic machine.
For something REALLY cheap, this is your best bet: http://www.homedepot.com/buy/lincoln-electric-handy-mig-welder-k2185-1.html#.UL4KTK0X46I
Hobart, Miller and Lincoln are what you should look for.
I just grabbed a Lincoln Pro-Mig 180 from Lowes; works awesome. Even with Flux Core wire I was laying down decent beads within half an hour or so.