aman

aman

Member
I watch quite a few youtube ideos on welding and bodywork. Most of them a rubbish but now and again I find some really good ones and when I do I am going to post them here.

This first one is quite long at 42 minutes but it does show how anyone really can make good repairs in thin guage sheet metal.

aman
 
You can watch all the videos in the world, but only practice will get you to a point where you can make a good welded repair, and when you think you've practiced enough, practice some more.
 
But you have to know what to practice or you will end up praticing the wrong technique.
I have learned a lot from videos. Maybe I am strange.
aman
 
I've watched loads of videos, read books and articles and even done a night school course at local college. I bought the best welder I could afford, a Murex 160, I spent a fortune on steel off cuts to practice on and I'm still crap.

Col
 
I have a very annoying trait to my psyche.
If I watch a tradesman doing something for a few hours and ask a few whys and wherefores I can go away an make a pretty pro job of similar work. It's annoying because I'd rather be able to do the same with accountancy or something that can make me money. When I began welding I spent an afternoon with a coded welder making a tow bar for an old rover from scratch. Within hours I could join metal. Videos are good but someone standing next to you telling you how to do it easier and better is invaluable.
 
I learn well from videos. I can watch the relevant parts over again etc
If you don't find the videos helpful I suggest you don't bother watching them.
aman
 
For someone like me contemplating diving in to some welding, this is v useful. Keep it up - seeing someone do it is great starting point, looks a lot less scary than I thought, and next step would no doubt be some hands on practice with someone who's already up to speed. As said, no need to watch if you already know it, or vids don't help you. Cheers, A
 
There's plenty of vids on YouTube. The thing is, doing a bit of welding on a bench in a well equipped workshop is a different world to lying on your back under a vehicle welding upside down.
Col
 
brian47 said:
You can watch all the videos in the world, but only practice will get you to a point where you can make a good welded repair, and when you think you've practiced enough, practice some more.
Click to expand...

I read a bit, did some stick, though I was OK and then found things fell apart from lack of penetration. Did some more practice, videos, was getting better...

Then I applied a bit of science to it, started cutting sections, acid etch and looking at where I was going wrong in the weld. It's only at that point when I started properly looking and applying a bit of science that I realised just how much to welding there is, and just how much I will probably never know about it.

Get better? Practice helps immensley, understanding WHY you do things a certain way is key though - at least for me it is.
 
chris-the-gerbil said:
I read a bit, did some stick, though I was OK and then found things fell apart from lack of penetration. Did some more practice, videos, was getting better...

Then I applied a bit of science to it, started cutting sections, acid etch and looking at where I was going wrong in the weld. It's only at that point when I started properly looking and applying a bit of science that I realised just how much to welding there is, and just how much I will probably never know about it.

Get better? Practice helps immensley, understanding WHY you do things a certain way is key though - at least for me it is.
Click to expand...
I agree, just carrying on blindly and hoping for the best never works out well. As in most things, preparation is all important. Having said that, I have experimented with various settings, prepared the joints to be welded fastidiously, and followed all the advice learnt including listening for the frying bacon sound. And it still looks crap. Also, there is a fine line between weld penetration and burning through. For anything more than simply welding a bracket onto sound metal, I'm happy to pay a professional welder but they're a bit rare around here.

Col
 
LOL. Did a spot of ally the other week with one of the fitters at work. Just a small 3 in crach in a wagon rear wing. I said right we need about 65-70 for this, is the gas on. Yeh. Crack. Feckin big hole. Gas now on. Did a nice spiral infill and left him with the grinder flatening off :p
 
Do as much reading up on rod , wire and gas as possible. Im no expert but have found that the moor you watch, read and practice the better you get. My next chalange is cold cast welding. The fitters at work nearly shat themselves;)
 
Watched a guy once doing figger eight welding on heavy plate. Anazing work. He said just do the blue danube walst in yer ed it easy. Still cock it up:( lots of differant ways to do things.
 
I think there are some things that can be learnt to do well but to do it really well is an art form that not many can achieve. The same is true of painting or playing a violin for example, many can play a tune but not many become virtuosos. My biggest problem is a lack of patience. The tutor at the college kept telling me to slow down. My response was, 'slow down, we've only got 8 weeks to learn stick, tig and mig' The advice about keep practicing is all very well if you have access to metal to practice on but off cuts of steel ain't cheap.
Col
 
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