Welding: How Did You Learn?

02 281 GT · Aug 22, 2016

Most around here seem to know their way around a welder. My question is this: how did you learn? A welding class/school? Trial and error?

I'm planning to start a restoration of a '66 Mustang coupe in a few months and want to learn to weld so that I can do most of the repairs/modifications myself. The car is definitely going to need new floors; I haven't had a chance to see what other rust repairs it might need. Beyond the repairs that will be necessary, I'm also looking at welding for upgrades I want to do (TCI front suspension, etc.). I'd really like to do the work myself as I'm sure it would be ridiculously expensive to have it done at a shop; not to mention that I would enjoy, as do the members of this forum, the pride of knowing that I built it myself.

In addition to how you learned, information you may have regarding the mechanics of welding would be great as well. Mig, tig, wire speed, gas, etc., etc. I'm new to all this (don't even own a welder yet), so any and all input is greatly appreciated. Should I just buy a welder and get a hold of some scrap metal to practice on?

RaggedGT · Aug 22, 2016

In high school I was in FFA- and took 3 semesters of arc/stick welding , built a lot of hay feeders lol Iwork at an industrial radiator repair shop. They repair/build Big radiators,charge air coolers,gas tanks etc.
Guy I work with got me started on mig and I just kept welding scrap tanks together and other scrap metals.. The industry is going more towards all aluminum gas tanks,radiators and charge air coolers. So my company sent me to school for aluminum tig (that was fun lol.)
Honestly Mig welding is pretty easy to pick up and learn, YouTube is extremely helpful with picking up the basics, and there are a lot of resources to help you find info you want..
I use a Miller 125 110 Mig welder with shielding gas for thin metals/exhaust pipe patch panels.

For thick metals/gas tanks I use a Miller 250 220V

And for tig welding aluminum I use a Miller syncrowave 250 tig

Recently I bought a Harbor Freight flux core 110 welder for small home projects-and it works surprisingly well,would be a cheap learning tool to get- just don't weld body panels with flux core-when you move up to body panels/floor boards a gas mig is the way to go

Mustang5L5 · Aug 22, 2016

Trial and error really.

Although at work, I do a lot of design work with a 1000 watt CNC type laser welder.

Sent from my big ass iPhone 6 using Tapatalk

GroverDill · Aug 22, 2016

I was given a decent millermatic and I dont know how to use it, I am disappoint.
I need to learn

Davedacarpainter · Aug 22, 2016

If you look at my welding on Doby, you can tell I've learned as I've gone along.

My brother (who's 65 now) can weld beautifully, I ask him for advice, and he kind of gives it. I got enough from him to get an idea about the heat settings and wire speed settings when MIG welding.

I really have learned a lot from just doing it.

Metal thickness plays a huge role. When I was welding on the subframe connectors, high power and fast speed worked great for me. Guess what though? That sht doesn't work well when smoothing an engine bay. Welding the new floor pan pieces was in between.

I found also that each individual has his own style when welding. It's like painting in that manner. I may have the paint gun five inches away from the surface when I'm spraying clear, but another painter is best when he's at about nine inches away.

Test panels are a good thing, you'll see what works for you. You'll want to do different test panels. 22ga steel is a lot more challenging, being so thin. Turn the heat way down, slower wire speed too.

Floor and tub metal is kind of fun, it's thicker and doesn't blow through like outer panels.

Cleanliness is the utmost importance! If the metal you're trying to weld isn't freshly cleaned, you WILL have problems with your welding. The bead will sputter and pop like crazy. It can be real frustrating when you think you've ground it clean and still have that problem.

I'm far better at painting. I want to be good at welding, and one day, I will be. Don't beat the hell out of yourself because your bead isn't real pretty, God gave us grinders for a reason.

Just make sure your welds are bonding the metal together, take a hammer and tap fairly hard on the welds when you're done. You'll want to know if the metal is really hooked together while you're still doing the work, rather than when you're barreling down the 1320 at a 130mph.

Since I'm probably the least experienced welder here, I guess I'll shut up for now.

Go online and watch a few YouTube videos, then get out and practice. Nothing replaces actual experience.

So what I'm really saying is, when you need help painting, let me know. Welding? Uhmmmm....I know someone who's worth a crap at it!

RaggedGT · Aug 22, 2016

GroverDill said:
I was given a decent millermatic and I dont know how to use it, I am disappoint.
I need to learn

That's a great machine- blow the dust off it and get started

02 281 GT · Aug 22, 2016

RaggedGT said:
In high school I was in FFA- and took 3 semesters of arc/stick welding , built a lot of hay feeders lol Iwork at an industrial radiator repair shop. They repair/build Big radiators,charge air coolers,gas tanks etc.
Guy I work with got me started on mig and I just kept welding scrap tanks together and other scrap metals.. The industry is going more towards all aluminum gas tanks,radiators and charge air coolers. So my company sent me to school for aluminum tig (that was fun lol.)
Honestly Mig welding is pretty easy to pick up and learn, YouTube is extremely helpful with picking up the basics, and there are a lot of resources to help you find info you want..
I use a Miller 125 110 Mig welder with shielding gas for thin metals/exhaust pipe patch panels.

For thick metals/gas tanks I use a Miller 250 220V

And for tig welding aluminum I use a Miller syncrowave 250 tig

Recently I bought a Harbor Freight flux core 110 welder for small home projects-and it works surprisingly well,would be a cheap learning tool to get- just don't weld body panels with flux core-when you move up to body panels/floor boards a gas mig is the way to go

Is the miller 125 the kind of welder you would use for a floor pan or a front suspension? I hadn't really considered that I might need more than one welder.

RacEoHolic330 · Aug 22, 2016

Trial and error for me, plus a lot of YouTube videos. I'll eventually be in the market for a TIG welder, so I'll be hitting the YouTube "books" hard when that time comes. I'm tired of dropping off an aluminum part at the local shop, waiting 2 weeks, and paying $20 for an aluminum flange to be welded together.

02 281 GT · Aug 22, 2016

Davedacarpainter said:
If you look at my welding on Doby, you can tell I've learned as I've gone along.

My brother (who's 65 now) can weld beautifully, I ask him for advice, and he kind of gives it. I got enough from him to get an idea about the heat settings and wire speed settings when MIG welding.

I really have learned a lot from just doing it.

Metal thickness plays a huge role. When I was welding on the subframe connectors, high power and fast speed worked great for me. Guess what though? That sht doesn't work well when smoothing an engine bay. Welding the new floor pan pieces was in between.

I found also that each individual has his own style when welding. It's like painting in that manner. I may have the paint gun five inches away from the surface when I'm spraying clear, but another painter is best when he's at about nine inches away.

Test panels are a good thing, you'll see what works for you. You'll want to do different test panels. 22ga steel is a lot more challenging, being so thin. Turn the heat way down, slower wire speed too.

Floor and tub metal is kind of fun, it's thicker and doesn't blow through like outer panels.

Cleanliness is the utmost importance! If the metal you're trying to weld isn't freshly cleaned, you WILL have problems with your welding. The bead will sputter and pop like crazy. It can be real frustrating when you think you've ground it clean and still have that problem.

I'm far better at painting. I want to be good at welding, and one day, I will be. Don't beat the hell out of yourself because your bead isn't real pretty, God gave us grinders for a reason.

Just make sure your welds are bonding the metal together, take a hammer and tap fairly hard on the welds when you're done. You'll want to know if the metal is really hooked together while you're still doing the work, rather than when you're barreling down the 1320 at a 130mph.

Since I'm probably the least experienced welder here, I guess I'll shut up for now.

Go online and watch a few YouTube videos, then get out and practice. Nothing replaces actual experience.

So what I'm really saying is, when you need help painting, let me know. Welding? Uhmmmm....I know someone who's worth a crap at it!

Thanks for your input! From what gauge of steel are body panels usually made? Sorry if that's too broad of a question; I'm mostly concerned with the panels on the '66 and my '95 Mustang. I want to make sure I don't make things worse if I have to replace a quarter or something like that.

RaggedGT · Aug 22, 2016

02 281 GT said:
Is the miller 125 the kind of welder you would use for a floor pan or a front suspension? I hadn't really considered that I might need more than one welder.

I have used it to weld floor pan patches in with no problems, and I think it would do just fine on full floor boards and body panels.. When you say front suspension-what are you referring? Lol

RaggedGT · Aug 22, 2016

Davedacarpainter said:
If you look at my welding on Doby, you can tell I've learned as I've gone along.

My brother (who's 65 now) can weld beautifully, I ask him for advice, and he kind of gives it. I got enough from him to get an idea about the heat settings and wire speed settings when MIG welding.

I really have learned a lot from just doing it.

Metal thickness plays a huge role. When I was welding on the subframe connectors, high power and fast speed worked great for me. Guess what though? That sht doesn't work well when smoothing an engine bay. Welding the new floor pan pieces was in between.

I found also that each individual has his own style when welding. It's like painting in that manner. I may have the paint gun five inches away from the surface when I'm spraying clear, but another painter is best when he's at about nine inches away.

Test panels are a good thing, you'll see what works for you. You'll want to do different test panels. 22ga steel is a lot more challenging, being so thin. Turn the heat way down, slower wire speed too.

Floor and tub metal is kind of fun, it's thicker and doesn't blow through like outer panels.

Cleanliness is the utmost importance! If the metal you're trying to weld isn't freshly cleaned, you WILL have problems with your welding. The bead will sputter and pop like crazy. It can be real frustrating when you think you've ground it clean and still have that problem.

I'm far better at painting. I want to be good at welding, and one day, I will be. Don't beat the hell out of yourself because your bead isn't real pretty, God gave us grinders for a reason.

Just make sure your welds are bonding the metal together, take a hammer and tap fairly hard on the welds when you're done. You'll want to know if the metal is really hooked together while you're still doing the work, rather than when you're barreling down the 1320 at a 130mph.

Since I'm probably the least experienced welder here, I guess I'll shut up for now.

Go online and watch a few YouTube videos, then get out and practice. Nothing replaces actual experience.

So what I'm really saying is, when you need help painting, let me know. Welding? Uhmmmm....I know someone who's worth a crap at it!

Throw up a pic of your wheel tubs Dave, they looked really good

hoopty5.0 · Aug 22, 2016

Learned in AG in high school, from there into the resto shop I grew up around, and then bought my own setup.

Biggest piece of advice I can offer is practice. Get some scrap metal about the thickness of what you'll be doing and just start making beads. Play with the settings until it starts doing what you want it to

Davedacarpainter · Aug 22, 2016

02 281 GT said:
Thanks for your input! From what gauge of steel are body panels usually made? Sorry if that's too broad of a question; I'm mostly concerned with the panels on the '66 and my '95 Mustang. I want to make sure I don't make things worse if I have to replace a quarter or something like that.

The newer the vehicle, it seems the thinner the guage. Generally, fox bodies are around 22 guage metal on all the outer panels.

I've restored a number of the classic mustangs for people paying me. It's relatively the same with them. Though, from memory, I would guess the outer panel guage to be closer to 18.

Floor pans are much thicker than the outer panels, actual guage? I can't tell you the number, maybe Scott has a better idea, he just might be a tad more anal than me! @RacEoHolic330 ?

When you're cutting in a new panel, like a quarter, You will have a supporting plate below the actual seam you weld into the sail panel area, which means you can use a little higher heat than when welding in a set of Scott Rod engine bay panels. The lower seams are thick and you are able to use a higher heat and wire speed as well.

You won't want such a high heat on the outer panel because of the warpage the heat WILL cause on the panel.

PM me when you get going, it only takes a couple of minutes to explain things over the phone.

Davedacarpainter · Aug 22, 2016

RaggedGT said:
Throw up a pic of your wheel tubs Dave, they looked really good

As though this is anything to be proud of:

Things to notice, the welding won't get me into any magazines, But the rear end is so freaking solid that it amazed me. Just take your time, step by step and make sure the metal is bonded.

RaggedGT · Aug 22, 2016

Davedacarpainter said:
As though this is anything to be proud of:
Things to notice, the welding won't get me into any magazines, But the rear end is so freaking solid that it amazed me. Just take your time, step by step and make sure the metal is bonded.

I'd be very Proud of it.

02 281 GT · Aug 22, 2016

RaggedGT said:
I have used it to weld floor pan patches in with no problems, and I think it would do just fine on full floor boards and body panels.. When you say front suspension-what are you referring? Lol

I'm talking about installing a TCI independent front suspension kit. They replace the stock suspension entirely and require welding reinforcement plates, sway bar mounts and a new crossmember directly to the stock frame rails. Pretty trick system. One of the ancillary benefits is that it allows you to remove the shock towers completely to fit engines larger than a Windsor into it...like a Coyote.

Davedacarpainter · Aug 22, 2016

02 281 GT said:
I'm talking about installing a TCI independent front suspension kit. They replace the stock suspension entirely and require welding reinforcement plates, sway bar mounts and a new crossmember directly to the stock frame rails. Pretty trick system. One of the ancillary benefits is that it allows you to remove the shock towers completely to fit engines larger than a Windsor into it...like a Coyote.

Kind of Mustang IIish?

02 281 GT · Aug 22, 2016

Davedacarpainter said:
Kind of Mustang IIish?

Exactly. Kinda pricey, but it would really make the car handle.

RaggedGT · Aug 22, 2016

02 281 GT said:
I'm talking about installing a TCI independent front suspension kit. They replace the stock suspension entirely and require welding reinforcement plates, sway bar mounts and a new crossmember directly to the stock frame rails. Pretty trick system. One of the ancillary benefits is that it allows you to remove the shock towers completely to fit engines larger than a Windsor into it...like a Coyote.

I'll be honest- frame rails are thick,I'd imagine all those plates and the new cross member will be thick. I believe I'd spend the money once and buy a bigger 220v mig-shop around and pick the brand that gives you the best bang for your buck. I'm partial to Miller l, but there are many great machines out there..
And for a way better,more educated suggestion-I'm going to call upon three people who know way more than me
@madmike1157 @Boosted92LX @84Ttop ..

I would have tagged @hoopty5.0 and @RacEoHolic330 -but they have already commented here,so they will more than likely see this question

old_blue · Aug 22, 2016

Trial and error, self taught, YouTube, TV, lots of research.

I have a 220 might welder and learned to weld with gas and without. I found while there are certain technics to use with different thicknesses, and seams, there are many ways to weld that can be personal preference.

I can lay down a decent bead now but am no professional.

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