New User Group: DIY Welding

Hi Andy,

This is a very good idea. We just added the group DIY Welding, which will live within the Hobbies user group. All registered members of CR4 are welcome to join the DIY Welding group or any other User Group. User groups are a great way for CR4 members to find and network with other engineers working in similar fields or with similar interests.

And to everyone, feel free to suggest other user groups that you'd like to see.

I am sure that with the quality of posts I have seen in another blog with regard to TIG welding, that we have some really great people around, with deep intensive knowledge, that can really make this go with a (metaphorical!) Bang!!

Welcome to all.

Welding is one of those subjects that benefits from experienced welders rather than books.

As one having several books on the subject, I COULD NOT AGREE MORE!!

I hope we can get somewhere near to that on this blog. But don't ask me how!!!

"make this go with a.....Bang"

If you make sure keep some volatile stuff near by in an unsealed or leaky container, helps if you're in an enclosure, then sooner or later you will get a "BANG" -big time-once you stab an arc or two.

Before anyone misinterprets my comment I must add this icon.

Hi Chris,

I no longer get my cr4 forum alerts as used to, any suggestion?

rgds,

stephen

I think my first visit to CR4 was with a welding question. Right on.

Count me in. I suggest the discussion be open to all forms of welding. The reason is that many people ask questions about what type of welding is most suitable for a specific application. A blog restricted to arc welding limits the range of answers.

That is one of the points we need to discuss, all types of welding in one blog, or specific blogs for welding types. I personally thought we would seperate torch welding, btazing and soldering in another blog.

You appear to disagree, lets see what the rest say......I personally don't care either way really, I will just go with the flow....

IMHO if we steer a question toward the most appropriate soloution, we may have done as much of a service as we can without hands-on interaction. Lack of detailed information often prevents us from supplying detailed process information, but directing an OP toward the most appropriate welding technlogy is a service they may not find elsewhere.

I don't know what the percentage rate is among welders, but a lot of welders know all forms of welding. In a shipyard, all welding methods are used and most welders know two or more methods.

Good question.....

I for one am not for soldering in this blog, I think there should be a separate blog for welding, brazing and soldering with gas, and soldering electronic components should have its own blog......

May I suggest that you start a blog yourself, Subject:- Soldering in all its forms for example.....there is such a huge amount of information needed alone for for this subject....

I personally want to keep this blog here for arc/electric welding of metals......though I am open to a good well thought out argument from a large proportion of members.

I was pleasantly surprised at just how many people want both to learn more about welding (I am one of these) or already possess a large amount of personal infos they are willing to share.....

I learned stick welding over 40 years ago and have mostly forgotten it. I wanted to pick it up again and after a short investigation I bought instead a MIG welder from ebay for 240 volts......after a few false starts (in spite of reading a couple of books on the subject!), I seem now to be able to make strong, if not pretty (I am told that will come, some are better than others in this respect) welds in both mild and stainless steel.....the flex makes them look much better afterwards if need be!!

If you do take my advice and start a soldering blog, you will find me as being one of the members as soon as I see it, as electronics has been a hobby of mine since I was 8 or 9 years old.....also, I have always had gas brazing/welding equipment for various projects (that tend to get MIG welded nowadays!!), and I am hoping that someone else will start the blog for gas sometime soon.......

I hope that you are not in any way put out by my attitude in this matter....that is not my intention....

Welding is certainly a skill that needs to be practiced to become proficient

I would say all heat related metalworking should be welcome.

Lots of interesting stuff on Del's metal forging thread too

Count me in, Andy. My wife and I have both wanted to learn to weld for a long time. She is an artist, and would like to try her hand in welded metals, and I am a home-handyman/repairer-of-broken-stuff kind of guy, so we could both benefit, in different ways.

Thanks for bringing it up, and let's bring 'em ON!

You are both most welcome...

I have some good .pdf files, I am just at a loss as to how to make them available. Its not possible on CR4.

I have another idea, let me check it out first......

I will look for a web site where I can post files, Facebook is maybe a possibility.....

If anyone has a better idea, let me know......

Could use Yahoo groups. Just setup an account, if you don't have one, and post the files to the files section. Then let us know where they are, and we can join and collect them.

I'll set it up for you, if you'd like, but you'd still need to be able to join the group to post the files.

Sounds a good move, can you do it?

I'll get it done in the next couple of days, and let you know how to access it. I'll make you an admin on it, so that you can publish it to all and sundry, but I'll make it open membership so that anyone who wishes can join, and access the files. Sound OK?

What about making it not open membership? The password they can only get from here on CR4?

Wouldn't work that way, because on Yahoo everyone uses their own password. But, what we can do is make it by invitation only (invites offered by the admins, which would be you, and because I set it up, me, as Yahoo requires). Then when someone on this Blog asks for access, you invite them via their e-mail, which they have to supply at that point, and they accept the invite, and are in. Anyone else wanting in would have to ask directly via e-mail, whereupon we could check the Blog membership and agree or not based on that. Sound OK? That's how I set up my family groups for picture sharing, and it works well.

It is really a good Idea to start a separate forum on Welding Subject.

As you said there could be two blocks, one being Arc welding containing details on SMAW, GMAW, FCAW, GTAW, SAW like processes and other could be on Gas welding (OFW), Brazing, Braze welding, Soldering etc.

The Pre Heating, PWHT requirements and other similar operations could be covered in Arc welding.

Welding of various metals like CS, AS, SS AL etc could be in both depending upon the process selection and thickness factors.

Yes, I am with you and learning is a continuous process like Welding , no matter how much deep you are in the subject.

Only request, the membership could be done in a simple manner instead of complicating it as we expect more to join in the course of time and as the time progresses.

By the By, Coran Steel is similar to all Whether resistance steel used in the railway passenger and wagon cars. It is low alloy steel added with Cr, Ni, Cu alloys etc, the percentage depending the grade. Welding could be done using SMAW Process.

Sridhar

The use of Yahoo would be strictly for the purpose of giving out files we may not all want to use. Thus it isn't necessary for that membership to be as simple as obtaining CR4 membership (as one example). In addition, if we later decide to make it simpler, it's no problem to do so. And I'm assuming here that Globalspec and CR4 have no objection, commercial or otherwise, to being identified with a Yahoo user group.

But the discussion between Andy and I was strictly about a method of making data files, which in other applications would be mere attachments, available to the membership, while restricting access to the Yahoo group providing the access/transport mechanism to those same members.

It far better than anything I have thought of!!!

Many thanks for your time, trouble and knowledge from us all.....

Please go ahead.

An FTP like "Cute Send it" a key code is necessary to access

I'll be joining. I did some stick welding at the base auto hobbies shop to make a small boat trailer into a larger two-bike motorcycle trailer 25 years ago. Not pretty looking welds but I got good penetration (did some reading before starting) and I still use it today.

Been wanting to get back into it for fun and repair. Just bought a Miller TIG unit that will also do stick welding. Have a bunch of books, but reading is just reading. Once I get the 50 amp circuit run up into the garage, I can start running beads again.

(Also have a 17 yr old son who wants to learn, maybe a career with formal schooling.)

Cheers !

Look for a nice suitcase or spool gun as an add-on

Add some fluxcore wire & you have stick on a roll, no shielding gas, easier to learn than stick. Point & shoot

Good suggestion Andy, Every morning I look through the general questions to see if there are questions that I may know an answer too. I mainly look for questions about welding, fitting, ASME boiler and vessel repair, blacksmithing, glass blowing and building the equipment used to melt, anneal, stress relieve metal and/or glass. I do this because I have worked with joining some sort of metal my whole working life and I probably know more about welding than I know of anything else. I joined the group and I hope I can help with any questions.

Hi pipewelder,

what about a short precis on MIG first, then TIG on another day.....and then whatever you like.....be our Teacher......

I would personally like to hear about mild steel, stainless steel and aluminium MIG welding......

I am sure that I will still have a lot of questions......

My welds are usually strong, but not pretty in either steel. ALU I have not tried yet, but will soon......

I am using a mixture of Argon and CO2.....it seemed to be a reasonable choice for hobby usage as I did not want to buy many different gas bottles....

Adiscussion on gas pressures for flooding the work correctly would also be good.....maybe I am using too much gas when welding....for example.

Andy - great idea!! I learned stick welding in high school and have used it from time to time over the last 30 years for general repairs and necessary inventions, beads rarely nice to look at but always worked! I am definitely interested. I think the group should be a little broader than one kind, just my opinion. I am interested in learning about coran steel welding and would rather read about it, search the web, and ask a few questions here instead of taking a long class ug.

Thats fine by me personally, but please tell me (us?) what "coran steel welding" is in laymans terms....

The Hunan Coran Industry and Commerce company in China produces a number of products, some steel mixes. One is called coran steel. I don't know what they add to the usual recipe, and believe me I've looked, probably business confidential. Many ocean cargo and rail cargo containers are made from coran steel, and they have marker plates on that read "use only coran steel to weld on this container."

Hey Andy.

I attempted to start a discussion about a few different welding subjects in the past couple of months but I never finished because the information didn't seem to be posting in the DYI welding group area. I think I could provide decent information about this subject every now and then if I could figure how to post it correctly.

Should I post to the DYI welding group or do I post to the general discussion area or just keep replying to this thread? I can post a reply to this or any other thread with no problems but I am not sure how to start a new thread about a different subject.

If you could explain or suggest the easiest way to start a new discussion in this group, I would appreciate it greatly. Also if anyone has questions or need information about most types of manual and/or semi-automatic welding, cutting, gouging or the care and feeding of any related equipment let me know and I will try my best to help.

I would like you to post EVERYTHING you feel may be of interest and help to us, really everything...

Thanks in advance.

We will ask questions if we don't understand.....

A user group is just that

a group

Pipewelder or Andy, should probably request a Blog to be started

there is this one

http://cr4.globalspec.com/blog/12/Machine-Tools-Metal-Working-Blog

Which is affiliated with a Global Spec newsletter, you could contact the administrator

You could also post a link on this thread to any new discussions you might start

Drop me a pm or post here if I can help with any of this stuff...

PS you definitely want a spool gun to do aluminum, through cleaning & pre-heating makes your life easier...

Glass blowing? If I am correct in my thinking, In the process of "glass blowing" there are times when two pieces of molten glass are joined. Is that not glass welding in fact? Should we not also include similar techniques? I have a plastic welding kit that I have not had the chance to use yet. Right now it is a pamphlet that I have read. I have lent it out to another mechanic, but he did not use it either.

How does plastic and glass welding fit in the welding forum?

I had thought to restrict this blog to metals, I think it might be better not to mix too much, otherwise someone looking only for say plastic welding, has to sort through dozens (100s?) of metal welding posts.

What do you think?

If you agree, talk to Admin about starting a glass and plastics welding Blog. I can help you if you wish.

What do you think?

What do you think?

I am reasonably sure that if the forum is welding, magnetic stainless steel only, we will still get questions about hydrogen generators anyway so I just don't care. What ever makes you happy. As long as I can jump in from time to time I can live with whatever way it goes.

I am hoping that a few others will chime in and give their thoughts and I will then go with the flow!!

Other than I will not count guest posts on the subject, only properly logged on members....

I think that arc welding on metallic materials would be a huge section alone. To me this would cover plasma arc welding and cutting but I would add oxyfuel welding and especially cutting because it is such a big part of all carbon steel material welding and fabrication work. Glassblowing, blacksmithing, plastic welding etc. all can be used join materials and could be seen as welding but they are huge subjects that should probably have their on area alone. I saw a chronological history of blacksmithing and welding once that was very interesting. It listed the dates of early events where people started to figure out the basics of shaping and later on joining the different metals starting with copper and then brass and on. The very interesting part to me was the timeline on the discoveries made since 1850 to present day that shaped present day welding techniques. Of all the many inventions and discoveries as far as joining metal goes one of the most important to me would be the discovery of acetylene and later oxy-acetylene cutting and welding. I see this being important because before this discovery there was no need to have advanced welding before you had a way to cut the metal and there was no need to be able to cut metal without being able to weld it together. The next big event was of course electric arc welding and the development of electrodes to weld with. Things like the ASME boiler codes. WW1, the industrial age, better and faster ways to produce metal and alloys in the USA really pushed the need for a type of arc welding to join metals. If we could see the many changes that arc welding went through to become the present day welding would surprise most. Just stick welding alone has changed so much in the 30 years I have been welding that it is amazing. I remember the first time I saw a TIG torch on a pipe installation job and wondered how would that ever replace the E6010 or other EXX10 root bead electrode that was used on nearly all pipe welding at the time. I guess 30 years from now things like stick and TIG welding will be used very little and who knows what new forms of welding may be the norm. Way back when I was in welding school the big new welding thing at the time was robotics and the automation of welding. i remember the general talk was that one day it will replace all manual welding. I have watched this technology ever since and I am glad that so far the world still needs skilled welders to do the work that robots cannot do.

GA for a good post.

Are we all in agreement that all metal welding be in the new blog and that we leave someone else(s) to open/start a new blogs for plastic and glass?

How many of you all are against that? How many are for that? It would appear that pipewelder and I are in agreement, I need to know roughly the lie of the land from the rest of you.

Count me in with you, and Pipewelder, Andy.

Thanks.

amen Robots are good for some things but you cant replace a human for everything.

I agree with you, Andy, as I was thinking about how many of the 8-20 year old cars here in the US use plastic radiators. And the way to fix those is by plastic welding. And our parts stores here have plastic welding kits available, though you really don't need them if you have a good steady hand and the necessary plastic filler rods and fluxes to work with.

So, you'd be likely to get a raft of discussion about that alone. And then there is the whole field of welding up Acrylic, Lexan, Plexiglas, and whatever other names there are for the clear thermosetting plastic plates used in windows, boxes, and what have you.

I think it would be better for the reader's sake to deal with all the different "weldable" materials and related technologies in separate fora, but link all of them, as they are developed, to each other, so that anyone hitting one, will see first of all, that the others exist.

Kind of a welding thread library, if you will.

My 12 cents.

Micah

That's an idea that sounds good to me.

Points noted, thanks.

Anyone against having seperate blogs for different forms of welding?

As I mentioned in an earlier post, a disadvantage to separate blogs is that an OP who is inquiring about how to weld his widget won't know which blog to inquire on.

Not to argue, but this is why I suggested that we put a link to each of the other threads, by name, in each thread. Hopefully, if the OP is looking for a plastic welding thread, he/she will know that the metals welding thread is not the appropriate one, and will simply switch to the plastics thread to post the question.

I agree.

I used to weld myself on a professional level and last time I suggested maybe initially setting up a welding blog site, to appease the hunger of those in need, should be the priority and maybe later categorise them accordingly.

However, as I mentioned on another site (TIG welding Amps) welding has various facets and it would be good to keep them apart for ease of reference but it is hard under the current layout of CR4 sections.

Just look to your right and you'll see what I mean, every topic comes under just a one general concept, regardless what specific area they are referring to.

But he will surely know if he wants to weld, plastic, metal or glass?

My personal feeling (not the law!!) is that we can keep metal in one, glass in another and plastic in a further one....

IMHO you are correct, however, I think most inquries are from people who have specific material, geometry, cost, or performance objectives, and know little about welding processes. If we do no more than steer these people to the best process for their application, we will have done them a huge service. If someone has an application that can be most efficiciently done with one process, but because of misguided advice, winds up evaluating and selecting another process, they can waste megabucks needlessly. I think preventing that waste is the most important service we can provide. Optimizing the correct process is fun and helpful, but not where the maximum benefits are obtained.

I agree,

One blog for all joining of materials using heat

We are only talking about a blog at this point, which could possibly be in the manufacturing section.

As we so far only have a user group, splintering into subgroups already will further confuse the issue(s)

We should walk before we run...

Yahoo sucks, It seems to forget my pass word & make me recover every 2 weeks or so, any file sharing site will do. mostly we will be sharing link to existing resources already available on the net

I agree. I don't think plastic or glass welding should be included. I wouldn't even think of plastic welding as "welding". I think the word "welding" was adopted for plastics and glass, but the processes are very different. Soldering and brazing also are not welding processes and should be treated along with plastic and glass as a separate subject.

Well said Andy.

I think either you or somebody stressed that in the beginning not to get plastic in here as this was dedicated to metal/s.

Incidentally, have you guys talk about welding yet coz i'm only getting nothing more then this silly debate?

Lets talk about some hands on stuff about the topic, instead!

I was actually hoping for more professionals chiming in here, few seem to be interested....

I re-taught myself welding after buying a MAG welder about 3 years ago. I bought some good but cheap books, read a lot on the web and just had a go.

Early efforts were awful, held but looked terrible.....

But today I weld all the equipment that my neighbour breaks with his gardening company and it looks good and stays together well. All steel.

I also do my own repairs and build bits for my CNC machine mostly in Stainless, it also looks good and stays together well, MAG is VERY forgiving of someone just starting again......

I need to try aluminium this year, probably will need to buy a pistol to work well, we will see. As often the ALU wire feeds badly over the long cable.

I use Argo/CO2 mix, 75/25 as one of my welding books said there was too much shit talked about having a different gas for each and every welding metal. It seems to work fine for me.

I bought quite a big cylinder.....its still holding out, about 50% empty......

Its also GREAT fun!!!!

Count me in. I welded for most of my blue collar career. We do need to stress the dangers of the smoke from stick welding, it's worse than cigarettes. And welding or burning galvanized releases zinc vapors, just awful.

I just went through the learning curve about hexavalent chromium in S/S welding (SMAW, FCAW, GMAW and GTAW) smoke and how to protect the welders. This pertains to to all S/S welding but usually the test will be ok if not welding in a confined space and special PPE is not required most of the times when welding out in the open. I am also the certified competent asbestos person at the mill I work at and what was surprising is that the OSHA rules on breathing Hexavalent Chromium and the appropriate PPE and some of the other rules are pretty close to the same. I noted the similarities to a Hexavalent Guru that I contracted as a consultant when I was implementing our program said that he had many times herd it called it the new asbestos. I always considered ceramic fiber insulation such as Fiber Frax or Kao Wool to be the next asbestos but maybe there is a race here to see which one is the worst.

A matter of information ( from an article I read today) to our welding friends.

Jury Delivers Defense Verdict in Welding Fumes Case

Aug 25, 2009 10:14 AM

On August 5, a state court jury in West Virginia determined that Linde LLC, Lincoln Electric, and Hobart Brothers were not responsible for injuries to welder John Belcher.

The verdict is among a series of defense successes, according to American Lawyer.com, in the welding rod fume litigation, where plaintiffs allege industrial equipment suppliers are responsible for a wide range of physical and neurological disabilities suffered by welders allegedly harmed by chemicals in welding rod fumes.

Industry reports state that 23 of 27 welding rod fume cases have been found in favor of the defense. Additionally, plaintiffs have dismissed more than 4,000 suits in the last two years after they were consolidated in a multidistrict litigation.

In the latest case, the jury in West Virginia deliberated for just two hours before returning the verdict.

Sridhar.

Thanks for the information, I first heard of Hexavalent chromium and other harmful toxins in welding fumes when my mother in law sat on a jury that heard a wrongful death case of a welder that had welded with S/S SMAW all his life at a pipe Fab. shop in south Louisiana. According to her at the time the OSHA laws were very clear as to what should be done by any company to prevent the fumes from being breathed by welders on the job. Also several medical experts testified that the fumes had caused his death all be it over a lifetime of welding. In the end they awarded his family a huge sum of money. I remember in the old days when working in the shipyard we got paid a $.10 extra an hour if we had to weld on older ships with low hydrogen electrodes. I think they paid us extra because we had to endure breathing fumes created from the mix of welding with the particular electrodes and doing it on possible lead based paint. Between welding S/S and low hydrogen electrodes on C/S for 30 years, the fact I welded mostly on boilers and piping with the occasional asbestos exposure and the early days in the ship yard I probably don't have a chance in hell of not seeing some health problems later in life.

I welded for years, stick, tig, mig, torch. Once I went on a job interview for a pipewelder job at a non nuclear power plant. They had me tig the root pass and weld the remainder with a low hydrogen rod, 7018 I think. I looked at how the other guys were doing the test, and ground the weld a little after each pass. I guess that was to get rid of any flux that didn't chip off.

I didn't pass the test, they said my welds had porosity. I never was too crazy about 7018, only better for vertical welds. Didn't like that you had to bang the tip off to get it going again, had to keep a brick around so not to mark up the job.

Our shop did jobs for NASA. My welds were always good enough for them. It was my pride that nobody ever came back and said my welds ever broke. I welded a boat rack at Atlantic City NC out of 4'' and 3" galvanized pipe. It was four boats high, and I never heard of a problem with my welds. I did put my helper in the hospital with zinc poisoning! Don't know why I didn't get sick.

Anyway, about the porosity. I have seen little bubbles at the start of a low hydrogen rod weld, thought I ground them out. Did I miss some to make me fail the test?

When I first went to work at the county road department, they were building a steel covered shed to cover some equipment. The welder welded two sections of a 6 or 8 " I beam together. There was a inmate crew bringing it from the welding area to the shed area. They dropped it and it broke in two pieces. And he was mad because the inmates dropped it. A new welder was hired the next year.

Thanks so much for the Great Answer. The drag back method is the best technique I ever heard of. I got my welding training at a community college night school. The teacher didn't show me that trick! Each night he gave each of us a handful of rods and showed us what bead to run that night. The class didn't go into any memorable instruction. I got tips from other weldors I knew and learned on the job. Being a perfectionist, I did my best on every weld. The boss bought a tig machine, and the salesman showed me how to use it. That's how it went for me. As each need came up, I learned more.

By the end, I was a pretty good weldor. When an aircraft inspector was making a homebuilt Waco he had me do the motor mounts. Another highlight was tig welding sheet lead for an x-ray machine modification. You really have to sneak up on lead.

GA

Thats the sort of information we were all waiting for, perfect!!

Hi,

here is my first tip:-

When I learnt stick welding 40 years ago, I used a normal mask, but a few years ago when I bought my MIG machine, I paid out €65 for one of these automatic masks with the LCD(?) screen that darkens with a flash of arc. Maybe I am being lazy, but I often had tiny pieces in my (gloved!) hand, or to steady them, so having a flip down mask is not practical for me. I need my hand to flip it back up!!

By the way, use your digital camera flash to set up the potentiometer for the timing of the LCD screen that you like best! No need for an arc for that......

By the way (again), you can also use a digital camera to check the operation of IR remote controls, the flash of the IR LED can be easily seen on the screen of the camera, but not through an optical viewfinder....!!!

GA. I wholeheartedly agree. It is like having an extra hand. The more delicate the work, the more I appreciate the mask.

Exactly! You said it better, its like having an extra hand.

I knew it, but did not get the words right, many thanks!!

Andy, it wasn't a welding note, but that last one was worth the price of admission all by itself. I do a fair amount of electronics tinkering, and that falls in the category of "why didn't I think of that?"

Good one.

Which one did you mean, the camera flash for the mask set up, or checking the IR remotes?

IR remotes. I've even gone so far as to BUY an IR sensor, just to check for output. I used it later with an O'scope, to see what the output looked like, but at the time, I could have saved 7 bucks or so. And a trip to the Radio Shack!

...and you already had a digital camera! Oh well, it was only $7!!

I give it a nod...and that's one less dauphin like movement too...

Like Homer Simpson:-

DOOOOOOHHHHHH!!

I did not understand what you meant, maybe I am not alone?

Nod the head the old style shield swings down. The head tips back as the upper torso extents forward and up and maybe the old style shield swings up...

"By the way (again), you can also use a digital camera to check the operation of IR remote controls, the flash of the IR LED can be easily seen on the screen of the camera, but not through an optical viewfinder....!!!"

I'm not trying to be funny but you just gave away a secret for free that could have helped you earn extra money for your retirement, damn it!

Now they gonna spread the news even to their neighbours about it, especially to those with loads of remote controllers at home. They will tell them how to check the battery power in their remotes by looking for its light intensity through the camera.

You had to do it, didn't you?

Just in case -

I am absolutely lost for an answer!!! Now that is unusual!!!

Hi Andy, I know I act sometime confusing but, I guess this is me.

About your educating people how they could check their remote controllers at home, with a any of their cameras, was something I had to do less than a week earlier.

The problem for me was they were technically illiterates and it wasn't easy either because people here have open minds, yet the ones I had to put with had definitely less between the ears than a chimpanzee.

I'twoz a great run down you did, and no hard feelings in any way I hope!

Not the slightest problem my friend.......do not worry yourself!!

I was just flabbergasted!!!!

Well, Andy, long time no see!

Just stumbled across this thread, and wish to thank you for prompting CR4 admin to open the new user group. In my years as a Doorman, I spent several thousand hours behind flip hoods, auto-hoods, and opera shields. Have most of the common marks of overhead welding as well, and had my (rather ugly) experience with 'Phony Pneumonia'. If something like this were available to me then, I may have been able to better avoid it.

My next click will be to join the user group. Thanks again.

Nice chatting with you again.

I do some welding in support of my hobby, but when I worked in the shipyard, I saw a trick used that I thought was pretty neat. A guy using a cutting torch, would heat up a 4" wide flat bar and then turn the torch 90° with O₂ only and cut the bar as clean as if it were sheared.

We see all the new computer controlled plasma, laser, and water jet cutters out there, but you just gotta admire the guy with that steady hand on a really good torch.

When I was in high school a friend took an arc welding class at the local community college, and he was pretty good at it. My dad wanted us to build him a rack for our pickup truck. We laid 1 inch square tubing out on the garage floor, and carefully measured our pieces. While I held two pieces together at a right angle - one in each hand, my friend took careful aim, snapped his visor down and proceeded to apply the full current to the rod - through my hand. The pain was fantastic. But no lasting harm was done.

Now I make a command decision for all concerned.

This blog is for all forms of Arc welding using metal, nothing else.

We need some other people to start similar blogs for Gas welding, brazing & Soldering.

Also blogs for plastic and glass "welding".

Any questions?

This blog is for all forms of Arc welding using metal, nothing else.

Agreed.

Other types of joining can be done elsewhere.

To widen this one too far will reduce it's usefulness.

Perfectly put!!!

In todays world I think we will have our hands full with Electric arc and various metals...without adding more.

General comment:-

Has anyone done the searches on YouTube yet? Pleasantly surprised?

We have gone through the you tube many times. Though some of them are OK, they are very short, less than 2-3 minutes and too basic. I have recorded some of them. We can get some idea but it is not up to high technical expectations. May be that is my views. Sridhar.

For anyone interested, there are dozens of welding videos on YouTube. You can find them easily with various search words. "How to MIG Weld" for example will give a row of simple to understand training videos.......

Experiment a little. Just MIG welding, or TIG welding will suffice.

I can also recommend using Ashampoo Clip Finder (its free, just register only) if you wish to download the videos from YouTube, or any of the other Video Portals.....its far easier than by hand, or always having to go online to see a video....

The English version can be found here:-

http://www2.ashampoo.com/webcache/html/1/product_2_0155___EUR.htm

Best of luck.....

For more welding tips and information go to http://millerwelder.net

Dear AG,

I am glad, you are opening a new Electric Arc Welding User Group and thanks for the invitation.

You can count me in and would like to be a active contributor in all the forums including the new one.

You can consider me for your Gas welding, Brazing and Braze welding & Soldering also.

What so ever (very little indeed) knowledge I have, let me share with my friends like you, pipe welder and others.

Thanks again, Sridhar.

You are mwelcome, but I must inform you that this blog is not very new, and sadly, it has not generated the interest I had hoped for......

Maybe it will get another lease on life soon.....