Welding DVDs

[wuvvum]

I've decided it's high time I tried to learn to weld.  My mate who usually does my welding for me is not in the best of health and has said himself that within the next year he probably won't want to be crawling round under cars any more.  As the owner of a 1970s Renault, I will almost certainly be needing to have welding done on a regular basis, and most garages won't touch old cars that need a lot of work.

 

I'm not sure I have time to go on a welding evening course type thing, but I've noticed that there's loads of different "learn to weld" DVDs on eBay and other places.  Does anyone have any experience of these, are they any good, and is there any particular one which is better than the others?

[andy18s]

Don't bother buying dvds. Most of them are up on YouTube.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I misread the title and was expecting some lumpy Dulux Shadows and rusty S3 Jags ,containing grinning fools with mullets and birds with perms.

[cort16]

I bought a few books and they're all pish. Best thing is to read some of the basics online, get a welder and get practicing.

MIG welding isn't hard preperation and a decent welder are the key.

[ProgRocker]

I glanced at the thread and thought it read 'Wedding DVDs' .

[Danblez]

The tutorials on mig-welding.co.uk are more than enough to get you going. Watch them and then get started on some scrap whilst playing around with wire speed and power settings to get a feel for it.

 

The hardest thing I found was when you actually start welding on the car and things don't go as smoothly as it did on the bench and understanding how to correct it but think this just comes with experience. I still haven't sussed out what the hell happens when you weld upside down but a bit more practice will help I'm sure!

[wuvvum]

OK, general consensus is not to bother then.  Cheers, that's saved me a few quid.

 

So, next question then:  are there any decent budget MIG welders out there?

[andy18s]

Now there's a can of worms to be opened!

Get a good branded 160-200 set as it's much easier to control a machine that's only running at around half it's capacity.

[HMC]

Rust and I both have an apetite for similar tin, so it was inevitable I'd get a mig at some point. Got a Clarke 135te turbo which seems to me a very user friendly starter mig. One thing an old pro told me was to get a decent self tinting helmet as it frees up a hand and makes everything easier for a beginner.

[cort16]

No point in getting much over 130 as that's the max a normal house power supply can drive. More than enough unless you're welding bridges together. Don't go gasless buy a decent sized bottle from Adams gas or what ever .

One thing to note is if you're welding up old chod you need a flexible power control as most cheaper welders have fixed settings and the min power setting will blow lumps out anything thinner than 1mm thick .

Self dipping welding mask is a must. It's pretty much impossible without one.

[fordperv]

i also have a clarke 135te and i cannot fault it at all, it does all i ask of it and would definitely agree with brookjm and cort16 to get a auto darkening mask, i learned to weld with a horrible mask, a few years into it when i finally got an auto darkening helmet i didn't know how i survived without it

[twosmoke300]

The best way is to get someone to set your welder up for you so you aren't trying to learn with bad settings. Then once you get the hang of it get them to alter wire feed and power while you are welding so you can feel what each scenario feels like.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

That's it, I'm going to buy an auto dimming mask. My primary problem is getting the torch correctly positioned, then flipping the mask down and in the half second it takes me to get my bearings again the torch is somewhere else. 

[twosmoke300]

Don't buy a cheapy mask. They just aren't as good as a proper speedglas or esab one . And you can get lenses and spares for better ones

[willswitchengage]

I misread the title and assumed you were wondering how to weld some DVDs together.

[TimothyClaypole]

I've not done any welding on a car yet but I bought a SIP back in the day before the internet was up to speed which is now apparently the one to avoid...

 

I bought some mild steel sheets and messed about with it using them to weld on. No messing about cleaning scrap panels and it's bodywork thickness so you can see when it's blown through or not penetrated enough etc.

[DSdriver]

There must be something in the air today, both Wuvvum and I starting threads about learning to weld.

Perhaps we should do some sort of comparison to see who does best, Wuvvum teaching himself and me going to classes. It would be even better if we could persuade Channel 4 to make a prog about it and pay for all our kit.

[cort16]

Being able to weld helps so much with old chod fettling. Not just for the obvious welding them up but for making up brackets, tools and whatever.

[Inspector Morose]

Gas welding and kit is really the holy grail for chod meisters really. With that kit you can weld, cut, bend, form, loosen, de rust and even warm up a cold cup of tea! And it's surprisingly therapeutic too!

[cort16]

I'd love a plasma cutter.

[Partridge]

I'd love a plasma cutter.

You only get quotes like on Autoshite

[brickwall]

I got some of Piratebay. The good one was a kind of Open University thing with a guy in cords, wooly jumper and a beard.

[PiperCub]

Got two videos (yes, VHS - ask your dad!) from 'The Welding Institute' - one covering MIG welding including the usual safety stuff, setting up the welder, doing different types of weld (butt, lap, plug etc) etc, the other covering specific car repair techniques using the MIG on a Mk2 Ez if I recall.

 

Actually pretty good if you can get past the rather crap presenter the first one really does assume no knowledge so is a great place to start. Don't know if they are still available or not, I suspect they probably are in updated form and on DVD too.

 

YouTube is another option but be wary that not everyone is the expert they think they are.