At Home In The Woods
- Thread starter Obed
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Diamondpilot
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2007
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- 16,331
- Location
- Daleville, IN
- Tractor
- Jinma 254/284 Ford 861 Powermaster at work
Obed.
I wanted to take a welding class like you also but same story here. I just wanted a couple week class in the evenings, maybe 8 to 12 hours of the basics.
In the long run I watched every thing I could on You Tube and shows where they do fab work like Hot Rod shows and stuff. I then bought 2 welders and went at it. One welder is a 250 amp Miller Stick Welder. The other is a 180 amp Hobart Wire Welder. This got me started but I still had some questions so I found a local fab shop. I started paying the guy to do projects for me and talked him into letting me watch if I helped out doing other things like cleaning up. I really learned a lot doing this.
I would not weld a bridge together or anything like that now but I fix broken stuff all the time. I figure if it can kill me I will let the pros do the final welding like when I built my log splitter I cut everything, tacked it together, then paid them $100 to do the final welds. Looks factory built.
Chris
I wanted to take a welding class like you also but same story here. I just wanted a couple week class in the evenings, maybe 8 to 12 hours of the basics.
In the long run I watched every thing I could on You Tube and shows where they do fab work like Hot Rod shows and stuff. I then bought 2 welders and went at it. One welder is a 250 amp Miller Stick Welder. The other is a 180 amp Hobart Wire Welder. This got me started but I still had some questions so I found a local fab shop. I started paying the guy to do projects for me and talked him into letting me watch if I helped out doing other things like cleaning up. I really learned a lot doing this.
I would not weld a bridge together or anything like that now but I fix broken stuff all the time. I figure if it can kill me I will let the pros do the final welding like when I built my log splitter I cut everything, tacked it together, then paid them $100 to do the final welds. Looks factory built.
Chris
dstig1
Super Member
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2010
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- 5,564
- Location
- W Wisc
- Tractor
- Kubota L5240 HSTC, JD X738 Mower, (Kubota L3130 HST - sold)
Community colleges or other 2-year colleges are the ones that have the best chances. The other thing to do if you don't see anything in the catalog is call and ask. And if they say no, ask if they have considered offering anything like that. I know there is interest. You may have to go up the chain a little to find anyone that might be able to do something about it. It sure does help.
We have 2 on this side of the Twin Cities that offer some welding classes off hours. One is a public trade school (St Paul Technical College) and the other is private 2-year place (Century College). The first one is a lot bigger with better offerings. They have a stick class that I took many years back, and re-took last year that runs 4 hrs one night a week and then a TIG class that ran 4hrs on Sat AM. Both were full semester. I didn't know about the TIG class until after I started or I would have done that one too. A number of the people in my class took both at the same time.
Otherwise if you can find someone to give you lessons 1-1, that is hard to beat.
We have 2 on this side of the Twin Cities that offer some welding classes off hours. One is a public trade school (St Paul Technical College) and the other is private 2-year place (Century College). The first one is a lot bigger with better offerings. They have a stick class that I took many years back, and re-took last year that runs 4 hrs one night a week and then a TIG class that ran 4hrs on Sat AM. Both were full semester. I didn't know about the TIG class until after I started or I would have done that one too. A number of the people in my class took both at the same time.
Otherwise if you can find someone to give you lessons 1-1, that is hard to beat.
tony Cecil
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2010
- Messages
- 291
Garage sure looks good 
I hope by the end of this year to join you Tony
I hope by the end of this year to join you Tony
clemsonfor
Super Member
I taught myself how to weld on a $89 harbor freight mig fluxcore welder. Its not hard, just buy one if interested and watch videos on the net and read. We have a welding section here on TBN. Once your good or like it then spend some real $$ one one. But i can weld some pretty good stuff for my cheap welder. Im not welding trailer hitches on or anything but fix implements weld my boat fenders back on things like that. Lawnmower deck repairs, buddies dock frame, you name it i have got my $90 worth.
I had it in a closet for a year or more cause i thought it was cheap and did not work, i took my time and monkied with the settings and figured it out with some angle iron and welding on it. It turned out i was just going to fast to begin with. Get some thicker 3/8 or so stuff and take your time to learn motion and speed, then you can try thinner stuff.
MotorSeven
Elite Member
The Man Cage is all welded.
Like Clemson, I just bought a Mig, read up on it and started welding(even a Caveman can Mig). Don't get me wrong, there is a lot to learn and still today I would love to take a class if I get the chance. That being said, for what most homeowners do, the welds don't have to be perfect. Getting a decent machine is important and a 175 or larger is my preference. Craigslist deals abound and I picked up my Millermatic 210 from a Firefighter that was trying to buy his first house...$800 and it was basically brand new. I bought it in late 2006, and looking at all the fixes and projects I would guess I have saved $3K so far. Just one project alone was the 16' extension for my sawmill. Factory 6'8" extensions were $600+ each, so I would have needed 3 to the tune of $1800. The 16'-er I built cost me about $600 in new steel.
buckeyefarmer
Epic Contributor
Obed,
get any of that snow last week?
get any of that snow last week?
OP
Obed
Elite Member
Yes but it didn't last long. As soon as the sun came out, it melted away.buckeyefarmer said:
It was in the 70s today. This is our time of year when it can be on the teens one week and in the 70s the next.
Obed
OP
Obed
Elite Member
I got to use my trailer for cutting firewood. That's one of the primary reasons I bought it. My process in the past has been to cut the logs into 6 to 9 ft lengths at the log pile and transport them on the FEL forks to the area beside the house where I do my final cutting and splitting splitting. This time I changed things up a little. I decided to cut the logs into firewood lengths at the log pile and put them on the trailer. With the trailer parked facing downhill, I could set the 18" long logs on the trailer and roll them downhill to the front of the trailer.
I had a little trouble wrapping the chain around the ends of one of the logs because I couldn't get the chain under the log. I've considered getting some log skidding tongs but wanted to see if I if I could get by without them. However, after spending 15 minutes trying to wrap the chain around the end of that heavy red oak log, I think I'll get a pair of $40 tongs. The tongs would speed up the process of pulling the logs off the pile and with 80 logs still needing cutting up, I can use every minute of time savings.
I had intended to cut up one more log than I actually cut up. However, when I just had 9 feet of a log left to cut up, my 20" chainsaw stopped running. I suspect the spark plug is fouled. So I went back to the house and got my 14" chainsaw to finish cutting up a 16" red oak log. Cutting with my 14" saw is much much much slow slower. I felt like I was trying to use a toy. Thus, I stopped pulling logs off the pile when I finished cutting up the current log.
I had a little trouble wrapping the chain around the ends of one of the logs because I couldn't get the chain under the log. I've considered getting some log skidding tongs but wanted to see if I if I could get by without them. However, after spending 15 minutes trying to wrap the chain around the end of that heavy red oak log, I think I'll get a pair of $40 tongs. The tongs would speed up the process of pulling the logs off the pile and with 80 logs still needing cutting up, I can use every minute of time savings.
I had intended to cut up one more log than I actually cut up. However, when I just had 9 feet of a log left to cut up, my 20" chainsaw stopped running. I suspect the spark plug is fouled. So I went back to the house and got my 14" chainsaw to finish cutting up a 16" red oak log. Cutting with my 14" saw is much much much slow slower. I felt like I was trying to use a toy. Thus, I stopped pulling logs off the pile when I finished cutting up the current log.
