Oh no! My bucket is broken!

[Spiros]

Nice fix. Welds look better than mine.

 

[k0ua]

Nice fix. Welds look better than mine.

Thanks.

 

[drizler]

I really got to learn how to weld. I keep figuring ways around it, but there is no substitute for the real deal.

I learned by buying a welder and just going at it. Today with the net it's so much easier. Just don't try to teach yourself to arc weld on sheet metal:thumbdown:like I did. Wet sheet matal at that outside in the rain:thumbsup: Yea, better don't do that use something thicker to play with if you are arc welding. Remember , a bit of artistry with a grinder and your welds will pretty much look just like a pro did it.

 

[k0ua]

I learned by buying a welder and just going at it. Today with the net it's so much easier. Just don't try to teach yourself to arc weld on sheet metal:thumbdown:like I did. Wet sheet matal at that outside in the rain:thumbsup: Yea, better don't do that use something thicker to play with if you are arc welding. Remember , a bit of artistry with a grinder and your welds will pretty much look just like a pro did it.

What is it that they say: "putty and paint can make a weldor what he ain't"

 

[BrokenTrack]

What is it that they say: "putty and paint can make a weldor what he ain't"

Not really because then it just breaks again.

Really there are two types of welders. Those that run off with the mouth, and then the rest of us that never forgot where we started.

When I was welding, I got put with the new guys that were struggling because of this reason. I remember struggling in my early career; trying to remember to hold the edges on a vertical-up weld when it seemed going faster would make the weld smooth out, or trying to weld one handed when everyone welds better with two, and then helping the new welders get over these issues so they get to be good welders.

It would be a blast to work with you guys for just a few hours, just so you would get the habits that are needed to weld consistently, and then all of you guys would be off and running. I really mean it, you would see, and then say, "oh, I see", and then you guys would be fine. Now I have said "guys" loosely because in my experience, women make the best welders because their dexterity skills are so much more precise then men.

It goes beyond repair too, I have built several implements just because I could weld saving me thousands of dollars. I really encourage EVERYONE to learn welding if they can...it can serve you well in life.

 

[BrokenTrack]

Funny story on welding and humility.

My most humiliating situation as a welder, ended up making me a much better welder.

What happened was, I got laid off early in my welding career, and so they kept us on, but we had to be laborers. For a welder, that is kind of humiliating. So one day we were in the bilge of this ship sucking up paint chips, and the next day we were in an engine room painting jet fuel lines. But the rest of the guys were slopping on the paint, and this was a US Naval destroyer, and I figured if I did a good job, I would not be sucking paint chips out of the bilge with a backpack shop vac. And that is just what happened, so I painted jet fuel lines for a month because I did a clean job.

But in order to get between the ceiling (called the overhead on a ship) and the top of the pipe, I used a mirror, then dabbed the spot with my brush.

Well when I went back to welding, I realized a month of painting was like practice for welding. To this day, I will start to weld a tight spot where I have to tape a mirror into the corner, and my brain will switch over, and suddenly my hands work backwards. It is far tougher than it sounds. But in mirror welding, everything is backwards...left is right, and right is left, so everything gets goofy quick. But from painting with a mirror in tight spots, I ended up being one of the welders they grabbed when there was a mirror weld to make. (On ships, there is no skip-welds, everything is 100% welded no matter where that weld is).

It was just hand-eye coordination, but without being able to paint with a mirror, I would have never been a great mirror welder.

 

[stuckmotor]

Broken Track,
Thanks for confirming what a weldor told me about mirror welding on a ship. He told me about it in the early 70's and I've occasionally wondered if he was making it up.

 

[stuckmotor]

Good work James and good to see Shield Arc posting again.

 

[k0ua]

Good work James and good to see Shield Arc posting again.

Unfortunately Shield Arc hasn't posted since August 2018.

 

[dragoneggs]

It would be a blast to work with you guys for just a few hours, just so you would get the habits that are needed to weld consistently, and then all of you guys would be off and running. I really mean it, you would see, and then say, "oh, I see", and then you guys would be fine. Now I have said "guys" loosely because in my experience, women make the best welders because their dexterity skills are so much more precise then men.

Unfortunately Shield Arc hasn't posted since August 2018.

Speaking of Shield Arc... when I bought my Miller 211 transformer several years back, he invited me to come over with my machine. It was the best 2-1/2 hours of instruction and advice I have ever had! It was a humbling but fantastic day.

Didn't realize that it had been so long. Need to check on him. Tractor Seabee is closer to him than me. Maybe he can update us?