I wish I could weld

[dstig1]

Real sorry to hear that. My first job, was with electrical switchgear. We used a lot of blue asbestos, drilling holes and blowing the dust out without masks. I have often wondered if I will stay lucky, or if it will catch up with me one day.

There is a bit more to asbestos than most people are aware of. Yes it is bad. But by itself it is not the death sentence most people have come to believe. The real killer was the combination: asbestos exposure + Smoking. If you just smoked, you had some increased risk of cancer. If you were just exposed to asbestos (airborne) you also had some increased risk. But when a smoker gets exposed to asbestos, that is when the risk goes up exponentially. With so many smokers back in the day of asbestos, this is what really drove a lot of it. So like I said, yes it is bad, but the real killer was the combination of the 2 factors.

Just my $0.02

 

[shadetree]

I am really glad I found this.
I started a three day job of building a wind block so I could learn mig with gas. Up and down the ladder about did me in. I'm still not done but still at it. Turned 71 this past Sunday. Had been learning stick, was having trouble burning through a muffler I was trying to modify. I had tried a bunch of different rods, 1/16 at low amps, then when tired and it was near dark I went for broke took a 1/8 7014 @ 90 amps and zipped around the exhaust pipe. When I got back to the beginning I was so surprised I just stopped. Burnt thru the pipe. Best weld I'd ever made. That's when I decided to go with mig. And I was tired of standing in the back yard. I still need to finish the door, run the electricity and paint. Been at least a month and a half I've been working on that 3 day job and still have at least 3 more days, that extra hundred pounds really works a ladder. Sure will be nice to get back to learning how to weld. Nice to know I'm not the only ole guy trying to do new stuff.

 

[Underdog57]

Yeah...I'm another old guy (60) that just started welding again.

We might need to start the "Newbie Old Guy Welding Club"

I really enjoy the tips about how to see the puddle better with old eyes! :thumbsup:

 

[IslandTractor]

Yeah...I'm another old guy (60) that just started welding again.

We might need to start the "Newbie Old Guy Welding Club"

I really enjoy the tips about how to see the puddle better with old eyes! :thumbsup:

We could start a old fart welding club: The Over The Hill Cheaters Welding Society

 

[Big Barn]

We could start a old fart welding club: The Over The Hill Cheaters Welding Society

Count me in.

Terry

 

[dragoneggs]

We might need to start the "Newbie Old Guy Welding Club"

We could start a old fart welding club: The Over The Hill Cheaters Welding Society

Sign me up too... not sure I want to join the Newbie Old Guy Club or the Farting Cheaters club? I do happen to be wearing my 'Old Guys Rule' T-shirt at the moment.

 

[sdef]

Count me in.

Terry

Me too.

I saw a bucket tooth displayed earlier in this thread. Here is mine off of a grapple rock bucket after months of extreme use. I do not have a pic of the gaping hole where the tooth had been but the tooth's welds and metal surrounding the tooth appeared to have just been torn off with no weld failure. More like a plate steel defect from the OEM. I didn't have a welder nor any welding skills when this happened last year and took it to a local shop. Would not have welded this anyway, with my fledgling welding skills and 210 MIG. I seem to recall I measured the metal thickness as 3/4". The weld is not pretty but has held up to countless encounters with large, buried rock/small boulders with no ill affects. So it is strong.

 

[Shield Arc]

sdef the guy who welded that tooth on should be shot! :thumbdown::thumbdown:

 

[86Ford]

Reading this thread, I was reminded of my dad who is now in his mid 70s (I am thinking he qualifies for the old guy status). Anyhow, he decided he wanted to learn to weld after I gave him one of those buzz boxes. Nothing fancy, just stick some broken parts back together. So, he decided to take a class in the local vocational school at night. Well, the title of "old fart welding club" truly applies here. The class was mostly full of older men that wanted to learn to weld. It seems, in fact, that several of the men had taken the class several times, and had worked them selves up to a high level of proficiency. For my dad it was refreshing the take this class with like minded people. In the end, he learned basic welding skills and can now make some of those repairs he wanted. Granted, the welds are not pretty, but do the job.

I am not sure if any of you that want to learn to weld have a local vocational school that offers welding at night, but to me, it was one of the best $150 he ever spent, and he feels good about himself in the end!

 

[sdef]

sdef the guy who welded that tooth on should be shot! :thumbdown::thumbdown:

Yeah, I know and was not pleased. But was in the middle of clearing my property for our retirement place and had to get back to work, so tried it out. In the end it has held up fine. They had a couple young guys around the shop and I figure they let them tackle this relatively simple project- relative to the other things I saw the shop was working on. This is the second welding shop I have used during this project and have not been happy with either. At least now I can do most of my own welding.