new wiki for metalworking, welding, etc.

[weldmeister]

For those of you in need of information on welding and metalwork in the course of your boat-making may be interested in a new encyclopedia (or "wiki") of welding and gases terminology online sponsored by the Gases and Welding Distributors Association (GAWDA). It's called GAWDAwiki (http://www.gawdawiki.org/gwiki/index.php/Main_Page).
The wiki is interactive, which means you can use it as a reference, add new terms and definitions, or add more information to existing terms. Please take a look at it and see what you think. It's a great tool for beginners and pros!
I hope you find it helpful.

[RFNK]

Thanks for this - it looks like a great resource. Could I just ask a quick question though? I've only done ARC welding and I'm pretty hopeless at it. I'm keen to learn to weld properly but time to undertake any course is limited (although it's on the agenda!). In your opinion, for general `around the home and boat' welding, what is the best setup for a rank beginner? I'd like to weld mild steel and 316 stainless reliably. Rick

[ABfish]

Thanks for this - it looks like a great resource. Could I just ask a quick question though? I've only done ARC welding and I'm pretty hopeless at it. I'm keen to learn to weld properly but time to undertake any course is limited (although it's on the agenda!). In your opinion, for general `around the home and boat' welding, what is the best setup for a rank beginner? I'd like to weld mild steel and 316 stainless reliably. Rick

Rick:
A MIG welder is by far the easiest type to learn for carbon steel. No slag to obscure the weld as with stick (arc) welding, so you can see exactly what you're doing. My pa-in-law, a nuclear welder, used to call my MIG machine the "idiot welder" as in "any idiot could use it".

Welding stainless is another matter, however. I believe you'll have to go with a TIG process for stainless and I doubt that you will be able to teach yourself successfully.

After nearly 30 years of welding on my own construction equipment, I would highly suggest a course at a local tech school, or at least a couple of sessions with a pro. You'll learn more in a couple of hours with a pro than you could teach yourself in a year.

[cookie]

I bought a second hand TIG welder a few years back and taught myself to use it. A pro had taught me to weld MIG, and learning TIG was a bit of a struggle from there, but it can be done without a pro constantly looking over your shoulder.
Since you are someone with an obvious talent for crafts, my suggestion would be to buy a used professional TIG set. Not a cheapie Chinese one, those are terrible for learning (and everything else).
TIG welding machines also have the option to weld stick, so you can weld pretty much everything and anywhere you want. Only welding aluminium would require the extra option of AC weld current.
Buy the basic course book on TIG welding from Lincoln Electric, only costs about $10, and if possible, ask a pro whether he can give you instructions for about four sessions of an hour. It will take a lot of practicing though.

[pipefitter]

Thanks for this - it looks like a great resource. Could I just ask a quick question though? I've only done ARC welding and I'm pretty hopeless at it. I'm keen to learn to weld properly but time to undertake any course is limited (although it's on the agenda!). In your opinion, for general `around the home and boat' welding, what is the best setup for a rank beginner? I'd like to weld mild steel and 316 stainless reliably. Rick

The hardest part about self learning stainless, is getting your hands on enough different kinds of scrap in which to practice on and for the recreational side of boat items, is some tiny welds that can be tough to focus on. This is where the value of going to school increases by the time you figure in just your consumables alone.

Fortunately, a lot of boat hardware is welded without filler rod and just fuse welded via tight fitting parts that uses the base metal as the filler. Just look at any stainless bow rail on modern craft and this is what you will typically find.

Aluminum, which to me is the simplest of all of the metals to weld, has made a retard of just about every welder that has come into our shop, regardless of their experience in other aspects of the trade. I have to keep telling them that one day, they are going to wonder how they ever had a hard time with it.

[openboater]

RFNK, for me, TIG and Oxy-acteleyne welding is the easiest and most enjoyable. the problem with stick and mig is crap starts happening all of a sudden, where as with TIG and OA, you can 'sneak up' on the weld, so to speak.

very few weld OA any more, but it was THE way to weld aircraft frames for for generations.

borrow a small OA torch kit from somebody, get a small number'd tip, get a green face shield and start making some puddles on mild steel. (and gloves).

with OA you don't need a hood, just a tinted face shield. one of the best things about it(as a rookie) is you aren't inside this black hood and all of a sudden a bright arc scares you and you don't know whats going on.

once you've gotten so you can manipulate a puddle, Tig is easy, and the other weld types make sense.

I'm currently welding an aluminum frame for a Bolger Tennessee I built using both Mig (HobartHandler 175 with miller spoolgun) and TIG (miller Dynasty DX 200 )

I learned how to weld in 1972 at Cornell University in my Ag Eng 101 (arc's and sparks). the most usefull course I ever took there. OA, Stick, Carbon-arc, pipe fitting, how to sharpen drill bits, how to gridn a screwdriver tip, how to make a chisel.

[Canoeyawl]

Don't beat yourself up too much, Welding is a lot like playing the piano.
Just about anyone can do it, but...
It is a learned skill and with practice you will get better at it.