I want to begin learning to weld. I'm going to have my friend and his dad teach me (his dad was a pro welder in the US navy for 50 years )

For my first big project I want to weld a custom bumper. Nothing fancy. Where do I buy supplies for welding stuff. I'm looking for some roll cage material. I don't suppose lowes or a local Colorado (Fort Collins area) 4x4 shop has the material?

Any tips to help me get started?

 

When you get the welder practice on anything and everything. I would recommend Miller (which I have) or a Hobart. Look for a steelyard, Lowes and Homedepot mark up steel by about 4 times from the price a metal yard would sell it to you in bulk.

Example a 1" piece of square tubing that is 24 ft. long will run around 20 bucks, at Lowes they have 4 ft. pieces for 8-10$

 

Heh, I began practicing on my tools

when doing the head, I created a mini arc welder and almost welded my socket wrench to the frame of the truck.

 

Lincoln sells good small welders for beginners, they call em Weld Packs. Come with everything you need. The bigger ones (WeldPack 140 or 180) are big enough for welding on trucks and can be converted to MIG if you want to MIG weld.

They're all wirefeed also, which is much easier to control in tight spaces compared to stick welding.

I actually just recently learned to TIG weld, but TIG welding a bumper is a little overkill.

As far as supplies, look for metal suppliers, industrial supply companies. Company names with the words Steel and Metal in them are a good place to start heheh. At first it took me awhile to find them also, but once you know what to look for you'll find a number of them around the area.

 

I googled "Welding kit" and found this: http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...0000717-OX2550

Is that what you're talking about?

 

Better yet....if you can, go to a pawn shop, I got a little 100amp buzz box for $20, and it works great.

 

I'm going to check out K&K Surplus in Commerce City in a few minutes... was recommended by some of the COTTORA guys.

www.kksurplus.com

I just got the Lincoln WeldPak 180 from a guy on Craigslist, new in the box. It's still in the box, so can't report too much on how it works, should be fine though. I would HIGHLY recommend you look into a 220V welder. The 110 welders draw about 20A, and if your place is built anything like mine, that means a lot of blown circuit breakers! I made an extension cord to plug in where the stove is and extend out into the garage.

Best welder I've ever used was a Miller Passport:
http://www.millerwelds.com/products/...passport_plus/
Of course, for the price, it should be!

 

I am in the same position. I just bought a small Clarke welder that is recondition for $25.00. I am so ignorant of the process that I wanted to learn a little before I invested any real money in tools. So far, it's pretty frustrating!

If your interested the site is WWW.TOOL-MALL.COM

 

Dude....That site is awesome!! has the best prices I have seen yet. Any comments on quality?

 

Thats not what you want... I think thats more for braizing, but I'm not sure, about the only thing I have used those for, is heating bolts, and soldering pipes.

 

try your local welding supply, they will have everything you need and be able to give youthe best advice for what you need and stuff

 

Well, the welder I received certainly isn't any trophy but It is functional and I am able to learn something on it. The shipping was pretty good. Ordered and at my front door 4 days later. I'd say the quality is equivelent to the little $100.00 welders I've seen at Northern Tool.

 

Great link. thanks. I might check them out tomorrow if that bull bar is still for sale in Englewood. I'll stop by and see what they have.

 

They're closed on Sunday. Open during the week and Saturday morning until noon. They have a great selection.

Check this thread too:
http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=111274

I'll be working on some stuff tomorrow. If you want to stop by and get an intro to welding, let me know!

 

Go to your local metal fab shop and ask for any scrap steel. Great way to learn how to weld.

 

I was in the same position a few months ago.. wanted to learn, thought I'd pick up something cheep first, then invest later even tho everybody told me to save up the bucks and get a good 220v welder.

After spending some time with a el-cheap-o 110v from harbor freight I was really frustrated and figured it was harder than it looked, then I picked up a 220v lincoln 175+ off of craigslist and it's a world of difference. I'm still not great, but I'm still learning, burning every piece of metal I can get my hands on, and it's paying off...

 

Just watch your duty cycle. Those el cheapos are really low duty cycle. 20% at 60 amps, yikes! Thats two minutes of welding in a ten minute span. Watch it or you will overheat the machine. Just my two cents.

 

Dude... how is Molly supposed to feed the hardworkin' types at the house of wrenchin' if you got the durn stove unplugged?...

 

Seriously - it IS a problem. Between the microwave and the grill, we make due though!

 

Welding is like playing the piano...any fool can own a piano but only practice and some proper trainging makes you worth a *&#$(#.

A cheap POS welder is just that...if you are going to learn to weld, invest in a good reputable brand name welder. I would also recommend purchasing your welder from the local welding supply...cost you a bit more up front but handy to know them if your welder ever needs work.

Nothing wrong with 110v welders, if you are just going to weld small stuff and do body work. The problem with any welder is most folks just plug them in and expect them to weld well. A 110v welder needs its own dedicated plug (not in a plug where 40 thousand other things are plugged in and on) as does a 220v.

Problem with most folks is that they go cheap on the welder, cheap on the connection and then they don't really have a clue how to weld...so guess what...their welds look like crap and pentrate/hold even worse.

Get a good welder.
Get a proper electrical connection.
Get someone who has a clue to show you how to weld.

If you are going to weld from now on, these things aren't expenses, they are investments.