Learning how to MIG weld, no professional training...possible?

Hey everyone. I’m looking to self teach myself MIG welding. A few years ago I bought a cheap harbor freight flux core welder to repair rocker rust on my Miata (talk about diving in head first). Over the years, I’ve used it for some projects here and there, and have gotten pretty decent with it. However, I’m finding myself start to get into some more bigger projects when it comes to cars (mainly more body work, some exhaust stuff), which is making me look into investing in a good MIG welder and some self taught practice.

Is this doable from a hobbyist standpoint, or am I just looking at a complete disaster if I try this? It seems like many here have welding experience, I'm just not sure if its professional or self taught, so want to get some insight.

IMHO for mild steel it's totally doable.  Get a decent machine, watch some videos and/or talk to friends, and lots and lots of practice.

That's what I did, and while I still suck at welding, it's mainly because I haven't spent enough time on practice.

Totally in for the discussion.  I'd also like opinions on affordable MIG welders, but I keep thinking I should just save for a Miller 211.  I took a one on one training session and used it and it was great.  I can take more lessons as desired too. 

Flux core tends to look ugly, but it's still better than no welder at all.

CLEAN the metal.

Get close.

Slow down.

Slow down more, you're not going slow enough.

Watch lots of youtube.  weldingtripsandtricks is my favourite.

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

IMHO for mild steel it's totally doable.  Get a decent machine, watch some videos and/or talk to friends, and lots and lots of practice.

That's what I did, and while I still suck at welding, it's mainly because I haven't spent enough time on practice.

 

Thank you! Yeah, I'm not looking to build complete stainless steel exhausts, roll cages or anything, just maybe a muffler or tack up an exhaust to take to a pro to get fully welded. Mostly want to learn MIG for the purposes of making body repairs for rust, etc.

Practice and YouTube. It may not get you where professional training would, but it'll get you 90% of the way. 

SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) said:

Flux core tends to look ugly, but it's still better than no welder at all.

CLEAN the metal.

Get close.

Slow down.

Slow down more, you're not going slow enough.

Watch lots of youtube.  weldingtripsandtricks is my favourite.

Thanks! Speed is my issue...I tend to move the gun faster than I should at times with my flux core mostly because its so easy to blow through with the thing.

There should be a chart in the machine that tells you what to set it at.  That is a "guide" and not "law."

If you're burning through, turn the heat down or add more wire or both. You will eventually get the feel for your machine, and know what it needs and what you can get away with.

SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) said:

There should be a chart in the machine that tells you what to set it at.  That is a "guide" and not "law."

If you're burning through, turn the heat down or add more wire or both. You will eventually get the feel for your machine, and know what it needs and what you can get away with.

As an add on to this, I've found that most of the problems people think they have with fluxcore is because they haven't taken the time to set the machine up properly.  Tension on the spool is a lot more important than most might think.

Thanks guys! Yeah, I'm sure my flux core machine settings are way off, so will need to look more into it. I was able to weld up new rockers for the rusted ones on my Miata with it though, so I'm pretty happy with that!

Its good to see that others here say MIG should be doable without being a professional. Anyone self taught themselves MIG, and what do you typically use your welding skills for?

Japanspec said:

Anyone self taught themselves MIG, and what do you typically use your welding skills for?

Angry just pointed out that he didn't pick up a torch till he was in his 50s, and his car is a work of art (or would be if he ever finishes it.)  He's a great example of what you're asking for here.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/monzora-redux-65-corvair-94-corvette-mashup-for-20/156432/page57/

Mr_Asa said:

Japanspec said:

Anyone self taught themselves MIG, and what do you typically use your welding skills for?

Angry just pointed out that he didn't pick up a torch till he was in his 50s, and his car is a work of art (or would be if he ever finishes it.)  He's a great example of what you're asking for here.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/monzora-redux-65-corvair-94-corvette-mashup-for-20/156432/page57/

Thats pretty amazing. I may have to just get some motivation from him, because judging from the thread, his welds are very nice.

For training, you might check your local community college.  One of the ones near me has a great welding education program, and I've taken a couple courses.  Lots of hands-on welding time with instruction and feedback.

For a cheap MIG that'll do flux core or gas sheilded, I've been happy with the Eastwood 135.  I've only run flux core through mine, but a friend has one with a gas setup and likes it.  I also agree, given a half decent machine that MIG isn't too hard to self teach.  After a few hours of practice I managed to put together an exhaust for the Jeep that's held up fine and doesn't leak.  And that was despite most of the welds on it being 304 and 409 stainless welded with mild steel flux core wire.  The 304 was a little harder to get good welds with, however. 

Sometimes great deals can be found on second hand, name brand welders. Gas shield is way better/easier to use than flux core IMO....especially is you get into any overhead stuff.

Also if you do want some more professional training, at most Tech colleges you can just sign up for a single class of what you want to learn. In your case that can be MIG welding. For me I've taken Mastercam and CNC programing as the only two classes.

In reply to Japanspec :

He upgraded to tig sometime in the past 2-3 years, the thread is a nice show of the evolution of a home-welder

I've never had any formal welding training and I get fine results from my Harbor Freight 170a machine.  That said, at the beginning I got terrible results and it was a pretty long process of learning and upgrading.  The path to enlightenment with a Harbor Freight Welder is as follows: 

Go to the welding gas store and get:

- a bottle of MIG gas.  The single biggest upgrade you can do, and it's pretty much plug and play with the HF welders.   Flux core sucks to learn with; experienced welders can get acceptable results but as a beginner it makes everything so much harder. 

-  a respectable helmet so you can see your work... you can't weld what you can't see.  I got an entry level Lincoln Electric and it's a huge upgrade over the garbage HF helmet I started with.

- Some good quality welding wire.  I think 0.030 is a good general purpose wire, but I also keep some 0.035 around for big projects and some 0.025 for sheet metal.

Now go to Amazon and get:

- a regulator for the MIG bottle.  I think I paid $25 for mine, it's been working fine for over five years now.

- a good quality ground clamp.  The one that comes with the HF welders is trash.  Because the welder itself doesn't have a voltage knob (just wire speed), you will make fine adjustments to your heat by moving the ground clamp closer or farther from where you're welding to add or reduce resistance.

Now go back to HF and get:

- their portable welding table.  I've used it for a thousand projects, it works great and it's easy to store.

- a few angle magnets and welding clamps.

Now go to the metal supply store and get a bunch of off-cut steel.  Run a bunch of beads on varying thicknesses and check your penetration.  Practice making joints with the angle grinder (90% of welding is what you do before you're actually welding).  Pick a simple project and make something; I got a bunch of angle iron and made a rack for firewood.  By now you should be ready to take on some car projects!

In reply to Japanspec :

What Wvumtnbkr posted is exactly right.

 Go to your metal supply store and buy cutoffs from their bargain bin. Clamp them up and start melting them together. Experiment with wire speed and look at the results. Experiment with amperage and look at the results. .035 wire takes more heat to melt than .030, so if you're still burning through your base metal after tuning your settings with .035 wire, maybe you should invest in the tips and rollers and a spool of .030 or even .025 (if there is such a thing. I'm no expert). This was perhaps my biggest revelation with the TIG, because I was burning through my headers with the heat (amperage) required to melt .065 filler. Stepped down to .045 and all of a sudden hey I'm a pretty good welder!

someone on here said "turn up the heat til you burn through, then back it off  a little."

From Carl who's wicked smart:

8 Tips for Welding Like a Pro

Also:

Proper Chassis Welding Etiquette

David S. Wallens said:

From Carl who's wicked smart:

8 Tips for Welding Like a Pro

Carl dies right hood stuff.  Is he wicked smart or wicked smaht like Good Will Hunting?  

pkingham (Forum Supporter) said:

For training, you might check your local community college.  One of the ones near me has a great welding education program, and I've taken a couple courses.  Lots of hands-on welding time with instruction and feedback.

This is what I did.  One night a week for eight or twelve weeks (I don't remember exactly.)  It was inexpensive, and we got a lot of hands on time with good equipment and an experienced instructor.  Check for adult or continuing education classes in your area.

I usually only use MIG for tacking things before I take them to some one competent. I have, agains all better judgement, been able to weld a bracket for my lawnmower deck back on good enough for it to only rust out again, and weld it again. If you start small and work up to bigger, you may surprise yourself.

With sheet metal, you can absolutely learn by doing with or without instruction.  On thin steel, bad welds make themselves known right away.  There is less control than with TIG, but you can manipulate some variables on the fly with MIG.  You can make small adjustments to amperage by moving the gun closer or further from the work piece - note that there are limits.  You can also move the arc to the back of the puddle as needed.  This will build up some weld metal and can save you if you are about to blow through the base metal.

You can learn at home on heavier steel too, but it requires more dedication to learning because it is possible to make a garbage weld that looks decent.  Also the consequences of failure are typically greater.  Cut and etch tests will teach you a lot.  Weldingtipsandtricks covers this in a few videos.  Bob Moffat's videos with Weld.com were pretty good too.  I'm no longer working as an inspector, but I enjoyed doing destructive tests while the welder was there to watch.  You can improve quickly if you learn how to properly critique your work.

Practice on scrap pieces and then knock them apart.  You can see how well the weld is in the cross section.  I've seen plenty of "good lookin" welds that break apart easily.  especially with the 110V machines.

Also - if you are at your lowest setting and still blowing through sheet metal (or welding super this stuff); use a 100 ft long 14 or 16 gauge extension cord to power the welder.  The voltage drop across 100 ft of crappy extension cord will drop the DC voltage on the welder...