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That guy should probably pursue a different career. It's one of those skills where the basic concepts are pretty easy to grasp, and looks pretty easy when you see the experts do it on Youtube, but some folks never seem to master the whole eye-hand coordination thing in real life.
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I have a gob of crap to do today and was getting coffee in me...then I found this thread.
Two hours of binge reading and now I can get started with my day. There just aren't enough good words to give the OP. Not only for your drive and attention to detail, but the effort to document progress in learning. Keep it up man, you will go far. |
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Tag for further reading.
Congrats on the scholarship. I've started learning to weld with an intro class this summer. I'm glad I don't have anyone in my class like you have in yours. Yikes. |
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That guy should probably pursue a different career. It's one of those skills where the basic concepts are pretty easy to grasp, and looks pretty easy when you see the experts do it on Youtube, but some folks never seem to master the whole eye-hand coordination thing in real life. View Quote Quoted:
I have a gob of crap to do today and was getting coffee in me...then I found this thread. Two hours of binge reading and now I can get started with my day. There just aren't enough good words to give the OP. Not only for your drive and attention to detail, but the effort to document progress in learning. Keep it up man, you will go far. View Quote Quoted:
Tag for further reading. Congrats on the scholarship. I've started learning to weld with an intro class this summer. I'm glad I don't have anyone in my class like you have in yours. Yikes. View Quote I know a lot of folks may not be interested in making a career out of welding, but if you want to learn some of the basic's for projects at home, the intro classes are a great way to dip your toe in and learn a lot of good fundamentals. And for the couple hundred buck's it costs, you learn enough that your home projects will hold up better, and look better most importantly you'll know how to do it safely. I want to say this though, 90% of my fellow student's at this level are great folks who work hard and try their best and I get along with all of them. A lot of the guys I have had classes with have been ex-military and they work their asses off in class and it shows in their work. I have even had several women in my classes, who worked really hard to prove that they have a place in the program too, and they are fantastic welders. Even my Asian buddy who can barely speak English work's relentlessly to get the projects done, and done right. The biggest thing I have noticed is the people who are in either their mid 20's or older, work really hard to learn this and they do well. Younger guys and girls can be really hit or miss. Some like my friend in the advanced Tig class can make great welds, work hard and do very well overall. And unfortunately the other half use financial aid money to pay for class, and have absolutely no interest in doing anything more then the absolute minimum for class. They show up late and stoned, they leave the second they can without getting in trouble, and they spend half their time outside smoking or goofing off. They don't have to worry about rent or providing for a family, so they don't really care much about doing anything other then the bare minimum because as long as they pass, who cares. What they fail to realize is this is the easy part. Going out into the work force is going to be a rude awakening for them. They also have this notion that just because the industry is desperate for welders, they are all going to make 6 figures and work a 9-5, 40 hour week job in an air conditioned environment. The reality is that they keep doing the bare minimum and they are going to be paid the bare minimum and frankly they won't have any job security either. I realized early on that I want to make as much money as possible, and I don't want to get stuck in some shitty job where the pay is barely more then a fast food restaurant and I get laid off every time the work get's low. And to do that, I have to be the best welder I can possibly be. If I learn a niche job like welding thin metals or stuff like aluminum, and not only that but I do it well, then I have job security and can get a salary that reflects my skills. |
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Your thread is nothing short of inspirational and humbling.
One of the things you said about all the effort you are putting reminds me of what a teacher of mine used to say, the goals you set are the goals you get. I can related to that completely: my current job was but my second option, the fallback plan. Since then I found out that the place I wanted to work at (option 1) sucked in many levels and, more importantly (2) a lot of people want to work where I work at now, and that includes pretty much everyone I would work with at the job I was turned down. I found out they have the budget to get 3x their current staff either, but they don't. So, to get in you have to be more than pretty good. Just doing what you are told and going home does not cut it either. I can therefore relate to you refusing to do just good enough. I hope when you graduate you will soon find a job that will appreciate your skills, and show their appreciation in your paycheck. If not, keep building your name and then go look for the place that does. After all the sweat equity you are putting in, do no settle for a good enough job. |
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I've enjoyed reading your posts. I went through the Hobart welding program in Troy, OH back in the early 80s. Not two weeks after finishing my training I was in Houston welding on fracking rigs. However, life threw me a curve ball and I ended up working for Uncle Sam. When I retired from fed.gov at 50, I moved to AZ and got so bored with retirement I took a job as a welding instructor for the local community college. I taught AWS D1.1 code for 5 years. So I can relate to your thread both as a student and instructor.
My advice to you is to join the United Association (UA) which is the trade union for welders and pipe fitters. They have locals all over the country. The hard part to swallow is that you will essentially have to "start over" with their apprenticeship program. However, it's not easy to get in to the UA so if you have certs, you are better positioned to get selected. At any rate, good luck with your new career. One moar piece of advice - welding is a trade for the young. Eventually, it will take a physical toll. You seem like a motivated young man. Get your certs, go work in the field for a few years and then pursue a CWI. Inspecting welds pays better and its much easier on your body. But get your time in under the hood, then pursue the CWI. |
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I've enjoyed reading your posts. I went through the Hobart welding program in Troy, OH back in the early 80s. Not two weeks after finishing my training I was in Houston welding on fracking rigs. However, life threw me a curve ball and I ended up working for Uncle Sam. When I retired from fed.gov at 50, I moved to AZ and got so bored with retirement I took a job as a welding instructor for the local community college. I taught AWS D1.1 code for 5 years. So I can relate to your thread both as a student and instructor. My advice to you is to join the United Association (UA) which is the trade union for welders and pipe fitters. They have locals all over the country. The hard part to swallow is that you will essentially have to "start over" with their apprenticeship program. However, it's not easy to get in to the UA so if you have certs, you are better positioned to get selected. At any rate, good luck with your new career. One moar piece of advice - welding is a trade for the young. Eventually, it will take a physical toll. You seem like a motivated young man. Get your certs, go work in the field for a few years and then pursue a CWI. Inspecting welds pays better and its much easier on your body. But get your time in under the hood, then pursue the CWI. View Quote I'm hoping right now to get my degree, spend some time working in the field, and pursue CWI through the AWS program. I got an email about it a few days ago and checked it out. I may end up with a union eventually, but right now I am hoping I'll be able to find somewhere local and get my foot in the door and decide what to do after I get a feel for what its like. Thanks for the advice though, its nice to hear from some folks that have been where I'm at |
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You have a knowledge base in metallurgy now.
An introductory course in machining would be worth some consideration. Even if you don't do much with it, having the process knowledge will help you get into a different arena. I worked with some other millwrights that came in from a welding background. |
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You have a knowledge base in metallurgy now. An introductory course in machining would be worth some consideration. Even if you don't do much with it, having the process knowledge will help you get into a different arena. I worked with some other millwrights that came in from a welding background. View Quote I may end up pursing some robotic welding classes down the line however. |
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Just an update tonight, I forgot my phone so I don't have any pics.
I'm a bit irritated at myself because I blew my test on the cover pass. We could do one practice one and the test and of course, my practice one was textbook. Root was fused all the way through, the coverpass was in correctly and looked beautiful for once, and then I weld my test up. A point of disagreement with my teacher is use of a grinder. Now I understand the pros of not using one, and it saves a lot of time. But not being able to grind out the root for the hotpass is a first. We also couldn't grind out restarts which is usually something you do, but I am not bad at restarting without it, but in every practice pipe we have done, it was standard to grind the root for the hotpass. Even so I was able to lay a pretty decent root in, but the coverpass was higher then normal because of not being able to grind the root and fusion with the plate on the cover was a lot harder, and it did not go as well. I passed the root bend with flying colors. The face bend however did not go so well. It had a pretty defined lack of fusion on one side and tore along that line. But I can go back in Wednesday and try one last time. The young guy who was an ex- Marine did 6G as well, kicked ass and had some flawless bends. Hes definitely going to be making some good money. I was the only other one to do 6G, and I think everyone else pussed out and tested on 2G. Either way, I am confidant that I can get it down on Wednesday but wish me luck anyways. |
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Just an update tonight, I forgot my phone so I don't have any pics. I'm a bit irritated at myself because I blew my test on the cover pass. We could do one practice one and the test and of course, my practice one was textbook. Root was fused all the way through, the coverpass was in correctly and looked beautiful for once, and then I weld my test up. A point of disagreement with my teacher is use of a grinder. Now I understand the pros of not using one, and it saves a lot of time. But not being able to grind out the root for the hotpass is a first. We also couldn't grind out restarts which is usually something you do, but I am not bad at restarting without it, but in every practice pipe we have done, it was standard to grind the root for the hotpass. Even so I was able to lay a pretty decent root in, but the coverpass was higher then normal because of not being able to grind the root and fusion with the plate on the cover was a lot harder, and it did not go as well. I passed the root bend with flying colors. The face bend however did not go so well. It had a pretty defined lack of fusion on one side and tore along that line. But I can go back in Wednesday and try one last time. The young guy who was an ex- Marine did 6G as well, kicked ass and had some flawless bends. Hes definitely going to be making some good money. I was the only other one to do 6G, and I think everyone else pussed out and tested on 2G. Either way, I am confidant that I can get it down on Wednesday but wish me luck anyways. View Quote |
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Best of luck on Wednesday. I've been struggling the last couple weeks. I received my last two assignments back today and I received a 95% on both of them, however they took me a long time to crank out. I'll be headed in on Wednesday hoping for some redemption on my 6011 vertical up welding. View Quote One thing that made a world of difference for me with open root, is finding the land and gap and amperage range that work for me. Personally I like a 3/32 landing and a 3/32 gap because it allows me to weld a bit colder, and a bit slower. And I'm sure you probably already know all this, but for those who are wondering what I'm talking about, I drew up a few MS paint diagrams since I didn't have any pics for tonight. When I started on open root, I had a really hard time keeping my keyhole in the center and what I didn't understand was, what you do to one side, you must also do to the other. My other problem was heat control, and knowing when I need to pull off and let it cool down. Especially when going vertically, the heat rises and you have to speed up or you end up with a monster keyhole. In the below example of my own weld, you'll see how large the keyhole got. When it started getting to about about 1/8th I should have pulled out and let it cool down. The other mistake I made was starting on the side that was the tightest. By starting on the tight side and welding up to the larger gap side, I was only making it worse as hot metal expands. Attached File Notice how as I went up, my weld gets bigger and bigger? Well that goes into the gap widening. Because I did not turn my amperage down, I was burning the sides out, making the keyhole bigger and depositing more and more metal while not really gaining any ground. When the gap starts getting too big, whip slightly farther ahead to give that fraction of a second it takes to cool the weld pool down some. If that's still not helping, pull off it and let it cool for a few minutes and restart slightly colder. Another problem I was having was my restarts and my tacks. I was not burning my tacks in and my restarts were not fusing. As you will see in these examples, you want to start a bit back from the keyhole and warm the electrode up and the root up at the same time. So that by the time you get to the keyhole its really cooking and it burns in. The same with tacks, you want it nice and hot as you get to the tack, push the electrode in and continue the same speed. Attached File This is Chiefs horizontal pipe. His root isn't terrible, but you can clearly see where his tack was, because its the one spot he failed to fuse it, most likely because he was moving to quickly over it, and not pushing it into the existing metal/tack Attached File I fixed my problem with uneven lands and gaps by doing this. I will take two 7018, 3/32 electrodes knock the flux off and bend them into a V. I also use the diameter of the electrode, to check my land. If you want a 3/32 you lay it on the landing, and if no metal shows on the bottom, you are at the landing you want. If you ground down more than that, you know that your landing is closer to a 1/8th. The only problem I had was once you tack it, the metal shrinks and the gap was still slightly larger on the other side. So I started doing this and my gap was the exact same all around: Attached File And lastly, the thing that probably took me the longest to get right was electrode angle. This is my personal preference, and it is possible to drag a 6010 but you have to have a certain gap and move quickly. For me the whipping with a side to side weave, works best. One thing that was a really fucking me up was my electrode angle. When I was doing 2G (horizontal) I kept trying to drag it instead of pushing it. And for me that was causing the puddle to stay super heated, and was depositing a ton of weld into the puddle. Once I realized I had to push it just like I did on vertical, I finally started laying my roots in decently. Attached File |
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And this is a handout that I was given in one of my very first classes. I didn't pay it much attention at first, but its something my favorite teacher has stressed in every class and its actually really important.
It doesn't matter what process you use, if you are having ANY problems welding you can always narrow it down by going through these 5 essentials. Attached File Attached File |
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Alrighty guys I am now officially done with classes for this year.
I plan on going back this year when my Tig teacher is teaching the intro welding classes so I can do some practicing. I'm hoping to do some MIG welding as well since its been a while since I have touched a Mig gun. I also plan on keeping this thread active with updates on some of the home projects I have been working on. I don't want this to get archived before I get done with the entire program, so feel free to post any questions you may have, pictures of projects YOU are working on, or really whatever welding related stuff you feel like. You may see the thread just be bumped (assuming the mods are OK with that) because I want my entire journey through trade school to be contained all in this one thread. I started this as a thread to show my welds, and ask questions to people who know more. Its grown into something more for me now, and I can honestly say I am really proud of the progress I have made since I started it. I really hope that everyone has enjoyed this journey as much as I have. It's been really incredible to be able to go back, and look at something I did and at the time and thought was pretty decent and then compare it to what I'm doing now. I still have a long journey ahead but knowing that I have come as far as I have is a pretty good feeling. This thread should be a great example for all of you at home, who are not content with what your doing now and want a change. Maybe your dream is not to be a welder, but if you want something more in life, the only thing holding you back, is you. If I can go from not even having a clue about what welding really was, to being able to weld on a variety of metals in all positions, with all processes then you DEFINITELY can. So stay tuned, I have some really cool projects yet to come. |
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I just took a look at this thread today. Outstanding work dude!
I went through the full time welding program at the cc where I used to live. I graduated a few years ago, but I’ve definitely gotten rusty. See prior to taking welding & fab, I took the machining program. Most of the jobs I’ve had since I graduated have been machining jobs, as I seem to find machining jobs that pay more. My current job being no exception. At any rate, I finally have my new shop up at my new place(and power to it). I was kinda scratching my head, trying to remember what all we did in welding school(TBI doesn’t help with that unfortunately) 5 years ago. But this thread brought back a lot of what I couldn’t remember. Thank you for that. For me, learning machining and welding were very empowering. I went from being an Infantryman-with essentially no other skills and no appealing job opportunities, to having 2 trades and lots of opportunities for work. It completely changed my life. And I really enjoy working with metal, so I like what I do. |
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I just took a look at this thread today. Outstanding work dude! I went through the full time welding program at the cc where I used to live. I graduated a few years ago, but I’ve definitely gotten rusty. See prior to taking welding & fab, I took the machining program. Most of the jobs I’ve had since I graduated have been machining jobs, as I seem to find machining jobs that pay more. My current job being no exception. At any rate, I finally have my new shop up at my new place(and power to it). I was kinda scratching my head, trying to remember what all we did in welding school(TBI doesn’t help with that unfortunately) 5 years ago. But this thread brought back a lot of what I couldn’t remember. Thank you for that. For me, learning machining and welding were very empowering. I went from being an Infantryman-with essentially no other skills and no appealing job opportunities, to having 2 trades and lots of opportunities for work. It completely changed my life. And I really enjoy working with metal, so I like what I do. View Quote I also have to say how great this opportunity is for guys who got out of the military and don't have a clear path forward. There have been a lot of Ex Mil guys in almost every single one of my classes and they are by far some of the best students. Not to mention the GI bill covers the cost of going to school, and every teacher I have had has always worked really hard to help those guys get good paying jobs once the program ends. |
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And to keep this from being archived, I have some updates and some more pics of stuff I'm working on.
It has been insanely hot and humid these past two weeks so I did not do as much as I wanted on this, but its coming along. I am finally ready to share my design for this project, and I am really proud of it to be honest. It may be over engineered somewhat, but it was a blast coming up with the design, brain storming with my Dad on better options and then figuring out what I wanted it to look like and how I wanted it to function. This is definitely not a new idea, but I think it is a better design then a lot of the dueling target stands because it allows you to use T posts, and packs up into a nice small package that can be transported in just about any vehicle. I was able to use a plasma cutter to remove some of the excess metal but I unfortunately have a lot more grinding ahead of me. The image is still not as large as I wanted, but you should be able to see all the area's that have to be welded. The Youtube stuff is my brother's channel and I plan on painting it on before I give it to him. Link to detailed plans Here's some pics of what I was working on. I made a mistake on the small 3/16th plate when I cut it, so I am going to re-cut new ones because I want it to basically sit on the pipes edge and go down the sides. I plan on Tig welding that. The rest will probably be done using 3/32 stick electrodes because my uncle has a Stick welder and is very near where I'm working on this. This one shows 3 of the targets I plasma cut ready to be ground down to the final size. Underneath them are two more that I wish I could have cut, but will now use a cutoff wheel on. The yellow one with #1 cut side on it was actually two pieces, and I used a 6010 to weld it together, then cladded a few 1/8th 7018's to make sure I burned out any slag inclusions and to make sure it was flush with the base metal. This is my box of parts to either be ground or welded. I substituted the rebar called for in the plans for framing pins because they were the perfect size and I had some bent ones I could salvage lengths of. And this is the only actual target section I have managed to complete. It took much longer then I anticipated, but it went together exactly how I imagined. And for a refresher, this is what I cut my targets from, and how many holes from a 5.56 my brother put in it . I filled the holes and then cladded the surface so they would be flush when ground down. |
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I can’t remember if I posted this yet, but dang cool thread OP. Thanks for taking the time to keep it up to date, I find it super interesting.
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Seatbelts, you've given me the motivation to get off my ass and sign up for classes. AAS in welding. It will be a wild ride, I'm sure.
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Seatbelts, you've given me the motivation to get off my ass and sign up for classes. AAS in welding. It will be a wild ride, I'm sure. View Quote |
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Seatbelts, you've given me the motivation to get off my ass and sign up for classes. AAS in welding. It will be a wild ride, I'm sure. View Quote Quoted:
Good for you. This thread is one of the things which pushed me to sign up for the class I took. I have two classes to go, and I can certainly stick two pieces of metal together now. View Quote Best part of this entire process has been the confidence it's given me in my own abilities and potential. It's also been great because I love building stuff, and knowing that I can weld most any metals, in any position and with any of the process has made me go from being terrified of when I start looking for a job, to feeling confident that I can get a great job and pass any hiring tests. Thanks for the compliments guys, it means a lot |
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Awesome thread man!!!! You've come a long way!
If you can swing it, grab a brush wheel and a cheap grinder from HF. Being able to really clean between passes makes a surprising difference when you're stick welding. And it saves your arm from brushing and chipping which is super helpful with the "always be comfortable" thing. |
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The bummer is I've got to do a bunch of general ed classes along the way. I did sign up for Nondestructive Examination for the first semester. That starts on the 15th if I recall correctly.
The real good news is I've got a class or two from years back that count towards the overall credit hours. It will be January before I actually get into a classroom or lab setting. It's all online for now. |
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Awesome thread man!!!! You've come a long way! If you can swing it, grab a brush wheel and a cheap grinder from HF. Being able to really clean between passes makes a surprising difference when you're stick welding. And it saves your arm from brushing and chipping which is super helpful with the "always be comfortable" thing. View Quote The biggest problem with my last stick class was my teachers rules about grinders. In every class I have had him in, you were not allowed to use a grinder at all on your final. With pipe, you are supposed to grind your restarts and we had been and I was kinda shocked when he said we couldn't even do that. But luckily he had shown us how to restart without one, so my restarts were not terrible but not what I preferred. He wouldnt allow a wire wheel, or grinder until you got to the stage where you had to grind your coupon down to bend. No other teacher has had that rule. Quoted:
The bummer is I've got to do a bunch of general ed classes along the way. I did sign up for Nondestructive Examination for the first semester. That starts on the 15th if I recall correctly. The real good news is I've got a class or two from years back that count towards the overall credit hours. It will be January before I actually get into a classroom or lab setting. It's all online for now. View Quote I ran into the A problem with credits myself. I had done math and a ton of English classes, but apparently to graduate with the associates in welding I have to take an applied math class, but my English should count. The real bullshit comes from the required classes that are pointless. I have to spend about 500 bucks to take a "team building" class and a "college success" class. NDE is pretty interesting, a girl in my last class did that and she said it was an enjoyable job. Best of luck when you get started, I know going back to school for anything can be really stressful especially when you have a job and all going on too. I should have some updates coming soon, just some random project pics to keep the thread from archival. I'll post up my last classes grades in a couple days. |
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Quoted: I learned that one real fast haha. Using a hand wire brush was taking too much of my time, so I grabbed one a year ago. It actually crapped out on my final night of class, but it was only 30 bucks so no biggie. The biggest problem with my last stick class was my teachers rules about grinders. In every class I have had him in, you were not allowed to use a grinder at all on your final. With pipe, you are supposed to grind your restarts and we had been and I was kinda shocked when he said we couldn't even do that. But luckily he had shown us how to restart without one, so my restarts were not terrible but not what I preferred. He wouldnt allow a wire wheel, or grinder until you got to the stage where you had to grind your coupon down to bend. No other teacher has had that rule. Damn that's wild. We were in the lab by the 3rd class in my program. Just doing some basic oxy torch cutting but we were at least in the lab. I ran into the A problem with credits myself. I had done math and a ton of English classes, but apparently to graduate with the associates in welding I have to take an applied math class, but my English should count. The real bullshit comes from the required classes that are pointless. I have to spend about 500 bucks to take a "team building" class and a "college success" class. NDE is pretty interesting, a girl in my last class did that and she said it was an enjoyable job. Best of luck when you get started, I know going back to school for anything can be really stressful especially when you have a job and all going on too. I should have some updates coming soon, just some random project pics to keep the thread from archival. I'll post up my last classes grades in a couple days. View Quote |
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Quoted: I'm lucky that my schedule allows for me to go full time and it wont be a financial burden. The stress is already ratcheting up. Reminds me of Cola Warrior SE3, getting there was obstacle zero and there were only coordinates, no street address. Signing up has been one of the most frustrating experiences of my life. The school's website is just horrible. Plus it has been almost 20 years since I've done any studying. View Quote We had a ridiculous number of people who were doing their second class ever in the higher level classes that were supposed to be locked via prerequisite but the class advisors just sign people up for anything, and never look to see what's required to actually get it. The system also punishes people have to sign up online because they work during the day and can't go to school and wait hours to sit down and have a admin get you in all the classes you need for the year. |
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Quoted: Damn that's wild. We were in the lab by the 3rd class in my program. Just doing some basic oxy torch cutting but we were at least in the lab. I ran into the A problem with credits myself. I had done math and a ton of English classes, but apparently to graduate with the associates in welding I have to take an applied math class, but my English should count. The real bullshit comes from the required classes that are pointless. I have to spend about 500 bucks to take a "team building" class and a "college success" class. NDE is pretty interesting, a girl in my last class did that and she said it was an enjoyable job. Best of luck when you get started, I know going back to school for anything can be really stressful especially when you have a job and all going on too. I should have some updates coming soon, just some random project pics to keep the thread from archival. I'll post up my last classes grades in a couple days. View Quote |
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I earned an A- in my intro to welding class. I'm pretty pumped about it, because I didn't think it would be possible. I'll probably take the TIG class in the summer so I can really focus on it like I did the general class.
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Quoted: I'm only doing the general ed classes so I can get them out of the way. I can also do them online. Next semester I will sign up for some in-person classes and have to drive across the county to get there. I have to do Intro to Computers, lol. I've been posting on this site for years. You'd think that would be testing out of that class. Also have to get that pesky English and Math done. View Quote |
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I earned an A- in my intro to welding class. I'm pretty pumped about it, because I didn't think it would be possible. I'll probably take the TIG class in the summer so I can really focus on it like I did the general class. View Quote Feel free to post up some of your projects if you want to I can honestly say, I am actually miss going to class. Its gonna be what feels like a lifetime before spring gets here and I can get back in the lab and weld in earnest. Classes here start back up in a couple weeks, so I may wait until they get settled and pop in to try and Tig weld for a bit. What classes are you taking next? |
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Quoted: That is absolutely fantastic man, and I for one am stoked to hear someone else is taking a class, and kicking ass at it. Feel free to post up some of your projects if you want to I can honestly say, I am actually miss going to class. Its gonna be what feels like a lifetime before spring gets here and I can get back in the lab and weld in earnest. Classes here start back up in a couple weeks, so I may wait until they get settled and pop in to try and Tig weld for a bit. What classes are you taking next? View Quote I'm taking basic machining next, and I'll probably do the advanced machining class in the winter semester. Next summer I'll take TIG, which should be a blast. |
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Thanks. Everything we did in the class was very basic, but I did use the plasma cutter to make a nameplate for my classroom. I'll try to get a picture of it. I'm taking basic machining next, and I'll probably do the advanced machining class in the winter semester. Next summer I'll take TIG, which should be a blast. View Quote |
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Nice so are you going to be more of a machinist? I personally loved Tig and when I start job hunting next year that's what I hope to get into. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Thanks. Everything we did in the class was very basic, but I did use the plasma cutter to make a nameplate for my classroom. I'll try to get a picture of it. I'm taking basic machining next, and I'll probably do the advanced machining class in the winter semester. Next summer I'll take TIG, which should be a blast. |
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I'm taking classes so I can teach some sort of trades classes at the HS level. I'm already teaching, but I see a need for this in a huge way. View Quote You're doing a great service to your students |
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Quoted: Ahh gotcha, do you know how many classes are required for your program? I would be interested in seeing the difference between your program and the one I'm doing. View Quote |
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I've been taking machinist classes for awhile. I love it and hope to make a mid career change in the next few years.
I just found this thread and realized I also need to take welding classes. You guys keep saying this looks great or that looks bad. I can't tell the difference with any of it except that it all looks better than any of my welds. Apparently I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to welding. |
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Quoted:
I've been taking machinist classes for awhile. I love it and hope to make a mid career change in the next few years. I just found this thread and realized I also need to take welding classes. You guys keep saying this looks great or that looks bad. I can't tell the difference with any of it except that it all looks better than any of my welds. Apparently I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to welding. View Quote We get a good number of Machinists coming into our program because I think a couple welding classes are required to graduate in that program, most love it. The other side of that is not all welds that are structurally sound look perfect. Some don't look pretty at all but they get the job done and at the end of the day, that's what really matters. |
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I forgot about the pics I took a couple weeks ago. I am finally on the cusp of finishing this project and I am really excited to finally be able to weld it all up.
I would have finished the prep work when I took these pics, but I had literally used my last cutting wheel, and ground my last disk down to where it was almost pointless to continue. The amount of time it's taken to grind this shit has been unreal. I'm not quite done shaping the actual targets, but it's close enough that I feel like I can actually weld them and then put the finishing touches on the shape. I had imagined that I was going to get them perfectly round, but I have come to the realization that without a laser cutter its just not going to be as perfect as I imagined and that's ok. Right now the biggest hurdle by far is going to be cutting this last one out. It just takes a fuck ton of time to get the basic shape cut out using these cutting wheels and I regret not just using the plasma cutter at school on all of them when I had the chance. I also realized that I had used the wrong diameter on the last five so I have room to really grind them to a near perfect circle. The completed one is a 6in plate and the rest are 8in but I have not decided if I really want to cut 2in off all the ones I have shaped. Its a major time killer. I selected where I want the connecting bar located, and am going to cut the bar stock Sunday and finish cutting the blocking plates for sure and I'll hopefully get the last target plate at least cut out. The real hard part is choosing what process I want to use to do this with. I thought my uncle had a Tig welder but he was confusing Mig and Tig, so right now the only options I have are stick welding and Mig. I'm leaning towards just doing it with stick, but I have some concerns with using stick on the thin metal backing bars, but I may do a test one and see how it goes and commit to doing it after I see how it comes out. I'm also going to try and size it a bit differently. Right now the height is going to be a bit much, especially when you factor in the clearance needed for them to swing past each other. I had sized the holder so that it wouldn't create pressure and drag as it swings but if I can reduce the length of the pipe holder and the rebar I would like to do it to make it more compact and easier to transport. This is where I'm at. All but one is pretty much completed and ready to be welded. I got the top left connecting arm cut to fit (it looks smaller but I measured it to match the completed one) This is the average size the cutting wheels are when I finally toss it. I have learned that the HF cutting wheels are cheap for a reason. The just disintegrate 10x faster then even cheap dewalt ones. And for those of you who do what I do and skim threads and are wondering what the fuck I'm talking about or working on, here's the specific sections of the dueling stand I'm currently working on Attached File And this will be the finished project when I'm finally done. The goal I had in mind from the beginning is taking an awesome idea that already existed, and modifying it some so that it can be more easily transported. I want my brother to be able to easily pack this up and fit it in his 4Runner. Attached File |
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Just asking the question, but why not just weld the flat bar on the back of the circle rather than to the side? It would seem to avoid putting a joint in a high stress area and having to grind out that radius.
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