Welding class starts tuesday

Some introduction to welding and lots of safety warnings and horror stories. :)

If they scare you to the point that you think that you might not want to take the class any more, then your in the proper frame of mind for taking the class seriously and safely.

Larry

I second that the first day In my class the instuctor told us several stories that scared the hell out of us, also told us not to forget the word "DIE" or "DEAD". Said they always come on the job for tools, work or an accident.

Yeah, that sound about right... the first night in the machine shop class (26 years ago) was to show peoples hair pulled out, arms stuck in the machines, etc....... Jack

A lecture on safety including procedures and gear/clothes. Maybe you'll see a video on safety. Expect to hear that the instructor will not allow any student into the shop beginning the next class meeting without proper clothes including steel toed boots, cotton or wool clothing.

You are also likely to get a tour of the shop. You'll see all the key stations: welding booths, gas welding stations, cutting tables, grinding room, scrap bin, etc.

There should also be a discussion and display about tools (wire brush, plyers, chipping hammer), masks, and gloves.

You may have a reading assignment for class 2 on basic safety as a prep for a quiz at the beginning of class 2.

You may feel gypped and have a hard time waiting to actually start making metal melt!

Ciao, David Todtman

I'll have to work out a deal on the boots... they'll never fit over my prosthetics (peg legs) I've got my welder at home... the classes will be to learn more of the book (tech) stuff and to have someone else look at my welds and tell how to make them right (better). Jack

p.s. plus I'll get to use some of their scrap.... I think?

I start my students out with a simple lecture on shop policies, safety and a tour. We go over the equipment that will be needed for each type of welding process, and what books would be good to read.

My returning students usually skip this stuff and go straight to the shop and start welding.

Ernie,

Say you have someone older and not seeking a job... he's just wanting to do some welding as a hobby and has a tig welder at home... do you put him on that type of machine or do you have a set course that everyone does and then advances to the next skill level?

May I ask ( I'm sure you get asked this alot) what books you think is a must have?

Thanks, Jack

Everybody starts on Gas welding. Unless they are professionals coming in for a specific task, like a certification. Maybe they only spend 1 or 2 classes on gas, or possibly the whole quarter. Gas welding is the best training for TIG welding and works really well as a basis for ALL welding skills, plus it is much easier to have a large group doing gas welding, than any other process, because they don't need as much space between them. It has little commercial application in itself, unless you are a metal artist. I can easily evaluate and adjust torch control in gas welding to improve TIG welding.

Jack Andrews - New Edge of the Anvil. An intro blacksmithing book, with the best iron metallurgy description ever published for the average person to understand and use.

Modern Welding - Bowditch, Bowditch, Althouse, Turnquist. Our standard textbook at school. Excellent reference book , a bit complex, but still a must have.

I haven't seen any simple welding books that I really like, but there are a bunch of new ones that I haven't gotten a chance to read.

I really recommend learning about metallurgy. Once you understand the concepts of grain structure and heat treating, you will start to understand why welds are performed in certain ways. The one concept that most beginners don't understand is why lots of small welds are better than one BIG weld.

Learn about heat distortion, weld contraction and heat affected zone effects, and it all starts making sense.

Well, I was going to make a wisecrack about not having to worry about having hot slag drip onto your foot but then I realised those legs of your are probably quite expensive and you sure would want them protected too, eh. All good wishes, David Todtman

Ernie,

I know you've had interaction with the Crucible in Oakland. Are the classes taught there any good at teaching welding for "real" fabrication, or are these classes better suited to an artist that wants to stick metal together with less regard for creating a joint that is as sound as it could be? Ultimately, I'd like to weld up some race car chassis components for my own use, and want to make sure I know what I'm doing...

I ask because the local CC classes aren't offered at a time that is convenient for me, but my suspicion is that The Crucible's classes aren't as comprehensive.

Peter

$9,000.00 for one.... I wonder if carbon fibre catches fire? I quess I should check on that....

Jack

The Crucible teaches Welding. How you apply it, is up to you, but they do teach REAL welding. I have nothing but the greatest respect for them, and I have heard nothing but good things from people who have taken their welding classes. I don't think they do welding certifications though.

How comprehensive the welding classes are has a lot to do with how fast you can learn.

Jack, one other note in addition to the replies you've already gotten -- when I took an adult-education welding class (*not* a for-credit class) we got the safety lecture, tour of the shop, and instructions on what to bring and wear to the next class. The class was scheduled for 3 hours, but it was dismissed after maybe 45 minutes, since nobody was equipped to do some welding ... nobody except me, that is. I had brought all my gear -- gloves, leathers, helmet, etc. -- so I asked the instructor if I could go ahead and do some welding, He was most agreeable, and so I got a couple of hours of individual instruction right at the beginning!

The adult-ed class I took was extremely flexible. The instructor allowed each of us to focus our attention in the direction we wanted to go--even at the beginning we were given a choice on whether we wanted to start out with stick or mig, though he encouraged all of us to learn at least a little about both. Over the span of the course, we were also introduced to a little bit of o/a and tig. My understanding is that the curriculum in the for-credit classes is much less flexible.

Oh, yeah, and you get to use a *lot* of their scrap, not to mention their rods, their gas, and their electricity :)

Sounds like a good idea... I think I'll show up ready to go.

I hope ours is flexible too... the day courses seem to have a set plan of 4 stages (2 stages per year)

That's what I'm talking about... use up their stuff while learning :)

Thanks, Jack

Thanks Ernie.

Peter