Can someone recommend a good book on welding techniques?

I don't think you can learn to weld from a book. - GWE

If you can't make it to a class, then I'd have to go with "Modern Welding".

Just a suggestion, though... It's worth going to school. Just in the purely financial sense, it was way cheaper for me because I used up far more material than I paid for the class. Lets hear it for community college!

You are going to need to pratice welding awhile, even if you got a book....

xman

Yep I've already been practicing with a MIG quite a bit, I did ruin a few tips when I got erm... to close to the work. I tend to have a very ugly weld when I use a stick welder.

Try 7014 in the horizontal position, 3/32" rod, set to 90A DC+. It's really easy rod, just strike an arc and let the rod burn, no need to manipulate it at all. That's why they call it "farmer's rod". It does spatter a bit so if you don't like dingleberries take a small chisel and a hammer and nip them off cleanly.

Once you get good at 7014 move up to 7018. Much better stuff. You have to fuss around keeping the rods dry and warm, but the welds look great and are really strong and you can weld tool steels without the welds cracking from hydrogen embrittlement because the rods are low hydrogen.

I still think you'll learn more in an hour watching a welder than you will in a month of working out of a book. It's also very beneficial to have an experienced welder watching you -- he can say "lift up your hand a little - your angle's too steep" which you'd never know because you're watching the puddle.

GWE

I learned with books and practice. I wouldn't call myself a journeyman welder, but I get sound welds with good appearance. I know they're sound from having to "unweld" a few misplaced joints with a grinder. Unwelding is a lot slower than welding!

It's really a matter of practice.

However, I expect it took me a good deal longer to gain proficiency than it might have if I'd had some good instruction and coaching.

This is the inevitable "me too" post. I've been doing a couple of weeks of welding here and there throughout my apprenticeship. I cannot imagine trying to learn to weld without a capable welder near by. Frequently the problem is as simple, as Grant said, as an angle or some other issue that is virtually impossible to diagnose without a lot of experience.

While MIG welding is a start, you basically need a pulse and a functional hand to make a nice MIG weld, in my experience. Arc welding in any position other than 1F takes a fair amount of practice and at least some instruction (although I guess if you have a _lot_ of patience....)

YMMV.

Regards

Robin

Welding is like riding a bicycle or driving a car. You have to do it, not read about it.

With that said, I would recommend "Modern Welding" if you want to learn theory, and "The Complete Book of Home Welding" if you want a description of how it is done. The latter is out of print so you want to check with nearby libraries.

Or spray the area around the weld area with Pam cooking spray.

Or get fancy and buy a case of anti-spatter spray off ebay.

Gunner

Liberals - Cosmopolitan critics, men who are the friends of every country save their own. Benjamin Disraeli

Bear in mind that "a nice MIG weld" may not be a strong weld. There are Community Colleges nearly everywhere that have welding classes.... best cheap $$$ you'll ever spend....

--Get several; read 'em all. You'll get to resonating with bits from each one..

"The Complete Book of Home Welding" is available in very good used condition on Amazon for about $20 plus shipping.

- Carl