Acetylene welding

It's good practice when first learning O/A to actually deliberately burn through enough times so you get a feel for it. This will help you get penetration later on.

Grant

The guy who taught me gave me a coat hanger and an old muffler. He would have me blow holes in the muffler, then patch over them.

It's tricky that way. It knows you are just practicing and won't melt through. It waits until the instructor is standing over you watching and then a hole the size of a quarter instantly opens up. :)

Our school switched to 18 ga material because the new foot shear they bought was wearing out too fast trying to cut 16 ga steel. So I got a lot of practice on even thinner stuff with all the processes.

The real trick is getting full penetration when you do a joint. If you don't heat it enough, the bottom edge won't melt and bond together but if you heat it just a little too much, you get holes. You have to burn though enough to get a feel for when it's about to happen because to get the penetration, you have to stop heating right _before_ it burns through.

Very important point there, Iggy. This can be transferred directly to rod welding. Watch the puddle, as that's where everything happens. When it gets big and approaches too big, move on. Not big enough? Wait until it is so you have penetration and fusion. Not as important on the flat as it will be when you get to vertical and overhead. As I said, take it all in, as this seemingly simple exercise carries over to a lot of other more critical and important applications.

Steve

My dad, now deceased, born in 1918, said this was how they would fix the fenders on the model A and T Fords. Coathangers were the preferred filler metal.

Steve