Minimum age for welding?

I taught my boy to gas weld at about 9 years and at about 10 he was tig welding. At 15 he tig welded my mustangII suspension in my street rod (his eyes are better then mine) He is now 19 and is L.A. certified as a welder for mig and stick. How can you get along with out welding Ed ke6bnl

Peter Grey wrote:

My dad started me arc welding about that age maybe younger. Glloves wouldnt fit so I didnt use them. It taught me to concentrate on the puddle.

go for it.

I was a whole lot older when I started welding, but after many years of electronics soldering and some plumbing soldering, I found TIG to be very easy to learn. One thing that would likely be an advantage for teaching a child is TIGs clear view of the weld puddle and lack of spatter and smoke.

Pete C.

I learned to gas weld @ about 12... made everything seem easy after that. TIG is a snap if you can lay down a good bead with oxy/acet. And MIG seems like child's play...

I still get frustrated with stick though...

Well where should I start. how about the time I was fitting some 12" Sch 80 steam line at Dixon Canning in Calif and my buddy accidently touched his stinger opposite the piece with the gnd and I became a human conductor or the time I was out in TX building well heads and some one laid down a lead with bad insulation on a isolated frame holding a big generator and I was on a metal platform next to it and you get my point. Things can happen.

B.H.

| > "Brian Hill" wrote: Well I've been a professional welder for almost 25 | > years and I've had the crap shocked out of me a couple times. (clip) | > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ | > You've got my attention. Would you care to tell us your stories? | >

| | Well where should I start. how about the time I was fitting some 12" Sch

80 | steam line at Dixon Canning in Calif and my buddy accidently touched his | stinger opposite the piece with the gnd and I became a human conductor or | the time I was out in TX building well heads and some one laid down a lead | with bad insulation on a isolated frame holding a big generator and I was on | a metal platform next to it and you get my point. Things can happen. | | B.H.

As funny as these things are later, I wouldn't think that the voltage would be fatal to any normal healthy individual, although that incident in a boat would be a tough one. I've been nibbled with 12V a lot and hit with

220 and 440 but low current. The worst hit was 120V through one arm and out the opposite leg. Punched me in the chest a good one! What made things good for Gunner I bet was the sweat that conducted a lot of the electricity around him instead of through him. Funny how the little things always mean so much in times like that.

Hi all,

Just thought I'd report in. I was doing some TIG welding this evening on some SS pieces and my son came out and asked if he could try his hand. After getting him suited up in an extra hood and some gloves of mine, I had him watch what I was doing, made sure he could see the puddle, and get familiar with the motion of the torch.

He then tried some passes on a piece of S.S..125" flat stock without adding rod. He held the torch and I manipulated the pedal. Although the passes weren't straight, they looked pretty good. He kept the torch a good distance from the work and showed a pretty good feel for things. He wanted to try adding rod and he'd done well enough that I thought that he should give it a shot. I was astounded by how well he did. Nice distance, good feel for when he should speed up or slow down and he kept the bead going for a good thirty seconds until we ran out of room. I've seen plenty of adults do worse during their first TIG efforts.

I should say that we used about 70 amps on .125" material so there wasn't much chance of melting through, and that I manipulated the pedal, but overall he gave plenty of reason to be proud (not that I needed one). We'll sneak up on it slowly, but so far so good.

Thanks for all your input BTW. I used many of your suggestions.

Peter

replying to Peter Grey, slow internet wrote: well he is 25 years old so i think he can do it

replying to Peter Grey, slow internet wrote: well he is 25 years old so i think he can do it

replying to Peter Grey, McCullough wrote: I learned to run a bead when I was 6 in my fathers shop. I spent many years practicing running a bead. By the time I was 9 years old I could out weld anyone around our community. The earlier you teach him the better I think. Make sure to do everything safely. I would start him off with the mig welder, it is easier to handle in my experience. Good luck.

replying to Peter Grey, McCullough wrote: I learned to run a bead when I was 6 in my fathers shop. I spent many years practicing running a bead. By the time I was 9 years old I could out weld anyone around our community. The earlier you teach him the better I think. Make sure to do everything safely. I would start him off with the mig welder, it is easier to handle in my experience. Good luck.

replying to Peter Grey, McCullough wrote: I learned to run a bead when I was 6 in my fathers shop. I spent many years practicing running a bead. By the time I was 9 years old I could out weld anyone around our community. The earlier you teach him the better I think. Make sure to do everything safely. I would start him off with the mig welder, it is easier to handle in my experience. Good luck.

replying to Peter Grey, McCullough wrote: I learned to run a bead when I was 6 in my fathers shop. I spent many years practicing running a bead. By the time I was 9 years old I could out weld anyone around our community. The earlier you teach him the better I think. Make sure to do everything safely. I would start him off with the mig welder, it is easier to handle in my experience. Good luck.

replying to Peter Grey, Isaac wrote: Ya im isaac and when I get out of school my mane job that I would like to do is welding. Why? Because someone has menchined to me about welding and now that he has told me this I have been really interrested about welding and I have been wanting to do welding for my whole life. I want to do welding because I want to do this job to enjoy.

replying to Peter Grey, Isaac wrote: Ya im isaac and when I get out of school my mane job that I would like to do is welding. Why? Because someone has menchined to me about welding and now that he has told me this I have been really interrested about welding and I have been wanting to do welding for my whole life. I want to do welding because I want to do this job to enjoy.