Welding

[Skudd]

I'd love to be able to weld. I don't know all the different types, but the one I've seen and looks like my sort of thing is the clamp one part of the work with a crocodile clip thingy, have dark mask/glasses on, have hand held device with a rod coming out of it, touch the bits you want welding and there is a flash and stuff is welded.

Yes I know all the technical terms are missing and the correct name for the type of welding too, but like I said, I know nothing except I want two bits of metal attaching to each other.

I'd want to do aluminium, steel and other metals. Use an electric method and easy to use. I'd be looking at a cheap ebay type thing to start with and advice (in stupid people language) on what to get and to look out for.
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Famous last words of Humpty Dumpty. " Stop pushing me "
Petty Anarchists look at "1984".............. The Visionary looks at "Animal Farm".

[Hong Kong Phooey]

Welding aluminum is generally not in the realm of cheap. TIG will give you most control of the heat and give the cleanest results, but that requires gas and the learning curve is steep at the beginning. Everything needs to be really clean, and bare metal in the area to be joined.

A mig setup is easy to learn, does steel up to 4mm on the cheaper end. Can get gas or no gas setup, would recommend one you can at least upgrade to gas if you want to improve and weld a variety of metals.

Thick stuff and different metals for cheap you would use an arc welder, these have a welding rod stuck out of the electrode handle and a clamp (they all have an earth clamp). These are gasless, can work outside in windy conditions, and depending on the power of the box can weld thick metal.

You scratch start the arc then pull away to sustain the arc, and move the rod to stitch the pieces together, it's a lot more complicated in reality as angle of attack and speed/distance/direction of rod travel are hugely influential in the strength and appearance of the final weld.

Properly preparing and cleaning the surfaces to be joined is not essential with arc welding, you can weld through painted metal for example, but the better you prepare the better the outcome.

You can get welding rods suitable for a variety of metals and thicknesses, they need to be kept clean and dry. This sounds like what you're after but decide on how thick the joins you'll be making as you'll need to get a welder with the correct power range. Generally AC arc sets are for welds 1.5mm to 5mm, in the home use category, much thicker welds require a beefier power supply.

Thinner welds would be more suited to mig, e.g. car body steel at around 1mm.
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'81 CG125, '97 FZS600 : '99 CBR600F4, '09 KTM RC8

[Skudd]

[Hong Kong Phooey]

^there's a lot of useful info on there. However the real learning comes with experience. Welding heat pulls things out of alignment so working out where to start is part of that, as is knowing how good the weld is by looking at the depth of the bead and if you need more or less heat.

Start gathering scrap metal now to practice on. Get a grinder with some thin metal cut off wheels, flap wheel for sanding. ALDI do cheap grinder disks every now and again.

Some way of holding the pieces together, clamps or welding magnets will be required. Get a bench prepared that can hold weld spatter without setting on fire, some leather gloves (I use old bike gloves) and an auto dimming welding mask too (can be had for about 40 to 60 quid). The mask you get included is crap, generally hand held so that's putting you at a disadvantage as two hands are better, one to steady, one to hold the torch.

It's not cheap when you add in the ancillaries!

Don't inhale the gas, don't set fire, don't wear sandals or wellies, don't look at the arc without a mask, cover your skin and it'll be reet.
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'81 CG125, '97 FZS600 : '99 CBR600F4, '09 KTM RC8