Which course? MMA/TIG - MIG - OXYACET

[diarmaid]

Hi all. I've put myself down provisionally to do night courses in welding starting next September for twenty weeks three hours a week. I have to let them know in a while which courses I actually want to do.

When I have my workshop set up next year Im intending to be welding round & square bar & some sheet metal to make gates and railings (Probably up to about 1" max), among other things Im gonna do as more of a hobby.

1) Im wondering which type will be best for this type of welding.

Many moons ago I did MMA and OxyAcetylene welding but cant remember how exactly, and professional training is always a good idea. Theres also testing to International standards at the end of the courses so I'll get a useable qualification.

2) I figure I'll do two courses at once (If the nights dont conflict). So would OxyAcetylene and one other be a good choice, since I get the impression that OxyAcetylene is always good to have regardless of what other types you use?

3) If so, what other one should I do? They have an MMA/TIG and a MIG course aswell.

They cost around €600 each so I want to do the right one.

Thanks in advance.

[diarmaid]

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[Karl_T]

MIG is the best welding process for the projects you have in mind. Its a good starting course, also.

Karl

[Switcher]

Start with Mig.

[fkaCarel]

For small things and I consider 1" small, nothing beats TIG. Largest range of weldable materials, high process control. Can be used for "melting together" to controlled through welding. Finishing of the weld unnessesary, pity of the beautyness. Can be used to weld real tiny parts. Costs a little more.

Carel

[MisterB]

I own a tig machine, and the process is definitly the best looking and most controllable, but for gates and and railings mig is preferable from an economical standpoint because it costs less to weld with and takes less time per weld.
Tig is usually reserved for high stress parts like race car frames and plumbing parts for those two reasons.

[wolfmetalfab]

I own a Tig as well, if you can weld with oxy/acetylene it wont be too hard to pick up. I like to say that tig is sorta like oxy/acet welding cept you have a throttle peddle, but Mister B is correct for building gates and railings I would go for a mig welder as well, production speed would be hard to match other wise

As for classes, Oxy/Acet and mig would be the way to go imo
Oxy/Acet is VERY good to know and the Mig isnt hard to learn but setting the machine up is a art in its own

[wizard]

Considering your described interest I'd go with MIG as the first priority and TIG second. You mentioned certification yet you say you are in this as a hobby, thus I'm wondering if there is acommercial side to this education? Commercially your education and job interest have to agree somewhat.

As far as Oxy/Acetylene welding goes, it is good to know but I'm not to sure I'd get to worked up over it. I just don't see a lot of welding done with O/A, brasing yes along with soldering but nto welding. Everything just about that can be O/A welded can be done with TIG and probably a lot better with TIG. I know there are members here that disagree with this assesment, but I see this as an old process that isn't used much anymore.

The other thing is that if you have already done O/A welding then taking the other courses may refresh the mind a bit.

As to certification I'm wondeirng why you are concerned about that if this is a Hobby. Maybe the EU and Ireland have different concerns but I don't see how certification would help. Atleast on this side of the pond. Welding for hire would be different of course.

A further word of advice is to not over do the education if you are working full itme. Take just one course. I did all of my AAS degree via night school 5 nights a week, working 50 to 60 hours a week and frankly it wasn't worth it. You mis out on everything. This is especially the case if you don't have job requirements based on the course work. Better to take the courses consectively and have a couple of days each week.

Dave

[wolfmetalfab]

My though on learing o/a welding and mig is that with o/a you can do just about everything that you may run in to hobby wise and if you go GMAW (aka Mig) thats one machine to get and if planning to do small-medium production work going to run about $1000-1500 usd (rough guess)
GTAW (Tig) is great to know but IMO thats another chunk of $$ to sink in to another machine that wont be used often, o/a going to cost less then a decent Tig box, plus o/a can be used for cutting, basic pre-heating, welding and brasing/soldering as mentioned

[diarmaid]

Thanks for all the advice. I was worried that MIG was good for large panels such as on aircraft bodies, but that for lots of small welds on (for example a gate) it would take longer to keep setting up the feed rates than to just use MMA or TIG? Could someone clarify this please.

Re. hobby vs commercial, Im in full time employment right now so will be starting as a hobby in my spare time with a serious edge, because I want to go full time and get out of my current job as soon as I know I can make a steady income from my workshop (After 6mths or 1 year max). Hence Im buying equipment for light production as opposed to hobby, and production rates are an important consideration in the type of welding choice. My budget for the welder is €2000 with flexibility to go to €2500 if needed. Hopefully for this I'll get good capability with a decent duty cycle. It won't be used on a daily basis, but when it is I'll need it to be a workhorse and keep going until the order is turned out.

Re. the courses: The testing at the end is to either North American, British Standards, or another (Cant remember which, is there International or European standards?). You can get tested in two but your performance on the course will generally dictate which, the testing standards being higher for the American Standards than BS, and the third than the American I think.

Also, if & when I quit my job, if it all goes belly up, I can go to a building site as a qualified welder and a least cover the mortgage as I get sorted out!

re OA: Not sure I want to mess around with combustible gas without retraining. Other course might jog my memory for it but probably just enough for me to think I know more than I do with potentially bad results.

Thanks.

Edit: Im also going to get a plasma cutter so I wont need the OxyAcetylene for cutting, with this also in mind, will I need the OA for soldering/brazing enough to justify the outlay?

[Switcher]

I really think you should go with mig. (to make gates and railings) Mig is fast, and clean enough for what you said your planning to weld. Once you weld (Mig) for a while you'll learn how to control your feedrate.
You don't need Tig for what you are wanting to do.

Also, only do one course at a time.

From my exp. I would go with Mig (gas), don't use that flux-core crap.

Just like anything else when you go out to buy a welder, you get what you pay for, buy the very best machine you can afford, you won't regret it. Good luck on whatever class you take

[NC Cams]

I learned to weld MANY years ago when a Lincoln Idealarc 250 STICK welder was considered sophisticated (as in AC/DC/DCREV). Took a welding class at a a local trade school (sound familiar???).

Anyway, the instructor taught us how to weld flat, up, down, overhead, in-place, thick, thin, thich to thin, etc. Several of us REALLY took a shine to it and passed the grade early. The instructor then took us asside and allowed us to try our hands at TIG (both mig and tig were available).

Why TIG? His position was that TIG required a combination of skills more like gas welding/brazing with regard to heat control and puddle creation. MIG was sort of like a stick welder without the regular break when you had to load a new "stick".

ALthough my first TIG wasn't perfect, it was "darn near certifiable" according to the instructor.

Point is this: learning to weld (TIG/MIG/Stick/Oxy A) is the mastering of a bunch of similar tasks albeit with differing mediums.

If you're going to weld bridges, then stick welding is still the method of choice followed closely by MIG.

Thin and/or precise stuff (as in aircraft) is probably best done with TIG.

Production steel jobs as in general fabricating or ornamental work would probably be more suited to MIG - simply because it is a 'point and shoot' type of deal.

Have owned a stick and more recenlty a MIG but have used/done all three and knowing what I know now, I'd buy a TIG to start.

TIG would quite effectively enable expand upon any gas welding/brazing experience I have. Besides, pretty much ANYTHING you'd want to weld (aluminum, steel, bronze, etc) can be done with TIG.

TIG is perhaps NOT as expedient nor as productive as MIG. But once I learned how to TIG weld, I contend that MIG and/or even the rare opportunity to STICK weld could be picked up in a snap. It is also much more versatile and encompasses a broader spectrum of materials....