Welding & woodworking?

[Paul Steiner]

I was fortunate enough to take a welding class in college I loved it. Without it I would not have had a clue where to begin. Take the class it will probably help you become an educated and safe hobbyist as opposed to some guy fooling around in his garage.

[keith ouellette]

Selft-taught is nice, but time consuming and possibly dangerous.

A few hours spent reading "The Welder's Bible" or "The Welder's Handbook" from Amazon/Lowe's/Home Depot will save you many weekends of trial and error and possibly injury.

I did read different things from the internet and anything I do has to get by on the hammer test. Thats where I try to break the weld with a hammer. the bigger the weld the bigger the hammer.

[David Duke]

Been in the welding trade for 36 years self employed building oil-field bits and stabilizers. While I enjoy what I do for a living I have no desire to bring my work into my hobby.

I absolutely refuse to set up a welding machine at home although it would come in handy at times because I know that I would end up making my neighbors mad at me because I wouldn't fix something for them that would take only a "few" minutes. Its not the money because if they would bring it to my welding shop I would in most cases fix it for nothing its just that my home time is my own and I do with it what I want.

[William M Johnson]

Now something I know about. At one time I was a certified pipe welder (several careers ago) The only way to learn to weld (properly) is to take a class. Especially if you want what you weld to stay together. Just being able to judge a weld is as important as making a good weld.

I own TIG, MIG and oxy actelene outfits. There are very few things that cannot be done with a good oxy acttelene outfit. As a matter of fact if I am welding thin aluminum (gas tank, car body etc.) I will choose to use the torch over the TIG.

Each has its purpose, but a good torch and do it all.

[Todd Houg]

Welding and metalworking are another one of my hobbies and are great skills to have whether for fixing things that break, or building from scratch. I am self taught, I started twenty years ago with no welding experience, bought a MIG welder and a few books and learned on my own. There is much more than meets the eye, so to be proficient, a welding class would be valuable experience. I've never welded a stitch with a stick welder or oxy torch, everything I do is MIG or TIG (although I do have an oxy setup primarily for cutting).

One recommendation I would make is that you have a separate work area or shop for your metalworking hobby. Metalwork is dirty work with lots of metal shavings, oil and sparks. There's the obvious fire hazard of sparks landing in a pile of sawdust. And, you certainly don't want metal shavings embedded in your wood that you're about to run through your planer. Drilling and cutting often involve lubricants which you don't want staining your woodwork. My woodworking shop is in my basement, and my metalworking shop is in a detached pole building to keep all fire hazards away from the house. I have a nice Miller MIG welder and plasma cutter out there along with metal cutting bandsaw, tube bender, chop saw, oxy torch and a dedicated drill press that's always covered with metal shavings and cutting oil.

Todd

[Chip Lindley]

Welding is indispensable as an adjunct to the woodshop. I have made my own mobile stands which look like commercial models. I have paid for my welder several times over by using scrap steel to make what costs BUCKS if purchased ready-made! A *stick-welder* is easy to master, with little training. I taught myself after talking with experienced welders, and reading! MIG welding is quite a step UP if one wants to invest!

Besides a welder, helmet and gloves, would be *nice* to have a chop saw, clamps, side grinder, and a side grinder with a wire brush to clean the steel.

Specialized welding training is a plus for repair of old machinery when new parts are not available! (cast iron, in particular) Aluminum can be welded with training and a TIG welder! Broken parts can be made usable again! Case-in-point: a old Rockwell RAS 14" blade guard that was cracked during shipment. Good as new now, after repair, grinding and painting!

[Bill White]

Just remember........NEVER try to learn to weld on a cracked cast iron wash pot. Wanna know why????
Tune in some day when I've had a LOT to drink.
Bill

[Thomas Bank]

Not to hijack anything, but what do you recommend? My welding has all been oxy/acetylene, but I keep eyeing MIG rigs on CL. I can't imagine getting anything that won't do 3/8ths, so I'm definitely in 220V. I'd like a Miller or Lincoln, which seem like good names, but tend to shy away from snap-on, which seems to be a strange, and pricy, market niche.

My current stable includes Miller for the welders and Hypertherm for the plasma. I've owned Lincoln in the past and would again - just that the deals on the Millers came up instead of deals on comparable Lincolns. As the saying goes, "consider the service after the sale." My local Airgas is great and they cover Miller, Lincoln, and Hypertherm.

My MIG is a Millermatic 250X. The straight 250 has some bad press out there - they quickly updated to the 250X and then the 251. I've never had any issues with the 250X. It will do over 1/2" in a single pass. The TIG is a Syncrowave 250DX - a standard in a lot of fab shops. The Dynasty machines are nice and much more compact than the Syncrowave, but you also pay for that. The plasma is a PowerMax 1100 - the predecessor to the 1250, an 80 amp machine that will cut over an inch of solid steel. All three are overkill for 90% of what I do, but there are times that I've used their potential and that headroom also means that for most of what I do I have a 100% duty cycle whereas a lesser machine may give me 60% to 75% duty cycle and make me have to stop at inopportune times.

Like buying used woodworking equipment, the trick is to have enough knowledge to know what to look for and know how it is supposed to operate - something you gain from having access to the heavier equipment in a class. Look for signs of wear and abuse - if the machine doesn't look like the owner/user cared for it I'd walk away. Worn paint or a coating of dust is fine. But if knobs are missing, pieces are cracked or broken, or the case is dented up you're likely to find other things wrong with it as well. Be sure that you can try it out before purchase. And that is where being able to use the equipment comes in handy. If you know you can lay down a good bead and you can't seem to with this particular machine - walk away.

Another thing is to make friends with the people at the local welding supply. They get machines in on trade as people upgrade equipment. Maybe they can help you find a deal.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

All the time. Especially when making your own machinery.
You need more than welding but it's a start.

[Lee Schierer]

Wood is notoriously hard to weld and you can never find the right filler rod.

Keep your fire extinguisher handy.

[Tony Bilello]

I sometimes think about getting a small MIG welder and get someone to teach me. I think the possibilities in furniture design are endless. There are designs where stainless steel would look good with wood and other times hidden steel inside the wood could make impossible joints possible.

[Steve H Graham]

Like another poster, I made a steel base for a woodworking machine. I have the parts fabricated for a couple of saw-blade racks. I'm planning to buy a milling machine and make it do double duty as a drill press. And I have seen some nut cases cut plywood with a plasma cutter.

Some day, I'm going to get around to making a caja china, and I'll need a welded frame with wooden sides, so I'll have to use a whole pile of tools.

[Peter Quadarella]

I would love to get into welding and metalworking in general, but I don't have the space. If I ever build a bigger shop, I would do it only if I could also plan to have the time also.

[Rod Sheridan]

Wood is notoriously hard to weld and you can never find the right filler rod.

Keep your fire extinguisher handy.

Never heard of Weldwood?

[Rod Sheridan]

In my opinion, the most cost effective machine for occasional use is SMAW (Stick), prefferably a machine that will produce DC as well as AC.

Continuously variable current adjustment is also a plus.

When I purchased mine about 15 years ago it was around $600.

Take a welding course, no point trying to re-invent the wheel, you'll learn far more than you ever will any other way.

Regards, Rod.