Is welding something that can be learned without being taught? I don't have time to take a class on welding since I'm only home a couple days a month. My buddy has a MIG and an arc welder I can practice with. He uses his MIG without gas though. He mostly uses it to tack stuff together and for light welding.

Can I teach myself to weld? What source material should I use?

About 8 years ago I bought an auto tinting welding helmet. Got my buddy one too. Every time I've tried welding, I've used that helmet. All I can ever see is the bright ball of light of the weld. I'm fully shielded from the light. I just can't see what I'm doing. It's like having sex the first time not knowing what you're doing. I just poke around and hope I get it where it needs to be.

Mig welding? Sure!

The easiest way to learn anything (almost) is via a YouTube video. Pictures are worth a thousand words. Go out there and search a few videos.

Grab some scrap sheet metal, and thin steel and burn away.

Shouldn't MIG welding give me a fairly clean and neat weld even without the gas. What about being able to see what I'm doing?

i taught myself to weld using stick on a lincoln tombstone ... i prefer it over every other kind of welding i tried
key is to practice practice PRACTICE   

How do I overcome the issue of not being able to see what I'm doing?

>How do I overcome the issue of not being able to see what I'm doing?

Practice :)

It's the hard part of electric welding, with gas, you use a lighter glass that you can see through a bit. Given a choice, I would recomment learning using oxy-acetylene welding first, it teaches you what you want for a weld puddle better. But, you can learh with any machine, MIG without gas isn't the easiest way, flux wire splatters easily and is frustrating to use for a beginner, it's mainly used because it's cheaper, not because it makes better welds...

To start with, stop worrying about where the work is, get a nice piece of sheet metal and run beads on it anywhere, don't weld 2 things together, just make lines without burning holes in it, when you can make a 4 inch straight line that you can see on the other side, with no holes, then play with welding 2 things together....

I'll give that a try. No oxygen available though. Only MIG w/o gas and arc.

Quote from: m_fumich on January 06, 2012, 08:15:53 PM
How do I overcome the issue of not being able to see what I'm doing?

does the helmet have a dial   for darkness ? you might need to turn it down.   when im ark welding you see the initial brightball then you can see your  puddle its bright red and usually flowing, the trick i learned when i was having probally make sure my weld stayed in contact with the 2 piece was to make it so i just pull the welding rod down towards me so i just have to keep my hand steady.

or try to keep a mental picture of what the pieces look like and try to follow it in your mind with your hands. if that makes sense..

It is adjustable. I only used it a couple times when I first got it. It's been sitting in my buddy's garage ever since. IIRC, even with it turned as dark as it will go, all I see it a white ball of light.

If I know I'm getting up that way, I'll put it on the truck. You can show me what I'm doing wrong. Maybe it's just a piece if crap.

If your MIG welder requires O2 or Argon you aren't going to be able to weld anything together and get any kind of penetration. The gas is required to help shield the weld and to help form the bead. It also helps to keep impurities out and to help cool the weld as you go. There is a flux core welding wire that you can get, the flux does the shielding in place of the gas. On average a #11 or #12 lens or those settings is all you will need to be able to see where you are welding. At most you will only see about an inch in front of and behind the weld as you go. It is a good idea to watch some YouTube videos on welding.
Brian-

Lots of towns have a "community college" that is not far away, and has available evening welding classes, taught by someone who knows how to pass on knowledge.
Wire feed welding is much cleaner with an inert gas shield, and easier, than using a conventional stick/rod induction welding.
I always use stick welding first because I want deeper penetration, learned this first and more comfortable with it.
Start with a 714 drag electrode.

64longstep, my buddy's MIG doest require gas. He's never used gas with it although it has the connections.

MrChuck, I'd love to take a class at the VoTech but I'm an OTR truck driver and a lease operator. I'm home 2 days a month. I've only been to my buddy's place twice in the last 6 months. Both times it was because I needed something welded for the truck. I don't even know if I'd have the time to get to his place just to practice.

Quote from: m_fumich on January 07, 2012, 08:38:57 AM
64longstep, my buddy's MIG doest require gas. He's never used gas with it although it has the connections.

I wouldn't want to trust my life to any of his welds... Without using the shielding gas you aren't getting any kind of penetration and the welds are going to be brittle... One thing to remember about welding is, that the bigger the blob doesn't make for a better job...

He only does light stuff with that. We did my seat frame and a bracket for my tv. Nothing that gets any stress.

Matt
Get you some thick scrap metal.
  Sheet metal is the hardest to do of anything.

  Get some fat angle iron or 1/4" plate that you can really get your teeth into,
and turn up the arc welder to about 130.
Strike an arc and practice looking past it, at the work, (quit looking at the flashbulb, Bud!  Look at what is melting and running.)
  as you move the electrode to and fro, slowly.

  You should know, the outside light coming in from behind the helmet?
  Makes all the difference in the world for how well you can see.
Late afternoon in a wicked low angle bright glare?
Forget it, you'll never see s--t.

  When you can't see, move to the shadows or under another light,
but mainly, just keep moving around until you -can- see.

If you have a helmet, and your buddy has a welder and a helmet, and isn't showing you stuff??
     Slow roast the fuc-er over a candle until he does!! Are you kidding?
   yours Scott