Welding sheet metal. Take a course or teach myself?

[jzjames]

Ok Im back asking you good ol' reliable guys for your advice on something.

I need to learn how to weld up sheet meat real good, as in; restoring car and truck bodies. If I had the welding skill I think I'd be pretty good at it as Ive got alot of fabricating skills, problem solving, and working with alot of materials. But never much welding.
Im good with brazing and soldering. No prob.

I almost took the course at Community College a couple times, but the 600-$700 tuition plus my own supplies sorta held me back. I kept thinking the money would be better spent on a good wire-feed welder with the gas-capable...blah, blah,..mig or tig or whatever I need to do the stich welding on automotive guage sheet metal. I know people ask about this all the time, what do you think. Take a course, or buy a welder and learn from the books and videos??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJrBxABswjs

Also, what's the latest good deal on which welder to get for this.

[69rangerf100]

buy the welder and the supplies that you need buy several small piieces of metal and teach your self that is what i am doing i finally got my welder finished i got a display from Home Depot for 100 bucks and had to buy a gun and a ground cable and i still have to get my mask and then i will be welding and teaching myself

[sargentrs]

Spend the money on equipment and teach yourself. You'll learn more from your mistakes than you would in a class. Class is great for the scientific/technical stuff but it'd be weeks before you even laid a hand on a torch. Besides, with the internet, you can practically take a class by watching youtube videos. Back in the late 80's I wanted to learn about computers so I enrolled in night classes at the local college. 3hrs/night x 2 nights/week and a 40 mile drive one way. After 3 semesters I still had not seen a computer up close and personal. Dropped out and enrolled in a home study course on computers and microprocessors for $2500. Within a week I was building electronic circuits on a breadboard lab and within 2 months I had built my own computer and was surfing the "bulletin boards" via dial up modem. You old timers, like me, will know what bulletin boards are. For you young whipper snappers, it's like the internet without the pretty colors and pictures.

[Caseys71]

, I agree with both of these guys. Spend the money towards getting the better welder/supplies rather than spending the money on taking a class. You can teach yourself as good or about as good as any class and it won't cost $700 in tuition. Just buy some small pieces of sheet-metal or if you have scrap sheet-metal use that and start messing around with it, that's exactly how I learned how to weld sheet-metal and now I'm comfortable with it. As far as choosing a welder I don't have much of an opinion, I have a Mac Tools welder that I got used, it was manufactured by Miller and is a pretty good machine. I say go with a Miller or Lincoln welder, or maybe even look for a used one. Buy one used and you can come across some extra goodies and more than likely a shielding gas cylinder too which would save you a good chunk of money.

[Caseys71]

A good welder will last a lifetime. Some names to look at are Lincoln, Miller, Hobart, and Clarke.

Might want to stay away from Clake, they went out of business recently (or so I hear) so I doubt you could get parts very easily.

[71highboy]

if you are going to weld thin metal thin metal you will want to get a shielding gas.i use 25/75 that is 25% argon and 75% oxygen.between 30-35 pounds works great.good luck.it is not that hard

[flyboy71]

If your getting a MIG by all means spend the little extra and get gas. I got gas!

Im self taught in the area of welding and even though IMO I still suck Im getting better. Find scrap sheet metal and practice practice practice. Also take your time, especially with sheet metal. Patience pays dividends when it comes to good welds and low warpage. Im no expert by all means but theres nothing better than laying a nice row of good welds in a new panel.

Get comfy with your grinder too. Youll need it from time to time. I use mine too much to fix mistakes but you can add metal and try again.

Oh and if your doing sheet metal its nice to buy an auto darkening helmet. I cant see crap and if Im laying a series of small tacks its sure nice to know if Im on the seam or not. My welding has improved big time since I bought one.

What a perfect gift for the holidays!

Thats my

[jzjames]

Thanks. I'll get a welder capable of using shielding gas. Someone said good ones can now be had in the $500-$600 range. Less the cost of the tanks and gas.

I know they have some that use 115 volt house current and ones that run on 220. Is this important? I want this for 90% sheet metal, and rarely to put a weld on 1/4'' stuff. Can I get a sufficient one that uses house current? Or do you advise 220 current. Probably they have welders that can be switched to use either?

When Im practicing and making panels is it necessary to use 16 ga. sheetmetal of will 18 ga. be OK? I believe original car bodies are 16 ga.?

I will have alot to learn, hopefully I'll be good at it, but if not, I wont lose my shirt if I have to sell it, right? Thanks.

[flyboy71]

A unit that runs on 120V is fine for wire feed and sheet. Mine can be wired for either but its on 120V and its fine. Just dont plug it into 200 ft of extension cord or youll have too much voltage drop. If your shop lights dim as you weld, its a sure sign you need a beefier circuit.

Check on Craigslist for a decent used one. I bought my Hobart 125 MIG for $200 from a guy who was done with his resto and didnt need it anymore plus I bought my new MIG tank filled for $130 so you can get a good deal.

Weld on as thin a sheet as you can find. If you get good on that then you can weld anything body wise. Takes a while to get the hang of not burning thru and good penetration. Various thicknesses are good to help you find your settings too.

[FLASH 1]

I have a Miller that I bought now 15 years ago,, It sits outside year round covered up. It runs on house current that has 4 settings where I can weld the thin stuff up to welding on frames and runs on complete Argon no mixture with .023 wire,, I learned the hard way just practice with junk then work your way up, just remember a grinder is needed to be sure your welding on bare metal, grind a spot for the ground cable to make good contact, few good vise grips, just be sure on vise grips don't weld them to your project like I did last week on builllding a rack,, Get a good welding mask, Automatic darking is OK but to get the feel I would just use one thats plain and simple,, the automatics you have to get the hang of it till you can get use to it,, some of the automatics also can get complicated since some has some fine tuning on the inside to adjust as well