The reason I ask is because I just passed a test that would allow me to go to a vocational school for welding for a year for free. But the thing is I wouldnt be going to HS and it is my senior year. I went to the class and it had some ups and downs, for the most part it seemed pretty bogus.

I just want to learn how to MIG, I was curious how many of you actually taught yourself how to weld, and how hard it was and your suggestions.

-Eric

 

I can suggest that you don't drop out of high school.

 

omg... finish highschool...

I taught myself how to MIG weld. Piece of cake. Get a welder and play with it for a couple of hours. Go from there.. just stay in highschool

 

like they already said stay in highschool..

mig welding is easy to do. just get one and go at it.. i learned building my turbo kit and my friends turbo kit.. my welds are still not perfect but i can get the job done..

 

What up konig, its crxtscy from Dseries or the Drew from "beatdrw" fame. Haha... good to see you on HT aswell.

MIG is easy... I wish I would have gotten my own welder sooner. Most exhaust shop hacks can do it so can you. I made two downpipes, testpipe, and a bunch of other stuff... no prob. No prior experiance

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CRXDrew &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What up konig, its crxtscy from Dseries or the Drew from "beatdrw" fame. Haha... good to see you on HT aswell.

MIG is easy... I wish I would have gotten my own welder sooner. Most exhaust shop hacks can do it so can you. I made two downpipes, testpipe, and a bunch of other stuff... no prob. No prior experiance </TD></TR></TABLE>

whats up man.. yeah i have heard about the "beatdrw foundation" from a very good friend of mine..

ht is cool there is alot of info on here that is VERY good that you wont find on other sites.. thats why im on here sometimes..

i tried tig welding once and it was awesome.. thats my next big purchase.. well maybe next year..

 

Just finish HS. College degrees are way overrated in the 'general opinion.' But with a diploma, you don't frell yourself over and have to get a GED if you want to go to college. By the way, I have taught myself welding, but by doing that, I don't know tricks that I would have learned if I had taken a class or been apprenticed.

 

..........and with a class, you can learn a whole lot more, about stresses, all of the techniques, etc. even if you never use them. (These things are still GOOD to know.)

 

Well in the class id still get to graduate HS, but I want to take more classes so I can get into a better college.

The class is more for people that are going to make a living doing it. I just want to learn it as hobby.

By the sound of it, it doesnt take a brain surgeon to weld.

Thank you everyone for sharing your personal experiences.

 

I'd reccomend staying in high school.

However, if I had life to live over again, I'd drop out of high school asap, get a GED and then go straight into college.... My version of "head start."

But leaving highschool for a welding class would be a really bad decision....especially if you are doing it to learn mig, or don't plan to weld for a living.

 

Definitely continue to take classes to accumulate credits in order to go the the better college. I taught myself to MIG as well as TIG. Just need the money to invest in a welder, then go to Miller and Lincoln's sites and read up. Also go here and on other forums and people will give you all the pointers you need to teach yourself to weld with the best of them.

 

I am currently taking a welding class through the local community college. It wasnt very expensive and they pretty much covered everything: Oxy/Acet, MIG, Arch, and TIG...

One night a week for 3 hours, and they provided everything that was needed for the class. I would highly recomend that.

 

Mig is easy. There is no reason a small bit of determination cant teach you it.

Tig is a little trickier, but ditto for it.

A class may teach you about stresses, and heat expansion rates and such, but if you are only welding uncritical parts those dont really matter to you.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Engloid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'd reccomend staying in high school.

However, if I had life to live over again, I'd drop out of high school asap, get a GED and then go straight into college.... My version of "head start."

But leaving highschool for a welding class would be a really bad decision....especially if you are doing it to learn mig, or don't plan to weld for a living.</TD></TR></TABLE>


hehehehe I dropped out of school and went to college. Highschool was sooooo slow.

I learned how to mig by myself and learned tig over the phone from a blind guy. True story.

 

&lt;---- me

 

you pick up the damn stick/gun/torch/electrode and you do it.

i think the biggest thing about being taught is the fact that the person doing the teaching has the equipment. if you can get on a mig you can do it. there are always books and people on here to give you feedback and suggestions.
the reason i say this is because i am taking a class right now, and all they do is sit you in front of the machine and say go at it. then once you have tried it they give you suggestions on what to do better. you can get those suggestions on here or from anyone that knows how to weld. id stay in school.

 

Finish High School, do well, study hard, get a good job. Being a self taught welder is fine if you like to make average money for doing a very tough job. I'm a S.S. Tig Welder, I LOVE to weld, and I'm very good at what I do, but dayam, computer dudes make much better money. Trades suck *** for money, at least in Canada. If I could do it all over again, I would have taken a COMPLETELY different path, done better in school and got a job that doesn't wreak havoc on my eyes. Don't be stupid, stupid and finish school.

D.

 

dude **** school just dropout...u can support yourself and family doing odd jobs that wont necessarily utilize you're welding education (sucky sucky four dolla)

 

finnish high school, then take welding classes at night at a vocational school. just about everyone of them has night time programs.

as far as learing to weld, i just bought a mig welder and went to town. used up a starter 1/4lb flux spool and welded everything metal i could find together. the next day got a gas cyl and started welding 3/16'' plate together and got pretty good. good enough to do finnish welds on 304 SS the next day on my exhaust.

 

Man ,Finish High School.Its not even so much the diploma.As just the things you will miss.Its A part of life that you don't want to miss.How many times have you talked to someone and you thought ,Man what A dip ****.Well if you don't finish school ,That's what people will think of you. STAY IN SCHOOL!!!!