what shoud i do first?
should i buy some metal and practice

i've already practiced some, but i couldn't even lay down a decent bead. I went too fast i guess, but if i slowed down the stick would get stuck. I really want to learn this. Any tutorials or something that i can look at?

thanks guys

 

Probably the best advice short of going to a class would be buying lots of consumables, and going to town on verious pieces of metal It takes much practice for some to get the patterns right, even then there is always room for improvement.

 

okay, trying to remember back to 8th grade metal shop...You strike the rod against the metal to start the weld, just a quick tap then bring the rod just a hair above the surface of the metal. Once the "pool" starts I would make a small circular motion and draw the pool in which ever direction. Remember to have you ground clamp attatched to the metal and clean the metal before welding.

Not much but it should get you started for now. Its been quite a while since I've arc welded.

 

thanks for the advice...we should really get a FAQ or tutorial on this.