Am I the only one that started w/Aluminum when learning Tig?

Only prior experience I had was some oxy. acetylene welding...So I took a class a couple months back at a local community college. They make everyone start off with aluminum. I got the hang of it pretty quick. It only was a summer class so I didn't have time to learn anything else...I feel like I'm in a weird position...I know how to tig weld aluminum...but am nervous about mig welding or tig welding anything else besides aluminum...Is anyone else on the same boat as me? I don't really have time to take anymore classes...and tig welding machines that can do aluminum and steel are too expensive...Did anyone else start off like me? I always see people saying how hard aluminum is...but I feel like I'm the opposite.

ps-have you ever tried humming while welding? my teacher swears by it being the best way to focus on the puddle...I personally never tried it because I listen to music while I weld

 

i'm learning at our junior college. as a matter of fact today is my final for arc welding, we have a V block, filled in 3 sides with 3 diferent rods and the final side is our final with the teachers rods of choice and each layer will be shorter than the previous. learned oxy acetylene in the first half of the semester.

i enjoy it, usually after the third try of a new technique i get the hang of it, beads are more consistant and i have better control.

i've never hummed but usually play a song in my head while i'm welding because there is no music in class

 

i learned to mig in high school my shop teacher didnt realy car about any thing so we bought a pile of gas pipe and a 10hp motor and started maching lol most the class sat around whlie me and 3 of my buddys built no one showed us how to use the mills lathes or the welders we just played with them till we learned lol


then after high school i was sent to IWS by catapiller when i started working there but i left there to go work for jpmorgan chase as a pc tech and here i am lol i just do fab work for fun now

 

my FIRST ever welding experience was TIG welding aluminum. I was sat down, given a helmet, and my friend layed a bead. He said, " see thats how you do it. Press the pedal for more current...keep the tungsten out of the aluminum...add the filler rod like I did. practice this and then start welding stuff together." then he got up and left. I spent the next 40 hours of my life in that shop...prolly the most frusterating time of my life(i know its a tough life )

then after I got pretty good at aluminum I went to do other stuff like Stainless...and then realized I can make parts...yay!




I <3 aluminum welding.

 

I'm not alone...hopefully one day I'll be able to learn everything else and make myself some cool stuff

 

spend a lot of time in the shop making stuff... keep yourself welding a little bit everyday and you'll notice the difference with time. For me I think every ~25 hours I tig weld aluminum I see a huge increase in quality.

 

I'm not too worried about my aluminum...its the other things that I haven't tried yet...I too saw big improvements after time...I need to practice welding in weird/tight places...maybe even standing up and using the pedal...only if I could make the money I make now welding...

 

learned to mig weld 3 years ago. it was difficult when you dont know whats going on.

went out and got the welders handbook, spent hours reading that on the toilet.

then my Mig welding got better.

also tried Tig welding sch10 304 stainless, it wasn't so bad as i expected.

cleaning is the most important process to welding, to me. and if you are thinking of welding, the welders handbook will answer most of your questions.

 

yeah.... no one ever told me I had to "prep" the metal. lol you think its the most basic thing, yet everyone neglects to do it. Also...getting your metal to joint together w/out gaps is VERY important.

 

I learned to tig on Aluminum to start off then mild steel, then stainless etc... I think for me Aluminum is the easiest to do...

 

I started to weld with heavy plate steel on farm equipment,

I used to love welding, the old farmer that employed me at the time saw that I had a great ability doing it, so he bought a brand new welder, miller MIG machine started migging there with Aluminium bulk tank, milk pipe and stuff like that.

Iheard about TIG by a few of my friend's that are pipefitters / welder. so I tried Tigging something, and bought a TIG Miller machine the week after, I now have it for sale for another bigger one, to get a squarewave pattern, Mostly for aluminium charge pipe, intercooler end tank and a few intake manifold here and there

I kinda like aluminium now, it grow on me.

kranked

 

The only way there is to learn is to pickup the tools and start trying things until something appears to work

 

I learned by playing with welders and settings and different metals and thicknesses.

 

I was given a little Miller MIG machine one day after hours at work. It always sat in the corner and I asked the shop "manager" if I could play with it. He said sure, no problem. He found scrap for me, which was shitty as hell...and like others said, I wasnt taught the importance of cleaning and that. He set the machine up and literally said "here...just play with it", and walked away. i had a blst with it, although my welds sucked. I like it alot and saved my next 3 paychecks and bought my MIG machine. (I was only 13 at the time)
I did the MIG for 3 years or so, and pretty much mastered it. After that, I had to have a TIG. I was just able to purchase my Sync 180 this last May. I too started TIGGING on aluminum...and to this day actually find it slightly easier. When I first got it, I was HORRIBLE with steel, but was great with aluminum...it just seemed to flow better. Now, after tons of practice I am great with aluminum, mild steel, 4130 as well as SS.
Kyle

 

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build a roll cage... ull learn real quick... especially because it simply NEEDS to get done

i bought my tig machine with the plans to learn how to do it... its one of those things i was set on learning one way or another... i dont remember why though... i had never welded a damn thing in my life before that... i bought it... set it up... and started playing with it... i still have the very first thing i ever welded in my shed... i had absolutely no clue as to what i was doing...

only reason i ever even got into mig (i hate it and refuse to use it unless i need to)was for one thing originally... mig weld the plates of cages to cars... tig welding them was and is to me unpractical and takesforever...

 

hopefully once I clear out my garage...I can buy a welder and start practicing again...So many ideas of things to build...I just need time and money

 

learned at school in my mecanic lessons
teacher said if you know how to weld with oxy-acetylene you can learn to tig/mig really easely

 

I learned to weld with TIG using .028 commercially pure titanium tubing , got lazy after a while and stopped but hey, I can lay some pretty nice beads and I've tried welding inconel before, I caught up pretty quick but still don't know how stainless, mild steel, or aluminum woulld do me.

 

I started welding junior year in high school (last year). Mostly just ARC and Gas with a little bit of MIG. Now I'm concentrating more on TIG and MIG. I've got Gas and ARC down to a science but wanna start to learn stainless and aluminum piping with tig so I can fab up some of my own stuff.

Here is my first attempt at TIGing aluminum that I did on friday.

 

i was working at groupa autosports/skunk2 in 99 and dave hsu gave me a short crash course (10 min). i was hooked

great to see others learning on their own too.



heres a sample of Andys aluminum work:



i taught andy about 3 years ago, and i think he does pretty well

great thread guys, you can never forget where you came from, or how you got there


lets see some more work samples, PeakBoost is looking for another welder

 

I have been welding for abuot for a fiew years and just got into tig about 5 months ago when i got my miller 180 i am hooked its a blast basically got tips from people that knew how to do it and other than that its self tought.

 

ive been around welding for as long as i can rem. my dad does it for a living and so i picked it up at a young age.. but its only since i got my car did i really start to polish on my skill. theres alot i still have to learn but i still enjoy learning new things