I give all you guys that do all your own welding/fab alot of props. I'm very very jealous and wish I knew where to get started or if I even have it in me. I guess this all stems from me wanting to go single turbo on my 05 ls2 gto and dont want to drop 5-6k on a tt kit. I'm starting to think it might be a better investment for me to buy a welder and some scrap metal rather then spending money paying a shop to fab. I have a few noob *** questions for you guys.

1- What motivated you to get started and were you a little nervous?

2- Do I need to goto class or is it possible to mig/tig with just alot of practice?

3- Is this even possible with me knowing nobody that can weld, I mean i will be a straight noob trying to do this.

4- Could I skip miging and go right to tiging or should i start with mig.

5- What welder would you recommend i should start off with if I eventually want to try and tig. A good website to purchase supplies from? My budget for tools/supplies right now is about $800.

Well appreciate all the positive responses but I will put my flame suite on just in case and NO i didnt search so Im sorry if this has been covered countless # of times.

 

Nike's slogan inspired me more than anything. Also Buzz Aldrin, he's the ****.

No really, I took classes at a local college for welding. Started out with stick welding, then mig, then tig. Also you need to be pretty well rounded as far automotive knowledge goes and need to have the ambition to do something better than what can be bought or just be really really cheap to the point that the only way you're going to get something is by doing it yourself.

 

It can be daunting when you're just starting off. But the payoff when you're done is worth it.

I TIG all my stuff, I've used a MIG maybe twice in my life. Self taught, just lots and lots of reading and practice. Penetration is the biggest thing, make sure you have strong welds before trying to put something on your car.

The best part about making things yourself is they will always fit better, because the part was made for your car, and yours only. and if you don't like the way something is made, you can modify it how you please. It's always a good feeling too when someone sees the work you've done and asks where they can get one. And you say, "sorry, one of a kind."

I think the main factor is, do you have the patience? (proper) Fab work takes time and dedication, something a lot of people don't posess.

I'm using a Miller Econotig I got used off of Ebay for 1K- thing was basically brand new, had about 8hrs on it. It has worked like a champ for me and everything I do. Most people here will tell you to get at least a sync 200 or so, and if your budget allows, go right ahead.
Remember too that it's not only the welder, but you have to set up the gas as well, which can get expensive if you purchase the tank.

To me, there's no feeling like sticking metal together, I love it, and that's why I do it. If you don't have that passion, you're better off spending your money to get the parts you want. So that being the case, I would suggest taking some classes to see if you even like doing it, before you drop a bundle of cash on it.

Sky

 

Although i dont have a business, i'll give you a little advice. You can be the best welder, fabricator, mechanic, etc in the world, but if you're not motivated to work without a boss or supervisor breathing down your neck, you're not going to go very far. I've seen a few guys who have tried starting a business. They were brilliant and very talented guys, but none of them was ready to be self motivated. Instead of keeping regular hours like any normal business, they gradually opened later and later in the day. They didnt start working on cars until noon and sometimes even later than that. Gradually the work piled up, everyone got frustrated and stressed out, and they said screw it. That was the end of that.

Keep yourself motivated and work hard...you'll do fine

 

I got started after I got tired of getting shitted on by my bosses for showing up 5 mins late in the morning. But I never got a "thanks for staying 2 hours late to finish up this important job". I said F it and jumped with both feet into working for myself. Ill let you know, doing welding/fab work will not pay your bills unless you're set up to produce lots of parts. I do it mostly as fun and side work. My money maker is repair work.

Lets just say, $800 for a custom 3" turbo back system < $800 for a 3 hour headgasket job. What Im trying to say is have some part of your business in something that EVERYONE needs. For me, thats car repair.

 

Never under estimate what it is going to take to rise to a challenge but more importantly never under estimate yourself !!

Nobody is born with the type of skills that it takes to become a great fabricator, mechanic etc. If you work hard enough at anything you will eventually be great.

 

If you only have $800 to spend on tools you need to have someone do the work for you. You could pick up a used welder and gas/tank for that much but you need alot more than that to srart doing real fab that you can actually be proud of. My suggestion is pay some one now and buy a used mig and start learning basic welding tecniques; buy tools that you find you will need as you go along.

It is easy to weld but takes much practice to fabricate a usefull part.

 

First thing you are gonna need is a larger budget.....Then I'd recommend finding some local welding classes or even a welding supply store that could point you in the right direction.

 

I personally didn't jump right in to anything. What started as a hobby, turned to many years of dedication. I've done the eat, sleep, Honda thing for about 10 years...did Fbodies (Camaro's/TA's) before that.

Everything starts as your own car...you get the tools, you get the experience, you find the niche. Lots of people try, but there's a small percentage that really have it in my opinion.

I started in Honda's when a sohc vtec in a CRX was the bomb swap and noone could wire it. I wired tons of swaps...that's all I did. It's amazing to think back when guys were totally perplexed over putting a B16 in an EG...but yes, there was a time. For some that time hasn't ended though....

I just simply evolved with it. First it was build the D, then it was swaps, then it was nitrous, then it was tuning/building, then it was turbo's...and I just did what I had to to stay with, or ahead of the game. At the same time I just kept building my own cars, reading my *** off, and reinvesting money into tools and knowledge.

I'll be the first to say it's not easy. I didn't have an investor, credit, something to sell, a family member with a building...nothing. I started in a gravel driveway, just my girlfriend and I and I never quit. I never lost site of what I wanted, which was to control my own income. The road is hard, and I honestly can't say I'm where I want to be still, but I forge ahead.

Good luck with the endeavor. If you read, take what you want seriously, and live it, one day you might look around you and realize your there.

 

1- What motivated you to get started and were you a little nervous?
to be honest the biggest thing that motevated me is the fact that i was broke and wanted to turbo my car. So i said F it i will learn to weld and just do it. plus if someone else can do it why can't i right?

2- Do I need to goto class or is it possible to mig/tig with just alot of practice?
i had never welded at all in my life. i was 18 and out of highschool, so i went to the local welding school and took a 8 hr tig class, cost me $300.
after that i just went and bought a cheap $400 110 tig welder that was scratch start and went to town.

3- Is this even possible with me knowing nobody that can weld, I mean i will be a straight noob trying to do this. just do it.... i sucked *** when i started welding.

4- Could I skip miging and go right to tiging or should i start with mig.
i skiped all forms of welding completly


with that said, now 2 years later i work for a race shop welding/fabricating a bunch of fun/new things. it is something i'm glad i got into, i here from all my friends that they would love to learn. but you need to be dedicated to keeping with it, as it takes time.

i also think that for some of it at least, it is just natural ability to be kinda mathodical with your actions. i get into a rythme, and just go with it. also my whole life revolves around automotive things (cars, trucks, bikes, go karts, etc...). when i go home i weld some more or go work on my cars. it is just something i enjoy even though it way frustrate me to no end.

oh and $800 is far from enough for a start in my opinion.
i feel like i have no tools half the time and i have about $12k in tools, along with my welder, grinder's,drill press, engine lift, hand tools, and countless other things i have picked up over the years.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by markourn &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

1- What motivated you to get started and were you a little nervous?

2- Do I need to goto class or is it possible to mig/tig with just alot of practice?

3- Is this even possible with me knowing nobody that can weld, I mean i will be a straight noob trying to do this.

4- Could I skip miging and go right to tiging or should i start with mig.

5- What welder would you recommend i should start off with if I eventually want to try and tig. A good website to purchase supplies from? My budget for tools/supplies right now is about $800.

Well appreciate all the positive responses but I will put my flame suite on just in case and NO i didnt search so Im sorry if this has been covered countless # of times.</TD></TR></TABLE>

1. Got into the business because I was sick and tired of my parents and myself getting ripped off by mechanics. Nervous to get into the field, no not at all, nervous to start a business, I'd say so.

2. Yes, I'd say so. You really need to learn a few things that you might never learn if you don't get trained by someone who has more experience. You really just need to grasp the concept of welding then make your hands due the rest.

3. Internet can get the ball rolling, but sign up for a local welding class or hire someone locally.

4. Start with oxy acetylene if you can, specially if you want to learn how to tig down the road. This is basically like tig but with no foot pedal, I actually believe its a lot harder then tig. Mig is not hard at all, point and shoot pretty much.

5. You can pick up a mig but its not going to help you tig at all, it might help you grasp the concept of welding but if you really want to tig, either wait and save money to buy a tig, or buy an oxy acetylene setup. These are not that much money and down the road will help you with tig.

 

1- What motivated you to get started and were you a little nervous?

-i'm cheap and i like making stuff. i've been building stuff for about 10 years. i din't get into mechanical and metal working till about 5 years ago. i'm self taught, however i don't recommend it. takes too long. i have a welder that works for me that has about 6 months of seat time including wyotech and he can weld almost as good as me.

fabricating is the hardest part of the job. welding is easy. once you can consistantly start making stuff that fits, functions and is visually apealing in a time period that can make money, you're good to go. this usually has to take a couple years.

2- Do I need to goto class or is it possible to mig/tig with just alot of practice?

-you'll get to where you want to be faster going to classes.

3- Is this even possible with me knowing nobody that can weld, I mean i will be a straight noob trying to do this.

-its going to be hard. make friends. i know that if you walked in my shop as asked for minimum wage to learn this stuff, i woud probably do it. i worked at a vintage porche shop while i was in college for free. i swept floors and cleaned parts. it sucked, but the fabricator helped me turbo my car the first time.

4- Could I skip miging and go right to tiging or should i start with mig.

-don't waste your time with mig. you'll need to do it at some point. if you do the hard stuff first, you'll catch onto everything else pretty each.

5- What welder would you recommend i should start off with if I eventually want to try and tig. A good website to purchase supplies from? My budget for tools/supplies right now is about $800.

-don't buy a tig off the bat. use school or shop until you figure out what you want. my tig was $3200 when it was all said and done. i'm so glad i waited and figured out exactly what i wanted.

if you buy a big machine, remeber you may have to move it at some time. i went with a lincoln invertec 205. 37 lbs, 200 amps and can weld anything.

there are cheaper machines available, but some may not to a/c or they are 400lbs. really depends on what you want.

a lot cheaper and easyer to mooch off somone

if you mooch, always make sure to replace supplies and materils, which included gas. i hate it when people use my **** and don't even bother to say thanks or offer to replace what they used.

 

You gotta ask yourself one question.

are you self motivated? Like REALLY self motivated!

my biggest problem has been motivating myself to actually DO the work. T4Neon and NativeSon can explain. lol. I'm a full time college student tho...so I do it on weekends and when i have free time.

 

I wouldn't suggest you attempt this without classes, experience in a real fab shop, and some real money ($10-15k to start).

 

im currently in colledge for welding and fab, started in high school and loved every second of it, during my senior year i spent from 4am to 3pm in my shop class, and i would do it all over again the same way. If you want to be good you can be, anyone can weld, you just have to try, never know you might be one of the very few who is talented with steady hands. But i do highly reccomend takeing calsses it will help you get a better head start.

 

GT35R_EF,
love the avatar

 

I am self taught, and it took forever. I did my own thing for a while, then I started helping out a friend and his business doing fab for his customers. decided I didnt have any more real self motivation, I decided to go work for someone else, in a more professional environment.

Now I work for Lone Star Racing, fabricating and welding for them. There are a few guys there that me and a few others have taught how to weld, and after literally two weeks of them staying after work for one hour a day, they are able to weld well enough to display their work on our products. Granted, they can't do some of the more complex stuff, but my point is this: start off by working for someone else with alot of skills and equipment, and you will grow farther, much faster. It took me 3-4 years to get where I am now, because I was self taught. Had I worked for someone else, I would be much more developed for sure.

Jimmy

 

I dont' think anyone can learn ownership mentality..Some people have it, others don't. The key is truly realizing where you stand and being happy with that. This industry turns into a job very quickly. What you once did for fun will become and consume your life. I started my business 2 years ago...pretty much 90-100hr work weeks since then, even when im done i find it hard to leave the shop I've been through alot...good and bad, i find a way to make it work...you get to the point where you have too much invested for failure to be an option.

 

I'm curious as to how many of you do it full time, sole income. As in no day job, no other source of personal income, just running your own shop. And with or without employees?

 

I do it everyday without employee's although Im looking to moving into a much larger location and hiring someone to take care of the repair end of the business while I focus more on fabrication and the business end.

 

i work full time for a shop right now. money is pretty good too. took a long time though.

it will be long time before i do this on my own full time, if at all.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mcmotors &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm curious as to how many of you do it full time, sole income. As in no day job, no other source of personal income, just running your own shop. And with or without employees?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Right here, I started the business, had 1 employee, how he owns half as well. Its hectic, we been official open since October and work is non stop now, to a point that we might be looking to hire someone.

 

Sole income. 13 employees. Main business established 2003, when I was layed off. Started in my dad's garage.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mcmotors &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm curious as to how many of you do it full time, sole income. As in no day job, no other source of personal income, just running your own shop. And with or without employees?</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by markourn &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I give all you guys that do all your own welding/fab alot of props. I'm very very jealous and wish I knew where to get started or if I even have it in me. I guess this all stems from me wanting to go single turbo on my 05 ls2 gto and dont want to drop 5-6k on a tt kit. I'm starting to think it might be a better investment for me to buy a welder and some scrap metal rather then spending money paying a shop to fab. I have a few noob *** questions for you guys.

1- What motivated you to get started and were you a little nervous?

2- Do I need to goto class or is it possible to mig/tig with just alot of practice?

3- Is this even possible with me knowing nobody that can weld, I mean i will be a straight noob trying to do this.

4- Could I skip miging and go right to tiging or should i start with mig.

5- What welder would you recommend i should start off with if I eventually want to try and tig. A good website to purchase supplies from? My budget for tools/supplies right now is about $800.

Well appreciate all the positive responses but I will put my flame suite on just in case and NO i didnt search so Im sorry if this has been covered countless # of times.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i guess having people of all experience levels helps, im in the second year of learning stick, i want to do what he did:


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by david@didrace.com &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Nike's slogan inspired me more than anything. Also Buzz Aldrin, he's the ****.

No really, I took classes at a local college for welding. Started out with stick welding, then mig, then tig. Also you need to be pretty well rounded as far automotive knowledge goes and need to have the ambition to do something better than what can be bought or just be really really cheap to the point that the only way you're going to get something is by doing it yourself.</TD></TR></TABLE>

stick does'nt cost much, $400 welder, you don't need a fancy auto-darkening hood, and the rods are............ what $13 /lb depending.

also no need for argon, the rods are the consumables.

this you can probably DIY and be fairly decent at, if not excellent at, don't get me wrong you're not going to be a pipe welder in a week, but you will be able to do all the charge piping ( not pretty! but it works) welds, withing 3-5 days of practice, if not less.

it's just intuitive, book says 90-135 amps, you put it on 135 you burn a hole through it you turn it down,

book tells ya to drag it, until bead width is ~2 -2.5 diameter of rod, you just do it

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RS-2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
stick does'nt cost much, $400 welder, you don't need a fancy auto-darkening hood, and the rods are............ what $13 /lb depending.

also no need for argon, the rods are the consumables.

this you can probably DIY and be fairly decent at, if not excellent at, don't get me wrong you're not going to be a pipe welder in a week, but you will be able to do all the charge piping ( not pretty! but it works) welds, withing 3-5 days of practice, if not less.

it's just intuitive, book says 90-135 amps, you put it on 135 you burn a hole through it you turn it down,

book tells ya to drag it, until bead width is ~2 -2.5 diameter of rod, you just do it </TD></TR></TABLE>

I was trained to be a pipe fitter so I know all about arc welding, if the guy is trying to get into this field, arc welding will not help. He is better off picking up a flux core machine.