Below a novice welder

[jreid64]

Guys,
I have always watched the sparks fly in amazement when someone welds and have always been interested in learning to do basic around the shop welding. I am a Master carpenter by trade but also toy with cars and stuff that needs welding done from time to time. Someone knew of this interest and bought me a Lincoln 140 weld pac Mig welder. It is very nice and I wanted to start out right. I want a hood that works and a chop saw that works as well. I am 45 and sort of late to start another trade but this will just be a hobby for me around the house. The video that came with the welder really sucked. Any advice from someone in the know would be more than appreciated. The local welding school only has classes during the day and I work fulltime plus I am a single father. Best of the New Year to all the men here from Waco, Texas

[Hotfoot]

Try searching You Tube "welding", "MIG"...you'll be amazed at all the instruction there. The Miller site has tons of very good free instructions as well.

[Zrexxer]

Welcome to the forum. I'm just a little south of you, down in Austin.

[fjk]

First, welcome to the club

You _definitely_ need a hood. Autodark is nice. Anything you get
from a reputable supplier is probably good. Lots of folks also
swear by the Harbor Freight/Northern Tool/... house brands.
On the other hand, the old fashioned (always dark) sort works too,
and are much cheaper. (Personally, I use the old-fashioned type,
I started with auto-dark and found that it often darkens when I
don't want it to -- so I went old-fashioned... Others like it
differently - your mileage may vary)

A chop saw is nice, but not necessary. More useful will be an angle
grinder or two -- on which you can mount grinding disks, wire wheels,
abrasive cutoff wheels (hint hint :-) and so on.

The best way to learn is to have someone show you how. Perhaps the
kind soul who bought you the machine? Another option might be
local adult-ed/night-school. (Though being a single dad may be
an issue.... unless Jr. is old enough to go with you? :-)
Failing that, as Hotfoot said, the Miller site has a pile of good info --
including videos, dvds, and so on. They also have a 'student package'
that has got high reviews. Miller's site is http://www.millerwelds.com.
Lincoln also has a fairly large bookstore/info section to their site -
you might find some good stuff there.

Be a little careful of youtube -- some of what it has is pretty good,
some, well, at best it should be labelled "how not to weld," at worst, "how
to kill yourself and others without really trying"

Regardless, practice, practice, practice.

frank

[jreid64]

Thank you so very much. that is exactly the kind of advise I need and the links to get more information. I really areally appreciate it. If anyone on here needs any advice whatsoever on anything to do with any and all sorts of building or home repair, I can advise and give you ideas to save you tons of problems. I have been building professionally with my own business for the last 25 years. A lot of what Home Depot and Lowe's tell you simply will not work in the long run. Thanks again!