i want to take a welding class
 

i believe someone else on this board did the same? over the summer i'm gonna be pretty darn free and i want to take a welding class (maybe at a local college or tech school) and also buy my own welder. anyone have any suggestions for me? (regarding the class, not the welder)

That was Paul (HardcoreZ28 ). I'm pretty sure he took the class through his local tech school.

- Justin

I took 2 welding classes at Morris County School of Technology at nights to learn enough to put my car back together. I think I had one class a week for 3 hours at night. It was great and fun to take a class completely unrelated to my job.

william paterson has a welding class within the art department, the stuff that came out of there was awesome! but may not be what your looking for.. i just got the catalog for CCM and they have a welding 1, 2 and 3 class in their adult education night courses

you can take a welding class at pretty much any county vocational school.

I took a welding class and so did 198esp. They usually don't offer them in the summer as most schools are closed. Try to find some people who might have taken the classes at were you are going. The classes are alot of fun and work. Just remember you only get out what you put into the class.
I took mine down in Mercer County and 198esp took his down in Burlington.

i'm gonna see if like a lincoln tech then is offering a summer class. cause i certainly don't have time this semester

you were able to take it at the mercer vo-tech without being a student? my buddy and i were talking about it but we thought it was limited to current students

Do these vo-tech classes certify you as a welder or where do you go to become a certifided welder?

I took it at mercer for the last 3 semesters. I dropped out of MIG though because most of the time was spent grinding. Worst part is all I wanted to do was TIG and that is this semester but since I did not complete last semester I cant go to this one
It is open to anyone, in county is cheaper than out of county though

i can teach u how to make big ugly popcorn lookin welds that i did to make a small trailer:rofl:

I think you can get certified but it costs a little extra on top of the cost of the actual course. I think Morris is currently running one on Tuesday or Thursday nights and Saturday mornings. I believe it's about $300.

If that's too far for someone from NY, I know the Sussex County Vo-Tech runs a class as well.

bumping this up because i couldn't find a class and i'm just gonna teach myself. two things i would like to learn how to do include muffler work and i would like to build my own trailer for my atv. what kind of welding am i looking at? tig, mig, arc?

I'm don't have any of the expertise that a lot of other members here have (In fact, I think a few of them do it for a living), but I'd have to say it really depends on the thickness of the metal you are planning to use. To the best of my knowledge, a tig welder is for thinner steel and aluminum (Body work). Arc welders, or stick welders, when used properly, lay down the strongest beads but mostly when used on flat planes (Don't weld as well upside down). The mig is pretty much the ideal all-around solution and the easiest to use (In my limited experience).

I've built a bumper, snowplow mount and a tire carrier for my Jeep using 3/16" and 1/4" thick steel. I did this with a 110 volt (Normal house current) fluxcore mig welder (No gas). I'm not what you'd call petite, and I was able to jump up and down on the bumper without cracking my welds. Once you get the technique down, the weld is actually stronger than the metal around it. I've found that cutting the steel is a lot more work than the actual welding.

For a trailer, I'd guess you want to build a frame with some 2 x 4 steel of considerable thickness and then deck it with decent plate of at least 3/16" thickness. But then I have a tendency to overbuild. My advice would be to go to the nearest metal supplier and ask to pick through their scrap section. I go to RS Phillips in Vernon; they sell all kinds of scrap steel by the pound. Spend a little dough on some scraps and practice welding. Once you can lay a decent, strong bead, get to work on the trailer.

i know vaguely how to mig. i learned in shop class in high school. i like the idea of not using gas so i might just pick one up like you said. i'll keep up with the research. thanks :cheers:

im one of those who more or less weld for a living. i served my pipefitter apprenticeship for 5yrs, nearly all of which was welding. if you know what youre doing, you can weld with anything upside down. ive done both stick and TIG upside down, and am certified in both. how else would you get the bottom of the pipe welded? not many people know how to stick, since its best for thick, heavy duty metal, and it take alot more skill then just squeezing the trigger of a mig gun.

a mig would be the best all around, since set up properly, you can do both sheet metal and heavy metal, such as frames. you can do any trailer you want with a mig gun. my preferance would be to stick weld it, since thats how i did most of my training. a mig can also do aluminum, you just need aluminum wire, and make sure its spotlessly clean and pre-heated.

tig takes ALOT of practice and patiance. it can be used for any kind of metal, including stainless, but needs to be properly set up, ie: right volts, gas, filler wire, etc.