I got fucking burned today, too many times.

4F - MiG 90/10 gas - 1/4” steel - 0.035 wire. 240WFS 19v
(that’s an overhead t joint for non Americans)

I’m roughly 5 months into the 9 month program and I just welded a joint I was actually proud of. I even polished that Mofo up.
That being said, I still got a 36/40. I’ve yet to get a “perfect” 40 yet. Idk if I’m capable of it, but still 4 months to go.

Personally, I like to be extra protected so I strap on a trojan and a glock, just to be safe.

In all seriousness , Im a hobbyist (side business) but I have a pretty substantial shop and spend an obscene amount of hours in there every week, im not 'in a hurry' to get projects done so I "gear up" every time I work in the shop.

For years I always just wore jeans and a t-shirt with safety crocs and a large/long leather apron and id put on a leather welding jacket when welding.

Awhile back I bought some coveralls from Duluth Trading and I fucking love them, every time I walk into the shop, the first thing I do is go to my gear cabinet and put on my coveralls. Then I figured "since I have to take my shoes off to put coveralls on, I may as well slip on some steel toes". Then it morphed into, "well, since im already doing the coveralls and shoes, I may as well put on a cotton neck gaiter and cotton do-rag to keep my neck and head as clean as I can". Then after a heavy grinding session, I burned a hole in the front of my coveralls so I wear the apron again. I no longer use my welding jacket.

So, now we are up to

1. Coveralls
2. Apron
3. Cotton neck gaiter
4. Do-rag
5. Steel toes
6. Respirator/safety glasses, etc.

As I said, I "gear up" every time I work in the shop, which I might go in/out of the shop 3x over the course of a day, its definitely a process and its time consuming to put all of my shit on but i've honestly never felt safer or been more comfortable when working. I cant recall the last time I was burned or cut (aside from last week when I put a hot mig wire through my glove and into my finger).

So, it just got me thinking for the guys who work at home or in a shop, what all do you wear when working?

My Miller Welder was missing owners manual. Contacted Miller customer service. They sent me a manual and a lil swag to boot. Great CS

Finishing school. Got me welder, tools and all that, except for a proper hood. Right now? A shitty 30eur passive auto-darkening one. Are my eyes twitching? You bet!

Even though im just a hobby welder I want top notch safety. Right now, I am thinking of this:

- 3M 7502 respirator. (any other recommendations?)
- Sentinel A60 bought second-hand. (more so for its availability than cool looks i promise)

My budget is aimed at roughly 600€, so not in PAPR territory as of now. Maybe a helmet with down-the-line PAPR compatibility would be cool... anyone know?

Based in EU, so Miller and Lincoln are hard to source, from what I've gathered.

What hood are you using at home, people?

Hi everyone, I want to get learn and get certified for welding. I am 51, I work full time Monday through Friday until 4 pm. I live in central florida. What would be the fastest way to achieve that?

Saw this today. Basic Carhartt jacket over twice retail. $308!

Hello everyone! Thanks for reading. I'm looking for advice from pipe welders.

I am 20 years old, I am from Spain Three months ago I finished an intensive welding course (which lasted 6 months) in tig and stick. When I finished the course, a company that specializes in stainless steel assembly contacted me, and they told me that they weld quite a few millimeter-sized stainless steel pipes, but that there was also work as an assembler. In these 3 months I have only done 3 pipe welds; the rest of the time I have been working as an assembler. My goal is to become a good pipe welder.

So I don't know if I should look for another job Or if this situation is going to be like this in all jobs and I should settle for doing a little welding at this company and learning by welding little by little

I welded a bit in high school and college in various automotive classes and such so I have some basic skills and knowledge running MIG, stick, and gas. I've been looking at off-road bumpers for my truck and everything prefab is in the $2k+ range, but there are some pre cut diy options for a fraction of this. My question is are there any low budget welders capable of getting decent penentration and leaving marginally clean welds on 1/4" steel?

For some reason my 1.5" sanitary ferrules keep ending up with a slight discoloration next to the weld but my other size pipes dont seem to have this problem. I use the same backpurge kit for everything up to 4" and the same purge plugs for non ferrules. Any fitting that isn't a ferrule doesnt seem to have this problem in 1.5" so im wondering if there's something wrong with my backpurge that I cant see?

Did a significant repair on a friend's food trailer recently and I wanted to see what y'all thought. I was using a borrowed welder and had minimal materials available but I did my best. This thing has a ton wrong with it but I'm fixing it up a little at a time.

The biggest thing has been this structural failure that made the trailer sketchy to even tow over railroad tracks. I'm looking to get my own welder and start doing my own paid work on the side but I didn't only wanna rely on my own opinion.

I cut out the cracks, clamped everything straight, welded it out, welded on a reinforcement peice (segmented welds all alongperimeter and plug welds on ends), welded the floor to the whole area using plug welds and then installed 6 angle iron struts to add support to the undercarriage.

Does this look like good work to you? How much would you charge for this repair? Please be gentle.

I was wondering why it was feeling harder to cut. Lol.

Haven’t seen one of these posts in a while

In school right now and got pretty far ahead, so my instructors are letting me take some of the more niche certification test, this one was for sub arc.

In my final quarter of welding school and doing my special project. Im required to do a blue print for the special project, thought a cad program would make the design easier to visualize for the assignment. Any CAD recomendations?

Had some free time so I grabbed some scrap and tried to TIG some copper. Not sure what I should be looking for. Any tips?

100% Helium, DC-, 200 amp for thin metal, 300ish for the thick one.

(I did not clean the metal prior, as I was just seeing if I could even lay a bead down.)

Hi all

I'm new to welding and am having trouble with my first at home machine.

The two times I've had to remove the gas nozzle from the torch (including during initial setup/feeding the wire) the has warped and come loose and deformed, making the reattachment of the nozzle impossible.

Could anyone advise if this is user error on my part, or if there might be an issue with my torch, tip holder, or gas nozzle? Or is this just meant to happen?

The machine is a Unimig Viper 180.

Thanks for your help

Welding for a week now and i’m undercutting my 1st and 2nd root pass on square corner. I’m slowing down the pass, turning amps down… what am I doing wrong ?

My 3F stick welds look something like this at best

,I weave my rod in a simple zig zag motion going uphill with small steps & try to keep a 90° travel angle

Is this how a proper weld in this position should look like?

What can i do to improve it?