My first bit of welding!

[Steve]

Done some mig welding at college last week, well, just a bit of practice but got to actually weld stuff up today, and insteaed of doing my assessment piece like everyone else I brought my nova's back box in lol

It had a hairline crack around the tailpipe and it just spread, and as I needed to shorten the tailpipe anyway as it stuck out to far I chopped the end off but didnt get time to weld it back on.

Definitely not as easy as i'd thought but all good practice, can't wait to finish it off next week!!

[Mike]

Dude, once you get the hand of it, its pretty easy really.

Its the getting the hang of it that takes some time.

[MK999]

When I did my welding introduction type thing at uni the guy running that bit basically said when you can see the tip of the wire through a mask and use that to spread the heat where you want it, after that it's all just practice to get better. :thumb:

[Steve]

For me it was trying to find the balance between blowing a hole in it or leaving fat chunky welds everywhere! lol but its all good, the main thing is im enjoying it. Will get a picture up tomorrow, but my teacher did quite alot of it as theres was quite a large gap to bridge and I couldnt build the welds up good enough.

Brazing on the other was real easy to get the hang of, only took about a day lol

[MK999]

Brazing on the other was real easy to get the hang of, only took about a day lol

Glorified soldering lol

[Steve]

Indeed, but a bit stronger than soldering and you get a big flame to play with lol

[MK999]

Indeed, but a bit stronger than soldering and you get a big flame to play with lol

depends what you solder with lol

[Southie]

Sounds like my zippo lighter lol

Well I cannot weld and never had a go but will do at some stage. Is it just a welding course or are you doing something else?

[burgo]

i do love welding get to make/modify/fix all sorts :)

[Jon_nova1]

you chopped the end of but didn't get time to weld it back on? it takes about a minute to cut it, what was you doing the rest of the time? lol

[Jack]

I'd love to learn to weld properly. My dad has one in his garage which I played with a bit a few years back and got pretty good, but I think he said the wire doesn't come through properly now so its a bit crappy

[burgo]

change the liner then jack, should revive it

[Jon_nova1]

It certainly will, i just go for the tighten the feed will option lol

[Steve]

you chopped the end of but didn't get time to weld it back on? it takes about a minute to cut it, what was you doing the rest of the time? lol
Taking my time so I didnt keep burning holes in it lol


Sounds like my zippo lighter lol

Well I cannot weld and never had a go but will do at some stage. Is it just a welding course or are you doing something else?
No im doing vehicle body repairs level 1. It covers the lot really, welding, fabrication, panel beating and spraying. Just gotta start looking for some work experience and get my foot in the door somewhere lol

[Steve]

Couple of pics, the decent welds are my tutors, the few lumpy bits are mine lol

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/novamyth/Sr%20Pics/beige%20beast/tailpipe1001.jpg

And this week im gonna finish it off as ive shortened the tailpipe to just the right length.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/novamyth/Sr%20Pics/beige%20beast/tailpipe10013.jpg

As you can see beforehand, it stuck out way too far!!

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/novamyth/Sr%20Pics/beige%20beast/Picture1026.jpg

[craig green]

Looks normal for a mk1..

Nice one for learning to weld, a proper 'mans skill' if ever there was one.

[L14MNP]

I like the normal length on a mk1. Will be interesting to see how yours looks now mate.

[Steve]

I may have cut it just a tad shorter than I wanted to, but I want it looking subtle. It actually looked alot worse in real life than in that pic!

Learning is indeed the key word there craig! gonna take a while but its the one thing ive learnt recently and really enjoyed. And obviously owning a nova will become alot cheaper when I can weld bits up properly myself!! lol

[Steve]

Back in the workshop today and well happy, got it all welded up and after grinding it all back theres only a couple of pin holes where the weld wasnt 100% so just filled those up smoothed it off and job done!!

Gonna be fitting it tomorrow or sunday, can't wait to see how it looks.

[Southie]

I'm glad your maintaining your excitment or get in lad it will be well worth it lad. lol

I'm thinking of going on a college course for welding and maybe spraying, I'm sure it will help me.

[Steve]

How old are you mate? over 19s have to pay, and mine was £1350 including exams! Just got sick of working dead end jobs and finally realised this is what I wanna do. So its a bargain when you think about it.

I say go for it, doing essays is a bit gay but I actually look forward to going everyday, unlike school its something im actually interested in!!

[Nobby]

i made it a goal at my work when i started my apprenticeship nearly 4 years ago to learn how to weld as 1. Its handy 2. You can earn abit off it 3. Saves having to pay someone else to do it. Now im the main welder at our garage and i do 95% of the welding work. I even did a foreigner with my gaffer welding 6mm sheets in a tipper lorry! Practice makes perfect!

[Southie]

Well I'll be paying then lol, just need to try a different niche as I've been a Graphic Designer now for 15 years so want to adapt to something I enjoy, which is cars. Spraying would be an ideal change as I'm dealing with colour matching with being in the print trade.

[Steve]

Sorry about the quality but its late, and cba!!

just a mock up pic the other day

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/novamyth/Sr%20Pics/beige%20beast/Picture1016.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/novamyth/Sr%20Pics/beige%20beast/Picture1017.jpg

Cut off the tip removed 4" re-welded, welds ground down

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/novamyth/Sr%20Pics/beige%20beast/Picture1018.jpg

And a general picture from the other day :)

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/novamyth/Sr%20Pics/beige%20beast/Picture1012.jpg

[Ben]

With welding just make sure you prep properly and clean it well.

Biggest problems i find is slag and lack of fusion, if you get good you can command your own price!

[Steve]

Slag!? Yeah its going ok, only my 2nd lesson on it but had a different welder this time and just got on with it better from the start. My course covers all aspects of body repairs but im more interested in paint than anything else, but welding takes a close 2nd.

[vaughanmc]

I like the way that exhaust used to sit :thumb:

[Ben]

Ah right if your just tacking bodypanels on ignore me i was talking about proper welding lol

[Steve]

Nah that will be next year if I can't get a job after this year. I'd like to learn to weld properly but as a job I think paint is for me.

Cheers vaughan but I got sick of tripping over it all the time!! pmsl lol lol