hello!

[builder bob]

hi i'm nick. i'm from MA and am a high school student. i've never welded or finished building any ride able thing. i want to build a gas bike and so need to learn to weld. the reason why i've never learned is because i've been scared of going blind from the light. that is kind of stupid though because you where a mask... i also never capitalize things unless my computer does it automatically. you've probably noticed that by now!

 

[dadindy]

hello nick, i am new here also.

i have never built a kart before but my first attempts seem to be good so far.

i did learn to weld when i left school, but up until now its been twenty years since i have done any. it felt almost like i'd never done t before at first but with a little pratice i am getting back upto speed with it.

i hope you soon master the skill needed because it has bought me such a good buzz building my kart.

 

[builder bob]

that's good that it's working out for you! i've got to fix a MIG welder before i can do much. is there any danger of changing the strength of the piece if it's thin and i weld it with a regular stick welder?

 

[dadindy]

i am welding 16 guage box section with my arc welder using 1.6mm 6013 electrodes a general rule of thumb i was told is you shouldnt try welding anything thinner than the size of the electrode you intend to use.

 

[builder bob]

that sounds smart, i'll look what my schools got next week

 

[OzFab]

That's what I like to see; two noobs sharing info

The best advice I can give you both is invest (yes, it's an investment) in an auto helmet & practice, practice, practice. After welding for 15 years, I bought an auto helmet & my welding improved out of sight

 

[builder bob]

My school has 4 so I'm al set. I'll practice on the regular stick welder and fix the MIG so I can build me a bike!

 

[landuse]

Welcome to the forum. I have a stick welder, and it didn't take me too long to learn how to use it. I unfortunately still don't have an auto darkening helmet cos they are a bit too expensive for the little amount of welding I do

Ask if you need any questions answered

 

[builder bob]

alright thanks!

 

[falcon52]

Hello and welcome! I learned to weld probably by the time I was 16. If at all possible, I recommend starting out with the mig welder. It seemed like once I got the motions down with the mig welder, I was able to keep a little more steady hand with the stick welder. Later that helped me when I was learning to tig weld. Good luck!

 

[builder bob]

thanks! i'm gonna try and get my school to let me bring home the mig welder because nobody there knows how to fix it.