Tools & Fabrication - Tig welding course or info

A buddy of mine and myself are interested in learning the basics for tig welding. Both of us can mig and stick weld decently, but know nothing about tig welding. We have access to a miller tig welder, however i dont know the model. Is there something online to read to get the basic fundamentals? Anyone know of a place in the NY area that offers strictly a tig welding course? Any suggestions will be considered and appreciated.

Post up if you run across anything.

Have you thought about a good tutorial DVD, TIG Welding Fundamentals with David Bird (http://www.amazon.com/TIG-Welding-Fundamentals-David-Bird/dp/B003VSB1B0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328631546&sr=8-1) is a good one, it's $39 at Amazon.com. You and your buddy can split the cost making it cheap for both of you, less than the cost of beer and pizza.

find a friend that knows how... it sucks teaching yourself

Have you thought about a good tutorial DVD, TIG Welding Fundamentals with David Bird (http://www.amazon.com/TIG-Welding-Fundamentals-David-Bird/dp/B003VSB1B0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328631546&sr=8-1) is a good one, it's $39 at Amazon.com. You and your buddy can split the cost making it cheap for both of you, less than the cost of beer and pizza.

Thanks ill have to check that out!

find a friend that knows how... it sucks teaching yourself

lol I wish that was an option but i have no friends that know how. I know how much teaching yourself sucks. I kinda taught myself what little i know about mig, and its been a long bumpy road so far and mig is easy compared to tig...

It might suck teaching yourself but at the bare minimum the DVD will provide some guidance and in the end, it all boils down to practice, practice, practice and no one else can do that but YOU.

Mig=easy, tig=complicated lol

i have a certificate from a local community college .....we did TIG in class......but without practice you lose it pretty quick.....i weld tested for a TIG job.....i was so rusty i could not pass.....but since Fluxcore has been my bread n butter i could run circles around that TIG guy on a flux job.....it all about practice

Check out www.WeldingTipsandTricks.com, www.thewelderslens.com, both have tons of useful videos and information. Check also with alot of your local colleges and trade/vocational schools. If you start getting into it and really want to learn more I have heard the both the beginner and Advanced Motorsports programs at Lincoln Electric are very informative.

kyle

check local community colleges...I took a non-credit course on fundamentals of mig and tig at mine...

I went to a welding school here. Was a two year class, very informative on all phases of welding. It does help knowing all phases and types of welding as you go thru life. Someitmes, TIG isn't the only answer to a weld problem.
Once I graduated, I started at a shop welding aerospace hardware and plastic mold injetion fixtures. I learned even more doing that for years.
Now a days, I am working for a missile defense agency, not welding for work, just for my own stuff and friends.
The best way to get good at it is to practice, practice, practice. If you go a while without welding you will lose "you hand" at it. Granted it will come back, but it's always better to stay proficient at it.
Good luck, try a community college if that is an option.

I went to class and it didnt help, the guy would check in everynow and then, and just say I was doing fine. I ended just grabbing some scrap chromoly and notching it, then just go at it every afternoon. I brought the pieces i did to a local chassis guy and he would give me a few tips. Its all about seat time and patience with TIG.

o yea, TIG is much easier than MIG in my mind, theres no where near the control with the MIG.

What machine do you have?

me? I have a 115v mig from Northern Tool. It got great reviews and so far its done great by me.

Check out your local BOCES for night courses

http://www.pnwboces.org/index.aspx

Check out your local BOCES for night courses

http://www.pnwboces.org/index.aspx

Thanks for the link man. Unfortunately me and said friend already took the welding course there. They have one oxyacetalene and on mig/stick. We didnt take the oxy one, but we did take the mig/stick. While very informative it was mostly stick welding. We didnt do any tig at all, and as of right now they dont offer any tig courses from what i see.

I did order the DVD above...I will let everyone know how it is when i get it.

Also we messed around with my buddies syncrowave the other day...Its not as hard as I thought it would be. Its definiately harder than mig in a lot of ways, but also somewhat easier, at least for me because you could take your time more so than mig which i like. At this point i think the biggest problem we had was dialing in the machine and finding the correct tip and filler rod without any guidance. Hopefully the DVD will shed some light.

Have you thought about a good tutorial DVD, TIG Welding Fundamentals with David Bird (http://www.amazon.com/TIG-Welding-Fundamentals-David-Bird/dp/B003VSB1B0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328631546&sr=8-1) is a good one, it's $39 at Amazon.com. You and your buddy can split the cost making it cheap for both of you, less than the cost of beer and pizza.

I watched this DVD the other day. Very informative, worth every penny. My buddy and I practiced over the weekend after watching the DVD and we did great. Just going in blind the first time we werent sure what to put all the settings on and what not. This time we were worlds ahead of our first time. We welded some mild steel, which was easy once I got the hang of everything. We also welded some stainless, which didnt come out as pretty as I thought it should have. So I am not sure if we were doing something wrong or whatever. Oh well..more practice practice practice.

http://www.ckworldwide.com/technical_specs.pdf

this may help. just remember, you're on the internet! there is tons of info out there, you've just gotta find it.

also, miller has a fantastic tig welding handbook available for free online. 84ish pages in PDF form. the AWS is a great source of info too.

Check out your local welding supply store. I went in for new mig gloves,started talking to the counter guy and turns out he is a welding inspector/teacher. He told me he would teach me TIG for $20/hr his place or mine.

http://www.ckworldwide.com/technical_specs.pdf

this may help. just remember, you're on the internet! there is tons of info out there, you've just gotta find it.

also, miller has a fantastic tig welding handbook available for free online. 84ish pages in PDF form. the AWS is a great source of info too.

Thanks I checked out that link, tons of useful info out there. And I am currently also checking out AWS. Thats the problem finding the good info. With all the info out there you never know what is good and what is crap, especially if youre a beginner. When I was first learning to MIG weld I found a ton of info and most of it turned out to be garbage.

Check out your local welding supply store. I went in for new mig gloves,started talking to the counter guy and turns out he is a welding inspector/teacher. He told me he would teach me TIG for $20/hr his place or mine.

I am going to take a trip to my local store one of these days. Ive talked to the owner before and hes a really cool guy, talked to me on the phone about 20 minutes, I actually had to get him off the phone as he wanted to keep talking lol, I was working.

Anyone know of a good place to get some cheap metal? Ive seen some sites with great prices, but the shipping always kills it. Home Depot and the like sell flat stock and stuff but I bought a piece of flat stock that was like 36"x1"x3/8" and it was like 10 bucks...ill go broke at that rate just for practicing.

http://weldingweb.com/

best forum for all your welding needs :)

Aircraftspruce.com they sell drop boxes of their scrap for like 30 bux to practice on and i think a scrap box of aluminum is 15 bux then once you get the basic knowledge down practice practice take notes of what setting work best even just write them right on the scrap good luck its fun once ya get the hang of it and can take pride in the peices you make

http://weldingweb.com/

best forum for all your welding needs :)

Thanks!!!

Aircraftspruce.com they sell drop boxes of their scrap for like 30 bux to practice on and i think a scrap box of aluminum is 15 bux then once you get the basic knowledge down practice practice take notes of what setting work best even just write them right on the scrap good luck its fun once ya get the hang of it and can take pride in the peices you make

Thanks man. Do you have to email them to ask them for scrap? I dont see it on their site. Thanks again!

They used to call them drop boxes but i did find there calling them bargain bags heres one from there steel section its 4130 moly http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/mepages/4130bargainbag.php lots of other fab shops will do the same also from their scrap pile hope that helps