Introduction and the pros and cons of Gas, Stick, MIG, and TIG welders. How to become a WELDER! Ep1

[@jondavidmcnabb]

A long time ago when they actually schooled kids in Industrial Arts: I was training to ARC and MIG weld. I was Brazing in middle school and welding in high school. I am so glad I had that experience. I have kept my skill reasonably up to date but still enjoy knowing how and have added TIG.

[@wayofthewrench]

Yeah that was my experience in high school too and I feel this kick started my passion for making things and my love of metalworking/welding. 26 years later these skills are serving me well as I teach these skills and techniques to not only my students, but to everyone who watches these videos. Thanks for the watch and just a heads up, I will be making tutorial videos and project videos for stick and tig in the near future as well. Cheers!

[@lisalovelylpa]

Oh sure … my dad learned how to build houses in high school .. when I went to school .. eons ago .. we had ceramic , photo, wood , metal and auto shops , there were also biology labs where you actually dissected things amd chemistry where .. well .. sometimes things blew up lol Today .. it’s amazing how much schooling is hands off.

[@lisalovelylpa]

That was great. All things considered , I am going to start with oxyacetylene welding for my art. I never welded before , only soldered copper pipes eons ago lol Many of your videos were really informative. Helped me a lot , a big , Thank You !

[@wayofthewrench]

Glad you liked it Lisa! Yeah gas welding is a really good way to start because there's a lot you can do with it. Weld, braze, cut, bend heavy steel, break free rusted parts, colour shinny metals with heat, etc. Plus you don't need electricity too. Thanks for all the support for the channel Lisa, I'm looking forward to your art pictures! Cheers!

[@Rein_Ciarfella]

Now I finally understand the differences between types of welding equipment, something I’ve always wondered about! I’m glad I already have gas welding equipment and a little experience with that in order to form a basis for my welding knowledge. The only drawback to watching your videos is I find it somewhat difficult to understand what you’re saying because you speak very rapidly and with an accent my ear isn’t necessarily trained to translate readily. That said, I find everything else about your production qualities to be excellent, so I look forward to working my way through this playlist.

[@wayofthewrench]

Thank you very much for your kind words, it is much appreciated as I work very hard to make the very best videos I can for viewers. If you deem me worthy, I'd really appreciate it if you could share out my channel on your social media so I can help more people. I'll try to slow down a bit in my videos for ya, keep in mind you can also turn on captions too. Thanks for the watch and your support for the channel!

[@makestuffmike]

Haven’t watched this video yet but I’m commenting and liking this video for the algorithm!

[@wayofthewrench]

For the algorithm!!!

[@kw4690]

You forgot about the 5th and easiest of them all. The JB welder.!

[@wayofthewrench]

Lol... you'd be surprised by how well JB weld can work if prepped right. Somewhere there is a 1996 Ford Taurus with a job welded engine block.....right where the bolt boss was. Just saying.

[@kevintaylor113]

Well put! new subscriber here, now I just want to go melt some metal using Gas/FCAW/GMAW/GTAW processes! I found a niche while gas welding in aviation mechanics school, I was able to get in the zone with the puddle! Now some 36 years later I’m picking up the torches again for my first time to TIG & MIG all of the car restoration projects. The best thing is the ability to fabricate the rotisserie I’m gonna hang my Datsun Z car on, body dollies, and oh ya of course the body work, frame strengthening and roll cage install to finish up the race car to go SCCA Club racing! LFGooooooo

[@wayofthewrench]

Awesome! Welcome to the channel Kevin! Nice to hear you're getting back into welding with some cool projects. My buddy had an old 240z turbocharged.....we drove it till it decided to lose a fuel line and burnt itself to death. Good luck on your builds, I'd love to see some pics when your done. Cheers!

[@LosHacedores]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and taking the time to make this content!! Great videos, super clear diction and info, after watching a ton of related videos this video has especially helped me to decide where to start. Its gas welding no doubt!! Braze, braze, braze!! Cheers from Madrid mate! Keep up the great work!!

[@wayofthewrench]

Thanks Bruh! I'm glad you enjoyed the videos and I was able to help you out. Yeah gas welding is a great way to learn welding because it is a slower process and really connects you to the process. I love gas welding and brazing! If you haven't already you should check out the copper leaf sculpture video, it's one of my favorites. Thanks for the watch!

[@Lemosoffroad]

Like all other trades you should learn the old school way before you learn the new trust me learning the old way before new you’ll keep our trades alive and see how the crusty old timers got to where they are. Young people these days need to learn to work with there hands and they should look up to the old timers in these and learn from them cause those are the guys who built this country

[@wayofthewrench]

I couldn't agree more. I have had pretty big discussions with other tradespeople about why would you want to learn gas welding as they all say it's not used anymore. While that's true, the skills/insight/learning how to control heat/learning puddle control/adding filler and all at a slower pace is super valuable to learning how to fusion weld. Plus there is an unspoken connection with the metal while you tune out everything going on in the world and become one with the puddle. I love this feeling and it's why I teach my grade 9 students gas welding and brazing first. Then I teach them electric welding. I know this is a great way to start learning how to weld because I have 240 students every year coming out of my class with amazing weld samples. Some take a couple tries and some take 20 but they always come away with a deeper understanding about the welding process and how to control it. Thanks for the watch!

[@treytrey6011]

Great job creating an informative video!

[@wayofthewrench]

Thanks Trey! Glad you liked the video, if you enjoyed that one there are a ton more where that came from! You should check out my copper leaf brazing project video!Thanks for the watch!

[@CatherineSews]

Congrats on great content that inspires young people and a well-deserved partnership!

[@wayofthewrench]

Thanks Cathrine! Your doing great things on your channel too, I keep checking in to see your new videos!

[@inceptus100]

This is a great video for students looking at Welding as a possible career choice. Chris Stask Camosun College Welding Instructor

[@wayofthewrench]

Thank you for your kind words, this really means a lot coming from a reputable welding instructor. Cheers!

[@jdnotariano]

I feel like stick welding and Oxy/acetylene welding are a good combo for DIY home use. They may not be the fastest or most efficient but they can do a lot of work.

[@wayofthewrench]

These are great options and allow the home diyer to build some amazing stuff!

[@19wael96]

Man stick welding seems to be the coolest for some reason.

[@wayofthewrench]

Yeah I have always liked "unwrapping" the weld bead and seeing the beautiful weld underneath!

[@WeBuildStuff]

congrats on the partnership!!

[@wayofthewrench]

Thanks bruh! I'm pretty stoked.

[@davidharris5668]

Fantastic videos, thank you Emile, you are a great teacher! I have binged on them this weekend. Still undecided whether to get a cheap multi-function MIG, TIG and stick welder (MIG 200D3) or a jewellers Little Torch clone. The electric multi-function is cheaper and sounds like it's more versatile but gas welding seems like the "real thing". (And your comment noted that cheep multi-function machines are not as good as dedicated machines.) Currently building skills ahead of retirement in 3 years time when I want to spend a lot of time on my new hobby, robotics. So mostly dealing with small parts in a variety of metals (copper, stainless steel, mild steel and aluminium) but also maybe some heftier stuff making home-made tools and things for the garden. Gas setup for MIG and TIG adds quite a bit of cost. I've watched your MIG video where you recommend 75:25 Ar:CO2 for steel but is there a gas mix that would maximise versatility even if it isn't optimum in all applications? For example, would pure argon mean I could do TIG as well as MIG, or would the 75:25 mix cover TIG as well? (Actually, here in UK 83:15:2 Ar:C02:02 is more readily available, as well as 93:5:2 and 100% Ar.)

[@wayofthewrench]

Thanks David, I try very hard to be a good teacher so it's always nice to hear back from supporters like you! You have a lot of great questions about which welding is good for your needs. Really it starts to boil down to how much money you have and what you need. If you getting into robotics, I would say a decent multipurpose welder or a dedicated TIG welder would serve you better as you will most likely be doing a lot of finicky welding and probably lots of Aluminium. The TIG will let you weld a bunch of different materials but you will have to buy the different filler rods to suit ( buy as needed). Although I love gas welding and I think it is a great way to learn, I wouldn't buy that unless you need to cut steel plate or need to weld remotely with no electricity. As for gas, you can use pure Argon as a shielding gas so you can do it all but at a premium cost to Argosheild mix which is cheaper. Remember you can always start with one type of welder and keep your eyes open for others that pop up in Marketplace or Craigslist. Usually stick welders are really cheap to pick up, if not free sometimes. What are you retiring from? Are you in the trades now? If you deem me worthy, I'd really appreciate a share out on your social media so I can help more people on your side of the pond. Thanks for the watch! Cheers from Canada eh!

[@davidharris5668]

@@wayofthewrench Thanks for the quick response and your really helpful advice. Wow, thank you! Definitely you are more than worthy Emile but unfortunately I don't use social media, being an old codger (!) and I'm retiring from property and construction having missed my calling in the trades. However, I will certainly link your videos to anyone I do make contact with on this... ...ok, just sent a link to my daughter's boyfriend. Cheers to Canada, I have cousins there.

[@davidharris5668]

Conclusion: Having drooled over some dedicated TIG machines (very tempting but expensive) I have now ordered a cheep multi-function MIG, TIG and stick welder (MIG 200D3) plus good quality electrodes and flux-core MIG wire. If after lots of practice I get good with those, then I'll get an Argon bottle and try the TIG on this machine, and maybe get something better later. Thanks again for all your help Emile!

[@wayofthewrench]

Cool thanks David, enjoy your planning for retirement and your new welding hobby. I look forward to retirement but I'm still a slave to the job for a while still. Cheers!

[@wayofthewrench]

You're welcome! With that machine, you'll have lots of learning to go through; it will keep you busy for a while for sure. Cheers!

[@lwing77]

Make me want to Lear this trade

[@wayofthewrench]

You should learn how to weld even if it's just for your own use to be able to make projects out of metal. It's a powerful skill to have! Thanks for the watch!

[@brentfirkser1353]

Awesome video Emil!

[@wayofthewrench]

Thanks bruh!

[@W1zdumb]

I enjoyed your content. Helpful tip your voice starts losing volume i find in moments when you try to be sincere in the delivery of the education...and i find myself having to turn my volume up or resort to captions to hear every detail only every so often. Other than that great job and keep making vids man.

[@wayofthewrench]

Glad you liked the video! Thanks for the recommendation, I will try to increase the volume of my videos a bit more. I will go back and watch the video to see the spots you're talking about. This video was a year ago and I am constantly trying to get better with every video I make so I might have gotten better recently. Thanks again! Cheers!

[@Rein_Ciarfella]

Emile, you didn’t address flux core welding as a separate type. Could you make a video about this specifically? Thanks!

[@wayofthewrench]

Yeah I didn't because that would be an operation used with MIG. Just like how you can braze with a TIG. I do need to make a video on flux core welding though. Thanks for the suggestion. Cheers !

[@trishatataryn8751]

Thank you !!

[@wayofthewrench]

Glad you enjoyed the video! You should check out the copper leaf project video, it's one my favorites. Cheers!

[@nrkhan246]

lovely and very informative video.... Love you dear Thanks

[@wayofthewrench]

Your welcome! Thanks for the watch!

[@ideachannel2807]

Good clear voice

[@wayofthewrench]

Thanks, in the past year I have really tried to improve my audio and my editing. Always something to improve on ya know? Thanks for the watch!

[@xhiltonx]

Not watched this video yet but been looking at welding for a new hobbie hopely

[@wayofthewrench]

Sweet! Quite possibly a hobby that turns into a career too. You'll get a kick out this series then....enjoy!

[@xhiltonx]

@@wayofthewrench gonna enjoy the watch in bed 😂🤙 well I have a friend that can weld and where hoping to start making rustic Furniture together but, I'd like to help out on the welding side down the lin, so every little helps 🇺🇸🇬🇧

[@joaosidonio7562]

which one is cheaper? 😀

[@wayofthewrench]

A used stick welder will be the cheapest, you can sometimes find old ones for free or cheap. Thanks for the watch!

[@MrJcTTK]

just a heads up u can get something like primeweld tig 225x less than 1k does both tig and stick. amazing customer service and well liked.

[@wayofthewrench]

Nice, decent price.

[@gabaknegocios]

it seems TIG is the way to go, surely it is cheaper and acetoxy to weld?

[@wayofthewrench]

It really depends on what is available to you and if you are looking for used equipment or new. Gas welding has it unique uses when electricity is not available or if you require other processes ( cutting, heating, bending, brazing,etc). Generally, a good new TIG is pretty expensive and although it makes beautiful welds, it may not be what you need. I find that you can get a good used stick welder for cheap if not free. Then a small used MIG would probably be next but only powerful enough for thin stock. I go into more detail in the welder specific videos on the channel that might help you make your decision too. Thanks for the watch, cheers!

[@mikelastname]

Thanks for the fabulous content. I wanted to understand how difficult gas welding would be. I learned TIG after I noticed my stick welder had a lift TIG setting so I got the torch and practiced like crazy and am now "ok-ish", so I expect gas welding to be similar.

[@benhayward7706]

"It can't be stuck if its a liquid"

[@wayofthewrench]

yup...unless you get both liquid. Then it's called welding!

[@kjentocourtens7400]

Gas welding its very dangerous

[@wayofthewrench]

It can be if you don't know what you are doing or aren't being careful. That being said, I have taught 13 to 18 year old students how to gas weld and braze for 13 years now and I haven't had any issues. Thanks for the watch!