Ideas for welding practice projects?

[Ravenbar]

I've been trying to up my welding skills lately. I'm also not trying to spend a lot of $$$ to do so, as my DD rig's sucking up a lot of my money lately and a big project on the to do list involves lots of welding, hence trying to up my welding skills. For some reason I can weld decent when I'm not under of a vehicle, but being under a vehicle, on jackstands in a dirt driveway, turns my welding ability into something that's an insult to birdsh1t. Not a good thing, when the big project involves frame stiffeners and replacing the rockers with ROCKer sliders.

Looking for project ideas that can be build out of scrap, which I have an abundant and eclectic variety of available. Smaller, mild steel bits alone fills a 55 gallon plastic barrel(also barrels for high carbon steel and non-steel metals, but neither are near full), and that's just the decent enough to keep and small enough to fit in the barrel collection. Also a couple piles destined for the scrapyard that my father is slowly hauling away, now that scrap prices are climbing.

No room for shop furniture. I've outgrown my shed and have a large collection in my fathers garage as well, also a Jeep Grand Cherokee packed full of parts and the cab of a 80's Ranger filled with parts as well. Was planning on building a second shed to offload some stuff and possible get rid of the truck cab, have room to work in the shed, and also clear out some space for my father in the garage. Lumber prices going through the roof and the Amish sawmills basically shutting down sales to outsiders(they either only sell sheds or else prices have near doubled, $0.40/ft to $0.70/ft for 1x6) put a stop to that plan.

 

[arse_sidewards]

Do you lay good beads in horizontal and vertical? If so then little projects aren't gonna help you much. If you don't then get an L-channel and start filling it up with beads.

 

[woods]

Do you lay good beads in horizontal and vertical? If so then little projects aren't gonna help you much. If you don't then get an L-channel and start filling it up with beads.

I started off on old lawnmower blades. The small engine place down by where I used to live had bins full of them.

 

[RunningProblem]

Frame stiffeners aren’t fun. 14 gauge to 3/16. I raised my Jeep as much as I could to make it les vertical and more horizontal welding. You just need to practice horizontal welding and vertical welding (in and downhill) for an hour a day. You don’t have to build projects. Make a T Joint then find a way to mount it so you’re welding at eye level or higher.

You could also take a class at a community college like I did. Helped a lot just being forced to practice

 

[Fishnbeer]

The cheapest way is to find a scrap metal yard, walk around and find random pieces of material. Most expensive is the little bits of material they have at the lowes and home depot type stores. If you have a steel supply shop local, go ask if they have any random cut offs they are willing to let go for cheap. I went in to get a half sheet of 3/16 on a friday afternoon, guy looked like he had one foot out the door already so he found a random cut off about +/- 40" x 40" and he sold it to me for $30.

See if you can round up something you can slap together some kind of vertical welding stand that you can practice out of position welding with. I have a bench that I will tack on a vertical square tube to practice vertical and overhead welding before I crawl under the truck. Pretty much all the welding you will do on a truck is out of position - vertical, overhead, upsidown, inside out, think of any yoga position and try holding your torch in your hand. Or, if you dont mind some scuffing on the body of your truck, just flip it on its side to weld the rockers on

 

[dnsfailure]

oh geeze, yeah don't buy steel at Lowes or Home Depot. It's literally 4x the price of just about any steel shop.

If you need practice welding under a vehicle, then maybe do that! Clamp stuff to the frame, get under the vehicle and weld those clamped pieces together. Or lay on your back in the garage/driveway and weld stuff together upside-down.

I've found for welding upside down overhead, it helps to turn the machine's power down a bit, but leave the wire speed where it's at.

 

[HELL BOUND]

Practice practice practice. I can remember when I thought I was good at the mig. Problem was when I was out of position I sucked balls. Time will make things better. Like someone said, put stuff on jackstands and lay on your back and practice. My advice is use the same settings as you would on a flat surface, I'm assuming your using mig ? For anything overhead, push do not drag. And do not try to weld like someone else because everyone I know has diffrent ways of doing the same thing. Find out what works for you.

 

[SomeGuyFromOlympia]

get plate
get rod
get laying beads, and lots of them, make a level pad out of your beads (build up)

that is how they would do it in a school

when you have that figured out, turn it all sideways
repeat step one

then go over head
repeat step one

want to go pipe?
repeat step one

unfortunately that it the fastest way to get the skill

and repeat all of above for the different flavors of rods

and if you are serious about getting a skill, don't dismiss a night class at the Community College

 

[Ravenbar]

Frame stiffeners aren’t fun. 14 gauge to 3/16. I raised my Jeep as much as I could to make it les vertical and more horizontal welding. You just need to practice horizontal welding and vertical welding (in and downhill) for an hour a day. You don’t have to build projects. Make a T Joint then find a way to mount it so you’re welding at eye level or higher.

You could also take a class at a community college like I did. Helped a lot just being forced to practice

No classes locally that are worth taking. I looked around a couple years back. A local vo-tech does an evening class, but you have to take the beginner class first, which only covers safety and torch usage. I won 't spend close to $1k to learn something I (currently) have no use for or tools to use. The local welding suppler offers a class, but it's a full time week long course, only available at their location about ~4hrs away.

The problem I have with practicing every day is I work 8-10hrs a day, with ~1hr commute each way. My welder gets stored in a shed 200ft from a power outlet, so the ~1/2hr(each) setup/tear down time would put be past dark every night, not to mention I'm completely wore out when I get home. I have enough extension cord(100ft of 10g and 100ft of 12g) to reach the shed. The project I'm getting ready for will only be ~75ft from the power source.
R

See if you can round up something you can slap together some kind of vertical welding stand that you can practice out of position welding with. I have a bench that I will tack on a vertical square tube to practice vertical and overhead welding before I crawl under the truck. Pretty much all the welding you will do on a truck is out of position - vertical, overhead, upsidown, inside out, think of any yoga position and try holding your torch in your hand. Or, if you don't mind some scuffing on the body of your truck, just flip it on its side to weld the rockers on

The only local steel suppler is mainly a fab shop. They don't sell much and prices are high. Most of what I build is made of scrap I've collected, scavenge some scrap from work, and/or I'll knowingly overpay for a specific piece I need at Tractor Supply.

It's my daily driver and the body's in good shape so I don't want to wreck the body. I've tried the laying on the ground not under a vehicle, in similar positions, and I can get OKish welds, nothing like the bubblegum I seem to always get when I'm under a vehicle.

oh geeze, yeah don't buy steel at Lowes or Home Depot. It's literally 4x the price of just about any steel shop.

If you need practice welding under a vehicle, then maybe do that! Clamp stuff to the frame, get under the vehicle and weld those clamped pieces together. Or lay on your back in the garage/driveway and weld stuff together upside-down.

I've found for welding upside down overhead, it helps to turn the machine's power down a bit, but leave the wire speed where it's at.

I've got some junk vehicles(including the exact model vehicle I'm going to be working on, that was parked due to the frame rot issue I'm trying to head off, problem being I"ve got so much crap stored in it that getting the carpet off the floorboards to prevent fire. ) around that I may try this on rather than on my daily driver.

The cheapest way is to find a scrap metal yard, walk around and find random pieces of material. Most expensive is the little bits of material they have at the lowes and home depot type stores. If you have a steel supply shop local, go asRk if they have any random cut offs they are willing to let go for cheap. I went in to get a half sheet of 3/16 on a friday afternoon, guy looked like he had one foot out the door already so he found a random cut off about +/- 40" x 40" and he sold it to me for $30.Practice practice practice. I can remember when I thought I was good at the mig. Problem was when I was out of position I sucked balls. Time will make things better. Like someone said, put stuff on jackstands and lay on your back and practice. My advice is use the same settings as you would on a flat surface, I'm assuming your using mig ? For anything overhead, push do not drag. And do not try to weld like someone else because everyone I know has different ways of doing the same thing. Find out what works for you.

I'm currently using Innershield wire on a Lincoln ProMIG 140. Mainly due to the pandemic, I haven't made the 20+ mile trip to the local welding suppler to source a gas bottle. As I'll be doing this welding in the driveway, I'm planning on using the flux core wire as gas would likely blow away.

 

[RunningProblem]

You’re not going to get better without practicing. If you don’t have time to practice when are you going to finish a project? You can’t be bothered to setup your welder to use it every day, but you’ll set it up and tear it down for one project a month whenever you have time? Doesn’t seem like you actually want to get better because getting better is going to require all this.

 

[bgaidan]

There are sellers on ebay that sell practice/training kits - either just straight square coupons or DIY projects like cubes and dice and whatnot. Prices aren't horrible compared to what you'd pay locally for small pieces.

Weld Practice for sale | eBay

Get the best deals for Weld Practice at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!

www.ebay.com

 

[SomeGuyFromOlympia]

ya, unfortunately, welding is a skill you cant just read about

you actually have to do it

and you mentioned the safety class, I have been through most of them, they aren't the funnest thing in the world. But I will thell you, you don't want to be near someone who doesn't get it. They wont know that they just killed every one

and I guarantee you that you will learn that you are doing something unsafe and not know it

 

[Tell_Sackett]

I find that my issue when welding under a vehicle generally is I skimp out on surface prep and just say fuck it, crank up the amps and burn the shit out. Most of the time I regret it.

 

[arse_sidewards]

and you mentioned the safety class, I have been through most of them, they aren't the funnest thing in the world. But I will thell you, you don't want to be near someone who doesn't get it. They wont know that they just killed every one

Oh fuck off back to Reddit with that BS.

The "actually welding" portion of welding is basically the least hazardous thing about welding. Nobody gets hurt welding. Everyone gets hurt because they fell off a ladder or step stool or they had some materials handling screw up in an environment where everything is heavy enough to hurt you.

They're gonna spend basically the entire class telling OP to wear PPE so he doesn't get burned and not to weld in environments where fires could start without taking proper precautions. That's like 1hr of actual instruction being repeated different ways over the course of the class.

Safety classes are almost universally BS. Anyone who needs an instructional video on why you should weld with a shirt on isn't going to learn anything from the class and anyone who would just need to be told to cover exposed skin to avoid burns doesn't need to be in the class. The best you can hope for from a safety class is learning a couple factoids about some niche thing you rarely deal with.

 

[SomeGuyFromOlympia]

Oh fuck off back to Reddit with that BS.

The "actually welding" portion of welding is basically the least hazardous thing about welding. Nobody gets hurt welding. Everyone gets hurt because they fell off a ladder or step stool or they had some materials handling screw up in an environment where everything is heavy enough to hurt you.

They're gonna spend basically the entire class telling OP to wear PPE so he doesn't get burned and not to weld in environments where fires could start without taking proper precautions. That's like 1hr of actual instruction being repeated different ways over the course of the class.

Safety classes are almost universally BS. Anyone who needs an instructional video on why you should weld with a shirt on isn't going to learn anything from the class and anyone who would just need to be told to cover exposed skin to avoid burns doesn't need to be in the class. The best you can hope for from a safety class is learning a couple factoids about some niche thing you rarely deal with.

You have the internet, good for you

I'm speaking from 26 years in the trade, so go ahead and let me know what the safety class is bozo

 

[arse_sidewards]

You have the internet, good for you

I'm speaking from 26 years in the trade, so go ahead and let me know what the safety class is bozo

The safety class he's going to be taking at community college before they let him weld will 100% be "wear a shirt while welding and don't do donuts on the forklift" level ass covering type stuff, dumbass.

 

[SomeGuyFromOlympia]

The safety class he's going to be taking at community college before they let him weld will 100% be "wear a shirt while welding and don't do donuts on the forklift" level ass covering type stuff, dumbass.

or
if you have greasy gloves, lets take them off before adjusting high pressure regulators.
most don't know you can blow the class up with something simple like that

FYI, I learned that in my safety night class ....way back 20+ years ago

so keep talking, you are showing your ignorance

and if you are going to be in anything like this as a class, you will have to sit through this so called 'nonsense'

Most job sites that I go on are journey level only, guess what, you get a three day safety class, (all the trades) before you get to step foot inside the gate

It isn't a bad thing, its a safety thing

OP wants to figure it out in his driveway, then he can, he want's to get on with the skill, a legit class is your fastest way to get there. It isn't like he is signing papers for a four year college, just a class no big deal

 

[Ravenbar]

You’re not going to get better without practicing. If you don’t have time to practice when are you going to finish a project? You can’t be bothered to setup your welder to use it every day, but you’ll set it up and tear it down for one project a month whenever you have time? Doesn’t seem like you actually want to get better because getting better is going to require all this.

I'm not "not willing to practice". For me to practice 1 hr every day is going to require an additional 1hr+ of setup/teardown. The practice to
setup/teardown ratio is where the issue is.

ya, unfortunately, welding is a skill you cant just read about

you actually have to do it

and you mentioned the safety class, I have been through most of them, they aren't the funnest thing in the world. But I will thell you, you don't want to be near someone who doesn't get it. They wont know that they just killed every one

and I guarantee you that you will learn that you are doing something unsafe and not know it

Having a safety portion in the class isn't why I won't take it. The entire multi month night class is safety and oxy/acetylene welding. Nothing regarding electric arc welding at all.

I find that my issue when welding under a vehicle generally is I skimp out on surface prep and just say fuck it, crank up the amps and burn the shit out. Most of the time I regret it.

The biggest prep issue I have noticed is a smal gap between the parts I"m welding.

Oh fuck off back to Reddit with that BS.

The "actually welding" portion of welding is basically the least hazardous thing about welding. Nobody gets hurt welding. Everyone gets hurt because they fell off a ladder or step stool or they had some materials handling screw up in an environment where everything is heavy enough to hurt you.

They're gonna spend basically the entire class telling OP to wear PPE so he doesn't get burned and not to weld in environments where fires could start without taking proper precautions. That's like 1hr of actual instruction being repeated different ways over the course of the class.

Safety classes are almost universally BS. Anyone who needs an instructional video on why you should weld with a shirt on isn't going to learn anything from the class and anyone who would just need to be told to cover exposed skin to avoid burns doesn't need to be in the class. The best you can hope for from a safety class is learning a couple factoids about some niche thing you rarely deal with.

The class in question doesn't even cover electric welding. Only Oxy/Acetylne welding and torch use and safety. I don't have enough use for a torch to spend the money on the gas bottles, although we do have torches and hoses around the house,

or
if you have greasy gloves, lets take them off before adjusting high pressure regulators.
most don't know you can blow the class up with something simple like that

FYI, I learned that in my safety night class ....way back 20+ years ago

so keep talking, you are showing your ignorance

and if you are going to be in anything like this as a class, you will have to sit through this so called 'nonsense'

Most job sites that I go on are journey level only, guess what, you get a three day safety class, (all the trades) before you get to step foot inside the gate

It isn't a bad thing, its a safety thing

OP wants to figure it out in his driveway, then he can, he want's to get on with the skill, a legit class is your fastest way to get there. It isn't like he is signing papers for a four year college, just a class no big deal

I've no opposition to taking a class, if it's going to teach me anything that's going to benefit me. The only local class on teaches safety and oxy/acetylene welding in the 6 month introductory class. I have no use to oxy/acetylene welding. If it was safety and arc welding, I'd have taken the class years ago. Spending $1k and 3-4 month for nonsense isn't something I'm willing to do.

 

[Ravenbar]

On additional research, it appears the local vo-tech welding class has been turned into an online class for $2k. So $2k for no hands on practice at all, with no additional training available beyond that.

In other words, short of me taking over a week of work, which i can't afford to do, there is no training available.

 

[RunningProblem]

You will never get better without practice. You’re finding every single reason you won’t practice. Time. Money. Vacation. Just wake up and BE a better welder at this point because you won’t put in any effort.

 

[Gravy]

Listening to Alice in chains will improve welds by 60%.

Taylor swift for aluminum work,

Big hair rock for grinding jobs...motley crue. Def Leppard

Fleetwood mac for stainless or heart maybe joan jett for duel shield

 

[arse_sidewards]

or
if you have greasy gloves, lets take them off before adjusting high pressure regulators.
most don't know you can blow the class up with something simple like that

FYI, I learned that in my safety night class ....way back 20+ years ago

so keep talking, you are showing your ignorance

and if you are going to be in anything like this as a class, you will have to sit through this so called 'nonsense'

Most job sites that I go on are journey level only, guess what, you get a three day safety class, (all the trades) before you get to step foot inside the gate

It isn't a bad thing, its a safety thing

OP wants to figure it out in his driveway, then he can, he want's to get on with the skill, a legit class is your fastest way to get there. It isn't like he is signing papers for a four year college, just a class no big deal

You just don't get it.

Anyone with existing shop experience is going to learn nothing or nearly nothing in the basic introductory safety classes that educational institutions give you before they let you touch tools. Maybe you'll learn a couple factoids. But you won't learn enough for it to be worth paying money for.

Anyone with existing shop experience who has been doing it wrong enough for an introductory safety class to teach them a lot is likely too far gone to be helped substantially by one "learn this shit before we let you touch stuff" class.

 

[Sean778]

Have you considered building some little shop-helper project type items, like a toe-jack, or mountable racks or hangers for tools, cords, etc?

What about something to help improve your setup/takedown time for your welder, like a different cart, or reels for the cables, something like that?

If you are doing sliders and stiffeners, make adapters for the jacks/clamps you are using to help position them on the vehicle to make that part simpler and faster to set up. And do some of it in f’d up positions to help practice.

If school is out, what about finding a mentor? Is there anyone locally who could use free help in their shop, on their farm, with their business in exchange for their expert welding advice and training? Everyone learns in their own way, but for hands-on work, I have always found the need for some quick one-on-one pointers and critiques from a skilled individual, intermingled with lots and lots of practice.

 

[SomeGuyFromOlympia]

You just don't get it.

Anyone with existing shop experience is going to learn nothing or nearly nothing in the basic introductory safety classes that educational institutions give you before they let you touch tools. Maybe you'll learn a couple factoids. But you won't learn enough for it to be worth paying money for.

Anyone with existing shop experience who has been doing it wrong enough for an introductory safety class to teach them a lot is likely too far gone to be helped substantially by one "learn this shit before we let you touch stuff" class.

have you or have you not taken said class that you are an expert in?

 

[MigGunslinger]

First you have to build the obligatory welding cart and fab table if you haven't already. I don't make the rules.

As was said before, when welding out of position under a car be 2X as diligent about prep, you don't need paint or grease fucking up a weld in a place that is nearly impossible to grind out. Also, if you are like me and have the neck strength of an infant you are going to have to learn to finish a weld after you lose sight of the puddle and one of your gloves is shrinking from heat and spatter has made its way into your armpit.

Since you have so much scrap maybe build yourself an adjustable tree that you can hang things in any position and weld them. A lot of welding classes and testing facilities have them to train in vertical and overhead. Before You get under a vehicle maybe use the tree to replicate the conditions (Material thickness, position, and height) and dial in your settings.

Something like this but it could be way less fancy:

 

[arse_sidewards]

have you or have you not taken said class that you are an expert in?

I got to deal with the curriculum side of things (granted I didn't have any say in anything) when I worked for a state university MET program.

And then I got to be on the student side when I took my welding class.

Anyone who's already doing basic fabrication is either already doing it right or already doing it wrong. The class will just be a refresher of what you know and were already either doing or ignoring but will give the institution an excuse to kick you out if you're doing it too wrong to be allowed to continue under their roof.

 

[SomeGuyFromOlympia]

I got to deal with the curriculum side of things (granted I didn't have any say in anything) when I worked for a state university MET program.

And then I got to be on the student side when I took my welding class.

Anyone who's already doing basic fabrication is either already doing it right or already doing it wrong. The class will just be a refresher of what you know and were already either doing or ignoring but will give the institution an excuse to kick you out if you're doing it too wrong to be allowed to continue under their roof.

soooooo
you are saying this class is going to keep one from killing all of students?? Not everyone is as smart as you, some don't know....kind of like the whole reason to take a class
My original point way back there

sounds like the OP just wants to get the fast track to learning how to get better at welding, a class if the fastest way, unfortunately being safe is part of it

 

[SamuraiTy]

My 2 cents, proper prep to clean bare metals. Proper full welding jacket, gloves and auto-darkening helmet. I know I personally despise getting splatter rained upon me while trying to weld under a vehicle, and that's when that 80 dollar full leather welding jacket is much appreciated. Don't rush the weld. Clamp to the frame, etc. to help avoid gaps.

 

[Ravenbar]

You will never get better without practice. You’re finding every single reason you won’t practice. Time. Money. Vacation. Just wake up and BE a better welder at this point because you won’t put in any effort.

I am not giving reasons why I won't practice. Due to the situation, practicing 1hr every day can't happen. Practicing 7 hrs over the weekend can. Same amount of practice, but 1/7th the setup/teardown time.

First you have to build the obligatory welding cart and fab table if you haven't already. I don't make the rules.

As was said before, when welding out of position under a car be 2X as diligent about prep, you don't need paint or grease fucking up a weld in a place that is nearly impossible to grind out. Also, if you are like me and have the neck strength of an infant you are going to have to learn to finish a weld after you lose sight of the puddle and one of your gloves is shrinking from heat and spatter has made its way into your armpit.

Since you have so much scrap maybe build yourself an adjustable tree that you can hang things in any position and weld them. A lot of welding classes and testing facilities have them to train in vertical and overhead. Before You get under a vehicle maybe use the tree to replicate the conditions (Material thickness, position, and height) and dial in your settings.

Something like this but it could be way less fancy:

First thing I built for it was a welding cart, which now occupies space unused. Getting power run into the garage was a project I started last year but the price of wire has put getting the 150ft feeder cable on hold. My shop is a 8'x10' shed that's so packed I can barely turn around already, so no room for a fab table. No room in the garage either as it's mostly storage.

 

[RunningProblem]

Okay so setup for 7-8 hours of welding on a weekend. Do inside corners, outside corners, tube to plate, vertical, horizontal, and overhead. You could even do multiple passes of welding. The only way you’re going to get better is to practice. You don’t need a project. Just practice the technique.