I shall allow the pictures of my completed test pieces speak for themselves.

Stick welding is great, and I’ll definitely have to revisit it. Possibly as a career.

It requires different safety gear, such as the goggles pictured below.

A picture of a practice weld after the jump.


Highlighted in red is the rippled gouge which was made by the flame when the welding torch heated the metal until it was molten. In order to weld steel this way, one would have to introduce a filler rod, which we’ll be doing at a later date.

And the picture above the jump? That’s your beard picture for the week. Unless I take another. Probably won’t. I’ll update you faithful readers on what I’m doing periodically.

Laying perfect weld is always awesome. However, today was a remarkably stressful day because next week is the test. Trying to get each and every weld perfect can really stress you out. And when you’re sitting or standing at the same table for hours in a boiler suit next to metal you’re purposefully heating up by running 108 amps through it… gets hard to concentrate sometimes.

Check out the results of the pressure after the jump.

That little hole there on that otherwise perfect weld. That would cause me to fail next week’s test.

On the up side – first outside corner weld I’ve ever done, and it looks great.

Today was a good day.

We kept on welding the three composite runs the same as we were doing last week: One foundation run, and two further runs for strength.

However there was a slight twist. We were welding a curved piece of metal, and I personally think it was easier than welding a straight piece. Though today – I welded some fantastic straight joints.

Best click after the jump for proof

Told you so.

Double week next week. It’s going to be a long one.

Got many many sparks inside the helmet, got a spark right down my back. That hurt. Caught weld flare twice. That sucks more than anything.

Did I not enjoy today?
Don’t get me wrong, I love welding. But when you can’t get into a rhythm on it, it can be a punishing mistress.

Click through for more pictures.

See what I mean? Way too wide, moving too slowly, lots of spatter. Most of these problems are aesthetic, but in a structural situation these welds would not be adequate.

Later we switched to a lighter plate, thinner rods… and finally I cracked it.

It was the best weld I had laid all day. Unfortunately it was also the best weld I would lay all day. I had a few good runs on that piece of work, but the overall product at the end of the day was not up to my personal standard.

Next week:

The Mad Industrialist gets back on that Iron Horse.

This week we were doing multiple layers of weld on single joints. The top weld in the picture is a single weld, the bottom joint has one weld on top of the other, and there’s a third one to come.

Check out more pictures after the jump.

Three plates welded together, three welds on each join.

Also welded up a couple of t-joints. Sam again on the three welds.

Had an excellent day of welding today. And to make up for the missed class last week, we get a double class next week. 9am to 3 or 4pm. Gonna be a long day.

Here’s an old snow picture. Like it’s a consolation.

This here’s my booth. After the jump the first pictures of my first welds.

My first plate of welds. I’m rather proud of it actually. What I’m learning is Manual Metal Arc Welding; Sometimes called stick welding.

You basically take a stick of filler metal coated in flux and run 105 amps through it. Then you earth the piece of metal you want to weld, then strike an arc (by tapping or dragging the rod across the metal) and lay down the filler.

Here’s a video of basically what I was doing today.

I’ll update weekly for the next 8 weeks as my welding course progresses. Learning, progressing… all for free. God Bless Fas.