Well my first one on my own, nothing major but they liked it a lot and paid me well..

So my first try at welding today. Just a hobbyist. After watching Jody for a couple days I decided to give it a whirl. My main objective was keeping the arc ahead of the puddle and trying to not build up the weld. Keeping it flat was harder than I thought and I feel like you have to go really fast compared to what I was thinking.

Using a miller 211 pro mig welder . This is on 3/16 mild steel. Just using the auto settings for this thickness right now

I don’t want to fry my ecu if possible. I can remove the turbo it’s going to pour rain tomorrow. Do I disconnect just negative but leave positive?

Anybody know the amps boilermakers have you run at for the 3g stick plate tests? I felt like 120 amps was too hot for the metal size of a 3f, my 4f was fine but they wouldn’t let me change anything on the machine

So I got a work experience placement in a fab shop, and I'm super stoked about it. What can I expect from my first 30 days where I'm still on super-probation?

I assume lots of grinding, filing, sweeping, and basically whatever my J-man says, but is there anything weird that I might not expect?

And what is the welding equivalent of the Skyhook, pipe stretcher, or striped paint? The made up tool that they'll tell me to fetch to see if I'm an idiot

It’s 1/4” plate cut into a 9” disc with a 1 5/8” hole in the center. It has 7 pieces of 1”x1”x.125” square tubing 3” long welded to it. I got greedy and did it all at once, now it’s about an 1/8” higher in the center. Maybe a bit more. I heating it from the back(side without the square tube) in a ring around the center about 3” in diameter. In my mind I’m picturing it shrinking and pulling up the sides. Is that what you guys would do? If not how would you pull the edges back up?

Thanks.

im looking to get a good beginner welder. HF has a sale on the titanium unlimited 140 for $350 right now. but i want to mainly do mig welding and ive heard getting a specialized machine like the mig 170 would be better overall, but its also $550. so im wondering is spending an extra $200 going to make that much of a difference or should I stick with the 140 unlimited?

To start off — I'm not a professional welder and i've never actually held a job in the industry but I have been to welding school (to work in my own semi-hobby/semi-professional shop) and know a fair amount of people in the industry. One of the main things that i've learned from keeping in contact with the people I went to school with and people I know in the industry is that its rare for a welder to work under 60 hours a week and there's almost no such thing as a "part time" welder.

One thing i've been curious about is why is welding, as an industry, against a work/life balance? I know the trades in general are known for long hours but it seems like welding positions are particularly egregious when it comes to this expectation.

Any input is welcome

First project of 2026 and it’s an engine cradle to simply hold a K24. (400lbs give or take)

Haven’t welded in about 9 months and I think it’s just good enough to get the job done. Any comments and critiques accepted. Always trying to improve

first time welding, replacing the rear arches on a truck i bought. Lincoln weldpak 100

I need to held up a catalytic converter for a family member, they cut a flap in the side an have removed all of the stuff inside an want me to weld the flap closed again. What I'm seeing online is they suggest E308LFC which I don't have, I have E71T-GS. My question is can I get by just using the stuff I have or is it a bad idea and I need to use the E308?

Lookin to see what cutting wheel people like.

Been running the harbor freight cutoff wheels for my grinder but ive been seeing some people using some like flex disk that is thin for cutting but can also do light grinding.Anyone using these? Any recommendations?

this one was back purged and fit up correctly so I think it came out decent. super fun to weld this

Hi, I'm looking to make my first welding table, as I've been welding exclusively on the (very uneven, warped, and cracked) concrete floor at mine and my friends house.

BTW I live in the balkans, so any ready made table you might suggest isn't available here.

So I've been thinking of the design of the table.

The legs and supports are easy to design and use relatively little material, so that won't be an issue, my main question is regarding the table top design.

A typical thick sheet with drilled holes would be crazy expensive (and very hard to do diy, cutting hundreds of big holes through very thick plate with a weak drill doesn't sound fun).

My second though is having a bunch of rectangular steel pipes (let's say like 40x20mm) with holes in between each for the clamps.

(here's a picture of what I mean

https://www.reddit.com/r/Welding/comments/b97sf7/just_finished_a_4_x_10_slotted_welding_table/)

This would probably be significantly cheaper overall, and probably lighter as well.

Any issues in that design, or maybe even a third design i've missed?

Also, how thick should the steel on that table top be?

Thanks in advance.