Q&A for How to Weld

Wear the appropriate protective gear, like a welding helmet with a properly shaded lens, flame-resistant clothing, welding gloves, and a welding apron. It's also important to work in a well-ventilated space, and to be always keep your workpiece grounded to protect yourself from electrical hazards.

The settings don't matter at the time you turn on the machine. Before you start to weld, the settings need to be set according to the thickness and type of metal you are welding.

This depends on whether it's practice or not. If it's practice, then dip it in water. If it isn't for practice but for making an item, etc., then let it air dry.

You would have to look at a chart for a rough estimate of where to put your amperage to begin. For example, if I am using a stick wielder with 6013 stick and 16 gauge steel, then I would put my amperage at around 80.

7014 and 6013 are a general-purpose rod, good for mild steel that is at least 1/8" thick.

You move your gloved hand holding the electrode holder in the direction of travel.

This is something you learn with time. It depends on the rate of penetration, the base metal thickness, the desired width of weld bead, etc. If you are set in the correct range on your equipment, your speed can vary some.

When striking an arc, you are making a short circuit. Whenever it sticks to metal is because you have created a small weld between electrode and metal.

That is most likely the slag. Knock it off with a hammer or a wire brush and you should reveal a nice, shiny, metallic weld under the slag.

Look on the machine, you should have a gauge,dial or sticker that tells you. If not, look in the manual or on the box it came in.

It mostly depends on the size of the metal you want to weld, as well as the metal itself. Using stainless steel, for example, and an area that's 5x5, it would take about 10 to 30 minutes. But using a harder metal, and a larger area of anything over 15x15, it could take half an hour or longer.

Yes. If you weld without a hood for a while, it is very likely you will get flash burn, caused by the UV light in an arc. Flash burn is often described as feeling as though there is sand in your eyes. Always wear protection.

A blowtorch doesn't conduct electricity; it heats up the metal by using combustible gases.

Yes. I would recommend starting with something smaller. If there is some scrap metal around that is not being used, grind the rust off with a grinder and weld two smaller pieces together for practice.

It will affect how hot you want your weld to be. If you are welding a thin piece of metal, setting up and welding with too high an amperage will start to burn through your metal.

You would first need to use a TIG Welder. After a little bit of practice, stainless steel will come pretty easily.

It's possible. If you connect the negative wire to the same part you are welding, there is no danger. But if the negative is connected to the first part, and you are starting the weld on the second part, you will be electrocuted due to the loose connection between the parts. So always make you you start the weld from the same part the negative is connected to.

TIG uses long welding rods to accomplish a similar task. MIG welding process is done with metal inert gas.

The best way to weld aluminum is with a TIG (tungsten inert gas) machine using AC current and 100-percent argon shielding gas.

It depends. If you're outside, or will be switching filler metals often, you'll want to use a stick welder. Otherwise, a MIG welder works better.

For arc welding, always wear cotton long-sleeved shirts, long pants and boots, not only to protect from the intense UV light from welding, but also to protect from small pieces of molten slag/spatter that are created when arc welding. For overhead arc welding or arc welding at high amps, a welding jacket is recommended. Always wear a welding helmet for any type of welding to protect your eyes (and face), as looking at an arc without a welding helmet/shaded eye protection will give you a temporary painful condition known as "arc eye", which can seriously damage your eyes in cases of repeated exposure.

Assuming your welding process in question is Stick Welding (SMAW), it comes down to technique as you are learning and progressing, you want to "bounce" or "touch and quickly lift up" the stick electrode as quick as you can from the work piece to get the arc started, then keep the arc as short as you can. Doing this too slow will get the rod stuck, and too short of an arc will also cause this, an occurrence with all new and even experienced welders. To reduce sticking as you are learning, 6013 rods are some of the easiest to learn with, using thinner diameter rods (e.g. 1.6mm or 2.0 mm) on higher amps (e.g. 60 amps or more) will also reduce sticking as you are learning to stick weld.

Practice starting an arc and choose which technique is right for you ("tapping the electrode" or "striking it like a match" are the two most popular techniques). Use a slightly longer arc length when welding. Use higher amps and thinner diameter stick electrodes.

Yes you can, with Aluminium Stick welding electrodes (E4043). However you may have to purchase them online as most retail hardware stores don't stock them - possibly due to low demand as most professional welders prefer to either MIG or TIG weld Aluminium for higher quality welds and more ease of use - stick welding aluminium is generally regarded as an "outdoor field repair" where perfect quality welds are not essential and other processes are not available.

Generally, keep as short of an arc you can without sticking the electrode to the metal. Typically, this will be about the same diameter of the electrode. Having too long of an arc will result in excessive spatter and, in general, just a very poor quality weld.

This is common when you are learning to weld - the more practice you get welding, the more you get used to being able to see around the weld puddle. If you have an adjustable shade welding helmet that is too dark, you can try turning the darkness setting down a number, so long as your eyes are comfortable. Also try different welding helmets if you can - Speedglas and Miller are two well respected industry leading brands that provide very high quality welding hoods.

Relax and be confident, putting all of your practice and learned skills to use in your weld test. Pass or fail, as long as you tried your best you can be proud and work on always getting better and better regardless of the result. Getting in extra practice in the shop or at home will also help, as well as viewing reputable YouTube videos on welding, of which there are many around.

You can ground straight to the workpiece, so long as there is a physical connection from the electrode to the ground cable. The worst that will happen is you won't be able to start an arc, just re-position the ground cable.

When welding horizontal, you will almost always use a steady drag with little or no articulation. Vertical welds are usually full surface fill, so you will need to use a weave motion. The settings do not change between the two.