I went to college for welding. However, I didn’t get my AWS certification. I want to practice for that.
How do I go about using one of the machines for stick welding?
Can I use one of the TiG machines for stick? Do we have a stick welding electrode holder?
What class do I need?
So – we have an Arc-welding machine, which I’ve been hearing called stick welding. When I took the welding safety, I was surprised that we had one, because folks teach on the gas-added machines much more than the arc-welder. Like you, I kinda know how to do stick-welding, and the price of the gases for TIG and MIG is a bit rich for my pocket book. That said, the “suggested posts” below this say that there’s a TIG class, plus safety, on 7/12.
Apparently the Tig Machines can do Arc/Stick Welding as well. The question is, do we have the required holder for the rods? And does the Tig class cover how to switch the machines over…
The ThermalArc machine (purpleish brown colored welder) is our permanently configured stick welder.
We currently do not allow the TIG machine for use as a stick welder as we can’t guarantee that it will find it’s way back configured as a TIG machine and most members don’t care for stick welding.
As far as how to get authorized on using the Stick welder, come to a class or get one of the teachers to sign off on you. It’s just like the other welders in that it’s training required.
MIG, not TIG, on the 12th. As well as Safety. Sign up, I’d love to have you there.
We’ve got a dedicated machine ready for stick/arc; @malcolmputer has taught a class before. Thing is, it’s an awesome process to learn first if you wanna become a pro welder, but if you’re looking to learn enough for a makerspace project, MIG and TIG are where it’s at. Arc welding is great and very economical, but it’s also messy, and inefficient compared to the other two- if enough people wanted to go that way, we’d have to charge for sticks the same way we do for gas- for now we don’t because it’s not a preferred process.
No, cause you shouldn’t use those machines (the TIG machines) that way when there are other dedicated machines for that process. This kind of question is precisely why training on the tools we have is required- even if you are a true bad-ass at the process.
if $1 for 3 minutes is too rich, so is arc welding, You’d be talking pennies worth of difference.
I am looking through the welders …
https://dallasmakerspace.org/wiki/Welding
Which one is dedicated for Arc/Stick?
I don’t see a ThermalArc … hmm perhaps the page needs to be updated
Not sure it’s made its way to the wiki (with 30 seconds of looking). If ya go to the welding area and have ever welded, it’s the one that looks like it’s set up for stick.
@malcolmputer says its a
and I’d trust that.
I confess I haven’t looked recently, but the MIG/TIG classes were set at $40/$50 or so when I checked … oh, sometime last year. There might not be a big difference in consumables once I’ve got the skill set, but my budget is pretty small.
Has that changed?
Yeah, it’s less now.
Never got around to putting the Thermal arc on there, partly because I kept expecting it to return to its owner’s garage. It looks like this
Does it? I kinda viewed it like somebody asking if we’d teach them to drive nails with a rock and responding “Nah, we have hammers for that.” I didn’t say it was against the rules- just that you “shouldn’t” do it cause we have a machine dedicated to that job.
They are. Just not how to set up a process no one uses on a machine that is generally used for TIG (or GTAW, whatever). But if you wanna teach that class, I’m for it. more welding classes are sooo needed.
Not to me, I’d say if you’ve taken the SMAW class, have an electrode holder that fits the machine, and know what you’re doing, then go for it. It’d be my preference that the machine be returned to the TIG setup when you are finished, because, again, 99% of the projects done at DMS are better serviced by processes other than SMAW. (which is why those classes are not the priority the others are).
Once you have this figured out, please let me know and I’ll mirror the changes onto the Tools overview page.
Sure ya are, but that’s ok. I never claimed it was a perfect analogy (kinda funny though, right?). The point is, we have a machine dedicated to the process that No One Uses. Why would we complicate our lives by trying to teach around hypotheticals? (and make no mistake with talk of mythical situations where we have two welding bays, and the one you needs is in use, and you have a project that needs a SMAW process, and you’ve taken that class, and you have an appropriate electrode holder, and it’s the 25th of Never… is exactly that.)
Maybe if we teach more classes on SMAW, more people would use it, but with a really limited pool of teachers, we have to prioritize and SMAW just ain’t one. MIG and TIG are better suited, IMO, to most of what goes on here. How to use a multi-process welder efficiently and using these machines in that way just isn’t even on the radar when getting someone (anyone) to teach the basics is like pulling teeth.
He and I disagree on stuff sometimes. That’s ok too. I don’t find it necessary to worry too much about it because out of the 1700 members we have, there’s probably about 15 of us that even know it’s possible and fewer than that who would ever even attempt to use those machines that way. Especially when there’s a machine dedicated to that process within inches.
DMS in general and vocal members on this board more than that, spend sooo much time fighting fires that haven’t sparked and searching for solutions to problems that don’t exist. I try to limit the rulemaking I support to situations that require a rule. I don’t see this as one. Let’s get people in there using the equipment by offering basic training and save the speculation about how the training could better serve the membership for a time when the hypotheticals have become a bit more real.
I consider myself fortunate if metalshop is meeting at all. Honestly, more opinions isn’t what we need. More teachers is.
Just repeating what I was told when I asked if I could start teaching Stick welding. We didn’t train the TIG welder students the difference between DCEN and DCEP, and don’t show them how to remove or add the tweco’s as part of the class, so they’d be helpless if the machine was set up for stick when they walked in.
Contrary of course to the lathe class where we do show them how to do setup and take down. Also realize, I didn’t make the class, I just teach it. If I had my way it would be a very long class, and we’d actually teach welding instead of the whole here’s how you don’t kill yourself have fun approach.
Since we have a stick welder just for stick, and a total of 9 (myself and the class of 8 I taught) who are authorized for stick welding, it’s probably the least used welder over there.
IMO, there is no reason to be switching to stick mode on our TIG when we have a dedicated unit. It’s asking for trouble.
As for the two bay scenario that’s a huge stretch, as first we have little need for stick in this environment, as the other processes are far better than stick. Stick is great when outside and you can’t control gas effectively, but there are very few cases for use inside our environment, and newrly none where it is appropriate to switch the TIG over rather than use the unit we have at the ready.
The one of the purposes of the makerspace is education.
Using the current TIG machine for stick gains you nothing besides knowing that particular machine for a purpose it isn’t best suited in our operating environment, and has the potential to cause trouble for a lot of other users. It doesn’t teach you stick any better than the assigned machine, and doesn’t do the job any better. This isn’t educational in my book; educational would be to learn which process is best for the job, or how to use a new machine.
I would argue this is akin to using roll pin hammer to drive nails. Sure, it works but you have a good chance or leaving the tool unusable for the next user and we have better hammers for the purpose.
I don’t disagree with what you have said in general. However, sometimes and for some advanced classes it might be good to learn the machines full capabilities. There are quite a few options and I’m certain that some might want to learn what all of the settings do and how they might help in a project. I don’t know how in depth people go in the TiG classes in teaching the controls. I think it would be awesome if someone could teach a class on how it all works and what cool things can be done as I am sure there are many.
We haven’t had a Metal Shop Committee on a weekend in a long time. All of them this year have been during the week. Machine shop is a different story.
I think we need to keep the machines as is. I don’t want anyone breaking the current machine which is likely to happen by them switching around. I know it’s simple to do but you have to take into consideration of the things that get broken already. A stick machine is cheap. My first machine was 200$. My current arc machine was 425$.
@Draco You know I like you man, so I hope you won’t take this the wrong way- I mean no disrespect.
Sometimes it’s tough to figure out when you’re being serious about a post and when you’re just stirring the pot for the fun of it. On this one, you’ve had literally everyone who teaches in or helps maintain that equipment (including the chair and vice-chair of the committee) telling you that your request is ill advised- that it increases the chances that he equipment becomes unusable for those who want to use it and that it adds practically nothing to the “educational mission.” Yet the argument continues.
For me, it’s useful to keep in mind what you’re actually asking: when we as a group say something to the effect of “we should teach XXX”, what we are saying is “you people who teach, who are already doing your part to advance the cause, should take more time out of your lives to teach XXX.” Sometimes it’s valid and useful, sometimes (like this one) literally every person involved agrees that it isn’t.
The fact is (broken record time now) we don’t have enough teachers teaching the training required tool classes in a LOT of the different committee areas. In the welding area, @malcolmputer and myself are doing what we can, but there needs to be be more. I don’t know if @LeeCJones is still around, but he’s a great teacher. @LukeStrickland has his fingers in a lot of different pots. Without more teachers. we can’t do more than teach the basic basics and try to ensure that people don’t break themselves or the machines. If more teachers step forward, we can get cooler, crazier, and more esoteric. But keep in mind that when you say “We should do XXX” what you’re saying is “You should do XXX”- unless it’s a really good idea, it’s gonna get rejected. We are working as hard as we can and treading water is about all we can do without help.