Just wanted to know how you guys learned your custom fabbing/welding ansd what not... I am 21 years old and have been with my shop as a mechanic for 4 years but we dsont do any work like this... I really want to learn.. I would even be willing to work for your shop as an apprentice 1 day a week to learn(I'm in seattle washington area) won't ask for any pay but I really want to learn... I don't have my own welder or anything like that. But I am saving to buy a welder and a hand pipe bender so I can try by trial and error. If anyone can help please let me know

 

well i learned alot during high school since we had a shop program, i took auto body for 3 years in high school and after i graduated i went straight to wyotech where i took collision and refinishing but i also took street rod for my add on class and it was amazing, thats where i basically learned everything i know about welding and metal fab,and i would definitely recommend wyotech just for that course but if going back to school isnt an option i understand, just throwing it out there

 

unfortunately i cant go back to school as i support me and my wife right now and we have 6 animals too lol..... but i will keep that in mind if i ever get the chance... i would have taken the course at my highschool if they would have offered it but they took it away because there was not enough people who wanted it to keep it going... ****ty highschool mentality i think...

 

by always being out in the shop with my pops just tinkerin with ****.

 

Learned to do bodywork from my dad. Id go to work with his every summer since i was 5 so i would just watch him work.

metal fab im still learning. Still trying to get better at welding but my imagination has always been into customs

 

I learned how to weld in high school (arc, oxyacetylene, an MIG) but I barely did MIG there. I picked up MIG really fast. Bodywork I just practiced alot an still am trying.

 

i first welded in a high school class, but the teacher sucked and didn't make you learn anything.

then on the last day of my junior year (17yo) i was workin with my auto teacher and the wood shop teacher came in. he said he had a welding business and asked if i would like to "learn" to weld..

about a week into summer he called and hired me on to rebuild roll off containers, and flat bed semi trailers. it was all stick welding and the only rule was "if it looks pretty your taking too long". i did that job until half way thru my senior year when i turned 18yo, then i went to the diesel repair shop my dad and uncle had been at for over 17 years each.

this job is where i learned that a pretty weld is a proper weld, and it isn't worth spending the time welding something if it isn't welded properly. basically the owner had been fired from a welding position for a crappy weld, and if he seen you perform a crappy weld you'd get canned as well. i was 3 months into this job before i ever learned how to mig weld, and i also learned pretty much all my fab skills at this job.

i quit that job when i was 20 and went to a diesel/heavy equipment company. i perfected my tig welding at this company, but that was about it besides how to drive loaders, huge dumptrucks, and excavators. i was frequently sent out of town or state not knowing what i was going for, but it was a lot of fun making things work . it was while i worked here that i finally picked up a minitruck (i had liked them since i was 13). i worked here until i was 23 and my wife got her R.N.... now i'm a stay at home dad

so basically i'm self taught, and cutting up trucks is kind of a stress reliever for me. i had tried to go to a school called east valley institute of technology for body and paint, but thanks to an a$$hole teacher that thought i was gunna spend my life writing poems, i missed out.....

 

I know a little bit of mig welding but not much ... only for doing a little exhaust work in school... what types of welding do you use for control arms/ frame work ect

 

i mig weld the frames, my control arms will most likely be tig'd. but honestly if they are properly mig'd they'll work just fine.

 

sh_t, like you just said, don't buy the dam thing, buy the welder and MAKE the pipe bender.. xD... wat is it, .5" steel to make the pipe bender? idk, im just guessing... lol

 

I pretty much learned the ins and outs of mechanics from owning a vehicle, and not having the money for a mechanic. My dad was a mechanic, but his idea of teaching me was, "go do it yourself, then when you screw it up, you can pay me to fix it." So I turned to my friends, which eventually let me to my truck club. Which eventually led me to custom shops where club members were getting work done. I'd ask a lot of questions, and absorb as much info as I could. Basically, you can teach yourself with the hands on experience of trying different things like frame, body, and paint. And you can learn a lot by asking for advise. You'd be surprised how many fabricators love to talk shop. Surround yourself with what you want to be. You want to do custom work, Surround yourself with that work. Hit every Mini-truck and Hot-Rod show you can. Talk to the vehicle owners and builders. Talk with the vendors. Be pro-active. Buy the magazines. Read the tech articles. Go on the forums. SUPPORT the SCENE! Especially if you want the scene to support you someday. Good luck and grind on.

 

thanks for all the info guys!!! im def gunna get more involved in the whole culture and start learning on my own with my own truck lol... what is your guys' opinion of ready welders?? are they worthy of frame work and suspension work or should i really save and get a bigger welder.... i have plenty of time to work on it... well kinda.. but i do have the time to learn on my own

 

My old man was a mechanic he worked on almost everything but kicked the bucket before I learnt anything. I wanted to do what he did but school never offered anything near what I wanted to do. I found an old arc welder in the shed and self taught myself by building tables for engines and parts.

I just find the grinding to be a pain in the ass.

Next week I am studying trade engineering at kind of goverment run college. Learning MIG, tig and arc... should be fun... goes for 6 months full-time.

 

I did alot myself, but learn from Bernie, Dan, and everyone else. btw what happened to Dan? lol

 

work on your truck yourself in your garage. you are a mechanic so you cant screw anything up that you cant cut apart and weld back together... Just as you learned to spin wrenches actually working, tinkering around in the garage and actually doing a project on your own is the best way to figure things out...

go buy a welding and start melting things

good luck

 

Find a friend who is a certified welder, get him/her to show you the basics and ask them to judge your welds until you get the hang of it. Other than that....just start building ****.

 

who needs a certified welder when we can bother Bernie

When you start welding, All you need to know is to learn how to control the weld and improve from there. It's a hit and miss/ do and redo/ mistake correction thing.

 

Depends on what you are welding, i wouldn't want to hit or miss on suspension components, or a roll cage. If you are welding a welding cart for your new welder, or patching a body panel hit or miss all you want.

 

well hopefully you arnt starting out building full frame and roll cages you intend to use....