Well, I'm doing it solo. Kinda getting there, but so fat hit and miss. The last test subject was awfully weak, breaked it with bare hands. Someday, perhaps, someday...
Almost everything is 20x20 square tubing, 2mm walls.
During my time as both a student in the 2023 class and later as a teacher until my resignation in 2026, I noticed several concerning patterns. The school had roughly a 50/50 pass-to-fail ratio, and many students were disappointed when promised job opportunities after passing all four tests never materialized. Students also often waited months to receive their certifications, which can hurt job prospects in the welding industry. In my experience, the program lacked many essential skills employers expect, including blueprint reading, metal fabrication, temperature adjustment, shop math, measuring, and metallurgy. These are standard skills taught at many other welding schools and are necessary for securing higher-paying welding jobs.
Another major concern was the academy’s hiring practices and learning environment. The owner frequently hired students immediately after testing, paid them very little, and placed them into teaching roles without proper training or experience, creating a “blind leading the blind” atmosphere. There were many missed opportunities to improve the program through more hands-on projects and real-world skill development. It was also troubling to see students leave abruptly after paying in full, sometimes even abandoning expensive equipment behind. Combined with the owner’s emotional outbursts and false claims when upset, these experiences left me feeling that the school prioritized profit over providing students with a quality education and the support they were promised.
I just couldn’t in good faith resign without leaving an honest review and hope this helps someone considering this as an option find clarity.
Hi All,
I have a 1953 Chevy that is a radical custom. I bought it "chopped" already and the previous owner put the body on a G body chassis from an 80's El Camino or Monte Carlo. The frame appears to be lengthened and the welds on the splice don't look that good. The rear was "z-notched or z'd" and they used some c-channel tubing in the back part to make the mod but maybe I can use square plate pieces to close those angle pieces up in that area (in the 2nd and 3rd to last photos) and add strength.
The photos show an example of the suspect welding that was done. This car hasn't left my garage/driveway since I discovered this. I'm just trying to figure out if this is something I could do on my own before I possibly get rid of the car at a $2k to $3k loss, or possibly see if a shop here in San Diego that does custom car fab can work on it for a reasonable price (very unlikely). I could practice for months (there's no rush) on metal and worse case just abandon ship if I don't get proficient. A custom car fabricator in my region looked at the photos and said it might be best for me to just drive it as is and he's seen worse than this hold up fine, but I'm a bit more on the cautious side.
Is it feasible for me to learn to do stick welding if I buy a used Lincoln 240V DC "tombstone" arc welder and touch up the welds and/or add fish plating over where the splice was made to strengthen it? The only concern is the frame profile isn't flat like box tubing I've seen on some cars. Also someone told me I might weaken the frame more if I do more welding in that region.
I figure MIG wouldn't be a good option because I would need to do this in my driveway and its usually breezy in this area. Would I be able to work from underneath the car using stick if I try to avoid taking the body off the frame (this is much preferred)?
Im running .045 ESAB wire with my Bernard gun/whip with my Miller Arcreach suitcase. 316 wire speed, 29.8 V on machine (26 when welding pass) with 30% on the bottle. I dont think my stickout is too close or too far. Getting tons of spatter build up even when using Weldmark dynaflux anti-spatter. Im pulling my welds with a slight 15⁰ angle, 45⁰ into the horizontal joint. What do you recommend? Whats happening?
I wanted to customize the angle of my handlebar side mirror clamp, so I cleanly split it in half using a wire-cut machine. Now, I'm stuck trying to figure out how to put it back together at my new custom angle.
I took it to a few local shops and got turned down:
The clamp doesn't hold any heavy structural weight—it just holds the offset side mirror mount.
What are my options here is there any other forgiving welding method for this? My absolute last resort is just to drill a hole and put a screw through it to hold it together, but I'd prefer a cleaner look if possible. Any advice on what to do with this shit?
EDIT: Thanks to everyone's comments, I've realized brazing or welding this pot metal is a recipe for disaster. I'm going to look for a 3D modeling/CNC machinist to get this custom clamp made properly instead. Thanks y'all!
Hi everyone. This is my first post here. I've been learning MIG welding for three weeks, and for about a week now I can't figure out how to make a overhead weld. It should be a fillet weld, with three passes. In a week, I was able to get the weld to look like a weld, not like drops of metal flowing down. But now every time, I can't melt together (connect?) the second and third welds. I think it's a speed issue and/or torch angle issue. I've tried correct it, but I can't figure out what exactly the problem is. My instructor is pretty stingy with explanations, simply saying that the welds aren't melted together, and getting advice from him is difficult. I'd appreciate any comments. (P.S. I know the metal isn't cleaned, but this isn't my decision, it's the school's practice.)
buy this welder or that welder
i have to buy a fluxcore welding station and found those two at the local shop.
the ross is 550 niss (190 usd).
the rockstone (220 usd).
notice the the ross doest have mma and know that the rockstone selled online for 100\~ usd.
i plan to use it rarely and most probably for small welding stuff without a need to hold much weight
i know what i gravitet towards but i want your uneffected opinion.
thanks for all of Your help and have a nice day
Haven't done any welding in ages, I've forgot pretty much all tecniques
Please do your worst, as you can see, I already did.
