Training for MMA or Stick Weding, MIG and TIG

It will operate in much the same way as the laser cutter and or lathe due to the capital cost of the equipment and safety implications

The journey through this equipment will start with MMA or Stick for the basic skills and the move on to MIG and perhaps TIG depending on skills shown on Stick and Tig

The care and training of this equipment is and will be carried out by the metal working group

Training Guide

Aim : To be able to use the machine safely and produce a simple piece of work, e.g. a but weld

Basic safety
- Safe Working Area
- Personal Protective Equipment
- Controls
- Heat Risk
- Visual Risk
- EMF Risk

MMA
- Weldable Materials
- Power Selection
- Choosing welding rod
- Welding Position
- Preparing a work piece
- Starting a weld
- Running a bead

MIG
- Weldable Materials
- Power Selection
- Feed speeds
- Gas settings
- Welding Position
- Preparing a work piece
- Doing the business

https://wiki.london.hackspace.org.uk/view/Equipment/MIG_Welder

TIG
- Weldable Materials
- Power and other settings
- Using the AC Node
- Assembling the torch and preparing the tungsten
- Gas settings
- Using the pedal
- Welding Position
- Preparing a work piece
- Joining materials

House keeping
- Please double check that the gas is shut off if you have been using MIG or TIG
- Clean Equipment and put it away
- Report any faults observed or discovered whilst using equipment
- Clean workshop floor area
- Clean and replace tools used

There is a ladder to learning welding - some people take short cuts but then unless you are exceptional you will have missed foundational skills

The ladder starts with

MMA which is also called arc or stick welding - this broadly is for all general steel 3 mm and thicker (if you were a coded welder you would be able to do a lot of other things too) It is used in industry where you are required to weld on site it is structurally strong, robust and basic consumables - ships were and are built using this technique

and then

MIG is a production environment tool it is quick the weld in the hands of a layman is not is strong as a MMA weld (easier to get decent penetrations on MMA) it is easier to create a good looking weld but harder to create a strong weld but for decorative things it is often good enough - setting it up can be a challenge for the un iniated if your are comfortable with MMA you will know what you are looking at so will find it easier to set a MIG welder up again whilst you can do exotic metals you generally wont unless you are an advanced welder

and finally

TIG is good for exotics i.e aluminium , stainless and thin metals you can of course do steel to this requires mastery of setting the gas flow current setting, co- ordination some of which you will have gained from the previous two techniques but control of a filler rod is now introduced

Welding up car panels is a specialised skill - you will need to be very good with MIG Building bike frames the most common method is TIG which you will need to have mastered

-- In the hackspace setting welding will need to be done one to one

To be competent with MMA most people could start with a 2 hour introduction to produce anything meaningful most people would then need to put in another 10 hours or so of practice some people may need or want a second session

To be competent with MIG after you have done the MMA part it would again be a 2 hour intro and then maybe 5 hours or so of practice some people may need or want a second session

To be competent with TIG after you have done the MIG if you are doing steel about 5 hours practice and if you want to do aluminium well it could be anything between 5 and 20 hours practice

Learning to weld anyone can do it in my view but it requires a commitment and effort

I am happy to give intro session of two hours for this I will charge 50 quid a session (which is roughly the cost of a meal and less than most gigs) it is also a discount on a professional hourly rate... I am not a coded or professional welder if you have taken part in workdays or made a meaningful contribution to the community I may waiver this or some of this

I had in the past given many many welding training session and stopped as it was used simply as entertainment by many people at my expense

You will need to do MMA first before you do MIG and MIG before you do TIG

Using the equipment in the space you will need to pay for consumables (Gas) and you will need to maintain good housekeeping