Making a Living with Your Arts & Crafts

Confusion

Many of the emails I get go something like this: “a welder I know said to weld it this way, and then another welder said I should do it another way”.  “What’s the right way?” 

Most welders work in a specific area like structural steel, auto body work, mid weight fabrication etc. 

If a welder works in structural steel he or she becomes quite proficient in that particular area.  This probably means that their experience in other types of welding is limited. 

In other words, most welders are not actively involved in a variety of welding situations.   

When you ask an auto body welder about how to weld let’s say 1/4th inch steel, they’ll give you the best advice that they have, although this is not their area.   

The best anyone can do no matter the field is to give the best advice that they have from their experience. 

There is a right way to do everything in welding; we’ll call it, “by the book”; in other words a welding textbook. 

An example for welding is:  “Principles and Applications [Welding Technology Industrial]”.   You can check for this title on Amazon.com.

You can never go wrong “going by the book”.

However, most welders over time develop their own techniques that work for them in their particular area.

In my videos I show you how I weld and braze; the techniques that I’ve developed over the years that work best for me.  Frequently these techniques vary widely from the text book.

This leads into what is an excellent weld or braze?

1) It does the job intended.

2) It is a good looking weld.

3) An experienced welder looks at it and congratulates you on an excellent weld.

That’s for an excellent weld, but what about when you are just beginning?  Let’s stick with step one, “it does the job intended”. 

It might be an ugly weld or braze, but does it do what you want?  Are the two pieces welded well enough so that they will not come apart under a moderate amount of stress?  If the answer is yes, then you are on your way.

In the metal sculpture that I do strength is not that important.  Obviously I don’t want leaves falling off a Maple Leaf spray, but it is does not require the same amount of holding power as welding on a bull dozer or earth mover.

Once your welding is doing what you intended then you can start working on “good looking welds”.

As you watch my videos you see many brazes.  Often these don’t subscribe to the text book approach.  I’m frequently spreading the bronze around to create an effect that provides a contrast with another metal. 

But back to confusion:

Back in the little farm town I grew up in there was a machine shop that could make just about anything.  The people who worked there were all around welders.  This is something that you rarely see today.

Today, within my personal acquaintances there are about five people who fit in to the category of all around welders.

Most of the people that I know who either weld or braze are working in a specific area.  They have developed their own techniques.

If you use the techniques that I show in the Metal Sculpture Instructional Videos, in time you’ll find yourself developing your own techniques.

As I mention here and elsewhere, it is just a matter of practice.  The more you practice the more you move into a groove where everything falls into place.

I am definitely the not last word on welding or brazing, but the techniques that I’ve developed have worked well for me within the type of work that I do.  The key phrases here is, “type of work that I do”.