So I have been wanting to learn to weld for a long time. I think it's just one of those skills that's just handy to have. What's the best way to go about it? Is it something you can reach yourself or should I look into taking some classes? Also what type of welding is best to know? I'm wanting it mostly for building deer stands, fixing/fabricating little things around the house and auto repair/modification.

 

MIG with a TIG back would be your best bet..

buy one, get some scrap steel and try it..

best way is self taught.. then take some classes at a CC.

 

Night time tech school is your best bet. Otherwise Miller has a lot of great videos on youtube. Don't just teach yourself because you'll wind up having to go back and break bad habits you pick up.

 

I learned to weld on YouTube in one afternoon, I feel like I've taken a course at community college.

 

Taught myself to weld with stick, mig and oxy/acetylene, but had many unanswered questions in many areas. Taking CC classes now, and gotten through OAW, arc and mig, both basic and advanced courses, TIG is next. Can you learn how to run a bead teaching yourself? Sure. But knowing different techniques and when to use them, picking the correct materials, and so on, is nice to know. Guess it all depends on how far you want to take it. If you just want to do little things around the house, you can get by with online stuff, but if you want to do any major fab on your jeep, like suspensions and bumpers, etc., where the safety of you, your passengers and others on the road around you depend on your skills to not kill them, then take some classes...just my .02

 

Depends on the application you are using it for and what you want to get out of it. I went to CC because I wanted to know how to weld and also have a backup if my current degree doesn't work out.

 

This is kind of what I was thinking. I'm not even sure what a good weld is supposed to look like so I'm sure I need classes.