Hello all, my intro

[2stroke1971]

Im 49 years old.
I worked in the printing industry for 24 years and did a little welding here and there. I was always coming up with ideas for modifying our equipment and over the years, Id take my ideas to our resident welder. He was an older fellow and nobody really talked to him much. He was old school and knew a LOT about metallurgy etc. Id watch him put my ideas together and he would talk to me about what he was doing and why. Sometimes he'd shake his head and say this was gonna be a tough weld, but he'd tell me exactly why, and then what he'd do to try and make it happen, then he'd make it happen.

Id say that was my ad-hoc apprenticeship, as after a while he'd have me try myself. At some point, I took to doing my own welding there, it was simple stuff really, just brackets, guide rails, paper guides made out of 1/4 inch rod etc. We had an old Lincoln stick welder, and then later got a Miller MIG unit, which instnatly made me a better welder. My old welder guy quit after his health declined.

Our mechanics were used to me being in the shop, using the mill and the lathe etc, and they never batted an eye, it was less work they had to do. We would get "managers" in maintenance every now and then but theyd never last. Our senior mechanic ran things most of the time. I did that as well in my early years---Id pay attention and help whenever the mechanics or electricians would have to come to one of my machines. Ive always been a gearhead, working on cars and motorcycles and 1000 odd projects at home. Im a hell of a troubleshooter and would figure out the problems on my own. After some years, I knew more about my equipment than our techs did and they would ask me for help sometimes.

One of our transient maintenance managers locked up all the welding masks at one point because he was irritated that I was back there welding and wasnt a "mechanic". I took to welding with my eyes closed. Not kidding, Id set my rods in the vice, aim the Millers gun, close my eyes and go. These were small welds, a few seconds at a time and by that point, Id made a couple hundred of these same welds. We had some good laughs over that. He got fired about 6 months later and the masks came back out.
If I ever called maintenance to one of my machines, they knew they were in for a treat because I fixed almost everything except what I didnt have time for or if something was actually beyond my skills.

The point is, all of this paid off. As the printing industry continued to shrivel up, all the overtime went away. For 20 years it was steady and I mean steady. All of a sudden I was looking at 40 hour checks for months at a time. I realized how much healthcare actually cost there, and we had just finally moved out of the row house and into a big house in a nice area. I realized it had been a long long time since I had a raise and I asked for one, and was told my overtime was my raise. Yeah ok buddy. Dont get me wrong, when things were busy Id make a lot of $$. I damn near lost the house and set about finding a part time job to make up the difference. (I had a no compete contract, and I couldnt work for another printer for a year after leaving)

I saw one full time job that interested me....It was as a maintenance tech for a fortune 50 company. I applied and one thing led to another and I quit the old place.
Its a sad note that I spent 24 years in one of the great trades (not so much anymore) and could change careers and come out ahead, but Im not complaining. The new place gave me hands on tests in several disciplines while hiring me, as they like their techs to do everything. All of my tinkering and self learning paid off. They started me off mid way up their grades, and after 2 and a half years Ive made the top level. When I started there, I was making more per hour than the old place.

They have a "them that can, do" attitude and are very open to self learning. When things were slow, Id just go into the shop and practice. With a little guidance I picked up TIG welding and I do that quite a lot these days. I also do some machining and fabrication, as well as some electrical work. My new area of dabbling is control systems.

Ive been wanting to be able to weld at home and I have an old Lincoln AC225 that I bought cheap and went over. I also have an old MIG that I just finished repairing and setting up for flux core. All on the cheap. The MIG came from a dumpster and the Lincoln was $25 from marketplace from a lady who bought a house and there had been some stuff left in the barn from the previous owner. Its a beast, and I cleaned it up, made a cart for it, put some new wires on it and gave it a coat of rustoleum.

[Equilibrium]

You sound like an awesome addition to WW's little "niche" in the internet.
--
There are a lot of "older fellas" posting here like the man who helped you get going that have forgotten more than others know. I'm not one of them but once you start posting, you'll realize you just tapped into a brain trust.
--
Welcome to you.

[CAVEMANN]

Welcome!

[yellowfin]

Quite awesome! I'm in process of making a similar career switch myself for much the same reasons. Great to have you with us!

[somorris]

Welcome 2stroke1971! The more I know, the more I realize I don''t know. There is much more metallurgy involved in being a good welder than I ever would have thought until I got here. There are a lot of folks here like your "old guy." But like EQ, I am not one of them.

[Dave66]

Welcome. Great intro write up. Glad you were able to find a new employer that values your skills and willingness to always keep learning.

[2stroke1971]

This is my $25 Lincoln. I made a cart for it and an extension cord. I installed an outlet in my shop and made the cord long enough to reach into the driveway a good bit.
I was lucky to have a couple of unused spots on the breaker panel where electric dryer and water heater used to be ran from.
I gave it its first test today, just playing around with some scrap metal plates. I was able to get some beads running on some 1/4 inch plate. Nothing anyone would call good but good enough for me to see the penetration and know that the welder is capable if I am not yet. Also, the cord and plug were cool as a beat after running a bit.
(Only had it up to 105 on the dial, but still it lit up easy and made a nice bacon frying arc.
My dumpster diving MIG kind of sucks....cant get it to do much except make a mess....
With some practice on the Lincoln, that should get me to the point where I can do some stuff at home at least.

[Paul in MN]

Welcome to W.W. !!!

The old Lincoln buzz box (tombstone model) is a workhorse. It was sold to many city folks, but was especially common on farms. Note the 75 with the circle around it. Guess what.... that was the recommended max setting for thawing frozen water pipes, incredibly useful for farms that had dairy or other farm animals. I used my 225 for 32 years before I got a MIG machine. It built a lot of stuff for me, including welding together the 12" I beams supporting my 2 story house. The machines of that vintage have copper windings on the transformer which I am told by others gives better arc performance than the aluminum wire used in the much more recent versions. You can still purchase a new model of this machine.

As you develop stick welding skills, you will find this machine to be a real asset. But there are times when I want to use DC stick, and now have a welding machine which has that capability. Someone might step in and give you information on a add-on rectifier box which will give you a DC option.

Enjoy your journey into the vast world of welding!


Paul in MN