Welding training ? Would you ?

[skkylinedave]

Right hypothetical question time

How many , if any of you would consider travelling for a day or couple of days intensive welding training ? 

How much would you expect to pay and how far would you realistically travel ?


 I'm investigating a new line of work potentially and seeing what sort of interest there would be .


Ideas i was thinking of-

Maximum of 2 to 3 people.
Maximum welding time 
As much metal as you can weld 
Simulated typical car repairs 
Good food
All h&S covered and basic theory .

Mig welding but could also do Tig , aluminium for advanced .

Extra days at a discount .

All completely hypothetical , I'm just throwing it out there to see of there is a actual demand and if people would travel to Oxfordshire for this 

Cheers

[fad]

Some might well for a few days of guided instruction. I would have many years ago. Especially if there was a focus on what goes wrong and how to weld crusty rusted curse word.

[awoo]

I did this sort of thing as an evening course and it was worth while. although that was 2 hour worth at a time. solid day might be a bit much. and the distance would put me off. thats just me though. I drove 40mins to mine, paid £160 for 6 sessions I think it was, couple hours a session. did all forms of welding but just on bits of sheet. nothing car orientated.

so good I went back and did another 6 sessions.

I'm sure there is a demand as the course I did got booked up quickly

just speaking from the point of view of having done training, it was good and worthwhile to me. if there was more advanced tig training I would have done more

[firenzaboxer]

I'd love to learn tig, been thinking about taking some training for a while.

If it was a intensive thing for beginners (you'd probably need to run an intermediate one as well) that garentees that you'd learn the basics (assuming the attendee wasn't completely inept at physical tasks), I'd probably sign up (the old man too).

I don't know the going rate, but you could charge more than the college type/larger group sessions (you could probably google search the competition for that)

Oxfordshire would be ok for me in bucks, but obviously other customers would find training local to them (at least until you have built up a reputation on forums etc)

to add: are you professionally qualified, this would obviously add credibility

[skkylinedave]

The idea would be to provide well beyond what you could hope to achieve realistically at a night school .

It would most likely cost more but yiu would actually have more time welding . I'm guessing on some of these two hour sessions you might get 30 minutes welding if your lucky .


Yes Tig training could be done as well  . Seen as the price of sets is much more reasonable now it makes sense that people are going tot be able to do that at home .

[VW]

If I needed it, and if your reputation was good, id travel to do a day or two. Id want it to cost somewhere around £120-£150 a day.

Realistically, id be thinking £120 was quite cheap, id be thinking £150 would be the max id pay but before checking the prices id be expecting (but hoping it wasnt) it to be a bit more. If it was more though I wouldnt pay it. (Not saying others wouldnt though, just would put it oht of my reach)

We used to run 4 day practical courses doing plastering and tiling (I taught the tiling). I cant qyite remember but I think the 4 days worked out to about £130 a day each.

we used to have a maximum of 7 people on a course.
Having less people will make it easier for you to pass in skills. Too few people and you will be doing a fair bit of not much sometimes.
If I was setting this up id probably aim for 4 or 5 people.

[tubthumper]

I'm just outside Aylesbury and would certainly consider a single days training as I've got a small gas mig but have never been entirely happy with my results when using it.

[sb]

Mar 19, 2017 19:41:12 GMT tubthumper said:

I'm just outside Aylesbury and would certainly consider a single days training as I've got a small gas mig but have never been entirely happy with my results when using it.

Same as above, I've taught myself so would take actual advice. About 150 max from me, but would depend on exactly what is being taught. If it was just sheet I wouldn't feel value for money, proper simulated working on a car would be.

[PandaSelecta]

Any pics of your welding skills?

[firenzaboxer]

Mar 19, 2017 20:32:31 GMT sb said:

Same as above, I've taught myself so would take actual advice. About 150 max from me, but would depend on exactly what is being taught. If it was just sheet I wouldn't feel value for money, proper simulated working on a car would be.

This is an excellent idea for a mig session, and would be a real differentiator for you. After some bench work; jump onto working on a car.

Buy a cheap rusty car, take panels off (sills etc), make holes, and then train on that. Could even expand it to also show how to knock up simple patch panels.

I'd want to learn tig on the bench, but most people who want to learn mig will be jumping into tackling jobs on a car; welding on the vertical/upside down etc.

You wouldn't even need a whole car (cut one into half so you have two training 'stations'?). In between sessions, just cut out all the previous work (or pigeon poo if they've been slow learners).

All of the above would be a fair bit more than 150 quid though; to make it viable for you. 

To add; don't forget liability insurance if you coat this up properly.

[skkylinedave]

No, I'm afraid not . I do not really go if for this photographing everything lark .I also think its a bit pretentious to photograph ones work .

My idea of simulated car repairs would be some like a box section jig with a mock sill end or sill section and maybe a door botttom section to repair .


I have been welding for 19 years , in motorsport component production [ F1 wrc etc] , i built WRC for a period and have been a coded welder for 11 years . I also have held a welding inspection ticket and have sat through more lectures and theory than i can remember .


Please bare in mind this is all hypothetical at the moment , and well remain that looking at unit rental prices !

[gazzab1978]

this is something i would be interested in, i have taught myself to weld but never know why it goes wrong sometimes. when looking for a welding course in northampton there wasnt much about so a good car based course would appeal to me. £150 would make me hit the buy it now button but would have to think hard about paying too much more.
another idea might be to see if you could get a few people in the same area and travel to them

[sweendog]

I'd be in for an idiot-prooof beginner session at 150

[zoompod]

As an ex welder who started with a single days worth of MIG training I'd thoroughly recommend spending time with someone who could give decent instruction. I've done training with Brooklands college, Ford welding and many others over the years and would say that although anyone can learn to weld to a standard, the real knowledge is the setting up etc. I would want to know how to start from the initial set up and not to sit down to a dialed in machine that I just need to press a trigger and aim it. Basic theory means,an awful lot in welding. Well worth spending the money on in my view.

[nomad]

Ignoring costs, hindsight says the things that would have helped me when I was starting :
* the option to bring my own mig setup (no point learning how your machines work when it's mine I need help with). Will your insurance allow this?
* brief (30 minute?) 1-to-1 tuition showing how to set up a mig set and get started, and adjust for different thickness & types of metal.
* maybe first lessons with clean metal - move to realistic ( rusty "real-world") asap. sheet / angle / box / curved car panels.
* welding is the main "theme", but include tips on cutting out rust - surface prep - planning the repair sequence (so you don't plate over your access hole!) - making repair sections - fitting up (clamps/screws/molegrips etc) - finishing. Importance of rustproofing!
* advise on lighting & ventiliation, equipment, auto-darken helmets, safety - how to avoid molten drops down your collar, fire, etc.

Folk on this forum are petrolheads - how many "normal" folk these days repair cars or have any interest in welding? (are you wasting your time?)
The dole and nanny state cover training costs for folk on benefits - lots of hoops to jump through but maybe worth asking them? (best avoided if you can't cope with bureaucracy)
Premises, buildings & liability insurance? My insurance insist I have someone on "fire watch" if I need to use a hairdryer! "hotworks" etc
Setup costs? ( 5 matching mig welders + masks etc)
Boring legal stuff like maintenance records, pat testing, first-aid certification ... 
Accomodation? ( I'm up by the Scottish borders so would need to come down the day before, and stop at the end or long drive back overnight).

Great idea, I learned *lots* when a mate spent an hour showing me how to use my mig set, I'm just not sure you'll get enough folk to make it work.

[ratchart]

It used to be the case that most local FE colleges offered this sort of thing along with general car maintenance but since government and council cuts most of them can't afford to run classes for adults (over 19) or anything that doesn't result in a formal qualification. So you may have a decent amount of interest.

Just thinking out of the box for a minute, If you're teaching welding skills it doesn't all have to relate to cars. What about a "build your own bike frame" weekend or welding for artists/sculptors/furniture makers? There's so much interest in craft and upcyling these days so there may be some potential market for people who have the ideas and motivation but want the skills to match. 

[Adambt]

Personally, with work commitments I'd rather a night class than a day or two intensive training.

I've been trying to find an evening class in basic welding near me and struggled to find one. For something like that I guess I'd be willing to travel around 30 minutes, and pay around £20-£30 per session. Not really what you're asking, but night classes could be another option!

[HoTWire]

Yes, yes and thrice yes ... depending on where

I've been tempted by the days welding course that is available near me, however it isn't focused on car stuff, more agriculture, although I guess the basics are still the same

[s1105117]

I don't really know much about costs, price it and i'd look down the back of the sofa and raid some phone boxes! but if you decide to go ahead, i would certiantly be up for being shown how to weld by someone who knows their stuff ☺ excellent idea imo

[lord13]

Personally I wouldn't go for it, unless i really wanted to know in depth weld theory. Anyone can weld, but welding well takes time, patience and practice. I've done car body repair for years, and in that time I learned that no job is the same, from clean new metal to old rusty curse word, it doesn't matter, no two jobs are the same. It can depend on many things, weld wire manufacturer, steel manufacturer, gas supplier, voltage supply, and even ambient temperature and humidity are all factors in the difference between a good weld and an bad one. One day I can weld a nice clean run, the next daay using the same set up and materials it's all over the place....now I admit that could be 'pilot error' and probably is, but the point is a welding course can give you the basics, tell you how to set up, direction of travel, etc etc (and you can get all that online for free)...but the skill comes with practice. And no set up is perfect for every job. At work I used big lincoln machines, plenty of frequency/duration etc dials, and those machines could weld all day long, even up to 10mm ( we made security gates ), but at home, i've got a spanish hobby mig, four settings not much else, welds from 0.7 to 5mm no problem. I used to have a sip....it was total rubbish on anything below 1-2 mm, i gave it to my mate who uses it without any issue... so was the problem me? I dunno, but if i can weld gates and put arches on etc i'm sure it wasn't.

Ok, so the point is, no one taught me, i needed to weld, so i bought a welder and practiced, i did glance through a theory book once, and in later years i have consulted 'you tube' when i have an issue, but it's mainly turn it up, turn it down, wether its power, wire feed or gas. My welds on thin stuff may not be of that perfect fish scale all the time, but i'm painting over that curse word anyway so as long as it's good penetration, who cares? Personally i'd spend the £150 on a hobby mig and practice, practice, practice

Saying that, i'm sure plenty of people will sign up to it, especially if you give a nice certificate at the end of it

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