Welding Courses (Melbourne)

[moonhead]

Can anyone recommend some welding courses, in Melbourne?

I'm keen to do a bit of work like brewstands and other metal work for situations where wood just isn't cutting it. Not sure what kind of welding I'd be doing, most likely Arc, but certainly interested in Tig as well. Mig and Oxy I'm not too keen on (don't care about Oxy, mainly cause I'm not interested in getting that gear, and Mig seems like a bit of a waste to get taught).

Been looking at Tafes and stuff, there's a couple of courses out there, but they're all out in the burbs and at awkward times (5:30pm on a weekday...). Anyone know of any kind of courses that are suitable for those of us working during the day?

 

[n87]

If you are just wanting to do a handful of frames, welding occasionally, MIG is good.
Once you get the hang of it its point and shoot.

Grab a welder and protective gear (dont forget about the thick shirt) and a length of steel. do some reading and go for it.

Thats how i did it, i 'learnt' by making a sliding gate for the front of my place. Now i just pull it out whenever needed, fumble through 2 or 3 welds, and then start burning metal on the actual piece (I will easily go >6 months between projects)

 

[manticle]

I did a basic intro down here in Tas and while tig is my favourite, mig sounds most appropriate for what you need. If that's the case, you can probably teach yourself - just make sure you know about the safety aspects as well as machine operation.

If you do want to take a course, why not learn all processes? You may even be able to weld part/all of your brewstand as a project.

When I lived in Melbourne, I looked at a couple of courses and from memory, there was one at docklands.

I'll see if I can find it.

 

[manticle]

Must be Kangan but I can't locate which campus. Call if you haven't already. Weekends mentioned as a possibility.

 

[Phoney]

I bought an Arc inverter welder (had to get a sparky over to install a 15A outlet) watched a heap of youtube video's, gave it a go, was pretty crap at it. Then I put a shout out on facebook if anyone could come and teach me to weld. Got a couple of offers from guys I know who are tradies. In half an hour of watching and listening I learnt way more than any youtube clip or tutorial I could find. After I was put on the right track, practice made perfect. I gave said mate a six pack.

The biggest problem I find is that almost all scrap metal yards & steel supply stores are only open Mon-Fri, 7am - 4pm. Makes it hard to get material.

 

[pcmfisher]

Have a read of some literature or watch some youtube videos.

Get a welder and a packet of rods or coil of wire and a length of square tube.

Chop the tube into 150mm bits and start welding. You will blow holes and do sparrow shit but I won't take long to work it out.
If you haven't got a welder, for what you want to do, one of these little gasless migs work well. They have a chart telling you the voltage and wire speed for what you are welding. Point and shoot.

-Wear safety gear
-Get an auto darkening mask
-Don't get galv tube, its hard to weld for beginners.
-Avoid welding splatter on glass watch faces and glasses. It won't come off.
-Cutting the tube nice and square makes life easy.

Very satisfying doing a nice weld.

 

[manticle]

Not only hard to weld, galv fumes are toxic.

 

[Camo6]

Do a TIG course. Far more variables to learn like welder settings and tungsten types. Arc and Mig are a lot easier to learn IMO.
If you buy a TIG you'll get an MMA/ARC welder anyway. With DC you'll be able to upgrade the brewery stainless. Spend the extra coin on an AC TIG and you'll be able to weld almost any metal you want. Buy an inverter with pulse settings and you'll be able to redress messy welds and make them look mint. If you plan on doing low amp DC like stainless welding, invest in a good helmet with 4 sensors as modern inverter arcs are too smooth for cheaper helmets to pick up. (I just upgraded from an old transformer tig to digital inverter and am finding this).

If you're serious about TIG, you'll likely need to outlay about $2k for welder, gas bottle, reg etc but it's worth it.

My 2c anyhoos.

 

[moonhead]

Right, so, I'm not so much looking for advice on WHAT to learn, but WHERE to learn it.

Already decided on either Tig or Arc (preferably both, for learning!), as they seem more difficult to learn than Mig (thus not wasting my money/time).

The gear and stuff will be decided once I know my abilities and understand the process better.

It's just getting some hands on experience and understanding of how to do this, instead of watching youtube vidyas and reading advice on the ineterweb.

So, my core problem is, still, location and time. Really struggling to find somewhere to learn this stuff, that still allows me to work and get paid (so I can pay for the course...)

 

[manticle]

What kind of location does suit? Your location doesn't give much of a clue.

Was docklands a no go?

 

[pcmfisher]

Not only hard to weld, galv fumes are toxic.

Not really toxic. Hazardous. Splitting hairs.

 

[manticle]

Them fumes no good, makefeelsick.

 

[moonhead]

What kind of location does suit? Your location doesn't give much of a clue.

Was docklands a no go?

Sorry, that's a good point. The more central the better. Docklands would be fine, I work in Richmond so getting anywhere outside of the city, before say 6:30pm, is quite the challenge.

Looking at Kangan now, their website is pretty lacking in the details, will need to get in contact with them to get some better info to see if it's actually what I'm looking for, but that's for the direction anyway!

 

[manticle]

I think kangan may have also had a Richmond campus. One of the learning centres I looked up did anyway.

Otherwise somewhere like Heidelberg (melbourne polytechnic/nmit) might be easier than docklands or Sunshine.

Not sure how alike Melb tafes will be to Tas but when I did my course, they were pretty relaxed about start time as it's mostly you in a welding bay and they get that many people work. Mine started at 5 but I could rarely get there before 6pm.

Worth checking.

 

[moonhead]

Yeah, the ones I've seen are Melbourne Polytechnic in Heidelberg, and Swinburn in Wantirna. Both of those courses are start too early for me to get there in time though, 5-5:30ish, from memory, which is before I finish work most days, so I'd need to duck out way, way earlier to get there in time. If those were my best options, I don't think I'd be able to do it, unfortunately. I did find a couple of courses at RMIT that were run on Saturdays, but they were specific courses for Oxy and Mig welding, just my luck, the 2 courses I don't want to do!

I've asked Kangan for some more details on their courses, locations, times, pricing, curriculum etc.Will report back when I get more details on what they're offering.

 

[Camo6]

Right, so, I'm not so much looking for advice on WHAT to learn, but WHERE to learn it.

Already decided on either Tig or Arc (preferably both, for learning!), as they seem more difficult to learn than Mig (thus not wasting my money/time).

The gear and stuff will be decided once I know my abilities and understand the process better.

It's just getting some hands on experience and understanding of how to do this, instead of watching youtube vidyas and reading advice on the ineterweb.

So, my core problem is, still, location and time. Really struggling to find somewhere to learn this stuff, that still allows me to work and get paid (so I can pay for the course...)

Yup, location certainly helps when you're asking WHERE. Can't really help you there. I learnt oxy, arc and mig as an apprentice nearly twenty years ago at Kangan Batman Coburg which has since closed down thanks to the asbestos. The classes were helpful but I learnt a lot more at home and work.
If you really want hands on experience I could lend you a little arc welder I used on the farm for small repairs. It isn't fan cooled so it shuts down if you're running it for too long but it'll give you a feel for it. I take it you've gotten onto Welding Tips and Tricks. That dude knows his stuff.

 

[moonhead]

Yup, location certainly helps when you're asking WHERE. Can't really help you there. I learnt oxy, arc and mig as an apprentice nearly twenty years ago at Kangan Batman Coburg which has since closed down thanks to the asbestos. The classes were helpful but I learnt a lot more at home and work.
If you really want hands on experience I could lend you a little arc welder I used on the farm for small repairs. It isn't fan cooled so it shuts down if you're running it for too long but it'll give you a feel for it. I take it you've gotten onto Welding Tips and Tricks. That dude knows his stuff.

Yeah, I guess the "where" isn't so much the location, but the institute. Obviously location is very important, but it ties back to the time of the course more than anything. It wouldn't matter where the location was if it was held on Saturday's, for example.

 

[idzy]

I wanted to do a course, I ended up getting frustrated and picked up the welder and just starting making something. Certainly more utilitarian that any kind of artwork, but does the job.

 

[Grott]

I note there is trend towards teaching yourself to weld particularly with mig. This is fine as long as it is not structural/load bearing. As a qualified welder it frightens me when people get a welder and build things like car ramps, trailers, trusses etc. Remember you are not just potentially risking yourself but others, your kids etc. Trust me, a weld can look bloody good but it can be very weak through lack of penetration or porosity or severe undercut and so on. If not a course, learn from someone that can weld or at the least get your welds checked.

 

[manticle]

Good points Grott.