I took a couple of quarters of welding class at Lane community college in Oakland about 10 or 12 years ago. Picked up a lot of useful information that would’ve taken me quite a while doing it seat of my pants style, pretty sure.

Welding is an art form, I’ve seen people put out excellent quality work that mine does not begin to approach. My former shop neighbor is an outstanding welder, uses mostly TIG.

I bought a Lincoln 220 V MIG welder not long after the schooling. I have yet to get a bottle of inert gas to use with it. I’ve always use the fluxed wire. I welded in about four or five CATs in my two BMWs over the years. The welds worked but they were ugly. The money I saved paid for the welder many times over.

One thing that really helped me was getting really bright lights to focus on the work. That way I could see where I was at before the arc light came on. I hate that blind feeling with the mask down.

__________________
Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K