I'm not sure if anyone will be able to assist or whether this is something worth pursuing but does anyone know of a welding course I could do (in the evenings) that would stand me in good stead for undertaking welding jobs on my Mini? I'm in Surrey.
TIA,
R.
Welding Course
Started by
Guest_TicTax_*
, Feb 06 2012 06:31 PM
11 replies to this topic
#2
Carlos W
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Posted 06 February 2012 - 06:34 PM
Have a look at local colleges!
#3
Guest_TicTax_*
Guest_TicTax_*
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Posted 06 February 2012 - 06:38 PM
Did that - there's one at Farnborough - I guess I was asking for recommendations really...the one I saw is £1,200 which is a lot to spend if it's overkill
#4
redhot-mini
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Posted 06 February 2012 - 06:47 PM
they are all very exspencive because once you have completed the course you come out with a qualification in welding the body work course im doing cost around £1400 but that is for all body work and respraying but i get it free as im only 18 :)
#5
Frank the Tank
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Posted 06 February 2012 - 07:47 PM
I'm sure I saw one in Farnborough for a skills course/introduction when I was looking there last year. Sure it was only about £300-£400, can't seem to find it just now.
#6
Hekmat
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Posted 06 February 2012 - 07:55 PM
There are cheaper ones, I know there is one run by Waltham Forest collage that was for about £200 last year. Have a look at http://www.mig-weldi...uk/wiki/Courses (slightly dated) they have a list of courses in various areas.
Edited by Hekmat, 06 February 2012 - 07:55 PM.
#7
Frank the Tank
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Posted 06 February 2012 - 08:06 PM
#8
Guest_TicTax_*
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Posted 06 February 2012 - 08:27 PM
Thanks for the replies...I'll start looking into them 
#9
AVV IT
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Posted 06 February 2012 - 08:32 PM
Have you actually had a go at doing any welding yet though? 
My point is that many people manage to self teach themselves (using books, websites and forums etc.) enough to get by, in order to be able to do the usual jobs on a mini. That's not to say that this is anywhere near as good as doing a formal course is, but unless you intend to extend your welding practice to more than just MIG welding a few panels onto a mini, then a formal course is probably going to provide you with an awful lot more skill and knowledge that you will probably ever actually need or use. Even if you read most text books on welding, you will usually find that only a small section of them is actually relevant to what you actually need to know for car restoration.
These sort of college courses don't tend to be particularly cheap either and if you were to teach yourself, that would free up funds to buy yourself a much better welder and equipment, that will ultimately make welding easier for you to learn. I'm not saying that a formal course isn't a good idea, just that it might be an idea to get yourself a decent welder first and have a practice to see how you get on. If after all that, you still think you need to take a course, then do so. In my experience doing any type of course when you already have a bit of experience, usually makes it a lot more worthwhile, as things tend to make so much more sense, when you have already had a go.
My point is that many people manage to self teach themselves (using books, websites and forums etc.) enough to get by, in order to be able to do the usual jobs on a mini. That's not to say that this is anywhere near as good as doing a formal course is, but unless you intend to extend your welding practice to more than just MIG welding a few panels onto a mini, then a formal course is probably going to provide you with an awful lot more skill and knowledge that you will probably ever actually need or use. Even if you read most text books on welding, you will usually find that only a small section of them is actually relevant to what you actually need to know for car restoration.
These sort of college courses don't tend to be particularly cheap either and if you were to teach yourself, that would free up funds to buy yourself a much better welder and equipment, that will ultimately make welding easier for you to learn. I'm not saying that a formal course isn't a good idea, just that it might be an idea to get yourself a decent welder first and have a practice to see how you get on. If after all that, you still think you need to take a course, then do so. In my experience doing any type of course when you already have a bit of experience, usually makes it a lot more worthwhile, as things tend to make so much more sense, when you have already had a go.
Edited by AVV IT, 06 February 2012 - 08:33 PM.
#10
minibikepro33
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Posted 06 February 2012 - 09:13 PM
im currently completing a welding course for my apprentiship at my local college which is in the evenings, im getting paid to do it so i wouldnt know the price, but it would be definatly worth it, it teaches you all the skills and techniques you need to know, plus the boring but nessesary health and safety side, especially for car repairs and panels so its great if you want to work on your mini
#11
JonnyBMX
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Posted 07 February 2012 - 02:50 PM
i did a welding course when i was 17 in the evenings, beacuse of my age it was free :) but this year im carrying it on further and learning TIG as i passed the course in MIG, Arc and gas ( had many hours practising at home as you normally only do one or the other) i was advised to learn ARC and then transfer the skills over to MIG and for me that paid of as i can now do both reasonably well.
I think if you know any one that can weld and only want a basic understanding of it then maybe asking them to help you would be a good start as i have managed to get a few friends welding to a reasonable level! the course i do is £300 for 16 weeks in the evenings which i find very reasonable.
deffo worth going ahead with if your serious about welding =)
I think if you know any one that can weld and only want a basic understanding of it then maybe asking them to help you would be a good start as i have managed to get a few friends welding to a reasonable level! the course i do is £300 for 16 weeks in the evenings which i find very reasonable.
deffo worth going ahead with if your serious about welding =)
#12
westview1
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Posted 07 February 2012 - 04:19 PM
Try Crawley. Their Burgess Hill campus does them.
We had the same issue. We ended up having a fantastic intro session (FOC) at Spa Welding in Lancing, nr Worthing. They do them on Saturday mornings.
There's are a guy called Len Brown there who takes you through MIG & TIG welding and also shows you Plasma cutting.
They use it as a Sales exercise although there's no pressure to buy anything. We're members of WSMOC and were introduced to Spa via them.
www.spawelding.co.uk/
(And no, I'm not on commission. I was simply impressed and I give credit where its due).
We had the same issue. We ended up having a fantastic intro session (FOC) at Spa Welding in Lancing, nr Worthing. They do them on Saturday mornings.
There's are a guy called Len Brown there who takes you through MIG & TIG welding and also shows you Plasma cutting.
They use it as a Sales exercise although there's no pressure to buy anything. We're members of WSMOC and were introduced to Spa via them.
www.spawelding.co.uk/
(And no, I'm not on commission. I was simply impressed and I give credit where its due).
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