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[venom]

I would like to do a welding or bodywork evening class near Oxford, any Oxford'ish members done anything like this if so where abouts  :-? 

[Kevin Wood]

I did an introductory evening course at the local college - in Basingstoke - so no use to you but you might find something similar in a local adult education prospectus.

Cost was about £70 for 10 weeks, 2 hours a week. The instructor just let you play with whatever kit you fancied. MMA, MIG, TIG, Oxy Acetylene, spot welders - you name it. If you needed help he was only too happy to demonstrate. If you needed practice there was a stack of metal you could help yourself to and weld away undisturbed.

I must have got through £70 worth of consumables and metal many times over!

Then again, it depends on the instructor. The other course that ran in parallel didn't get their hands on a welder until about week 5.

Kevin

[Kevin Wood]

I should say, this was just a general welding course. No coverage of bodywork specifically.

Kevin

[venom]

I did an introductory evening course at the local college - in Basingstoke - so no use to you but you might find something similar in a local adult education prospectus.

Cost was about £70 for 10 weeks, 2 hours a week. The instructor just let you play with whatever kit you fancied. MMA, MIG, TIG, Oxy Acetylene, spot welders - you name it. If you needed help he was only too happy to demonstrate. If you needed practice there was a stack of metal you could help yourself to and weld away undisturbed.

I must have got through £70 worth of consumables and metal many times over!

Then again, it depends on the instructor. The other course that ran in parallel didn't get their hands on a welder until about week 5.

Kevin

Cheers Kevin the only course I've found is at Bicester but it's £315 for approx 10/12 weeks I want to learn Mig/Tig & spot if I can just so I can replace part panels arch's etc

[mrjimbo]

If you only want to weld panels on and repair rust etc  then the best bet is to find some  one to teach you to MIG weld, it's reasonably easy to pick up and DIY/Hobby equipment is fairly cheap to get hold of.

TIG welding is more involved and requires more expensive kit and is a lot harder to master and even the the entry level kit is quite expensive if you want reliable kit and consumables such as the Tungstens and Pure Argon gas aren't cheap

Spot welding machines are expensive pieces of kit and are not cost effective for the DIYer although they are easy to use but the amount of different arms you would need to do what looks like the most staight forward of jobs makes them very impractical for DIY use. You can spot/puddle weld with a MIG welder.

Oxy Acetelene is not really something i would really recommend for home DIY use due to the insurance implications.

MMA or Arc welding as it's commonly called isn't really suitable for the thin material of car panels and the like but is more suited to heavier gauge materials such as wrought iron work and structural steel work.

The first thing you will need is a good quality welding mask and nowadays a good solar powered automatic helmet can be bought for around £75, there are cheaper ones out there but you really want one with a fast reaction time and the cheaper ones have a slower reaction time. You'll also be wanting a pair of welding gauntlets.

As for courses local to you i'm not sure that there any being run around the Wallingford/Didcot area, there used to be courses run at Abingdon college but i think they stopped a few years ago. If you do find any being run locally you really want to go on the one that is hands on from the start, if your just going to sit in a classroom and listen to someone wittering on for the first few weeks it all to easy to become bored what you really need is a balance of theory and practical work from the start.

[venom]

If you only want to weld panels on and repair rust etc  then the best bet is to find some  one to teach you to MIG weld, it's reasonably easy to pick up and DIY/Hobby equipment is fairly cheap to get hold of.

you really want to go on the one that is hands on from the start, if your just going to sit in a classroom and listen to someone wittering on for the first few weeks it all to easy to become bored what you really need is a balance of theory and practical work from the start.

Yep that's the sort of thing I'm looking at repairing & if I'm going to keep on having Omegas I think I should have the know how and capability of sorting rust and repairing wheel arch sections  and I want to be hands on from day one 

[Shackeng]

I agree with Jimbo. I bought myself a MIG welder and did on the job DIY training, I then realised that I needed a better MIG kit so sold the first, and bought a bigger one, and then rebuilt a Beetle, which required a lot of panel work, for my son. I don't do it now so I gave the kit away, but to be honest I didn't need a course. Perhaps I should mention that I trained as an aircraft engineer, but that did not include any welding instruction, in fact I think that was before welding was invented.

 There is plenty of information on the internet, and personally for car panel MIG welding, I would just buy the kit and practise on bits of metal until you're happy. Spend the £315 on a better MIG kit.

HTH

[Omegatoy]

both mig and tig, also gas welding is easy, however i been playing with it for years and rebuilt a hell of a lot of cars!!
have a look here mate theya re a friendly bunch and will answer most questions prety quickly, goves advice on welders etc enjoy!!!
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/index.php

[venom]

both mig and tig, also gas welding is easy, however i been playing with it for years and rebuilt a hell of a lot of cars!!
have a look here mate theya re a friendly bunch and will answer most questions prety quickly, goves advice on welders etc enjoy!!!
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/index.php

Spooky just joined this one this afternoon 

[hercules]

as above...dont waste money on a course just buy a decent set up and play with it before long you will be making all yer neighbours new gates and railings after theyve seen your new ones

[venom]

Yep thats what I'm going to do