OP,

From your post it sounds as if you're not wanting to learn general welding, but rather wanting to learn to fix body sheet metal. You really don't have to go through an entire welding curriculum for that.

You simply need a wire welder WITH GAS. You must use gas so you can overlap your welds without having to clean first. With sheet metal you must move around the patch with a series of small tack welds so that you don't warp the metal.

Go to paintucation.com and order the DVD on patch panels. It is the best instruction you can get on doing body sheet metal welding and repair.

Find an old bent hood or fender to practice on before attacking your car.

Hope this helps.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

There are 2 HF auto darkenings that look very similar, one with flames costs ten bucks + - more. The cheapist works fine with arc & flux core wire, but isnt sensitive enough for low current tig. (does not darken, so much light reflects off the 'smoke' with the flux welding, the cheepie works fine) The one with flames on it works fine for tig. I installed a 3x lens in the flamer & use it exclusively for tig. -c-

Try to borrow a gas mig from someone. Trying to do decent welding on car bodies with a stick welder is pretty difficult. Or perhaps I should say it is just much harder in my opinion. I have done it.

Mig welding is like childs play in comparison. My eyes are older now so I use auto darkening helmets. About the only way I can hit my start point well.

I think the rocker panels are thicker metal around 14 gauge so a stick welder can do them with some care but when you are into thinner material it is harder. With a little ingenuity a stick welder may be made into a spot welder as well.

I've done a good bit of sheet metal welding using a stick. It takes low current and 5/64" rod. The problem with doing body patch work with it, is that each weld must be thoroughly cleaned before overlapping it with another weld. You must bounce around all over it with a series of small tacks to prevent warpage.

Using a MIG welder WITH GAS, lets you bounce those welds all over without having to clean anything. You just keep moving around and filling in between welds. You don't take off and run a bead for this kind of work. When welding with a stick, even with low current and small rod, you have to be prepared to run the rod along quickly. Trying to stitch in circles or zig zag will cause you to burn through.

If that's the only welding you need to do, at least for now, you won't need to take any classes. Just buy a MIG welder and get a bottle of CO2/Argon. Set it all up and read the instructions. The Paintucation DVD will give you all the teaching you need besides a welding manual.

If you want more, get a DVD on MIG welding from one of the vendors. There's a good video welding instructor under the name of green mountain or something like that. He is a good instructor. An old experienced pipeliner I think. He shows beads that he made with a video camera through a mask so that you can see how to move the puddle, which is the key to it.

Hope this helps.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

I'm 57 and I just finished a welding class at my local community college. Mainly SMAW (stick) but we also did some GMAW (MIG). I bought a basic Hobart auto darkening helmet via Amazon for about $100 which I was very satisfied with. I recommend the use of a respirator. I was the only one in my class who decided to wear one, and my decision was easy - after the first class without one I blew my nose and let's just say what was in the tissue was NOT pretty. I have this one - careful because it comes in different sizes, mine is a medium :

*3M™ Half Facepiece Reusable Respirator 7503/37083(AAD), Respiratory Protection, Large 10/cs: PPE Safety Solutions - 3M United States

and for welding this below is a recommended filter. You need 2 with this respirator. Coincidentally I had this respirator and these filters before starting to weld, as it is very good for sawdust, and for metal grinding as well as the particulates from welding. Comfortable and my glasses did not fog up even under the welding helmet welding for an hour at a time.

*3M™ Particulate Filter 2091/07000(AAD), P100 Respiratory Protection, 100/cs: PPE Safety Solutions - 3M United States

Rgds,
Chris W.
'95 E300D, 396K

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Objects in closer are mirror than they appear.

you will very quickly get tired of a HF welder. I still have mine, but only for emergencies. If I recall, it broke within 15 minutes out of the box, and broke approximately 1 out of every 2 times using it until I reworked how the spool fed (it was a MIG welder, but I can't imagine the arc welder being on a different level of quality, not at the same price)

don't get too frustrated if you have weld quality trouble, the quality of welder does have a large impact on the quality of weld. My welding improved night and day when I went out and bought a 700 dollar lincoln electric. The HF welder is a good starter though

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Not only does this method guarantee proper tinting, it makes you look like a pro when others are watching

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My welding teacher advised against them. Hard for me to believe that there isn't some lag time. I use my double halogen work light to illumine my work enough so I can sorta see it before the arc starts. My helmet has a flip up visor so I can examine the work w/o taking the helmet off.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

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

That's a great respirator setup. I use them for everything and definitely for welding. I gather that the shielding gasses that MIG wire flux puts out is not good for children and other living things.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

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

Just to split hairs because I'm a newly edumacated welder with vast (not) amounts of experience, when you say "I gather that the shielding gasses that MIG wire flux puts out is not good for children and other living things." it's not quite correct. MIG welding (GMAW) uses no flux. The molten weld pool is shielded by the welding gas which is usually CO2. CO2 is not really poisonous, but if you breathe it in it is heavier than air and it tends to displace the air in your lungs, causing you to suffocate... But unless you were doing something very weird while welding it is doubtful you would breathe in the gas. If you've ever poured a soft drink in a deep glass and let it fizz out for a bit then stuck your nose in and inhaled while you were drinking you may have had a taste of what that CO2 feels like in your lungs - makes you want to cough, etc.

The welding technique which has flux in the wire is called "flux core" (FCAW) and you can use this wire without shielding gas. The flux is contained in the center of the welding wire electrode and produces a shielding gas as it is burned. Not good to breathe those burned flux fumes in for sure, but for the same reasons as regular arc welding fumes. If you change the wire drive wheels and some settings on a MIG welder you can usually use flux core wire with it.

Respirators are good for welders.

PS CMAC, I think that today's auto darkening helmets have almost zero risk of allowing arc flash. They have multiple sensors and very fast response times. Most younger pro welders use them, and I think most pro welders in general - and to me it is a huge benefit being able to guide the electrode and start the arc precisely where you want without having to flip down your helmet, etc.

Rgds,
Chris W.
now back to your regularly scheduled automotive board

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Objects in closer are mirror than they appear.

I've never tried an auto darkening lens so perhaps I'm just perpetuating old boy macho stereotypes. My instructor at Laney College in Oakland was a cool dude, had done some serious hard-hat welding on pipelines and the like, often with stick welding. He didn't like them but who knows, maybe he tried an early generation unit and never tried again. The near blindness that comes with welding is hard to take. I usually weld at night as I can't take any light coming in the back of my helmet. Absolutely cannot see through that lens in that case. When I have to weld in the proximity of sunlight, I put some sort of old jacket around the top of my helmet to keep light out. I'm sure there are better ways to pull that off.

Training two 500 watt halogen lamps on the work from a foot away does give one some visibility before the arc starts up while using a fixed shade lens.

On the gasses, yes I was referring to the flux core wire used in MIG welders. I'm barely a competent amateur welder, my welder is a 220 Lincoln MIG unit. One of these days I'll spring for some Argon or the like and try to go big time.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

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

Borrow or figure out a way to try an auto dark helmet. For the amount of welding we members do it is nice using them I found. I personally find I do better work with them. Basically a lot easier especially on small things.

Since the density of the protection is viariable just make sure to dial in an adequate amount.

Electronics are so fast that the flash hits the sensor and it activates the protection well before the flash has time to reach further. I have never felt that I had received even a partial flash using them.

That does sound appealing. My warehouse neighbor is a metal fabricator and a seriously good welder. I'll ask him what he knows about them.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

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

how about one of these...

Attached Thumbnails

 

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When I first started TIG welding, I tried an auto darkening helmet. The first time I went around a pipe and the thing went bright I decided to not use those anymore. Now I use a pipeliner helmet with a #11 filter. This is the one I use now:
www.weldwarehouse.com (14529 $61.24*)
I had the last one for about five years, at that point the corners start to deteriorate. i also made a little bib off the bottom so my neck doesn't get burned. I have melted plastic hoods with some of the production stuff I have done, these don't have that problem. They are also much more compact for working in tight spaces. The small viewing area version also has a flip-up lens so you don't have to flip the whole helmet up and down but I prefer the large viewing area.
If you do wake up very early in the morning with burning eyes, don't use Visine, it will make the problem much worse. Wet two tea bags, lay back and place one on each (closed) eye. After a few hours, you will feel better.