For beginner welders, “where to start” is often the biggest challenge—what equipment to choose? How to avoid burn-through? What to pay attention to for safety protection? Combining HelloWeld’s years of experience serving novice welders, this article breaks down the entire process from “zero foundation to completing basic welding”, helping you avoid common mistakes and get started efficiently.
Beginners don’t need to learn all processes blindly. First, lock in the direction based on usage, which will greatly improve learning efficiency:
- DIY home repair (e.g., welding iron furniture, splicing metal brackets): Prioritize MIG welding for its easy operation and high fault tolerance, suitable for welding thin steel plates (0.8-3mm);
- Stainless steel small workpiece production (e.g., thermos welding, stainless steel jewelry processing): Recommend TIG welding for its high weld precision and smooth appearance, which can meet the welding needs of stainless steel materials;
- Thick steel plate work (e.g., steel structure brackets, heavy part repair): Start with Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW). It has low equipment cost and stronger adaptability to thick materials (carbon steel above 3mm).
HelloWeld Tip: Beginners are advised to start with MIG welding. Master basic operations before expanding to other processes to lower the learning threshold and avoid giving up due to high difficulty in the early stage.
There’s no need to “invest in top-tier equipment at once”. Basic equipment can meet entry-level needs. HelloWeld has compiled a core list for beginners:
Welding involves high temperature, strong light, and harmful gases. Safety must be a top priority. HelloWeld recommends checking according to the following steps:
- Personal Protection: Wear flame-retardant welding clothes (chemical fiber fabrics are forbidden, as they are easy to ignite at high temperatures) and anti-spatter goggles (for backup when the helmet does not cover the eyes);
- Environment Check: Remove flammables (e.g., cartons, paint, gasoline) within 5 meters of the welding area. If working in a closed space, use a small exhaust fan (to reduce inhalation of harmful gases);
- Equipment Grounding: The welding machine’s grounding resistance should be ≤4Ω, connected with a dedicated grounding wire (to avoid electric shock caused by leakage).
- Equipment Debugging: Plug in the 220V power supply, select “Beginner Mode”, and adjust the current according to the plate thickness (60-80A for 0.8mm steel plates, 80-100A for 1.2mm steel plates);
- Welding Wire Installation: Open the front cover of the welding machine, feed the 0.8mm ER70S-6 welding wire, and ensure the wire fits the contact tip (to avoid wire feeding jams);
- Arc Starting Practice: Test weld on scrap steel plates. Hold the welding gun at a 45° angle to the plate, press the trigger to start the arc, and keep the gun 3-5mm away from the plate (too close may cause wire sticking, too far may cause arc breakage);
- Gun Movement Skill: Move the welding gun at a constant speed (10-15cm/minute), and control the weld width at 3-5mm (beginners should avoid overly wide welds, which easily lead to incomplete penetration);
- Arc Ending Treatment: When welding reaches the end, slowly release the trigger and stay for 1-2 seconds (to avoid crater formation and reduce the risk of cracks).
- Plate Burn-Through: Caused by excessive current or slow gun movement. Solution: Reduce current by 10-20A and speed up gun movement;
- Wire Sticking: Caused by too small current or too long wire extension. Solution: Increase current by 10-15A and shorten the wire extension to 3-5mm;
- Uneven Welds: Caused by uneven gun movement speed. Solution: Draw a straight line on the steel plate with a marker, and practice moving the gun at a constant speed along the line (10 minutes a day, improvement visible in 3 days).
- Days 1-7: Safety Operation & Arc Starting Practice (1 hour a day, practice arc starting and ending on scrap steel plates);
- Days 8-15: Straight Weld Practice (1.5 hours a day, practice 100mm and 200mm long straight welds);
- Days 16-23: Fillet Weld Practice (1.5 hours a day, practice 90° angle iron splicing, master weld height control);
- Days 24-30: Practical Small Project (e.g., welding a small metal bracket to test learning results).
