[brungus]

i have absolutely no experience welding. i plan on taking a class next year on in in my high school. what are my chances (on a scale of 10) that i would be able to weld a hardtail. i believe the school has a mig welder. what would i need, wheat do i need to do, where should i get it from, blah blah blah.

thanks

 

[SebringMGB]

I personally wouldnt ride a MIG welded frame welded by an amature... Proper bycicle tubing is pretty thin. Learn Tig, and get comfortable with that. then go and try your luck. mig doesnt penetrate as well as tig. Seems that when and inexperienced person welds using a mig welder, the welds usually dont join tube to tube, but tube to weld to tube. not something id bet my life on....

 

[Matt D]

I took a TIG class about a year ago and learned a lot. I can do flat welds almost perfectly but getting used to circular tube welds takes a lot of practice.

The biggest problem you'll run into is getting a jig setup to make the tubes line up correctly so you can weld it. To weld aluminum tubes you need very tight tolerances as well, which will be hard to get from an amateur HS student. Definitely have your prof help you as much as possible.

I'd say your chances of making a rideable frame after one semester/marking period of welding is about a 2. No offense meant of course, there are just a lot of things to learn and a lot of materials and special tools needed to jig up a bike frame properly.

 

[joshg]

the welding would be the easy part of that project. the many things to take into account in the design of a bike would take a long time. the jig would also take quite awhile to build. then you would have to cut, notch and bend every tube used, place it in the jig and then start welding. the welding class is a great idea and an awesome place to start. you may not be able to build a bike while in highschool but you will get a taste of it. at my old highschool the welding class learned mig and tig welding the first year then if you went on for another year the class built 18' aluminum sport fishing boats as a project so anything is possible with the right equipment, knowledge and hard work. keep it up!!!