Weld your first projects
This curriculum takes a complete beginner from zero welding knowledge to confidently running MIG and stick beads and completing satisfying metal projects. Each stage builds on the last: first establishing safety awareness and shop vocabulary, then developing hands-on technique, and finally applying those skills to real fabrication work.
Foundations: Safety, Tools & Shop Literacy
New to itUnderstand welding safety, the basic processes (MIG and stick), essential equipment, and the vocabulary needed to learn from any hands-on resource.
▸ Study plan for this stage
Pace: 6–8 weeks total. Week 1–5: "Welding for Dummies" by Farnsworth (~20–25 pages/day, covering safety chapters first, then MIG and stick process chapters, then equipment and shop setup sections). Week 6–8: "The Welding Business Owner's Hand Book" by Zielinski (~15–20 pages/day, focusing on shop organiza
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): proper helmet shade ratings, gloves, clothing, and respiratory protection as outlined in Welding for Dummies
- Core hazards of welding: UV/IR radiation, fumes and ventilation requirements, fire and explosion risks, and electrical safety from Farnsworth's safety chapters
- MIG (GMAW) process fundamentals: wire feed, shielding gas selection, voltage/amperage basics, and when to use it — per Welding for Dummies
- Stick (SMAW) process fundamentals: electrode types (E6011, E6013, E7018), arc striking, and slag removal — per Welding for Dummies
- Essential equipment identification: welders, angle grinders, wire brushes, clamps, chipping hammers, and their correct use as described in Welding for Dummies
- Shop literacy and organization: understanding a professional shop layout, tool storage, workflow zones, and safety signage as covered in The Welding Business Owner's Hand Book
- Welding vocabulary and trade terminology: reading a weld symbol, understanding joint types (butt, lap, T-joint, corner), and process abbreviations (GMAW, SMAW, FCAW) drawn from both books
- Material basics: recognizing mild steel, understanding metal thickness and how it influences process and filler selection — introduced in Welding for Dummies
- According to Welding for Dummies, what are the minimum PPE requirements before striking an arc, and what helmet shade is recommended for MIG vs. stick welding?
- What are the four main fire and electrical hazards Farnsworth identifies, and what shop practices mitigate each one?
- How does the MIG (GMAW) process differ from stick (SMAW) in terms of equipment setup, shielding method, and ideal use cases, as explained in Welding for Dummies?
- Using the shop organization principles in The Welding Business Owner's Hand Book, how should a beginner arrange a small home or school shop to maximize safety and workflow efficiency?
- What do the numbers and letters in a stick electrode designation (e.g., E7018) tell you about the rod, and where does Farnsworth explain how to choose the right one?
- What key trade terms and weld-joint vocabulary from both books would you need to understand in order to follow a welding tutorial or read a basic blueprint?
- PPE audit: Before any shop time, use the checklist implied by Welding for Dummies' safety chapters to physically inspect and assemble your full PPE kit — helmet, gloves, jacket, boots, and respirator — and identify any gaps.
- Shop hazard walk: Tour your workspace (school shop, makerspace, or garage) and tag or list every hazard Farnsworth mentions (flammables, poor ventilation, bare cables, clutter) then correct or document each one.
- Equipment scavenger hunt: Using the tool descriptions in Welding for Dummies, physically locate and name every piece of equipment in your shop — welder, ground clamp, wire feed unit, chipping hammer, angle grinder — and practice safe handling of each without powering on.
- Vocabulary flashcards: Build a set of 30+ flashcards using terminology from both Welding for Dummies and The Welding Business Owner's Hand Book — one side shows the term (e.g., 'GMAW,' 'butt joint,' 'duty cycle'), the other shows the definition and the book/page it came from.
- Process comparison chart: Draw a two-column chart (MIG vs. Stick) and fill it in using only Welding for Dummies, covering: equipment needed, shielding method, best metal thickness range, cleanup steps, and one pro and one con of each process.
- Shop layout sketch: After reading the relevant sections of The Welding Business Owner's Hand Book, sketch a bird's-eye-view floor plan of an ideal beginner shop, labeling safety zones, ventilation, equipment placement, and fire extinguisher locations — then compare it to your actual space.
Next up: Mastering the safety rules, process vocabulary, and equipment awareness in these two books gives you the protective knowledge and shared language needed to safely attempt your first live welds and interpret hands-on technique instruction in more advanced welding resources.
The single most accessible entry point for total beginners — covers safety gear, shop setup, and a plain-English overview of MIG and stick before any technique is introduced. Read this first to build vocabulary and confidence.
Provides grounded, real-world context for how welding shops operate and what safe, professional practice looks like — reinforcing the safety mindset established in the first book before moving to technique.
Core Technique: MIG & Stick Welding
New to itLearn to set up a MIG welder and a stick (SMAW) machine, run consistent beads, read a weld, and troubleshoot common problems.
▸ Study plan for this stage
Pace: 8–10 weeks, ~25–35 pages/day, 5 days/week — Jeffus is a dense, illustration-rich textbook (~900+ pages in full editions), so pace yourself by chapter rather than raw page count. Focus on Parts 1–3 (Safety, Basic Shielded Metal Arc Welding, and Gas Metal Arc Welding) before moving to later sections.
- Electrical fundamentals for welding: amperage, voltage, polarity (DCEP, DCEN, AC) and how each affects arc characteristics and penetration
- MIG (GMAW) machine setup: wire feed speed, shielding gas selection (75/25 Ar/CO₂ vs. 100% CO₂), contact tip-to-work distance, and travel angle
- Stick (SMAW) machine setup: selecting the correct electrode (E6010, E6013, E7018, etc.), reading the AWS electrode classification system, and matching amperage to rod diameter
- Arc starting techniques: scratch start vs. tap start for SMAW; trigger control and wire stickout for GMAW
- Running consistent flat-position beads: maintaining steady travel speed, work angle, and travel angle to achieve uniform width, height, and tie-in at the toes
- Reading a weld bead: interpreting bead profile, ripple pattern, color, and surface discontinuities (porosity, undercut, overlap, incomplete fusion) to diagnose technique errors
- Troubleshooting common defects: causes and corrective actions for porosity, spatter, burn-through, cold lap, and arc blow
- Welding safety: PPE selection (lens shade, gloves, respirator), ventilation requirements, fire watch procedures, and electrical shock prevention as covered throughout Jeffus
- After reading Jeffus's SMAW chapters, can you decode the full AWS classification for E7018 — what does each digit and letter signify, and what base metals and positions is it suited for?
- Jeffus details the relationship between wire feed speed and amperage in GMAW — explain in your own words why increasing wire feed speed raises amperage and how you would adjust voltage to compensate.
- What visual clues in a finished bead (as described in Jeffus) tell you that travel speed was too fast? Too slow? What corrective action would you take for each?
- Describe the step-by-step machine setup procedure for MIG welding 1/8" mild steel in the flat position, referencing the parameter charts in Jeffus.
- According to Jeffus, what are the three most common causes of porosity in a MIG weld, and how does each cause manifest differently in the bead's appearance?
- How does Jeffus distinguish between undercut and overlap as weld discontinuities — what causes each, and which is generally considered more structurally dangerous and why?
- Machine setup drill (MIG): Using the parameter charts in Jeffus as your reference, set up a MIG welder for three different material thicknesses (1/16", 1/8", 3/16" mild steel). Record your wire feed speed, voltage, gas flow rate, and stickout for each, then run a 6" bead on each and compare the results against Jeffus's photos of acceptable beads.
- Bead-on-plate progression (SMAW): Run a series of stringer beads on a flat mild-steel plate using E6013 at three different amperage settings — 10% below, at, and 10% above the midpoint of Jeffus's recommended range for your rod diameter. Photograph each bead and write a one-sentence diagnosis for each using Jeffus's defect descriptions.
- Weld reading log: After every practice session, photograph your beads and fill in a simple table (columns: process, parameter setting, observed defect, probable cause per Jeffus, corrective action). Accumulate at least 15 entries by the end of the stage.
- Electrode identification quiz: Gather five different SMAW electrodes (or use Jeffus's electrode tables). For each, write out the full AWS classification breakdown, the recommended polarity, and one application scenario — then verify against Jeffus's electrode chapters.
- Troubleshooting simulation: Deliberately induce three common defects (porosity by removing shielding gas, undercut by increasing travel speed, cold lap by lowering amperage) on scrap plate. Document the settings used, photograph the results, and write a corrective procedure citing the specific Jeffus section that addresses each defect.
- Positional awareness exercise: Re-read Jeffus's sections on joint types and weld positions, then sketch (freehand) the five basic weld positions and label the recommended gun/electrode angles for both MIG and Stick in each position. Use this as a quick-reference card during lab sessions.
Next up: Mastering flat-position MIG and Stick fundamentals from Jeffus — consistent bead geometry, machine setup confidence, and defect diagnosis — gives you the process control and visual vocabulary needed to tackle out-of-position welding, joint fit-up, and multi-pass techniques in the next stage.
The most widely used welding textbook in trade schools — systematically walks through MIG and stick setup, electrode selection, joint types, and bead technique. Its step-by-step exercises make it the backbone of hands-on skill building.
Going Deeper: Metallurgy & Weld Quality
Some backgroundUnderstand why metals behave the way they do under heat, how to choose the right filler and settings for different metals, and how to inspect and improve weld quality.
▸ Study plan for this stage
Pace: 8–10 weeks, ~20–25 pages/day (the Procedure Handbook is dense and reference-heavy; treat it as both a cover-to-cover read and an ongoing reference, revisiting key chapters multiple times)
- Metallurgy of steel and common weld metals: grain structure, heat-affected zones (HAZ), and how heating/cooling cycles alter mechanical properties
- Weld joint design and fit-up: groove types, fillet geometry, joint efficiency, and how design choices affect strength and distortion
- Electrode and filler metal selection: understanding AWS classification systems (E6010, E7018, ER70S-6, etc.), coating types, and matching filler to base metal
- Welding procedure specifications (WPS): how variables like amperage, voltage, travel speed, preheat, and interpass temperature interact to control bead geometry and metallurgical outcome
- Distortion and residual stress: causes, prediction, and mitigation techniques (backstep, presetting, fixturing, post-weld straightening)
- Weld discontinuities and defects: porosity, undercut, incomplete fusion, cracking (hot and cold), and their root causes as explained in the Handbook's quality chapters
- Weld inspection methods: visual inspection criteria, destructive testing concepts (bend, tensile, macro-etch), and introduction to non-destructive evaluation (NDT) principles covered in the Handbook
- Preheat, interpass temperature, and post-weld heat treatment (PWHT): when and why they are required, and how to calculate or look up requirements from the Handbook's tables
- According to the Procedure Handbook, what happens metallurgically in the heat-affected zone, and why can the HAZ be the weakest region of a weld joint?
- How does the AWS electrode classification system (e.g., E7018) encode information about tensile strength, position, and coating type, as described in the Handbook?
- What are the primary causes of hydrogen-induced (cold) cracking, and what procedural controls does the Handbook recommend to prevent it?
- Using the Handbook's guidance, how would you determine the correct preheat temperature for a given steel based on its carbon equivalent?
- What is the relationship between heat input (amperage × voltage ÷ travel speed) and weld quality outcomes such as grain growth, distortion, and dilution?
- Describe at least four types of weld discontinuities, their visual or physical signatures, and the corrective actions the Handbook associates with each.
- **Electrode identification drill:** Collect five different electrode/wire classifications from the Handbook's filler metal chapters. For each, write out what every digit/letter means, the recommended base metals, and the typical amperage range. Quiz yourself without looking.
- **HAZ sketch exercise:** After reading the metallurgy chapters, draw a cross-section of a weld bead and label the weld metal, fusion line, HAZ sub-zones (coarse-grain, fine-grain, intercritical), and base metal. Annotate each zone with the approximate peak temperature and the resulting microstructural change.
- **WPS drafting:** Using the Handbook's procedure tables, draft a simple Welding Procedure Specification for a ½-inch (12 mm) A36 steel butt joint in the flat position — specifying process, filler, amperage, voltage, travel speed, preheat, and any PWHT. Justify every variable choice with a page reference.
- **Defect diagnosis log:** While practicing welds in the shop, photograph or sketch every defect you produce. For each defect, look up its cause and remedy in the Handbook and write a one-paragraph corrective action plan before your next practice session.
- **Distortion prediction and control experiment:** Weld two identical T-joint coupons — one with no distortion control and one using a technique from the Handbook (backstep sequence, tack pattern, or presetting). Measure angular distortion on both with a protractor and compare results against the Handbook's predictions.
- **Macro-etch coupon analysis:** Cut, grind, polish, and etch a cross-section of one of your practice welds using the procedure described in the Handbook. Identify fusion line, HAZ width, bead profile, and any visible discontinuities. Compare your findings to the Handbook's acceptance criteria photographs.
Next up: Mastering the metallurgical "why" and quality-inspection framework in the Procedure Handbook gives the reader the technical vocabulary and judgment needed to tackle advanced topics such as welding codes and standards, qualification testing, and specialized processes — where every decision must be grounded in exactly the material science and procedural discipline built here.
The industry-standard reference for arc welding procedures and parameters; after learning technique, this authoritative handbook teaches you to dial in settings scientifically rather than by guesswork.
First Projects: Fabrication & Design
Some backgroundApply welding skills to plan, cut, fit, and complete satisfying real-world metal projects — from simple brackets to decorative and functional shop items.
▸ Study plan for this stage
Pace: 8–10 weeks total: Weeks 1–4 cover "The Art of Welding" by Galvery (~20–25 pages/day, focusing on project planning chapters and technique refinement); Weeks 5–10 cover "Race & Custom Car Metal Fabricator's Handbook" by Fournier (~15–20 pages/day, with slower pacing to allow time for hands-on fabricat
- Project planning and design thinking for metal fabrication — sketching, measuring, and sequencing weld joints before striking an arc (Galvery)
- Selecting the right filler metal, joint type, and welding process for a given project's material and load requirements (Galvery)
- Reading and interpreting simple fabrication drawings and translating them into cut lists and fit-up sequences (Galvery & Fournier)
- Metal layout and marking techniques — using scribes, squares, and templates to transfer designs accurately onto sheet and structural stock (Fournier)
- Cutting methods for fabrication: plasma cutting, angle grinding, and hand tools — choosing the right method for precision vs. speed (Fournier)
- Fit-up and tack welding strategy — clamping, jigging, and tacking to control distortion before final welding (Fournier)
- Finishing and dressing welds for functional and aesthetic results — grinding, wire-brushing, and surface preparation for paint or patina (Galvery & Fournier)
- Designing for weldability — avoiding stress risers, planning access for the torch/gun, and accounting for heat distortion in the design stage (Fournier)
- After reading Galvery, can you describe the step-by-step process he recommends for planning a welding project before any metal is cut or welded?
- What joint types and filler metal selections does Galvery recommend for common structural vs. decorative project scenarios, and why?
- According to Fournier, what are the key differences between laying out and cutting sheet metal versus structural tubing or angle iron, and what tools does he recommend for each?
- How does Fournier approach tack welding and jigging to minimize distortion in a multi-piece fabrication, and what sequence does he suggest?
- What finishing steps do both Galvery and Fournier describe for preparing a completed weld for paint, powder coat, or a decorative finish?
- Based on both books, how would you design a simple functional shop item (e.g., a wall bracket or tool rack) — from sketch to cut list to weld sequence — applying the principles each author emphasizes?
- Sketch & Cut List Exercise (Galvery): Choose a simple project (wall bracket, candle holder, or shelf support). Draw a dimensioned sketch by hand, write a full cut list, and identify every joint type and weld position before touching any metal — following Galvery's planning approach.
- Dry Fit-Up Drill (Fournier): Using scrap steel, cut three or more pieces to a design, clamp and tack them together WITHOUT final welding, then measure diagonals and check for square — practice Fournier's fit-up and distortion-control techniques before committing to full welds.
- Template & Layout Practice (Fournier): Create a cardboard or paper template for a curved or compound-angle cut, transfer it to sheet metal using a scribe, and cut it out with an angle grinder or plasma cutter — focusing on Fournier's layout accuracy methods.
- Complete a Functional Shop Item: Build one small but fully finished project (e.g., a magnetic tool strip mount, a welding cart shelf, or a simple bracket) from raw stock to finished, dressed welds — applying the full project workflow from both Galvery and Fournier.
- Weld Sequence Distortion Test: Weld the same simple T-joint or frame using two different tack/weld sequences (e.g., one side fully first vs. alternating sides), measure the resulting distortion in each, and document which sequence Fournier's method would predict to be better.
- Finish & Surface Prep Comparison: On two identical welded coupons, apply different finishing methods (grind flush vs. wire brush only vs. flap disc blend), then apply a rattle-can primer coat and compare adhesion and appearance — reinforcing the finishing guidance from both authors.
Next up: Completing real fabrication projects with Galvery's planning discipline and Fournier's layout-and-fit-up methodology builds the spatial reasoning, sequencing habits, and hands-on confidence needed to tackle more complex structural or artistic metalwork at an advanced level.
Bridges technique and creativity by walking through project planning, layout, and fabrication — ideal for turning practiced skills into finished, rewarding objects.
A hands-on guide to cutting, fitting, and joining metal for real projects; read last to pull everything together and give the beginner a clear roadmap for increasingly ambitious builds.