Hello
 

Hey guys,

My name is Nick. I came across this forum while looking up some info on an English wheel. I probably won't post too much as I have absolutely nothing to offer. I am a compete novice in everything metal related (welding, fab, ect.) I love old cars and am fascinated with metal forming and metal work. I want to join the forum to soak up as much knowledge as possible. I recently tried welding in a patch on the firewall of my 61 scout, went too fast and warped it. I bought a hammer and dolly set and got it pretty close. I'm still working at it but love the process. I admire the guy who can make his own parts and fix damaged ones, and I'd like to have some of those skills. Right now I'm interested in learning about English wheels and bead rollers for starters, then I guess go from there

Hi Nick,
There are a lot of people with various skills on this forum. It is a great resource for beginners like us. Youtube has a lot of videos that will help teach you as well, in fact, many of the best videos are members from here. There are lot of different projects being completed on here too so you will get to see a lot of different aspects of metal shaping and fabrication.

I am no expert, but I would like to share some of how I got started. I started really small. Just making half circles in copper, then aluminum, then steel. I learned about annealing and how to use a hammer. Through this process I learned about stumps, different types of hammers and what they were for. Trust me I still have much to learn, but this helped me learn how to start shaping metal. Then I started making sculptures, some from scrap, so I could learn how to weld, and the different types of welds and different types of welders.

As you go through your learning process, don't be afraid to post your progress on here and ask for help. Trust me the folks will be glad to help you make your projects better. There are some really skilled talented people, and the only other way to get access to their skills would be attend a workshop, which I recommend.

Remember, we all have to start somewhere, and we all end up with piles of scrap metal, because that is the best way to learn. For me, I read, watch videos, practice, pitch them in the scrap pile, start over, analyze my technique and go again. This has been the cycle for sometime. I'm stubborn so it takes me a while...

I wish you the very best with your projects and look forward to seeing your projects!

Dave

Welcome to the forum, Nick.

thanks guys.

I'm pretty bad about trying something on scrap first and also bad about expecting it to be perfect the first time around. definately something I need to work on

Hi Nick welcome to the forum
Peter