Welder's Handbook: A Complete Guide to MIG, TIG, ARC and Oxyacetylene Welding

I am a female artist with no previous welding experience. I am taking a short-term introductory welding class at my local vocational college because I would like to branch into metal sculpture. As the only female in the class, I have found that I am more lacking in basic knowledge than even the most unexperienced guys in my class, because they have osmotically gleaned knowledge from their dads or buddies. The instructor of the class has been very good at demonstrating safety and technique, but I felt I was missing a lot of info that was "common knowledge" to the others. This book filled in the blanks for me and has answered many of my questions. It has given me the background I need to intelligently pursue my interest in welding and I will use it often for reference. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a fundamental understanding of welding, and as a companion book for anyone enrolled in a night-school welding class.

As someone who had never used a welder before, this book was invaluable to me. I found this book to be simply written, with no-nonsense information and graphics. There is also little of the author tooting his own horn; he presents his past projects to show you what you could do in the future, not to impress you with his vast knowledge. The book is designed to get a new welder up and running, but not so fast that they are just bad welders. There is an emphasis on simple exercises to get you familiar with your tools before you start on big projects. The science of welding is presented in very simple laymans terms, no calculus or physics required. I will say that I actually started backwards on the 'lessons' in this book; I started with a mig, then went to a buzzbox, and am now ramping up on oxy/acet. This is exactly reverse of what the author recommends, but I worked with what I had access to at the time. I recommend you start out with this book and the sci.engr.joining.welding newsgroup; you will be very happy with the results.

Beginners! For all of the simple to advanced projects, this book is the answer. The author explains things in a very organized and straight forward manner. For example he starts with metal basics and heat control, and then moves to welding equipment and safety. Fitting and jigging is one of the very important aspects covered in a chapter. After wards, each type of welding, cutting, brazing, and soldering is explained in a chapter. This book helped me understand what are the difficulties I will face in my welding project of a race car. For example, Titanium is not easy to weld regardless of the method of welding that is used. Keep in mind that this book will not go into details about metal spraying, electrical requirements for big shops, or ways to weld gears to shafts. This book is only for the beginner, and maybe fun to read for the pro.

Yes, I agree that this is an excellent beginner's book. I bought this book, went out and bought an acetelyne welding outfit, and was cutting, brazing and welding immediately. It has just the right amount of technical info for a beginner and covers all the basics.

I am interested in making metal furniture as a hobby but I never have welded before. I purchased "Modern Welding" which I found confusing and probably more suited as a text book in a trade school. "Welder's Handbook" was perfect for me - Peter Finch did a great job in discussing the strengths and weaknesses of each type of welding process. I now know exactly what type of equipment I need to purchase.