Best welding teacher on youtube. Reminds me of my metal shop teacher in high school. Always encouraging and uplifting people. Thanks for that!

Years ago, I was a contract industrial weld instructor. I was doing Saturday training in a fab shop, which means the "bosses" weren't there. I was showing the welders that you could do push or pull equally well with some very subtle differences in movements. I was (am) strongly right handed and left eyed, so pulling left to right on MIG was my more natural first choice. During the lunch break one of the guys came up and said: "so you are saying you can push OR pull?" He said the supervisor at a previous job had told him that he would fire anybody he caught pulling weld on sheet metal. I asked him if they had a problem with burn through and he told me that they did. I heard so many stories like this over the years - that you CAN'T do this or that you MUST do that. I learned that whenever you heard that kind of dogmatism, you were often working with someone that didn't really know what they were doing, and were masking that with their "my way or the highway" attitude. My very last job before retirement was training 3 craftsman on only one skill - overhead welding to a standard. We had some of the same kind of conflicting instructions, so I asked them to bring me their internal documentation. Their "expert" had me training their pipe welders to weld overhead to a plate standard. When confronted, he tried to bluster his way through as if he was the expert and I was just a "contract hitter". I miss training, but I don't miss the politics. I so appreciate Jody, because he cuts through all that "slag" and tells it like it is. If it is really wrong, Jody will tell you, otherwise he will tell you that "there is more than one way to skin a cat" if PETA isn't listening.

I started welding by watching Jody's videos. Later I took some night classes at the local community college. I don't know about your community college but compared to Jody's videos and a lot of garage time they're a waste of time. Jody is responsible for a significant degree of welder quality in America and around the world. He deserves a medal and a statue.

Let me tell you something, I've been welding for six going on 7 years, I've done everything from piping to aerospace to pressure vessels, sanitary to structural and even grain mill and chicken plant work, and everything you preach I take as the gospel. Most of these people that dissent against you ain't never done nothing but run their damn mouths. I appreciate every video

When leaving the military in 2020 my welding instructor at Central Georgia Technical a college VECTR center always showed your videos. Helped me get certified. Now my son is doing his first welding in high school and is looking into iron work this spring. I have him watching your videos. You help people in more ways than I think you’ll ever know. Thanks from the bottom of my American Soul.

The "I would of" and "you should of" guys are the the funniest group of do nothings on the net. Aaaaand yes, they're the kind of people who type "should of".

My 12 YO son and I are about to build a custom trailer to haul our stand up jet skis. I want him to be very involved in the project and do some welding. I am going to show him this video and get him set up to do some practice to get him dialed in!

Your videos have taught us more than I can thank you for.

When I was at the shipyard I was the unlucky guy that they sent to qualify for hand held SAW (submerged arc welding) Also called SQUIRT! I figured out PDQ that you needed to find a rhythm to maintain a consistent bead. For me the old song Under the Boardwalk fit that rhythm. I'd sing it in my head and move the torch to it. Hot Dang, I passed the x-ray text! I was doing spray arc with 100S 1/16 wire one night and the song got in my head and the welds looked much better. It's hard not to let your mind wander on a 20' long bevel! Find a song that gives you a steady rhythm and see if it works 4 you!

Great teacher of the welding subject ❤

I've never pretended to be an expert, but over the years, I've found there's just as much bad information out there as good. I took courses at a vocational school to get the basics and I've kinda picked things up from there. I got 4 welding certs in school and then realized certs are worthless compared to experience. I passed a vertical up MIG test on 3/8 plate with the machine sputtering and hissing because I was taught at the time to run the bead uphill with the wire feed way down. I try to teach my apprentices now that wire speed to voltage/amperage is a ratio. I teach them that your voltage/amperage indicates how much penetration you're going to get while your wire feed indicates how much metal you're going to lay down. It seems to help. I've been watching your videos for over a decade and been a subscriber the whole time. I recommend you to anyone.

Man this reminds me of my first day of welding school. At least the first day of actual welding. We did this exactly the way you prescribed. Once the student was ready we moved on, but still, the ammount of metal you can put down this way is astronomical.

I've learned so much from you over the years as a hobby welder. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, and all of the effort that is involved in making videos. Appreciate you, brother! 👍

This answers so many questions… I “learned” ("hey boy, just grab that stick and get in there") from my old man who was pretty much self-taught back in the 50s, challenged some performance testing to satisfy an inspector in the 70s (it was still the Wild West), and had been fabbing and repairing all manner of things forever. It means whenever I asked about volts, amps, polarity, or “why my welds look so awful” I got mostly “Just do it until it looks right” and similar.

Thanks Jodie. Great information and technique. We appreciate your sharing with us. Fred.

Thank you for the years of sharing knowledge, it has helped me and I am using your vids to help my son learn to weld.

This was exactly what I needed having zero experience and just want to get started in my garage, many thanks!

An absolute must for MIG welding is keeping the gas nozzle clean. When stacking beads like this, you’ll get completely different results 10 minutes into it if you haven’t cleaned the nozzle. A build up of spatter reduces the sheilding gas flow, changes the amperage, forces the operator to have more “stick out”. If a person is looking to really improve, they need a consistent starting point each time. Keeping it clean is huge.

Great video as usual Jody. Good to see you again

Took a TIG welding class last month in Cleveland at Lincoln. Bill Miller was my instructor and was excellent. He said he was a good friend of yours and for me to watch your videos on different techniques to perfect my skills.

I’m 67 yrs old AWS Certified. I learned on old Lincoln “Torpedo” machines you couldn’t read the setting numbers. I learned to weld by the seat of my pants. Sight,sound and feel. Stick weld sounds like an egg frying. MIG sounds like a mad bee! I learned that many passes with a MiG the hotter the metal I lowered the amps and wire speed. Kinda like Aluminum welding start of slow alum starts to transfer heat put on the tennis shoes and keep up!😄 Great videos my friend!

As always, great video Jody! 2 individuals that work in the shop that I work at have started welding structure downhill with either short circuit MIG or pulse MIG. The one piece you could physically see the lack of fusion on it. I hope no personnel get injured as a result of these individuals ignorance.

Good to see the OG welder pop up on my YT feed - always the consummate professional!

Pushing or pulling the wire comes in handy on multiple pass welds on thicker plate. Pulling the wire in spray arc mode tends to be more of a convex weld while pushing is a bit flatter or concave. I like to push the last pass as it lays flatter wetting the toes better. Just my preference. Thanks for the videos Jody, keep them coming. I really could have used you 30 years ago.

I bought my son the same PrimeWeld Mig180 for Xmas last year. It is a great welder and hasn't failed yet.

The very best in welding videos!

Hey! It's been a long time since I was on your channel. Glad to see you well. Keep it up :)

THANK you for some great welding tips. 😊

Good advise as usual Jody . You just made me realize I haven't fired my 255C up for awhile, now I need to go run some beads . lol :)

I learned to weld (stick) the same way stacking beads on plate in the early 80s. They had welding booths setup in semi-trailers (about 5 -6 booths in each trailer) here in hot southeast GA. The part I hated most though was we had to grind down and reuse our steel plates. It was learning by doing the same thing over and over. By the time we finally moved on to pipe you had a true understanding of what was going on.

The GOAT made another aweaome video. Thanks Mr J

Helping a friend restore a 914, rust extraction . Hes a grean ( got his first spark burn through today, this month is the 1 yr anniversary of the project ). Thank you for this production . I have referred him to walch some of your others , but you have done a much better job of explaining the importance/impact theas drills have on a glue gun operator.

I stand corrected. I found a video you did 9 yrs. ago that briefly explained the different transfers.

Thank you sir for your informative videos. I'm fixin to retire from my full-time job in a few years at 60 yo and I plan to enroll into a welding school. 😊

Couldn't have said it better. Exactly what I teach at my school!

Good video! I work in hvac and I have to be able to both push and pull on overhead and flat positions . There’s no other way around it and both receive proper pen

Great video as always! I understand why you usually tig weld and deal with exotic materials in your vids. For an experienced welder like yourself short circuit mig has got to be boring. For me when ever you cover mig it is like finding buried treasure. I have a different Amazon welder that claims to be 200 amps. In videos on YT it seems to max out at 160 on stick. Needless to say short circuit mig is the only mig it will do. Some year I would like to get a welder that will do spray arc and that can effectively run dual shield. In the mean time I am trying to learn to get the most out of the welder I have now. Your videos are really helping with that. Thanks for continuing to cover boring old short circuit mig!

Great video. I've always found that as soon as someone says, 'you should always do it this way', they are one trick ponies with very little diversity of experience. Yes, there are preferred methods, but they are not always viable options/methodologies in the real world. Master Craftsmen of any trade/profession are the ones who can create solutions that others cannot in situations that others walk away from because it can't be done. Push or pull, if you can't do both in all positions, in all circumstances, you need more practice

Thankyou for a well done instructional video,

Thanks again for another great video.

"Sometimes your head is up in the box" That's the clear explanation for whoever left that *gem* of a comment... (sarcasm, obv.) lol People who say "You *never* do (...)" don't have much experience in the real world. People with experience know that sometimes you've just gotta do what you've gotta do.

i do both depending on the position your in..thks for sharing sir...

Hello! You are the best! Thanks for yours tips.

Could you demonstrate? The 3 different metal transfers of MIG welding in one of your videos, short arc, spray, and globular. And how each one is used. I am self-taught but I have learned a great deal from your videos. Thank you for being you.

Amazing how everyone is an expert. Just learn the best way you can.

Excelente trabajo 🎉

Merci pour ces conseils et pour vos paramètres de soudage.

Happy Holidays Jody

@weldingtipsandticks. I am thankful that I have found your channel.

Hi Jody Down here in Australia for whatever reason, the push and pull thing is a lot stricter and you'll get marched off certain work sites if you're caught pulling the weld as opposed to pushing. In saying all that I do agree with you that depending on the situation, you need to use both.

Coming from the perspective of robotic MIG welding on thin steel (Automotive Mass Production), some of which is galvannealed, I've found pushing to work out better. Coated metal always is a pain to weld; the zinc gasses off and causes a lot of spatter and can cause porosity if the weld conditions aren't hot/consistent enough to allow the zinc to bubble out of the puddle. Nasty process, but it's what the designs call for (and why we get paid to make said parts!)

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If a weld does its job, and is safe, then it is a good weld. If you want something pretty and serves your purpose, you're going to have to pay dearly for it, or learn to do it yourself.

When I first started of in Engineering in '04 a guy I worked with announced with absolute certainty that "You push MIG and pull stick" No exceptions 😂 Obviously,he was speaking from the experience of having welded only in the flat position.There are so many mitigating factors that dictate what you can and cannot do.Try welding parts on to Earth moving equipment while other parts are limiting your scope for movement,and you're more than likely going to reconsider your position.

Great videos !

A long time ago I watched one of your videos with the sample cutting, polishing, and acid etching of push v. pull joints showing similar results in penetration. That was super informative. I prefer pull on thicker material for the reason you stated of being easier to see the puddle plus my brain thinks having the wire leading the puddle pointed at the root is better than possibly having the wire hit the puddle on the push side. I know that is not true, but my brain still thinks that. I use push when doing thinner materials like sheet metal continuous beads on auto body work so I can see the joint line easier. For the really thin auto body panels there is the "stitch" weld technique of spacing out tacks and overlapping them 50% to minimize heat buildup and warping. Not really true thicker metal stitch welding, but that's what it is called for auto body.

Some tricks I've learned 1. you can intentionally increase your stick out to temporarily drop your amperage if things seem to be getting too hot and burning through 2. pushing slightly pre heats the base metals as you progress in the weld and is more common for better penetration 3. Pulling is commonly used for post heat and can help when building up weld size and can help eliminate things like undercut

Interesting opinions ❤ I'm going to go through your videos. I don't really do any movement, and I just hold it straight. The weld doesn't need much movement when hot enough, and travel is just right, I just look at my pass And get as close as possible. I don't watch my Arc. No need to.

Ha ha we push and pull mig welds everyday in our shop. Many welders in our companny make hard tested mig welded constructions and they all are good.

A union shop I worked at guys were always arguing about ' pushing ' versus ' pulling ' mig welds. I would tell them to shut up ( while I fixed all their crappt, leaky welds.) On ' stick out ' you usually keep it short as possible, but I have found in places where it is necessary to reach the wire way out to turn the speed UP just a bit.

Thanks for sharing❤

Thank you for giving us MIG welding on gassed MIG but I don't have gassed MiG welding I have flux core MiG. Can you do updated flux core MiG welding applications? Love your videos but some of us just can't keep up with the times.

Thanks for sharing.

I’ve always pushed and pulled. I think pushing works well for a flatter weld and bridges gaps better too. I’d love to see you play around with some cc mig and/or dual shield welding. I really like the constant current, you just need more wire speed. Works real well for a cover pass. I’ve done cut and etch test showing cc has more penetration than cv. It’s different but once you figure out how to set the machine it’s quite nice.

So many people post comments and act as experts. Especially on welding. I see criticism i welding on very decent welds. We live in an age of Keyboard warriors, and now people talk down in person. I prefer a pull, and your right a 90. I am about close to that and can " Follow " and controll that puddle well.

I pivot the wrist all the time which is a transition from pull to push. And the setting are usually 5-550 wire speed and 25 for heat and 035 wire. Production stuff

I had no idea how inexpensive a Primeweld mig machine is....guess I need to check into them, cheers from Florida, Paul

You should do some dual shield tips for thin gauge metal

That's right, welding at the bench, flat, is one thing. When the tip is in a crevice where you can only see with one eye, well you do whatever it takes. I agree, learn both ways. Practice makes perfect. I remember when I was learning TIG (about a hundred years ago now) the instructor made us weld with both hands. We spent as much time with our non-dominate hand as we did with our dominate hand. Same applied for MIG.

Thanks jodie

Great video as always! I have a little 115v Lincoln that I run .023 and C100, works great. I have 220v available, what machine would you recommend if I wanted to learn spray transfer? Thanks Jody!

They need more videos with spray though and pulse i mean thats what you'll be doing in the industry. Short circuit's great basic ground work and good for hobbyists. Good for sheet metal work and your very basic fabrication work. Short circuit is good to get a feel to how a puddle should look and feel. Good for a novice to start out with

I haven't even gotten 30 seconds into the video. buddy, my guy, who ever made that comment. I exclusively pull my welds with mig.

We work a lot on a spray transfer wifh hard wire 1.2 mm. It's really different then garage welding but it's always better to start with any experience even with electrode then start with nothing so if you plan to work professionally spend your time in a garage anyway 😅!!!

I'd also like to point out the mixing up some soapy water spray and spraying the area around the world before you weld makes the spatter a lot easier to clear up.

I prefer to push so I can see where I’m going. But, as you said, sometimes you have to push and sometimes you have to pull.

I never thought about mig as a 7018. I think about it more at tig. It’s good to think of things outside of your own perspective

I’ve done everything with everything both wrong and right. For most applications it doesn’t matter. Especially hobby work.

Could you do some more Spray Transfer Videos if you have some time? I know you have some. But there aren't all that many people that do spray transfer videos. Also I’m curious about MAG (Metal Active Gas.) for SMAW we did a 1ft X and in each space on the X we did a different Rod (6010, 7014, 7018, and 7024.) Once all the space was filled the instructors cut them in a couple pieces with the Horizontal Bandsaw. I still have a piece of mine. I did a pre-employment course which included class instruction and 480hrs of Shop time. Then we did our 1st yr Government written and practical exams. In Canada you do 3 years with a written and practical exam for each year. Then you do your Journeyman Certification and Red Seal.

And finally I will add that anytime you weld dissimilar medals like stainless steel black iron, you can do one of two things you either have to use an odd numbered stainless wire. Like 309 315. Or you can actually use the sr-70 standard wire, 7014 and 7018 were quite well but 718 is far more of a position rod and 7014 will work in the vertical. First time I ever welded with 7414 I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. It was so easy to weld with, it made stick welding a breeze. Also, don't let anybody ever tell you that you cannot stick weld stainless rod on Direct current, I welded a 14 gauge stainless steel vet Hood one time with 1/6 stainless steel rod. And back stitched it didn't get any warpage whatsoever, and the weld was no wider than the two pieces of metal, it literally looked like a TIG weld. And it had to look good because it was out in the open where people were going to be able to see it. It was for a restaurant

It wasn't until I got a job in a factory that I really started using the push method, and I understand why people like it so much

Hello hope you’re doing good today. Snipers have dope books for shooting. Are there any go to dope books for welding. I’m thinking of one book that covers material, rod size, angle , welding type, and welder settings… one of the hardest and most important things is to know where to set a machine for what you have…I know each machine may need a few ticks up or down to get things exactly where you want… just looking for any go to book that would be a quick reference and get me in the ballpark. Thank you… grew up with folks like you. You would be a surgeon if you were in the medical field but decided to do something that enabled you to work with more characters and have more fun. Thanks again.

You can do some video with tips and triks about MIG welding Aluminium, pulse and no pulse. Thanks

Have u done R&d mig? Its like learning all over again the weld in those smart migs allow to long arc and downhill on root and Pulse uphill to fill and cap, but the toe of the weld does not tie in well at all

I can tell you are a pro welder! Realy liked your video. I have a lower priced stick welder and a lower priced mig wire feed welder. I am planning on trying to learn to weld in my late 50's for around the home and diy use. I also plan on connecting them to a 30 amp 240 breaker even though they both will run on 115 volts. I have good eye protection and good gloves, but I do worry about my eyes because I have to wear glasses all the time even though I do fine with polarized sunglasses only when outside or driving. I also have dry eye disease that is under control with prescription drops. I tried to learn to play guitar but am not very good at it due to a old left wrist injury. I think I can learn to weld good because I am right handed. Do you have any suggestions for me? Will like and subscribe to your videos. Thanks

Let’s do it

Any chance for a body posture for welding vid? Im in school for welding an im constantly wondering if im missing some key tips an tricks to getting comfortable and well supported. Thanks

Too funny to me. I come from Autobody... so when you said Really thin 11 gauge steel, I said, "THAT'S NOT THIN!!!" Hahaha. But I know in general it is. For me, that's about the thickest we ever weld on with cars. Lol.

HI I HAVE A TIG WELDING QUESTION: when dabbing filler metal into the puddle how do you prevent the filler from sorta balling up and falling off the filler rod? I also might have left some millscale which might be doing it as well. Also can you show more of your body position, and arm and hand movements when tig welding. There are random things I’d like to know, like when you lay the filler rod down and walk the cup into it are you moving the filler rod at all? Or just walking the cup into it? Please help when you can. Thanks

I have a Eastwood mp140i multi process welder what are your thoughts on this welder and do you think it is capable of aluminum welding as I looked to build a turbo setup for my truck like Intercooler and charge pipes and possibly stainless headers at some point? Thanks I love your videos

I've been a hobby welder for about 5 years and every good habit I have is due to Jody. Any bad habits are purely my fault!

There are a couple of questions I would like to ask and they all revolve around welding thin sheet, car body work. In the UK most cars have 0.9mm (20 gauge) thick bodywork but I assume USA classic cars are thicker as I have seen people tig welding patches into the middle of panels. I have seen many people weld a long butt joint, perhaps fitting half a door skin, with a series of tack welds every 3 inches, then starting over until the weld looks continuous. My question is how strong is this weld, I can imagine it is not an issue on a door skin (unless it cracks) but I see this on bulk heads (what you call firewalls) and sils which are structural. As an engineer by trade I worry when people cool the weld with an airline (to warping), as to me this will make the weld brittle. So is building the weld up as a series of mig tacks acceptable? Is there a sensible length of tack (the ones I see are basically spots) that will make this method OK? Some people talk about increasing the current, but not all, I know you talk about increasing the current for your tacks but you weld over the tacks. Is there a better way to weld and avoid the panel warping? I have been told to tig weld if you can get to the back of the panel as the tig joint is not as hard and you can hammer and dolly the panel straight. But mig weld is too hard and damages the panel hammer? On a second, but linked question. I have an Autolynx 2 mig welder (later called Murex) which was known as the auto body shop welder 30+ years ago. It is basically a transformer welder of 130 amps and has always worked really well but it has 2 functions that I would like to understand. If I double tap the trigger the welder goes into stitch mode, (you can also select the mode) where it welds for a few seconds then rests before welding again. Is this to produce a short weld then a gap before another weld or to rest during a continuous bead to reduce heat build up? In the UK we use to weld cars with a series of inch tacks every 2 inches (sort of thing) but that was banned in the 90s (mot failure) and all welds (structural) have to be continuous. My welder is older than that, hence why I ask about the tacks. Secondly it has a spot weld setting, my understanding is you change the shroud for one with two feet, you push the torch onto the outer panel and push the two panels together and form a spot weld, not a plug weld as you do not have a hole in the outer panel, the weld melts the two sheets together. I have read the manual but cannot get the panels to fuse properly hence I end up plug welding. The torch has been changed, which might effect the setting but any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Seems to depend on the thickness whether you push or pull. What he said. As long as your in the angle pocket, either works fine. Just watch the puddle.

Salutios of Argentina

Can you do a video on a Yeswelder? I've seen a lot videos on these with guys that are not professionals. Having a professional's opinion would be nice.

Sometimes I wonder if these people who say "you should never..." have only ever welded test plates together on a welding table.

Jody, you should seriously start offering online small group classes! you literally have thousands of people world wide watching your videos... think about it, you could single handedly change the quality of the welding world with your knowledge.

Anyone who says you NEVER do something, just doesn't understand why you might not wanna. Those people usually ain't worth listening to, they just got told something 10 years ago and never questioned it...

The push pull thing is something newbs say… people who weld know that different situations require different angles… i find that some thiner stuff likes to push at a steep angle… sometimes your 90…. Usually just a slight angle, i feel more for comfort than the weld being different if you didnt have that angle…

Just out of curiosity, what about.045 stainless steel solid core, what do you prefer? Repairing 2 inch and 3 inch solid spokes. I can only access from one side/direction only. Complete crack repair.

Hey buddy I work in a fab shop building saw mill equipment and chip mill equipment the name of the company is precision husky and we run .035 er70s6 at 27.5 volts and 550-600 Ipm on the wire speed with 90/10 gas