Mig Welding Introduction

A few years ago most people didn't know much about mig welding at all. Now it has skyrocketed in popularity after shows like Jesse James' Monster House, the Tuttles' American Chopper, and various other cable tv shows about hot rods, motorcycles, and other projects. We went 10 years with no cable around my house until a couple of years ago. Now I don't know how I lived without it! I've probably seen every episode of the above shows, most of them more than once.

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All this attention has stirred up hobby enthusiast's interest in using mig in their garages or shops. And since mig welding is easy to learn, and really affordable to purchase, a lot of people are striking arcs and learning to burn. The only negative I've seen is the lack of safety on a lot of the shows. I've seen everything from grinding with no eye protection, to welding with no eye protection. Drilling with the work piece not being fastened, not using gloves, and other BAD safety practices, or should I say lack of safety practices are being broadcast all the time.

I once had a professor tell me that we are all "tab". What the heck is "tab" you might be wondering? Well, I was wondering the same thing until she explained that we are all "temporarily able bodied!" All it takes is a split second to change that. And if you've ever been hurt bad like I have, you know that's true. My definition of hurt bad is when your brain screams to you "OH MY GOD! YOU'VE NEVER BEEN HURT THIS BAD!!!" The next thing you hear if you're lucky enough to be conscious is the wail of the ambulance siren.

You then find yourself in the hospital wondering if you'll ever be the same, when you're getting out of there and how you're going to pay your bills when you do. It ain't fun getting hurt. So what do we do? We do our best to keep from it! It constantly amazes me to see people take chances in the shop or field. Instead of taking a lousy couple of minutes to grab a pair of cutting glasses, they'll make a cut either without any glasses, or with clear safety glasses.

Never mind that a nice glob of 2000 to 6000 degree molten metal might splash up in the eye. And those uv rays that are burning your retina won't matter as long as you just make a few cuts, or just shut your eyes while mig welding right? There's a lot of people with burned eyes both by contact (the molten steel popping into the eye), or by light burns (the ultra violet radiation) that wish they would've taken that minute or two to put on the right eye protection.