Luckily most of the welding that we see is clean and neat looking. That doesn’t mean those welds are necessarily the strongest, but for the most part they are at least acceptable. But then there are the bad ones. I’m talking stuff that looks like birds have crapped on joints between tubing. It is unbelievable that some of these joints ever see the light of day. After all, you’d think that nobody in their right mind would possibly want to let the world see what they have done. In fact, we’ve seen some of these under cars at shows like the Goodguys! It is crazy to even imagine someone not having a friend who could weld something nicely. Or, that they don’t have someone they could hire for the job.
I’ve been welding all my life. It doesn’t mean that I’m the best welder ever, but I can’t imagine ever being as bad as some of these examples. Which is why I’m asking this question today. After all, I’d like to think that most people would be smart enough to either learn or give up.
If you were this bad at welding, would you quit, seek help, or just keep going with reckless abandon?
I’ve done welds better than those, not much better mind you. I don’t weld for that reason.
The lower 3 pics look like practice welds…we hope the learned by their mistakes.
Tripled the weight of the part….
I hope to improve to that level someday.
I kid mostly, but really most people have to suck at a skill for a while before they get any good. Also many of us have no reason to weld until we need something welded. So you weld in fits and starts with multi year gaps between and never get any good.
At least they are in the shop trying to do something noble instead of in the house pounding the puddin.
My biggest pet peeve are the cheap overseas manufactured lifting plates that people use to install their engines in their cars. Some of these have welds that look like two night crawlers laying next to the joint. Your going to spend anywhere from $3k to $50k and install your engine with an overseas manufactured $10 tool? Take some time to fabricate a proper tool or get a professional to build one and have it welded properly. I cringe when I watch tv shows or videos and see people using these and they are laying under the engine or have their arms under it.
The first pic looks like a murder seen.
Like everything else.You learn from your mistakes. You just keep trying.
The first pic is actually a new work by the famed hot rodding artist Cupid Von Stunt. Its entitled Hot Jiss and is a comment on the sexual inequality in most hot rod shops….
Sometimes, an adequate weld now is better than a perfect weld later. As long as the weld is solid enough to hold, just remember these words of wisdom: “A grinder and paint make me into the welder I ain’t.”