How to Strike an Arc When Arc Welding

Video Transcript

" Hi! My name is Mac. On behalf of expertvillage.com, I am here to continue our discussion on welding theory. Previously we had discussed how to make these little rows of beads of weld with these little dots and how to strike an arc. Further to that, I would like to point out that a student of mine would learn to do this typically in one night. A student would cover a piece of steel plate like this on both sides perhaps you might do two plates like this. By the end of that time, you should be able to strike an arc every time without getting the electrode stuck in the puddle. Further to that I would say that practice, practice time is very important for a student. The amount of time necessary to become a professional arc welder would probably be a student would need to burn about 40 lbs. of electrode. That seems like an awful lot, but a student would need to burn 40 lbs. of electrode in my class to become a very proficient arc welder, able to arc weld in all positions. This is the basic step that every student takes to begin with. Just learning to do this in a cosmetically neat fashion, nice concentric rows of weld puddles."