Lincoln Electric school is awesome

by Steve
(Ohio)

Back in 1995 I attended the SMAW Lincoln school. It cost $600 and was a three week course. The very first day we were given a couple of pieces of plate steel to weld together after a short demonstration and a few hours in the classroom on safety and procedures.

That was a great thing that they did as it showed the instructors the ability of each of us in the class. The people with really poor welds were noticed but never made fun of or pointed out to the rest of the class. These people were given more attention by the other instructor who took them under his wing. I was not in that group due to my experience with my own Lincoln AC/DC SMAW welder. My welds looked pretty good from the start.

The guys with the poor looking welds after the 4 weeks were over were making welds that were so good that you could not tell them from the ones the best welders in the class were making. The extra attention to the ones with at first poor looking welds really paid off.

We learned to weld pipe, overhead welding, vertical, advantages and disadvantages of A/C & D/C welding. Rods and how they are made. We even got a tour of the factory. Learned how to store rods. And we were given at the end of the 4 weeks on the last day a preview of the TIG welding class. The day started at 9 am and we were done at 2:30 pm. An hour or sometimes two in the class and then a demonstration by the instructor and then the rest of the time we were welding.

I thought I knew most of what I needed to know how to weld SMAW. I was wrong on that. The information on rods alone was an eye opener. The classroom had 20 people in it and every question we had they answered. I even was allowed to ask about Miller welding equipment and the instructors even recommended Miller...but they said they hoped I would buy Lincoln!

After the three weeks, I was making better welds, faster and was confident that I could weld in almost any position. The instructors were top notch. These guys teaching were or are welders and teach as a side line. They have the experience and also were great teachers.

I highly recommend the Lincoln School. I'm even thinking of taking more classes as I write this. Their school is that good.