It’s no secret that we love building wood furniture. Something that we’ve always wanted to do is to incorporate metal into our wood pieces. We called on our talented friend, Jen Woodhouse from The House of Wood to come share her tips and tricks for TIG welding. We also teamed up with Lincoln Electric to try out their new 140 MP Multi-Process Welding Machine and we caught it all on camera! So, grab a cup of coffee and come watch our TIG Welding lesson with Jen! Just click the Play Button below to watch!
How fun was that? We have so many new, metal furniture ideas and we can’t wait to get started on them!
Table of Contents
Our Teacher and Friend
Jen taught herself to weld about a year ago and we were so excited that she offered to come teach us her welding ways!
The Star of the Show – Lincoln Electric 140 MP
The Lincoln Electric Multi-purpose Welding Machine was so easy to use! It’s a 3-in-1 welding machine that allows for TIG, MIG and STICK welding. Jen taught us how to TIG weld. We loved that there aren’t any sparks flying with TIG welding, like there is with MIG welding. That was the most intimidating part of welding for us!
Once we got the welding machine up and running, we used our bench grinder to grind down the tungsten to a fine point.
Practicing our Welds
We used a thick piece of steel to practice! Jen practiced first!
Then, Ashley gave it a go!
Whitney nailed her practice run!
Jen showed us an example of how we should be holding the torch. She used a flash light to mimic the arc and it made so much sense!
Welding the Coffee Table Base
Once we felt comfortable with welding, we began to weld the coffee table pieces together. This is done with the torch and filler rod. The filler rod melts into the joint to bond the two pieces of metal together.
Tack First
Jen taught us that it was best to weld small tacks at the ends of the joints first. This will get all of the pieces attached and sturdy. Then we went back and filled the gaps in.
Our First Welded Joint
We were so happy with our first welded joint! We are also suckers for accessories and this magnetic right angle piece was so awesome! It keeps your metal bars together and steady while you are welding!
Grinding Down the Welds
We used an angle grinder with a 60-grit flap disc to grind down the welds until they were nice and smooth!
The Finish
Once we smoothed out all of the welds, we moved on to the finish! We used a self-etching primer first, then followed up with two coats of black spray paint!
We had so much fun learning how to TIG Weld with Jen! We can’t say enough how impressed we were with the new Lincoln Electric 140 MP. It was easy to set up, easy to use and it is a lot more affordable than other welding machines!
Make sure to subscribe to our Youtube Channel so you don’t miss our next video! We will be showing you how we build the wood portion of this coffee table!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Happy Building!
Shanty2Chic Merch!
We finally have merch!!! We have had so many requests for our Shanty2Chic T-shirts and we are excited to have them available to purchase today! Just click HERE to check them out!
I’ve always loved the look of metal, but have always been too afraid to tackle it. I think I might need to get this tool–y’all made it look so much less intimidating!
Why dont you just marry me? You guys do great work. Enjoy watching the videos, but never get a chance to do any of it.