Learn about welding and plasma cutting

Welder's Handbook, RevisedHP1513: A Guide to Plasma Cutting, Oxyacetylene, ARC, MIG and TIG Welding.
by Richard Finch  (Author)

 A newly-updated, state-of-the-art guide to MIG and TIG arc welding technology.

Written by a noted authority in the field, this revised edition of HP's bestselling automotive book-for over 20 years-is a detailed, instructional manual on the theory, technique, equipment, and proper procedures of metal inert gas (MIG) and tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding.
Welder’s Handbook” is a good introductory text to basic welding. Yes, it does not have an endless amount of detail on most welding processes. And yes, in order to actually weld, you’ll have to actually weld. But reading this book first, and then getting basic instruction from someone who knows how to perform the type of welding you’re interested in, will get you off the ground very effectively.

The author, Richard Finch, who has been welding for decades, arranges the book by all the basic topics. He covers equipment, safety basics and metal basics, along with cleaning and fitting. He discusses oxyacetylene welding (and cutting) in considerable detail, using oxy welding to communicate basics of creating a weld pool, heating metal, and so forth. Later chapters cover arc (“stick”) welding, MIG welding, TIG welding, plasma cutting, and special processes. Within each chapter Finch covers techniques as they apply to the welding of different metals. He then suggests some projects and additional references for further reading. That’s it. Nothing fancy, and not a lot of wasted words.