How to stick weld?

August 18th, 2010

Stick welding is known as manual metal arc welding or shield metal arc welding. This is very popular form of arc welding. Select the steel to weld. Steel should be in plain carbon steel with less than 1 percent carbon, less than 0.1 percent silicon and 0.035 percent sulfur. Find the joint position based on the thickness of the metal. This angle should be lower for thicker metal with a 45 to 75 degree angle being best for 10 to 18 gauge steel. Make sure that joint geometry is correct. Width should be consistent for the entire joint. Clean the joint before welding to attain the best travel speed. Use the largest electrode that is practical. This is generally 3/16 inch for overhead and vertical welding while 5/32 inch is usually the maximum size for low hydrogen applications.

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How to choose a welding helmet?

August 17th, 2010

Our vision is a blessing. In order to protect this blessing we should use protective eyewear while welding. While welding, protective eyewear is a welding helmet. Helmet will not only protect your eye from getting burnt from flying sparks, but also retinas from being burned by the ultraviolet light that welding produces. Choosing the right helmet to protect your eyes is important and so here are a few factors that can help you.

• While welding, wear helmet so that you can protect your eyes from sparks and other hazards. A welding is worn to shield the eyes from devastating effects of harmful radiation. To choose the right welding helmet you should what type of radiation is emitted from the welder that you are using, and then find out the correct lens for that. Welders can emit ultraviolet rays, infrared rays and high-density visible light. All these rays can cause temporary discomfort and in the long run can cause serious damage or blindness to your eyes. Different types of welders produce different types of radiation, so keep this in mind when choosing a helmet.

• If you’re performing a single type of welding process, then it is better to buy a fixed shade helmet. But if you are doing different types of welding then you should buy a variable shade helmet.

• Weight of the helmet is another factor to consider. There should be a balance between comfort and durability. Due to modern manufacturing techniques, it is possible to have a durable welding helmet that doesn’t feel like a neck breaker. Check to see if the size band can be adjusted to a size that fits you. Try the helmet on and wear it for a while to get a feel for how it will be to work with it on.

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How a welder can weld steel:

August 16th, 2010

Steel is made up of iron. There are various elements that affect the steel’s physical properties. The more carbon it has, it becomes harder and stronger. Welding is nothing but combining two or more matters, commonly steel. These are some of the steps in using the stick process on welding steel.

Start by getting the necessary materials for stick process. These include electrode holder with lead, electrodes, metal which will be required to be welded, ground clamp and a welding machine. You may also require a wire bush for cleaning the welds and a chipping hammer for getting rid of the slag.  Always wear safety equipments like safety glasses, work boots, gloves, welding jacket, welding helmet and pants without cuffs. Find the perfect welding spot. Make sure you put away all the flammable substances and search for a good surface for welding. Prepare the machine and set it up. The most commonly used amperage is around 90 to 120.

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Reconditioned welders in a nutshell

August 13th, 2010

While you are off buying a MIG welder, there are many options available. The first that you need to decide is what kind of rig you need and the price range that can be affordable. Then you can go for a discount MIG welder since that is very much economical. The discount welders are available at a variety of places.

It would be better to visit a home supply store or welding distributor and consider buying the open box display welders. The catch is that at such places all would be new and the MIG welders would be available at a substantial discount. They might have been handled by people for a few weeks but they would be brand new with the entire manufacturer warranties in place. This is the best option available if you intend for a discount welder.

There is yet another option available called as the reconditioned MIG welders. They are also available in the market and can often be found at good prices at local MIG welding supplies. The reconditioned welder differs from the used one in the fact that someone had inspected the critical parts in order to make sure that everything on the welder is fine. And the welder works perfectly.

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The significance of constant voltage in MIG welders

August 12th, 2010

In MIG welding, what should be constant? Is it welding voltage or current? This is a question that bewilders most of the welders. The answer is that the MIG welding actually requires constant voltage-type power supplies. This is exactly in contrast to TIG and stick welding which use power supplies that comes from the constant current. Constant voltage is actually crucial in MIG welding since it ensures a stable arc gap size, resulting in stable arc operation and smooth metal transfer from the wire tip.

The main difference noted on voltage and current is on the way they respond to varying electrical resistance in the arc. The greater the resistance would be if the arc is longer. Keep in mind that increasing the arc gap size causes a drop in current in constant voltage. Therefore it causes a decrease in the power and heat input of the arc. This can be substantiated by the Joule’s law. If it is a constant current machine, the voltage increases as the arc gap is increased thereby causing the heat input to increase. So altogether, the longer arc gap would be colder in a Constant Voltage machine. And on the other hand in constant current machine, the longer arc gap would be hotter. Here the heat is a lot less focused as a bigger arc has greater surface area to wade off the heat.

On the whole, the constant voltage is important in MIG welder in order to balance the melting off rate and heat input as well as the arc length.

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Friction stir welding-the progress in welding

August 11th, 2010

It is a joining process that is used in large pieces of metals, particularly on aluminum. At each instance, the joint is formed in a solid state and the metal characteristics remain unchanged as far as possible. This process is more advantageous than the conventional welding process by the following features such as, it has good mechanical properties with improved safety, requires no consumables and operated in all positions and it emits no radiation, welding fumes and spattering, fully automated process with little maintenance. Tool rotation, traverse speeds, tool tilt, plunge depth and tool design are its important welding parameters. This process is suitable to materials such as copper, lead, titanium, magnesium, zinc, plastic and nickel and it is used to recover the temper characteristics. It was invented by Wayne Thomas and its colleagues in 1991.

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Different terms used in plasma cutting

August 10th, 2010

Plasma:
It is a gas in which certain portion of the particles is ionized and it does not have a definite shape or volume. It responds strongly to electromagnetic fields.
Plasma cutting:
It is a process which is used to cut steel or metals of different thickness
Plasma torch:
It is a device which generates plasma from its nozzles
Plasma spraying:
It is a coating process in which the melted materials are sprayed onto the surface. In this process the material deposit as a powder, liquid or wire
Plasma arc disposal:
It is a waste treatment technology which uses electrical energy and temperature created by an electric arc
Inverter plasma cutter:
It is an analog plasma cutter which rectify the main supply to the dc and uses a heavy frequency transformer
Plasma gouging:
It is a process which removes the weld for rework and it is performed on the same equipment as plasma cutting
Plasma arc welding:
It is a similar process like tig welding but it differs by the position of the electrode within the body of the torch

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Plasma cutting machines versus oxyfuel cutting

August 9th, 2010

Plasma cutting has constantly been compared to the oxyfuel cutting. The plasma cutting method is usually performed on any type of conductive metal like mild steel, aluminum and stainless steel are some examples. The welders are able to experience faster, thicker cuts with mild steel than with alloys. On the other hand the oxyfuel cutting is done by burning or oxidizing the metal it is serving. Hence it is limited to steel and other ferrous metals which supports the oxidizing process.

Oxyfuel cutting is not possible for metals like aluminum and stainless steel because they form an oxide that inhibits further oxidization. Here plasma cutting works since it does not rely on oxidation to work and thus it can effectively cut aluminum, stainless steel and any other conductive material. Usually air plasma cutter uses compressed air even though different gases can be used for the process. Compressed air is readily available in most of the stores so there is no requirement of fuel gas and compressed oxygen for operation.

Yet another advantage of plasma cutting machines is that it can be easily mastered and is typically easy for the novice to the experts. On thinner materials the plasma cutters have proved to be faster than the oxyfuel cutters. However for cutting heavy sections of steel say one inch and greater, oxyfuel cutting is still preferred as it is typically faster. Moreover very high capacity power supplies are required for plasma cutting applications which are not always available.

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Importance of welding gear:

August 6th, 2010

The welder requires welding gear besides welding torch and equipments for fabricating metals. You will find variety of safety equipment which is used while welding. Some of the welding equipments are welding gloves, welding helmet, welding mask and welder helmet. Welding gloves are worn for protecting your hand from sparks and flames produced during the welding metal. These are flexible in wearing and removing at the time of welding.

There are certain elements which can cause destruction during welding metals. So you need to take proper care and precaution like welding helmet is used while welding. Welding is an important part in fabricating industry. If proper care is taken while welding then you can damage your eye. There are many reasons like the ultra violet rays and infra red rays which emits from welding can damage your eyes. Some metals contain lead and chromium which emits poisonous gases into the air while welding. But you can protect yourself from inhaling these gases by wearing welding masks.

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Plasma arc welding and its uses:

August 5th, 2010

The history of welding dates back from World War II but plasma arc welding was discovered few years ago. Plasma arc welding is a process which is very similar to arc welding. Here an electrode is inserted through a nozzle which allows separation from the shielding gas. This results in high intensity of plasma stream which is ample for attaining high speed and temperature of the arc. The advantage of plasma welding is they can weld on thinner metals. Plasma welding machines can be operated either manually or automatically. These welding machines create very thin and straight welds.

The plasma arc welding is considered to be one of the economical and efficient welding methods. These are known as the most consistent welds in today’s world. This welding machine needs less stress for applying to the welded pieces. These produces high heat of electricity which cuts a very rapid line on the metal. These are capable of cutting metals with painted or rusted surface. These are capable of welding for many applicators where the regular method of welding failed.

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