A few advices about welding equipment, MIG and TIG welders, plasma cutters. A MIG welder uses a continually feeding spool of thin filler wire as an electrode fed by a wire feed gun to form an electric arc between a wire and the work-piece metal. This heats the work-piece metal and the electrode, causing them to melt and join together to create the weld. Mig welding can be either Gas or Gasless and each have benefits. Gasless welding is far more portable as there’s no gas bottle to carry around, saves cost on having to buy gas bottles and regulators, is easier on positional welds and can penetrate deeper than Gas MIG although the welding wire for a gasless MIG is more expensive than a gasless MIG. Gas MIG welding produces much cleaner welds with no slag or spatter, is slightly better on thinner metals and the welding wire is cheaper than gasless MIG wire.
Best welding advices: how to become a better welder and how to select the top welding equipment. Use the smallest tungsten that will get the job done. Use the smallest tungsten to get the job done. …within reason. Another way of saying this is don’t just use a 1/8” electrode for everything. There are jobs where a 1/8” electrode is great like for welding 3/16” thick aluminum. But what if you are welding on the edge of a .030” turbine blade? A .040” electrode will be plenty to handle the 15 amps and will give much better starts than even a 1/16” electrode. Too large an electrode can cause an erratic arc and contamination…and A bad start where the high frequency tries to arc up inside the cup and off the side of the tungsten can easily melt off a thin edge and scrap an expensive part. 2% thoriated or lanthanated tungsten electrodes hold up at high amperage better than most all other electrodes. When welding at higher amperages, often times you can use one size smaller electrode by using 2% thoriated or lanthanated. And that is a good thing.
In many shops, the operator has to go to a tool room or supply area for a new contact tip, coil of wire or other welding accessory. This takes valuable time away from the welding cell and slows down overall productivity. To improve the operating efficiency and minimize wasted time, companies should stock at least a limited supply of all necessary items near the welding station – this includes shielding gas, flux and wire. Another helpful productivity enhancing tip is to switch to larger spools of wire such as from 25 lb. spools to 44 or 60 lb. spools to even larger packages of 1,000 lb. reels or 1,000 lb. drums. A simple switch like this means less changeover time, which adds up over the weeks, months and years. Shops should also be on the lookout for shielding gas waste. A simple device called a surge turbine can be placed at the end of the gun to provide a digital readout of the gas surge and flow rate. If the surge rate is high, investing in a surge guard can reduce the pressure, eliminating gas surges and waste. Leaks in the gas delivery system can also create a potential loss of money. By looking at the amount of consumables purchased each year and then examining the total gas purchased, a company can determine if there is a significant loss. Welding manufacturers and distributors should be able to provide average utilization figures so that loss can be detected. If there is a loss suspected, one of the easiest ways to check for leaks is to shut off the gas delivery system over the weekend. Check the level on Friday evening and then again on Monday morning to determine if gas was used while the system was in shut down mode. Searching for the best Welding Supplies? We recommend Welding Supplies Direct & associated company TWS Direct Ltd is an online distributor of a wide variety of welding supplies, welding equipment and welding machine. We supply plasma cutters, MIG, TIG, ARC welding machines and support consumables to the UK, Europe and North America.
So pay attention to the way you grind your tungsten. You have probably read that Tungsten electrodes should only be ground longitudinally, not sideways or the world will come to an end and dogs and cats will start sleeping together. Take it from someone who has been TIG welding for over 30 years and has sharpened electrodes every way imaginable including using a cutting torch. That’s right I said cutting torch. It does matter how you grind tungsten electrodes. There is a big difference between a tungsten electrode ground sideways on a 36 grit stone to one ground properly on a fine diamond wheel. But there is not much difference between a tungsten ground sideways on a fine wheel and one that has been ground longitudinally on the same wheel… Unless you are welding razor blades or at extremely low amperages. or doing automatic low amperage orbital welding. A lot of people will argue this point with me. I dont care. I cant make myself say that tungsten grinders make a lot of difference when I dont really believe it.
The welding setup, welder settings, and electrode selection will impact how fast welders can work. Industrial welders invest time in planning the size and shape of their welding areas, how parts are laid out, and how they supply their shielding gas. Testing settings or an electrode on a piece of scrap metal, especially for a beginners, will save time in the long run. Learn more about setting up an efficient shop here. Welding Downhill Increases Welding Speed: While welding downhill is a faster way to weld, it’s not as strong as welding uphill. On most projects it’s not worth sacrificing strength and durability for the sake of welding speed. However, if the metal is thin enough, then welding downhill won’t make the weld weaker and may even be the correct technique for the job. Learn about uphill and downhill welding and see these diagrams of vertical and downhill welding.
For the best control of your weld bead, keep the wire directed at the leading edge of the weld pool. When welding out of position (vertical, horizontal or overhead welding), keep the weld pool small for best weld bead control, and use the smallest wire diameter size you can. A bead that is too tall and skinny indicates a lack of heat into the weld joint or too fast of travel speed. Conversely, if the bead is flat and wide, the weld parameters are too hot or you are welding too slowly. Ideally, the weld should have a slight crown that just touches the metal around it. Keep in mind that a push technique preheats the metal, which means this is best used with thinner metals like aluminum. On the other hand, if you pull solid wire, it flattens the weld out and puts a lot of heat into the metal. Finally, always store and handle your filler metals properly. Keep product in a dry, clean place — moisture can damage wire and lead to costly weld defects, such as hydrogen-induced cracking. Also, always use gloves when handling wires to prevent moisture or dirt from your hands settling on the surface. When not in use, protect spools of wire by covering them on the wire feeder, or better yet, remove the spool and place it in a clean plastic bag, closing it securely.
Do a practice run. This may sound silly, but you’ll find that many professional welders do this before every pass. Get in the most comfortable position you can, with support blocks in place if helpful, and run your hands along the path they will traverse as you make the weld. You will often find that a slight adjustment of your position will allow you to make a longer pass, or to move your hands with less stress. Any strain in your position will have a negative impact on the weld. Also, you build valuable muscle memory when making your practice run, which will help keep everything on track when you make the ‘real’ pass. Clean a contaminated electrode immediately! Every welder will contaminate their electrode at some point, but it’s essential that you replace a contaminated electrode immediately. I usually keep a group of pre-sharpened electrodes right on my welding bench, so I can swap them out without having to walk to my grinder. Source: https://www.weldingsuppliesdirect.co.uk/.