Welder World Blog

Archive for October, 2009

Portable Shear Welders are a family of one of the world’s most compact shear welders available in semi-automatic and automatic working conditions. Portable Shear welders are ideally suited for use in roll form lines, coil mill, small tube mill, and stamping presses. The shear welders’ portable design allows the use of the machine for multiple line use regardless of strip flow, thus bringing down cost to half or one-third. There are a variety of Portable Shear Welders available for use in a variety of purposes.

Many of the latest Portable Shear Welder Machines are automated welding and cutting machines that have features such as pneumatic double blades for precise straight and effective cutting, automatically centralized pneumatic copper weld clamps for accurate and rapid function, precise motor and switch with stable and precise welding gun movement, inverter DC TIG welder to ensure top class welding quality.

The Portable Shear Welder Machines such as PSA 2000 are the most sought after shear welder because of their design and features. The PSA 2000 contains some standard features such as a tungsten height gauge that ensures a proper setting for the tungsten electrode and a proper weld fit up, with a built-in automatic gauge bar with patented split elevating backup bars. The PSA 2000 also includes properly sized air cylinders that are meant for providing maximum clamping force; as well as the solenoid operated clamping bar to eliminate the need for forward and reverses weld carriage motor relays and weld start limit switch. Some of the other features of PSA 2000 shear welders include a pneumatically powered three-blade shear for distortion free shearing with 2 die spring loaded stripper pads for straight cut, automatic relay to sense that welding arc is correctly established, and step-down transformer, and quick change backup bars.

Some other types of portable shear welders include the model VE-10 shear welder, which is a low cost shear welder used to join coils that are 10-inch wide by 0.075-inch thick for use in on stamping lines, roll form lines, and tube mills. The VE shear welder include features such as the automatic built in gauge bar, mounted work light, and automatic weld cycle. The VE-10 shear welders are also equipped with manual lever-arm shears and manual clamping for precision edge cutting and accurate positioning of thin gauge strips. Also included are the DC variable speed carriages and a 225-amp weld rectifier. Adjustable features make the portable shear welders easy to operate. Also included are reversible shear knives and weld backup bars.

The QM Quicklap Seam Welder is a resistance welder for joining cold rolled strips. The QM Quicklap Seam Welder is meant for use in very demanding applications where a very fast, high quality weld is required. The QM Quicklap Seam Welders are highly efficient welding machines that can weld materials in less than half a minute, depending on strip size. The QM Quicklap Seam Welders have unique features’, such as automatic scrap discharge, automatic adjustable outstanding length, quick change weld wheels, laser alignment tool for setting the lower weld wheel height and on board seam annealer for special applications, which distinguishes them from other welding systems.

 The QMT Quicklap Seam Welders is meant for use in higher speed applications and with this machine a Preloader is used to align and clamp the new coil end in the welder while the line is running. This saves considerable time with the overall weld cycle.

The QMM Quicklap Seam Welder is meant for used in heavier gage applications, up to 3.0mm thick steel. The QM Series Seam Welders have been designed for use in either start to stop or in continuous line operations such as paint, galvanizing, plating, leveling, cleaning, inspection, annealing, tinning, and coil buildup.

The QM Series Seam Welders are designed to join two coil ends together by resistance welding two slightly overlapped strip ends. In this process the weld wheels positioned on top and bottom, seamlessly roll across the overlapped ends to weld the materials. As this is done, the hardened planish rolls one on the top and one on the bottom; follow the weld wheels, and this results in a very fast, as well as flat and strong weld. The welding created using these machines are usually as strong as the parent material. An optional induction annealer is also available with the QM Series Seam Welders, which can be placed on the machines to pre and or post-anneal the welding. The annealing head is located between the weld wheels and the planish wheels, so the annealing is done during the weld cycle to insure a fast weld cycle. The unique features of QMT and QMM Series Seam Welders provide for a very reliable welding machine with a very fast weld cycle which is required for many demanding applications.

Frank, do we want the NB info on the QM page?

Another type of resistance welder is the NB Overlap Resistance Seam Welder, which is also meant for use in a fast and high strength welding process. The NB Overlap Resistance Seam Welders are available with optional shear and transfer clamp, so that time spent on overlapping of strip ends can be kept to a bare minimum. The NB Overlap Resistance Seam Welders can be used to weld a variety of metals and alloys with varied thickness ranging from 0.003-inch to about 0.250-inches and width of up to 76-inches. Similar to QM Series Seam Welders, the NB Overlap Resistance Seam Welders joins 2 overlapped coil ends together using resistance welding process, however there is no weld planisher so the resulting weld will be the thickness of the two strips overlapped.

TIG welders are of three types: light, industrial and heavy duty. TIG welders can weld both stick and TIG. If you notice most of the TIG welder packages come with a hand or foot pedal that lets you control the heat. Other accessories included in the package are water or air cooled torches. For water cooled torches use hot welds. TIG welding machines are available in both AC and DC current.

Light duty TIG welders usually run on single or three phase power. Single phase power is mostly used at homes, farm houses or repair shops. If you purchase a three phase power, you will require phrase converter. New converters come in the price range of $750 to $1500. If you’re using industrial or heavy duty TIG welder occasionally, then portable converters would be better. Light duty TIG welders require water cooler, micro-start technology for state-of-the-art low amperage starting; and water-cooled torch connections. Most industrial duty machines have an interior automatic cooling fan. These packages cost from $2000 to $5000.

You can find the size of welding with the help of Duty cycle. It refers to how much amperage the welder can generate at a given duty cycle. Duty cycle is the number of minutes out of a 10-minute period a welder can operate. Some examples are a TIG welder can deliver 200 amps of power at a 60 percent duty cycle. Light TIG welders are rated at 20% duty cycle and Industrial TIG welders are rated at 40 to 60% and heavy duty products at 60-100 percent.

A TIG welder can weld any type of metal. Professional welders are required for TIG purpose because skill required is high. TIG welds are of the highest quality when compared to stick welders. Stick welders can weld steel where medium skill is required. Stick welding is used for rugged outdoor conditions and repair shops. TIG welders are used in more refined conditions and applications.

TIG welders require less current and pleasing weld appearance. A tungsten electrode is used to carry the arc from the torch to the work piece. Filler metals require separate electrode that is fed manually. The gas is used for shielding.

Most of the packages have work cable, clamp, input power cord, TIG torch, gas regulator with hose and foot control. Shielding gas is also required but it is sold separately. For safety purpose, personal protective gear, especially gloves, shields and eyeglasses should be worn to protect the welder.

Some TIG welding machines can work on low amperage and weld delicate or decorative work. If certain manual adjustments are done, it can make great looking welds on stainless or aluminum. Some manufacturers have a “built-in” TIG pulser that makes great welds.

Laser welding plastics is a fairly new process. It super heats the polymer without physical contact. Most applications processes are done by, directing the beam of infrared light. Directly at the weld joint. This is done by going through one of the parts. Commonly referred to as, through transmission.

By directing infrared beam of infrared light at the weld joint via( a laser)welding. This technique, the infrared beam, usually a laser, irradiates the joint through a part and the light is absorbed at the surface of the other. While broad band infrared beams can be used, the monochromatic lasers allow very fast heating of small areas of the part that allows the parts to be welded very rapidly, but with very small changes to the geometry part.

Laser welding is a example of electromagnetic plastic welding process. Once radiant energy it has been directed towards polymer surface, a series of three things will happen to it, most of the light transmits through, some is absorbed, and some is reflected away. The application the process involves directing the beam of infrared light towards the weld joint through one of the parts. The part (laser) that transmits most of the energy will not heat, but the absorbing part will super heat .Most virgin, organic polymers will not absorb energy. Certain dyes and fillers such as carbon black are used. To absorb the energy at the weld joint interface. This is commonly called to as through transmission infrared (or laser) welding. Welding results when materials are heated to a molten state and fused together.

One type of material must transmit the laser light while the other absorbs it, While converting it to heat. The great news is that the materials must be transmissive. This all depends on formulation of the pigment. Joints that require optical clarity can be done by the use of special coatings types. Thermoplastics, Laser welding, resin compatibility , resin chemistry or melt temperature differences than most all other plastic welding processes these days.

Nd:YAG laser welding is used commercially, a wide range of C-Mn steels, stainless steels, coated steels, molybdenum, titanium, and aluminum alloys. Low heat input welding. These lasers is utilized in the electronics, domestic items, automotive sectors, the most interest has been shown more recently, to particularly for the high power CW lasers in the shipping industry. Oil and gas, R&D issues involving development of highly powered lasers of better beam quality, the use of distributed energy in the beam focus, maintenance for both thick and thin sections and weld classification.

Light energy is generated by lasers. That can be absorbed into materials and converted to heat energy. Laser emits coherent radiation. Lasers do minimal divergence that can travel over significant distances without loss of beam quality or energy.

Relatively new techniques in Laser welding have been compared to other plastic welding processes. Dedicated laser labs at EWI’s are equipped with lasers creating and analyzing plastics welding. The laser beam used to melt the base material and filler rod, this process becomes line of sight ,as well as focal point limited process. If you cannot get a straight shot, or you can’t re-line the position of the weld area, it will not work efficiently or correctly. Microscopic magnification is also is used in the laser welding process.

The system is capable of welding materials that are galvannealed, electroplated or hot-dipped galvanized, that the coating thickness be both consistent on top of surface of the material, as well as controlled to 14 microns or less. The 3-kW diffusion-cooled slab laser used in the Utica system can be used to weld materials, ie mild steel, high-strength steel, stainless steel, aluminum. The biggest driving factor behind the development of laser welding is the fact that it makes the cans more esthetically attractive.

Beam delivery used optics that are mounted directly on the laser housing and fixed in focal length and beam position relative to the housing. Moveable part concept ,diode lasers mounted on robotics. Multiple-beam processing is new , relatively new field that has the potential. Enhancing the capabilities of high intensity laser and electron beam process.

Post heating, multiple-beam laser preheating is shown, first presented and analyzed. Followed by multiple-beam flow. this application electron beam welding. Other applications using laser machining and cladding. Particles with high melting points were distributed on the plate material in order to see the motions of these particles. And the enclosed motions of the melt pool during welding with different type of process gases. Photos show a change in the melt flow direction ,with active gas components towards the center of the pool and downwards towards the root side.

I was told to get a MIG welder, but i was reading on here that MIG welders were not strong enough to weld steel. I want to learn to weld. I will be welding on an old ford truck.

I have a van and wish to kit it out with generator, welder and power tools. The genrator needs to cope with a 180amp rated welder plus 110v power tools (grinder, drill etc) being used at the same time. The generator needs to be diesel powered not petrol. The ones i’ve looked at are rated in Kva’s. Not too sure how to work out how many Kva’s i will require. Help please.

Many people do welding work for a living. Welding means pieces of materials are joined together. A welder can join certain metals like steel aluminum, brass, stainless steel, plastic or polymer. Welder also means equipment used for welding process. There are various types of welding like Arc welding, MIG Welding, TIG Welding etc.

MIG (Metal Inert gas) welding is also called as GMAW (gas metal arc welding) is generally used for welding aluminum and other non-ferrous metals. The major advantage of this type of welding is that metals can be welded much quicker than traditional welding “stick welding” techniques. It can be used with a variety of metals and alloys. MIG welding produces a clean weld with very little splatter.

TIG (Tungsten inert gas) welding is a process of blending together reactive metals such as magnesium and aluminum. During the process of TIG welding, an arc is formed between a pointed tungsten electrode and the area to be welded. As a result of the gas shield, a clean weld is formed. This prevents oxidization from occurring. TIG welding can be used for different joints like butt joint, lap joint, corner joint and t-joint.

Gas metal arc welding (GMAW) is an automatic or semi-automatic welding process. Shielding gas and a continuous, consumable wire electrode are fed through a welding gun. GMAW uses a constant power source such as voltage or a direct current to weld together materials such as steel and aluminum. This welding is generally used in sheet metal industry. The equipment used in GMAW is a welding gun; a wire feed unit, an electrode wire and a shielding gas supply.

Arc welding is done through the use of an electrical current, and can be performed by using inexpensive equipment. Resistance welding involves the use of additional sheets of metal to encase the pieces to be welded together. It is the most environmentally-friendly of all methods, but it requires costly equipment that cannot be used in all situations. Energy beam welding, also known as laser beam welding, is one of the most modern techniques used. Laser welding is fast and accurate, but the high equipment cost makes it prohibitive for many industries.

Welding cannot be done with all types of metals, as some materials, such as stainless steel, are prone to cracking and distortion when overheated. Alloys are particularly problematic, since it’s hard to know the exact chemical composition of the metal. Welding has become highly automatized over the last decade, and the use of welding robots is now commonplace in certain industries, such as the automotive manufacturing plants.

Welding is an age-old process of joining metals. Welding supplies are necessary for better metal works.

The environment is a concern for all of us today. One way of saving the environment is limited use of wood in constructions, small and big. Many wood replacements were developed to imitate wood appearance. The use of metals is the more popular wood alternative.

Use of metals requires an age-old process. This is the fabrication process or the joining of materials. Welding does joining of materials, metals, or even thermoplastics. Causing coalescence joins metals. The process involves melting the pieces to be joined together and having molten filler in between to form a strong joint. Heat is used, or in combination with pressure, in producing a weld.

Welding utilizes a number of energy sources. These sources include gas flame, electric arc, laser, electron beam, friction, and ultrasound. Welding is considered as an industrial process. In spite of this thinking, welding can be done in an unlimited number of circumstances one imagines. Welding is possible in an open-air situation, underwater and yes, even in space.

Welding is dangerous, in all location where welding is possible to be done. Care must be observed when doing a welding work. Precautions should be taken into consideration to avoid unacceptable consequences such as burns, electric shock, eye damage, poisonous fumes, and overexposure to ultraviolet light.

For centuries, welding is done through the simplest process of forged welding. Heating the materials and pounding to connect metals. In this procedure, heat and pressure are used. Historic structures and art masterpieces were constructed and fabricated using this simple welding process.

Arc welding is the most popular welding process used in many work places. This is done by an electric arc between an electrode and the base materials. The metals are melted at the welding point. Electric arc is created and maintained by the use of an electric power supply. Use of an alternating or direct current and a consumable or a non-consumable electrode is possible in an electric arc welding. Shielding gas usually protect the welding area.

Arc welding requires an electrical power supply. Most commonly used are the constant current power supplies and the constant voltage power supplies. The length of the arc is directly related to the voltage while on the other hand, the amount of the heat input is related to the current. In manual arc welding, the constant current power supplies are used most often.

Power or energy supplies are the most important supplies needed in the welding processes. Another requirement in welding is a continued supply of electrodes or what is commonly referred to as welding rods. Replacement supplies for the various welding equipment and tools might be an option for a continued and uninterrupted work.

Miscellaneous supplies can be considered on hand at the work place for a better workflow. These supplies may include brushes and brooms, tape, cable ties, tie downs, tarpaulins, and vacuums.

In order that welders and assistants may perform their jobs better, supplies of these safety and comfort products may be stocked at the working area. These supplies are as follows, but not limited to the list; eye protection, face protection, gloves, first aid, protective clothing, hearing protection, respiratory protection, and other such worker comfort product.

I have 3 years experience as a welder. I do a lot of tig welding. Now I want to make a further step of my career. I always fancy about aircraft welding. And I wonder how can I become one?

Tack welding is used throughout the welding and fabrication industry. Even the most basic welding jobs at home will require you to do “tack welds”.

Fabrication and welding techniques call for the need of tack welding. Manufactured weldments and components require tack welding to hold assemblies and parts together during initial fit up and measuring.

Tack welding is used in mig welding, tig welding and arc welding.

A tack weld is a small weld that is placed in critical positions of a project or work piece to hold it in place, keep it square and stop it from warping out of square.

An example of a tack weld would be if you were making a gate out some steel box section. The first step would be to cut the steel to the required lengths. Then you would lay the four lengths of steel on your workbench or onto the floor. You would then use a square to align the steel into a rectangle and clamp them together.

The tack welds are placed on all four corners so that it is held true and square.

These small tack welds will when you full weld the steel together, prevent the steel frame from twisting and bend out of square a lot more than if you just started fully welding it all up.

Also tack welds are small so that if you make a mistake when you cut and square things up, it is easier to grind away a small tack weld as opposed to a large full weld.

http://www.learn-how-to-weld.com/mig-welding-basics-2.html

Cheers,

Peter Apalais