Welder World Blog

Archive for December, 2009

There are many benefits to attending a Louisiana welding school. Besides the obvious ship building trade that is prominent along the Gulf Coast, welders and welding inspectors are in demand throughout the state. There is not a building, bridge or roadway that does not need a welder to complete the project. Any structure that involves steel will need a certified welder to make it as well as a welding inspector to approve the work.

The Ins and Outs of Attending a Welding School

Attending welding school you will learn about all the various types of metals, styles of welding and different types of welding machines. Depending on how far you advance in your training you may even cover under water welding techniques. Those who work in welding inspection take their degree one step higher and learn all the mechanical and structural aspects of the trade as well. This qualifies them to go out into the field and inspect the work of others to see if it is safe enough to continue to the next step of the project. Welding inspectors are a very important asset to any type of major construction project.

Welding school can range from one to several years in length, depending on how far you intend to take your degree. On average, a person wishing to learn the trade and go immediately to work can figure on a year’s worth of schooling. During this period you will test to become certified in different types of welding as well as different positions of welding. You will cover techniques such as heli-arc welding, flux core welding as well as stick and several others. You will learn to distinguish the best methods to use for different types of metals and most importantly, you will learn all the safety protocols for handling this type of equipment.

Welding School is a Great Way to Plan for the Future

Throughout Louisiana there are many opportunities for a person seeking this type of trade. As the rebuilding effort continues and the ship building industry thrives, there will always be a need for welders. If you’re interested in starting a career as a welding technician, contact a welding school representative in your area!

HOW TO PLASTIC WELD A MOTORCYCLE REAR FENDER

  Using a mini-weld model 6 airless plastic welder

Cost to replace fender-$75.14 + S/H $8.94= $84.09

Cost of repair fiber-flex= $4.00 Steel mesh .50 cents

TOTAL COST OF REPAIR $4.50

So with using a plastic welder. I was able to save $79.59

1) Work Area

Have a clean and organized work area. Well ventilated area. Remember the plastic welder is HOT. Can burn you and start a fire. Just use common sense and you’ll be fine. Set up plastic welder. (Set welder to preheat, how your doing the next step)

2) Parts that need welded

Check the parts to be welded. Identify what kind of plastic your working with. In this case it is fiber-flex plastic welding rod. I used fiber flex because it is easier to use.  I had to cover a large area. Get out the welding rods you’ll be using. Plus if you’re going to use wire mesh for added strength get that out also. We will be using wire mesh for this project. Make sure that the part is clean. ( soap and water should work) Set up part to be welded on work bench. Know how your going to weld it. Now set the plastic welder to heat setting your going to use to weld the plastic fender.

3) Plastic weld part

Lay out part to be welded. I made a V-groove in the crack and filled it with Fiber-Flex rod. Then for added support. I welded the wire mesh in. Now for the big hole. I welded the wire mesh in. I put aluminum tape on the back to help hold the mesh in place. Using the Fiber-Flex  rod begin to fill in the large void. This is time consuming. So take your time. If plastic gets too hot to work with cool it off with water, not too much because your still welding. Do the same thing to the other large hole. And for added support do the same thing to the other side of fender. Now we are done with the welding.

4) To finish the part

let plastic cool down. You can help it cool down with water. Use a spray bottle and lightly spray the welded plastic down to cool. Begin to sand the weld down. I use  60 grit sand paper then go to 180 grit sand paper. If painting part use paint made for plastic. If you would like to see pictures of this operation. Please go to kandjwarehouse.com

THANK YOU

 KANDJWAREHOUSE

Regular asphalt maintenance will extend the life of your asphalt with simple repairs using polyurethane asphalt repair materials.

DON’T - Place sharp or pointed objects (high heels, bicycle kickstands, ladders, chairs, etc.) on asphalt or indentations will result. This is especially true for the first year of its life and on a hot summer days when the temperature reaches 100F or above.
DO – Repair minor damage with Roklin’s Concrete Welder in cartridge format. Minor asphalt repair can be done quickly and safely with a simple squeeze of a cartridge.
DON’T – Drive or park near or over the edges of your driveway. Doing so can fracture the asphalt and crack the whole edge.
DO – Repair cracks with FloMix asphalt repair material.
DON’T - Turn the car wheels sharply on pavement. Also, don’t turn the wheels while standing still or power steering gouges can result. These are bruises or lacerations to the surface, caused by the kneading, grinding action of the tires moving on the bias against the asphalt.
DO – Fix potholes using FloMix asphalt repair material.
DON’T – Park the vehicles in the same spot all the time or “wheel dishes” may result, if care is not exercised.
DO –  Move vehicles around slightly. Don’t give all or most of the wear to one small area. Distribute the usage evenly. If asphalt becomes uneven, use FloMix to smooth out the area.
DO use FloMix and Concrete Welder. With FloMix and Concrete Welder, crack repair, and asphalt repair can be done with no dig-out. Repairs can be done whenever needed, ideally when traffic is at its lowest. Doing repairs quickly and with minimal manpower means less traffic exposure to employees or if it’s a do-it-yourself project, it can be handled in your free time. Simply sweep or blow out the damaged area, mix your materials and apply to create a simple asphalt pavement repair.

Asphalt Cracks

Equipment: Concrete Welder cartridge, broom, scraper
Sealing asphalt cracks can be done simply using Concrete Welder, available in a cartridge format. Make sure the crack is clean and free of moisture. Use a broom or blower to clean out any loose materials. Open cartridge and squeeze Concrete Welder directly into the crack. Use a scraper or straight-edge to smooth the material out. Wipe up any excess material and allow to dry for 30 minutes. Now the crack is filled and ready for use.

Large Asphalt Cracks or Potholes Equipment: FloMix kit, broom or blower, drill, paddle-mixer, trowel For larger asphalt repair, use FloMix to stabilize and fill any voids. The polymer-based repair works in areas where the cracks are deeper and wider, the material flowing down to fill the entire space. With no saw-cut or demolition required, the preparation is quick and easy.

Make sure that the damaged area is clean and dry, with no loose debris. Place the aggregate provided in the FloMix package to fill in the deeper area of the crack, without going above the surface of the damaged area. Using FloMix bottle “a”, carefully pour contents into provided 5-gallon bucket then add special sand. Next, shake bottle “b” thoroughly and pour into sand mixture. Mix with a paddle-mixer, using a drill. When mixture is completely wet, pour FloMix onto cracks and use a trowel or lute to smooth material into cracks. When cracks are smoothed out, toss topping sand by hand over repaired area to create a smooth surface.  In colder months or when there is little time for the repair, catalyst can be supplied as an additive to speed the reaction. The newly-filled cracks can be ready in less than an hour.

FloMix is available for purchase through the Roklin web site at www.roklinsystems.com or call 1-888-FlexSet. Other concrete and asphalt repair materials are also available.

Cheap welding helmet

I use a cheap welding helmet all the time.  One of the best places to buy a welding helmet is online.  I can remember ringing around all the local welding supply shops and asking for prices.

I was totally blown away at how much these welding helmets can cost. For someone like me who doesn’t do that much welding at all, I could not see the point in spending big dollars.  I ended up buying a cheap auto darkening helmet from my local hardware shop.

I actually bought it from Mitre10 (Australia) as at the time they had them on special for about $80.  The thing was though that none of the local welding shops had anything in stock that was below $200.

I can understand their point that if you are welding all day it’s better to spend more money on a quality welding helmet.

Some of the more popular and better-known brands are from Miller, Speedglas, Optrel, and Cigweld.

The cheap helmet I have is the “Tecmen” brand.  So far one of the problems I have had with this helmet is the plastic strap that goes around your head has broken in one place.  I have had to fix it up with some strong tape.

One of the downsides to buying a cheap welding helmet is that finding spare parts may be a problem.  For example where I bought the helmet from, last time I checked, they do not sell spare clear lenses or spare head straps.

All helmets that comply with ANSI standards are designed to filter out most of the dangerous and harmful UV hand infrared emissions.

Some of the cheapest helmets might only have the one shade setting, with mine you can actually go from about 9 to 13 in shade darkness. This allows for a wide range of welding possibilities.  From low amperage TIG welding right up to heavier stick welding and flux cored welding.

Another area that you might want to look at is how fast a cheap welding lens can switch over to its filtered welding mode.  The more expensive welding helmets will switch a much faster rate.  Inside them they have adjustable controls.

You can have a look at my welding helmet here:  auto darkening welding helmets

If you are looking for a Florida vocational training, you might consider taking a welding class. Welding is a common way to connect pieces of metal. A welder will usually melt a consumable electrode to connect work pieces. Welding is used in automotive manufacturing, buildings, and machinery.

A Few Things You Can Learn Through Welding Courses

Metallurgy

There are a number of different types of welding classes you might consider, each with a different focus. In a class about the basics of metallurgy, for example, you can learn about the basic science of metals. You’ll learn about the properties of different metals such as hardness, strength, and ductility. You’d also learn the difference between and how to distinguish ferrous and non-ferrous metals. This type of class also addresses the terms for metal structures and types of welds.

How to Read Blueprints

If you take a class about reading blueprints and welding symbols, you’ll learn to identify and interpret the symbols set forth by the AWS, the American Welding Society. This class focuses on drawing elements, scale, layout, and title blocks, which will teach you to take a systematic approach to reading blueprints.

Handling the Materials

Once you know the basics of metals and blueprints, you would move on to learning the fundamentals of welding fabrication. Your introductory class will teach the basics of different fabrication techniques, including set-up, jigs, fixtures, tack, plumb-bobs, levels, and machine elements. Also covered are the basics of drawing, such as drawing constructions and view placement.

Basic Welding Techniques

Once you’ve completed these welding training courses, you’ll be ready to move on to welding techniques. Your first class in welding techniques will generally focus on oxygen and gas processes. Learn basic safety for shops and construction sites, then you’ll move on to introductory lessons in oxyacetylene welding. The instruction covers cutting, storage, safe handling of the compressed gas cylinders, and equipment set-up. Emphasis is usually placed on preparing the material and on properly adjusting the flames for welding and cutting.

Tungsten Arc Welding

Finally, you can learn about the principles of gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). Here you’ll learn about power sources, the basics of GTAW, polarity, and high frequency usage. The class includes lectures on torch components, set-up and safety for GTAW.

A Career in Welding is Within Your Grasp

Once you have mastered the basics of welding through these types of courses, you would be ready to start or expand your welding career.

IGBT: insulated gate bipolar transistor

Known as IGBT or insulated gate bipolar transistors, it is a 3 terminal power semiconductor system known for its fast switching and high efficiency capabilities. The device is used for switching power in most of the modern appliances of today like stereo systems, air conditioners, speed refrigerators and electric cars with the help of switching amplifiers. The device has been designed for rapid on and off features thus, the amplifiers which use it come along complex waveforms, low pas filters and width pulse modulation. The device is used for combining low saturation and high current voltage capacity of bipolar transistor with simple gate drive characteristics of MOSFET. This is done through combining bipolar power transistors in form of a switch and an isolated gate FET for controlling input. The device is also used for various low to high power application like inductive heating, traction motors and switch mode power supply.

On the other hand huge insulated gate bipolar transistors typically comprise of parallel devices which come along high voltage handling capabilities. Such voltage capabilities normally range up to high amps. The device which was recently invented is very useful in a lot of electrical appliances and industries. The first generation systems of similar kind were found in the market since 1980s but were very slow to switch on and off. Most often such devices were prone to failures through modes such as secondary breakdown and latchup. Consequently the second generation systems were much more improved and came along better voltage handling capabilities. Currently, the third generation systems are the best and showcase better tolerance towards overload and speed competing MOSFETs.

This is the reason why the third generation systems are also used to generate huge power pulses in fields like plasma and particle physics. These are some of the areas where in the third generation systems are fast replacing older IGBT’s like triggered spark gaps and thyrathrons. The Longevity AcrMate M200 200AMP MIG IGBT is one of the latest MIG Welders out there in the market, which features the IGBT technology with spool gun capability and an internal spool. The welder is available at a price tag of $899.99 with free whipping. Low pricing, durability, and high amp output are some of the other reasons for the popularity of IGBT plasma cutters and welders. Insulated gate bipolar transistors are also used for controlling high power which enables Longevity to finally be re cognized in the welding industry for providing high quality industrial and commercial welding equipment.

Models:

Longevity offers various models of welding equipment which features IGBT technology including plasma cutters and welders. Longevity has been involved in manufacturing IGBT machines for a long time in order to provide the welder with a more commercial welding apparatus. Such models are used for combining various components such as BJTs and FETs together. Insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) are considered to be more efficient in comparison to MOSFET technology when it comes to more reliable commercial welding equipment. IGBT models are known to showcase good results while put in tests in commercial and industrial welding environments. Whether you are looking for a commercial welder or a hobby welder, Longevity offers both IGBT and MOSFET technology welding and cutting equipment to match your needs.

MIG welding is one of the easiest forms of welding, but then it needs practice to get a good hand at this form of welding. With the right equipment and the required experience you could carry out one of the finest welds with the help of this MIG welding plant.

MIG welding is basically used to join aluminum and other sheet metals generally softer metals. You could use MIG welding where you may not need high penetration power and to weld sheets with a thickness of around one eight of an inch. If you are planning for larger thickness sheets it would be advisable to go ion for the plant that will support 230 volts. If it is commercial welding, then go in for a plant with high amps something greater than 200 amps.

MIG stands for metal inert gas welding. The name is derived from the welding that is done using inert gas as a shield to protect the weld pool and this also acts as a flux for the welding object.

When making use of stick welding, the flux is there on the stick or the filler rod, in this case the shield is provided by the inert gas.

It was once felt that welding plants are quite costly and that to have a welding plant for personal use is beyond one’s reach. This is not true as on date as one can buy a MIG welding plant for a few hundred dollars, if one is going to use this plant only occasionally, if you are ready to spare a bit more you can go in for better equipment that will be quite useful to have around that house and you are likely to the neighborhood favorite.

When doing welding with a MIG plant, the filler wire if being fed by the wire feeder. What you are likely to hold will be something like an alligator clip, and this is to be brought close to the welding zone. For thicker metals that are within the range of your plant, you could do with a bit of pre heating. Pre heating should not cross 250 degree F when you are making use of the smaller plant that is not meant for commercial use.

If you are going to plug it in your house hold socket, one important point that you need to remember is that change the rating of your fuse, otherwise you are likely to blow your fuse every often. It can be learned also by experience.

If you are using the MIG welding plant for the first time without the help of a guide, you are likely to make a hole in your sheet / weld job. But take my advice, don’t give up, with a few more holes, you are likely to become a better welder than when you started off first.

HOW TO PLASTIC WELD A MOWER HOOD

Item being welded is a John Deere 445 mower hood

·      Cost of new hood $405 with out tax.

·      Cost of material to fix hood  less than $15 with tax.

·      I saved $390 using the plastic welder

·      I used the mini-weld model 6 plastic welder

1.  Set up work area. No combustibles near plastic welder. Well ventilated area. Use caution when using the welder it is hot and can burn you.Plug in the welder and set the heat level to preheat. Put the welder in the stand that comes with kit.

2.  Take hood off mower.

3.  Clean plastic parts with soap and water.

4.  Put the plastic parts together using tape to hold in place until welded.

5.  Check the part for a symbol (to find out what kind of plastic I was working with). Set the heat level on welder matching the plastic I was welding.

6.  Working on the back side first. I started out making a v-groove where the break was. Tip: I used the side of the flat welding tip.

7.  Now I put the welding rod in the v-groove and apply the welder (heat) to the area. Melt the base material and the rod together. Don’t work on any more than 2 inches at a time. TIP: Let your heat do the work for you.

8.  When you’re done with the back side. Now start on the front side doing the same steps as above.

9.  When finished welding. On the front you should have a slight mound where the break was at.

10.                   Now sand the weld down using rough sand paper. Then when almost flat go to a fine sand paper and smooth it out. Clean the hood.

11.                   Paint the hood .It may take more than 1 coat. Check paint for details on drying times.

 Sorry I forgot to grab my camera and take pictures for you. 

THANK YOU

Kandjwarehouse.com

Learning to mig weld

When you’re learning to mig weld you’re going to need to cover a few basic steps first, and they are:

Welding safety Preparation Machine set up Installing mig wire Tack welds Torch postion

Like anything, safety is paramount.  You should always wear thick and heavy clothing such as overalls, a good strong pair of leather boots (preferably steel capped boots), welding gloves and a welding helmet.

When you mig weld the arc gives off ultraviolent and infrared light. This light is very damaging to your eyes and because of that you need to be protected from it with a welding helmet.

Not only is the welding arc bad for your eyes but it is very hot, so it’s a good idea to use a quality pair of leather welding gloves. The best ones that I have come across have been the ones that are Kevlar stitched.  And by the way, the day that you don’t put on your gloves will be the day that you pick up that hot bit of metal that you just welded and forgot about. Been there before.

Once you’re all geared up and ready to mig weld you need to prepare the surfaces.  Any traces of oil, paint, grease or heavy rust will have to be grinded off back to shiny metal.  This is very important in making a good weld bead.

The welding wire will need to be installed onto the machine and the correct size contact tip will need to be fitted, make sure that your welding nozzle is clean.  Also check that you’re using the correct size feed rollers for the wire.

Depending on the thickness of metal that you’re going to weld you’re either going to need more power or less power.  This will be a matter of trial and error. Once you have this sorted you’re going to make some tack welds first.

A tack weld is a small weld that is used to hold all the larger pieces of metal together.  You tack weld first so that you can check that all the parts are in the right places and everything is aligned and square.

Now once it is all tacked up and ready to go you can fully mig weld it up.  Finally when you’re learning to mig weld you need to be aware of your torch position.  If you are using a flux cord wire you will need to use the pull technique, which is like when you are stick welding and you drag backwards.  If you use a solid mig wire such as an ER70S-6 class wire with a shielding gas you can either push or pull.  Learning which style suits you best will slowly take time.

For more detailed information and photos check out this site here:  learning to mig weld

Stick welding is also known as shielded Metal Arc welding (SMAW) or manual metal arc (MMA) welding. Stick welding is an arc welding process in which coalescence of metals is produced by heat from an electric arc that is maintained between the tip of a consumable covered electrode and the surface of the base metal in the joint being welded.
Stick, the most basic of welding processes, offers the easiest option for joining steel and other metals. Stick welding power sources deliver inexpensive options for welding versatility, portability and reliability.

Stick welders are used in small welding shop, by the homeowner, by the farmer for repair of equipment – as well as industrial fabrication applications, structural steel erection and other commercial metals joining. All common materials can be welded with a stick machine, be sure to select the appropriate stick electrode for the material being welded.

Advantages of stick welding are it is simple to use, inexpensive and portable. Auxiliary gas shielding or granular flux is not required. It can be used in areas of limited access. The process is suitable for most of the commonly used metals and alloys. The welding current used for stick welding may be either alternating current or direct current depending on the electrode being used. Direct current is the most common current choice for stick welding. The current flows in one direction only and has many advantages over alternating current for the stick process. These advantages include: fewer arc outages, less spatter, easier arc starting, less sticking and better control in out-of-position welds.

Alternating current is an electrical current that has both a positive and a negative half-cycle value alternately. Current flows in a specific direction for one half-cycle stops at the zero line and then reverse direction of flow the next half-cycle at regular intervals. The AC sine wave represents the current flow as it builds in amount and time in the positive direction and then decreases in value and finally reaches zero.

DC welding offers more advantages than AC for most stick applications, including: easier starts, fewer arc outages and sticking, less spatter/better looking welds; easier vertical up and overhead welding. A 225 to 300 amp machine handles almost anything the average person will encounter, as most stick welding procedures require 200 amps or less. To weld material thicker than 3/8 in, simply make multiple passes-this is what professionals’ do, even when welding on 1 in structural steel.