Wednesday 28 January 2015

Some basic Welding techniques for the hobbyist

A few basic welding techniques for those common tasks we often get asked about by hobbyists and home users.
Earth Clamps
A poor contact between the earth clamp and your vehicle can make it very difficult to weld consistently.
Welding an edge
I had to weld an edge today, and it had to be neat so I practiced on some scrap metal to develop a technique.
The problem with welding edges is that there is nowhere for the excess heat to go, so it's easy to melt the edge away making the end result blobby. I found that turning the wire speed down very low was the answer.  Problem is the wire vaporised as it left the torch. My technique was to hold the torch very close to the steel, so close that the outer shield touched the metal. This resulted in a neat weld, but overheated the welding tip so I could only do short sections at a time.
Welding thick metal to thin metal
It's tricky welding a 1mm thick sheet of steel onto 4mm plate. The problem is that you'll need to use a high amp setting to get the weld to penetrate into the 4mm sheet, but this setting would vaporize the 1mm sheet.
My approach is to use the high amp setting. Strike an arc against the thicker sheet and get a weld pool going, then dip across into the thinner sheet and immediately back to the thicker sheet. The center of the weld will be on the thick sheet side of the join with the thin sheet just at the edge of the weld. Good contact between the sheets makes the job much easier.
If you'd like more information on welding and engineering, please contact Taylor on 0121 326 9035

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