To be completely honest, learning how to fuse metals isn’t a simple process. It’ll take a lot of practice, knowledge, and skills, but more importantly, it’ll take a lot of your patience. If you’re thinking about becoming an expert in this field, there are some things that you’ll have to know, and besides learning the basics, you’ll also need to learn more about arc welding.
This is why you must be wondering – what are some of the most important things that I should know about the processes? Well, fortunately for all individuals that are wondering the same thing, the article below can help! Let’s take a closer look at the list of thing you have to know:
1. The Top Priority is Your Safety
Before we continue with this list, you must know that your top priority needs to be your safety. After all, you’ll be surrounded by electricity and high temperatures at all times, which is why you need to ensure that you work in a safe environment. The arc is quite dangerous for your skin, face, and eyes, which is why you must wear protective equipment at all times.
The equipment you’ll have to obtain includes things such as heat- and flame-resistant gloves, high-quality safety glasses, a protective helmet, as well as a long-sleeved jacket, and flame-resistant pants. Additionally, you should also purchase steel-toed footwear mostly because it’ll keep your feet safe.
Besides protecting your body, it’s important that you focus on your working environment as well. Hence, you should know that you’ll need to work in a place that has suitable ventilation and exhaust at the arc, especially since this will prevent you from breathing in dangerous gases and fumes.
2. There Are Two Categories
If you did some digging online, you’ve probably learned that arc welding is categorized under two categories – non-consumable and consumable. Each of these categories are further divided into sub-categories, so, there will be different types that you could discover, including:
Consumable
– Stick – which is one of the most common types out there, where a consumable electrode is melted in order to form a joint between two metals.
– Flux-Cored – which utilizes an electrode that has a core made from different compounds. In most situations, it’s applied in difficult manufacturing processes.
– Gas Metal – there are two types of gas metal fusion, MIG and MAG. Both methods utilize metals and electrodes, however, they also use shielding gas in order to prevent contamination.
Non-Consumable
– Plasma – during this process, people need to use a non-consumable tungsten electrode, however, there is plasma inside of the torch, hence, it’s separate from the shielding gas.
– Tungsten Gas – which is similar to the aforementioned type, but individuals choose this process more often since it’s easier to control everything.
3. Follow The Manuals Carefully For Installing The Consumables
One of the most crucial factors that’ll allow you to produce a high-quality fuse is conductivity. This is why you must ensure that you install all of the consumables properly. Hence, when setting up the collets, diffusers, tips, and so on, always follow the user’s manual and follow all the recommendations written in it.
4. The Working Space Must Be Clean
If there is one thing that you must take away from this article, it’s the fact that you must always clean your workplace before you begin welding, but more importantly, you should clean it after you finish each of the welds. Why? Well, dirt and grease could easily enter the welding pool, which means that it could lead to poor-quality weld.
This is something that can lead to some really expensive repairs, hence, you must guarantee that you keep your work environment as clean as you can. No matter what material you’re working on, always guarantee that you clean all the surface and equipment, mostly because it’ll keep you safe.
5. Learn And Remember The Techniques And Procedures
The procedures and techniques you learn are what will help you make high-quality welds. Hence, you must comprehend the basics entirely before you can follow them whenever you’re working. Besides this, you need to ensure that the tools and equipment you use are suitable, and if you want to see more information on the things you should purchase, you can do so here.
Besides this, there are some crucial things that you must learn, including information on the needed shielding gas, the flow rates of the gas, the amperage, as well as the voltage range. All of these things will provide you with the knowledge you need in order to become a successful welder.
6. Learn More About Filler Metals And Their Applications
As you probably know by now, filler metals are one of the most important things, however, it’s easy for a beginner to get confused. This is why you should guarantee that you learn everything there is about different wires and the methods for working on each of the types you could use.
7. You Must Be comfortable
We mentioned at the beginning of the article that you’ll be surrounded by high temperatures at all times, which is why you’ll have to keep cool and comfortable by working, especially since this is something that could lower the risk of you getting injured and it’ll also reduce the fatigue you’re feeling.
To stay comfortable, you’ll have to learn how to handle materials properly, how to avoid making too many repetitive motions, and you should also learn how to use the torch and gun properly, mostly because it’ll ensure that you’re comfortable. You might even want to include some ergonomic furniture that’ll help you relax throughout a working day.
Conclusion
There is a wide range of things that you must know before you begin arc welding. Of course, one of the most important things is that you ensure your safety, but you should also always strive to set your equipment properly, as well as practice as much as you possibly can in order to improve your skills and knowledge.
So, now that you’re aware of all the things that you could – and definitely should – choose to do, you might not want to lose any more of your time. Instead, open up your browser, and start searching for the tools, machines, and protective clothing you’ll need for starting a new career.
