the goal of saving their clients time and money by repairing equipment onsite with a process called cladding. Cladding is a MIG welding process where basically a new layer of materials is put down inside a worn pivot point or " bore " found on all types of equipment, including construction and mining machines to restore the worn out holes.
In addition to the element of wind outdoors, welders need to be aware of other outdoor conditions that might affect equipment and therefore what type of welding could be needed.
Outdoor Conditions
Esslinger also mentioned erosion as another condition that will affect equipment over time, and possibly cause the need for a weld to make a repair. In their business, they have dealt with erosion conditions such as wind, soil breaking down machines or parts of machines and even saltwater eating into metal in some cases. This is in addition to machines often being exposed to the elements of weather for long periods of time. All of these potential factors need to be taken into consideration when choosing how to repair, service or possibly replace equipment that will be depended upon to get the job done.
Something else Esslinger has seen over his years in welding and bore repair is the importance of selecting the right place to complete a circuit with a ground clamp or
BASIC EQUIPMENT TO GET STARTED
No two welding tasks are the same, but no matter what type of welding you’ ll be doing, these few things will get you going.
1. Auto-Darkening Helmet: Every welder has one of these to protect their eyes and skin from burning, not to mention protecting eyesight from the bright lights used for welding. Helmets are essential for both safety and quality of welding.
2. Gloves: You will be handling hot metal, so you don’ t want to do it barehanded. Enough said. 3. Welding Jacket: Made of fire-resistant material. 4. Proper Footwear: Get steel-toed and thicker footwear. If metal, especially hot metal, falls anywhere near your feet, you will be glad you made this decision.
5. Safety Glasses: For when you can’ t carry your welding helmet, it’ s still important to protect your eyes.
6. Welding Sleeves: Yet another piece of equipment to protect your body. Sleeves protect your arms from sparks and possibly hot metal.
7. Welding Table / Cart: A welding table provides a stable and flat surface to place your workpieces. A cart has wheels, making it easy to move the welder and accessories to different locations.
8. Magnets: For holding parts of your project in place and ensuring 90-degree angles.
9. Metal Brush( es): Once your weld cools, you’ ll be able to make a clean and smooth surface for the finishing touch.
This is not an exhaustive list by any means, and you will probably need more equipment and / or tools depending on your work, but those can get you started and are versatile enough and necessary for any welding situation.
ground lead, which could lead to an uneven performance from whatever equipment is being used.
“ A lot of people just hook onto any rusty part,” he says,“ This creates a lot of issues with the quality of the weld.” Another potential issue around welding is line inductance. This occurs when an electrical current does not flow at the correct speed and therefore the welding apparatus does not respond evenly to the operator. With someone welding by hand, this is not too big of an issue. In a major construction application, however, this could be the difference between keeping your job site operational or not. Esslinger told me that in many cases, line inductance can be avoided by simply unspooling all the cable on site and making a‘ big, messy spaghetti pile” of cable.
Know Your Recipe
Much like a recipe in cooking, different ingredients— or in welding’ s case, gas mixtures— make a difference in how your project turns out. Different gas mixtures provide different results, and there are benefits to any mixture. MIG and TIG in welding refers to metal inert gas and tungsten inert gas, respectively.
18 August 9, 2024 www. contractorshotline. com