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Welding Equipment - A Guide To Choosing Which Is Right For You
Thu 14 Dec 2006 - 10:50
Welding Equipment - A Guide To Choosing Which Is Right For You
By Stephen Harcourt
Oxy-Acetylene Welding Equipment
Welding with the use of gas dates back to the middle of 1800's where the mixture of oxygen and hydrogen were used in the making of jewelery.
Today we use a different mixture of oxygen and acetylene which together can produce a flame temperature in excess of 6000 deg f. This type of equipment is not only used for welding, but also to heat materials for bending and straightening, brazing and cutting.
An oxy-acetylene outfit is usually portable, versatile, and less expensive than a electric welding set up, and by using the correct tips, rods and fluxes, almost any metal can be welded, heated or cut. This equipment is ideally suited to the welding of thin sheets, tubes and pipes but not economical for thick section welds.
Arc Welders
Arc welding or stick welding requires a higher skill level and mastery of certain techniques. Best for welding on thicker, rougher metals using a flux coated stick electrode fusing the work pieces together.
To avoid porosity and attain the ideal weld travel speed, it is important to remove excessive scale, rust, moisture, paint, oil and grease from the surface of joints. A variety of electrodes are available for the different types of metal that is to be welded, cast iron, stainless steel etc.
The electrodes need to be replaced as the heat builds up and the stick melts down causing a molten weld puddle on the work piece fusing the work pieces together. The weld must be cleaned when completed due to the flux electrode forming a slag blanket over the weld bead. Using an arc welder is a relatively slow process and is ideal for the more experienced user.
MIG Welding
MIG welding is generally a lot easier than gas or arc welding. A spool of weld wire is constantly driven by a feeding system through the MIG gun as the trigger is pulled, so unlike arc welding there is no need to constantly replace electrodes.
A small amount of practice is required to set up the wire feed speed and also the power. The wire speed needs to be adjusted to suite each power setting, but with a little practice the correct settings are easily achieved.
MIG process (GMAW) requires the use of a shielding gas which reduces spatter and produces very clean welds with no slag blanket. Flux cored MIG welding (FCAW) uses a weld wire with a centre core of flux which eliminates the need for gas shielding and offers easier, portable welding outdoors and on dirtier metals. Both processes of welding are very fast and allows you to weld the thinnest and thickest of metals. The first thing to decide when buying a MIG welder is what you are going to weld, and how often. If you are planning to weld thicker metals, then a welder with higher amps is required, but for thinner metals like car bodywork, any welder with a minimum setting of more than 30 amps would be unusable. Welding for long periods can cause the unit to overheat, so a welder with a fan (turbo welders) would be a big consideration for heavier or industrial use.
Steve Harcourt is the President of DiscountWeld.com where he sells a variety of welding equipment supply. On his website you can purchase equipment and accessories as well as learn more on steel ironwork welding.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_Harcourt
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