The Welders Lens

A comprehensive study guide to welding

You will find within the pages of this eBook, theory, history, relative information from todays perspectives concerning welding, the various types of welding, equipment understanding, various process of welding, when to and how to determine which process to use, and other valuable information that will help accelerate you as an individual into a level of expertise in welding. The only thing remaining for you after this is the hands on application.

The Welders Lens

Thank you for your interest in what is being offered in this eBook as well as other nuggets you will have access to. There will be articles, newsletters, and video training that follows this book. I hope you enjoy this study course that is being put together from years of experience behind: The Welders Lens!

The Welders Lens

Thanks for your interest in what I feel will be one of the most comprehensive welding books you can ever lay your hands on. There will not be any watered down fluff within the pages of this book. This is for your eyes only. You do not have the right to give this away or resell this book. Please use this material for your personal development and growth. Welding is skill and has developed into a trade. There is a great demand for skilled welders in our world today. There are many areas covered in this book that all pertain to the welder and his trade. If you are serious about welding or just dabbling for your own around the house benefit, this manuscript will be a benefit to you. It is thorough and precise. I have been welding over a quarter of a century and have absolutely done the things that I tell you about from a firsthand personal experience. With this free gift you have received will come articles that you can have access too in the future. There will also be video presentation coming soon that I will send you. This eBook is just the beginning of a journey I want you to take with me into the vast and expansive world of welding through The Welders Lens. To Your Success!! Michael D. Treadway http://www.thewelderslens.com

The Welders Lens

Man is an ingenious creature that has been gifted in many ways. One those ways he has been blessed is with the art of working with metal. Some people have talent that seems to come easy and others like myself have had to work long and hard for many years and finally come away with something that looks easy in the end. Edmund Davy was the founder of the archaic welding process invented in the 1800s. Mr. Davy used a battery as a power source and was able to generate enough electricity between two carbon electrodes to actually cause a welding process There were a few others not mentioned here, but the real principle that produced the results that we still see today came from C.L.Coffin of Detroit who was able to use a metal electrode. He was able to carry the liquid metal across the arc and cause it to become a filler metal in a joint of another metal piece. He held a patent in America for this feat. The first coated electrode was conceived in Great Britain in 1900. At the advent of World War I there became a great need for an application of metal that catapulted the welding process into another dimension. It was from this tragedy of war where welding took on new shape. Companies popped up all over Europe and America which began the machine phase of generating electricity for the welding process.

The Welders Lens In 1919 an organization called the American Welding Society was developed from wartime contributors who decided to promote the steady advancement of the welding process. While the heavy coated electrode for the stick rod process was being perfected, a new procedure came to the birth chamber in 1920. This process was a bare wire with an inert gas as a shield for keeping the oxygen out of the weld process.

One thing you must understand about welding is this: Oxygen is not your friend. Oxygen destroys the continuity of the welding procedure and must be stopped at all turns in the application. Slowly but surely different types of procedures were developed over time taking the theory of welding and fusion to new heights and new areas of development. Stud Welding Submerged Arc Welding Oxy Acetylene Welding Heavy Flux Coated Stick Rods 1930-40 Tig Welding in 1950 Helium and Argon Gases came on the seen as non explosive shields Wire feed for non ferrous metals like stainless steel

The Welders Lens Co2 was developed as cheap 1960 led to Dualshield and Innershield Inertia welding

Check the source at http://www.welding.org Of course there has been a great deal of refining and development over the years since the initial onslaught of welding just like all technologies that man has been able to develop. We really dont have the time to cover it all. That would actually lead to book all of its own. But for a general idea, I wanted to give some history of the process.

There has been so much time and concentration put into different welding procedures. Some are very widely used and some are not. Some are cost effective and some are not leading to the phasing out of many procedures that could not be used financially or feasibly in conditions.

The Welders Lens Here is a picture of the first patented electrode holder from 1885.

r l.

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I just simply find it amazing as to what man has been able to accomplish through his history. We walk by giant city buildings and jet airplanes but really dont realize what has gone into the creation of such human feats. Welding has played a huge part in history. Fabrication of hidden, below the surface items that hold everything together. It was the blacksmith of old using a forge and a series of heat treatments with multiple hammerings to anneal the metal together. Since that time of development it is easy to see how far the course of welding has come

The Welders Lens It is easy to look around us in our world today and recognize that technology has brought us far into an age where anything is possible. Refining industries offer products that we take for granted that are at our fingertips, nuclear energy is produced in controlled environments, power houses supply energy to households and entire cities. Mining, gas and oil reserves are on a rise with hungry consumers demanding a steady on-hand supply of resources to use at will. These areas of life would not be possible without an industry standard that has some type of metal component at its core. Maybe you have never considered this scenario: When we flip the switch in our house, we dont see the man or woman behind the scenes at the power house who has worked all night on the graveyard shift welding and fusing the tubes together that carry steam which in turn make electricity from a turbine that is spinning from a high energy steam hitting the blades of the fan. Most people have never really considered this behind the scenes look at a real life situation. Welding is not the only aspect of this situation of course, but it absolutely plays an important role in this case.

The qualified welder plays a huge role in industrial accomplishments. A good welder at times can call his or her own shots.

The Welders Lens I remember a guy I worked with in California at a Texaco refinery. The man was a tig (heliarc) welder. He qualified to work the job which was in a heater furnace on some 4 piping. I was a young man just breaking out in the business. He really seemed like he knew what he was doing. Unfortunately he kept getting porosity in his root pass. We tried everything to plug up all possible areas where wind could get into that heater. It sure seemed like we had done what was necessary to make a controlled environment. No more wind but yet his welds were still failing. I know now that some of those heaters carry a great deal of contaminants within the tubes due to the nature of the product they carry. Usually heavier crude products. That is why there is a need for such high heat applied to break the product down and keep it moving to the next process. Eventually they ran him off because he couldnt make the welds, but the ideal conditions were created for him because he was a tig welder. No one rushed him or was breathing down his neck due to the process and nature of the welding application. Welding today is much different than it was even 20 years ago.

The Welders Lens Machinery that is used in the welding process is very accurate and simple to use. Welding machines are very dependable and require low maintenance. Equipment lasts long when it is serviced on regular schedules: oil changes, fuel filters, air filters etc. Things that dont cost much to do. Riveting has been replaced by welding. Gas flame welding has been replaced by arc welding. Shop production and fabrication has been made faster by the introduction of mig machines. Orbital machines and track machines have given and advance in speed that can surpass the strength and steadiness of the natural man. The lists go on and on with what technology has been able to do. It is all about speed, reliability, and economy. We no longer live in the blacksmith era of forged metal in a blast furnace. Welding has become a respectable trade and possesses true talent and ability of those that seek it out. It is a profitable living. Some welding is harder to do than other. Brass brazing or even the use of stick rod for ship propellers is very different from that of titanium welding or aircraft assembly. Some welding is very brutish and takes less skill than other types.

The Welders Lens Using a tig rig is about finesse and accuracy. Welding flat in a shipyard with jet rod is about how much metal you can pump into a seam. So there is a wide variety of applications and areas to plug into. There is a place for everyone in the metal industry, but it is not for everyone. Equipment is another area that can factor into what type of welding you will do. Naturally there is low end equipment and high end equipment range that you can get into. Square wave equipment is high end, but you have to have it if you want to do any serious aluminum welding. If you want to weld wire feed off of a portable electric or gas machine you will need a suitcase or a conversion machine that is compatible. The lists go on and on and the possibilities are enumerable. Needless to say welding has become its own industry. There are specialty gloves and clothing that is suitable for certain needs in the industry and different applications. Lenses vary for different eyes of each welder. Shade 10 is a usual darkness for welding tint. Some like a darker shade 11 and then some may prefer a darker shade 12. Really a # 9 is too light a shade for someone with fare eyes like myself, but when I film under the hood I will probably use a shade 9 for its clarity over the camera.

The Welders Lens Either way you go. The bottom line is this. There is plenty to choose from. Application, geography, type, equipment, pipe, structure, ships, bicycle frames, etc. If you have a determination to learn and apply, welding can bring you a great living and a trade that you can be proud of. It is the type of trade and skill really that must be applied with both teaching and hands on knowledge. Probably more hands on than anything. Finding someone to spend quality time with you as a student will be the real challenge. The closer that you can work with a journeyman welder and skilled craftsmen, the more you will learn and the more rapidly you can become your own accomplished welder.

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Now that we have covered some of the basic remarks of welding, it is time to talk about the meat of our subject and that is the different types of actual procedures there are. Of course this is not a full blown survey of all that there is, just the most used practices. You may find yourself outside of these areas and I may be able to help you with that area, but these next areas of our eBook will cover a good general knowledge and give a rounded approach to the most used techniques and processs that are out there. Most welders that start out find themselves in the stick rod category. Stick rod is probably the most widely used of welding that is out there. The full title of this arc welding procedure is know as : Shielded Metal Arc Welding. SMAW procedure. If you were to take a test and become certified under some code of welding whether it be ASME VII, or B 31:3 or one of the many other classifications; on the test certificate you receive you would not see stick rod as the procedure. It will be classified under the proper heading of SMAW procedure and the code that you tested under. No one in the field calls it by this. It is either known as stick rod or arc welding. The stick rod process covers a wide variety of applications. There are many types of rods to choose from. Some have the same characteristics and then some are completely worlds apart.

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There are uphill as well as downhill applications. There can be two to three different rods used in one weld process. First lets cover the basic elements of the process known as arc welding. Arc welding was really the process that replaced the gas flame welding animal. Gas welding was an easy portable type of welding that didnt require electricity, but it could not do what arc welding can do. It was light gauge welding at best. Arc welding brought into the picture the composition of heavy deposition rates with little cracking involved because of the high temperatures that the electricity produces during the welding process. The arc welding heat at the actual area of melt down is approximately 7400 degrees. Can you imagine. Just to let you know from an inspectors point of view, welding is one of the harshest environments created due to the intensity of friction in the molecules. The molecular structure of the actual welded metal at the joint of fusion changes drastically from the parent metals outside the welded area. In order to overcome some of this stress relieving the weld is at times necessary, but that is another story.

The Welders Lens The stick rod is actually a metal rod composed of similar or identical properties of the parent metal that has been coated with what is called a flux. The flux acts as an atmospheric shield while the metal is melting and cooling instantaneously. The worst enemy the welder has in his or her process is oxygen and atmospheric conditions causing impurities in the weld. Porosity are air (oxygen) bubbles in the weld. The flux is designed to purge atmosphere as well as impurities in the metals. Flux has many properties in it. Obviously the fumes put off by the flux and melting of the metal are not good to breath. It is best to wear respirator and filtration equipment at times when welding. There are some permissible limits that safety standards allow, but very little. For your own safety if you can get used to supporting a respirator it will save your lungs in the long run. There are lawsuits against the manufacturers of the rods due to the damage flux smoke causes to the lungs, but it is just a hazard of the trade. It really cant be helped. The Electrode Holder often called the whip or stinger is the device used to hold the electrode electrode. ectrode There are a few different types of holders. holders I personally dont like the gun type of whip. It has a twist handle that tightens on the rod. The reason I dont like this kind is because if the rod actually does stick when you strike an arc (and it will from time to time) you cant pull off the rod quick enough.

The Welders Lens While the rod is in contact with the weld surface electric current is running through the rod heating it up. This can be dangerous. Hot rods burn things when out of control.

The better type of holder is the spring handle type which is also the most common. It is easy to pull off the rod if it sticks. The only draw back is that the jaws that hold the rod become wore out eventually causing play around the rod not gripping the end tightly. Like anything, eventually all of it has to be replaced like everything else in life. The whip has a rubber coated copper cable that carries current to the handle. It is best for flexibility and motion if the whip cable is lighter and thinner than the actual lead cables. Your wrists take a beating if you dont take this advice and carpel tunnel will probably catch up with you. The whip is connected to the actual leads that connect to the welding machine. There are two leads. One positive and one negative. negative In stick rod the ground lead is actually negative and the hot lead which holds the electrode (or rod) is positive. Both of these are necessary to complete the loop of electrical current.

The Welders Lens There must be a completed circuit in the electrical current to produce the heat needed to weld and break down the metals. This is the electric phenomenon. Continuity is broken when the circuit is not complete.

There are ratings for electrode (or rod) holders according to the amount of amperage they can resist before becoming to hot. There are 100 amp, 150 amp, 200 amp, etc. The smaller numbered handles take less heat. The higher rated handles can hold up to higher temperature ratings. The actual handle size is larger as you move up the scale. That means the springs are harder to open on the jaws where the rod is positioned, but they can take a heavier or larger diameter rod. The rod size will determine how much heat is needed to melt the rod. Something that must be understood about welding is this: heat, travel speed, and angle of the rod are so critical to proper and good welding practice. It will make or break you and your weld at times. Well talk about that later. Rod sizes vary according to how much weld metal is needed to deposit. How thick the metal is, and how much heat the metal can take. If you are welding under conditions where an inspector is present, the inspector will usually have a company approved procedure with rod size and heat range for the job you will be working on.

The Welders Lens I like to run a bit hot because I know that my weld will tie in good and that all the material is being consumed or burned up while welding. Too much heat is not good and too little heat is not good.

I will give you a chart reading when we compare rods as a guideline for you at the end of the stick rod chapter. It is better to be a little on the hot side than on the cold side. Usually it takes practice before a person can handle to properties and characteristics of a hot puddle. You may know what I mean if you have welded already. If you would like to see the holders I mentioned follow this link to the pictures: http://www.thewelderswarehouse.com/Welding/Arc_Electorde_Holde rs.html

There are many manufacturers of these two basic types of holders, but these are the general type. There is also a pipeline holder that has brass metal exposed jaws but I dont recommend this to you. Stick with something that has insulated jaws. There is less of a chance to arc out on your plate or pipe or whatever you will be working on that way. The pipeline supplies are a breed of their own and rightly so.

The Welders Lens The next thing is the hand protection. Hand protection is just as important as the rest of it. You will be better off spending the extra money to invest in supple elk hide or pig skin gloves rather than going with the cheaper bulky typical run of the mill welders gloves you may find. A good pair of heavy elk skin gloves run about $21.00, but they are well worth the money and they last if taken care of. The more supple the leather the easier it will be to move your hands while welding. This makes a difference in the appearance of your welds as well as the strain you put on your hands. Believe me you dont want to live with carpel tunnel years later, and when and if it does creep up on you by then it is too late. Trust a man who knows what he is saying. It is worth all the expenses to buy whenever possible the best equipment there is. The old adage says You get what you pay for. And it is true. I am sure you know this already. I always wear safety glasses and ear plugs when welding. It has become a good habit I have formed. Stick rod spatter: spatter the sparks and metal debris that flies off the rod as it is being burned into place; can literally burn a hole in your eye and your eardrum.

The Welders Lens Many times earplugs have spared my inner ear from being burned. Because I have always worn earplugs my hearing is excellent to this day.

As far a the welding helmet is concerned. I call it my money maker. I have found that 3m makes the best quick change lens around. Unfortunately you cant just buy the lens. It comes complete in one of two helmet choices. Speed glass is the best lens for stick welding. It can also be used for mig welding and sometimes tig welding. The speed glass allows the welder to be more steady upon striking the initial arc. I dont care how steady you are. When you have to flip your head down in order to get behind the lens it never fails to pull your hand off position. It might be slight but when becoming a good welder something to realize is that arc strikes outside the weld path can in some places get you run off. I worked on schedule 20 wall carbon pipe on a refinery pipeline once and if the inspector saw any arc marks outside the weld surface he had the authority to make the company cut that joint of pipe out of service. He also had the right to fire you on the first mistake, it was that critical. Companies dont need a welder that costs them money. Investing in a good lens or two could save you a great deal of embarrassment and money in the long run.

The Welders Lens The only thing draw back about that type of hood is this: there is no way to move the shaded lens out of the way for grinding. The lens can be turned off with the push of a button but if the area of work is not well lit up, then it will be somewhat dark when buffing or grinding on your weld surface. I still, as well, use a huntsman hood with a slide carriage that is mounted in the hood. This application allows the dark lens to be moved out of the path of vision allowing the welder to look through the first clear lens in the stationary part of the hood. The lenses that must be used with this hood are not as consistent in their darkening structure. The center of the lens is usually darker and becomes lighter on the outside edges. You will find that a welder has to adjust to many adverse situations and surrounding. Stick rod is fond of burning up a welder. Not so much the low hydrogen series but the 6010, 6011, 7010, 8010, Shield arc, etc series rods throw fire on you like a dragon. Some of these rods are ac and some of them are dc. The manufacturer will let you know. House current and most of the machines these days are AC machines. The current has a duty cycle that rolls like a wave. Older engine driven machines can be DC or AC. DC is direct current. There is no cycling in the current. The rods will perform differently. It is best to use the proper rod with whatever current you run.

The Welders Lens With stick rod there is usually a need to cover your arms with extra protection. Green sleeves that go over each arm can be worn or a leather welding jacket is also nice. The paycheck is your friend but the stick rod is not!!

Okay lets talk about the leads for a minute. Here is a little trick that can be applied only in certain situations. The normal welding current for stick rod is ground from machine (the negative or terminal) terminal attaches to the piece you are welding to.

The positive lead from the machine (the the + terminal) terminal will be plugged into the whip line that holds the electrode or rod. This is called Straight polarity. If you are using a fast freeze rod like the 6010 series, it is okay to switch the leads to a Reverse Polarity. Reverse polarity allows the rod not to have so much digging and penetrating ability. If there is a big gap that has to be overcome, this is a good trick to remember. You cannot use this trick on 7018 or the low hydrogen series rods. It cannot be used on mig or tig applications either. Actually the tig process uses the reverse polarity at all times.

With good hearing you can pick up on the sound difference the rod makes in this position. Welding stick rod is sight and sound.

The Welders Lens It will also become smell if you catch on fire. HA !!! I literally stepped out of a pair of burning bib overalls once. I didnt realize I was on fire until they were shot and worthless. I had clothes on under the bibs. Surprisingly, as a welder, you will learn to distinguish the smell of burning flux or gases and other atmospheric changes around you. Here is another trick: If you carry a brass plate that has say 3/8 or thickness, and you have a big gap to fill, you can place this plate behind the gap while you are trying to fill the gap and make a connection with your welding rod. The metal will not stick to the brass plate like it will stick to the joint of iron that is being welded. As I stated earlier the trick to stick rod, really any welding procedure, is the heat or amperage at which you are trying to burn the metal, travel speed and rod or gun angle. These 3 items are critical. The normal rod angle is about 45 degrees to the weld surface but this can change while welding to compensate for many possibilities that can arise during the weld. If you stay with me in this whole package that this eBook will lead too. I will demonstrate this on video in my shop. Some of the videos will really be the only way for your mind to grasp what these words are saying. Well get to that. I promise. That is the point of writing this eBook. It is the videos that will be the cincher. You will be able to see

The Welders Lens from the hand of an expert what the puddle is supposed to look like before you strike an arc.

Here is an analysis below for rod size comparison and amp ranges. This is just a basic guideline, of course, you will want to tweak it to your overall likings.

Electrode Name 6010 6010 5p+++++ 7010 Shield arc 85 8010 7018 Low Hydrogen 7024

3/32 diameter Heat Amperage 50-65 48-60 50-70 50-70 50-70 75-90 75-90

1/8 diameter Heat Amperage 80-95 78-82 80-95 80-95 80-95 115-125 115-125

5/32 diameter Heat Amperage 120-130 110-125 120-140 120-140 120-140 145-160 145-160

Source: The Welders Lens.com

The Welders Lens Mig welding is also GMAW (gas(gas-shielded metal arc welding). In most shop or fabrication settings where there is a need for speed and timely production you will find the mig welder. Mig welding is a great tool and has its place in the life of the welder, but you can become a slave to the machine. There is very little break from the machine as compared to other types of welding. With the stick rod process there is a break when one rod is completed and burned while reaching for another rod or possibly waiting for the smoke to clear. Not so with the mig gun. Most of the welding done by a mig welder is on lighter gauge metals. Sheet metals. There is a use for a mig root and hot pass on pipe welding in a shop due to the clean weld produced and the time that is saved in the actual welding process. It will be applied to carbon materials. Aluminum and stainless are also used in the mig process. There are many different brands of machines that have come and gone. I prefer the Millermatic myself. Lincoln is good. Linde makes an excellent machine. I just prefer the easy use of the Miller and believe it is built to last and is a simple machine to load with wire as well as use. There are not to many components and operating parts to the mig machine application. Most of your personal equipment is the same. Gloves, glasses, lens and hood, protective clothing.

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The machine itself contains the polarity already fixed within the framework of the machine. It is a straight polarity process. Ground is negative and the mig gun is positive. The machine is usually set on a cart that can also transport a bottle on the back end of it. The machine will have a voltage setting which is similar to the amperage on stick rod, and it will also have a wire speed setting. The trick to mig welding like any welding is heat and travel speed of the wire. I wont be giving you a setting guide in this chapter but there are plenty of places to find one. My personal suggestion is to take a piece of metal that is similar to what will be welded on and begin experimenting. There is a place in the settings that will have the sound and feel of the puddle just right. Sound is just as trustworthy as visual in the mig process. There are no leads to run with the average machine. Usually there is a 220 plug for electricity, the ground clamp, and the gun lead. The wire is fed from the interior cabinet of the machine through a series of rollers that apply pressure to the wire and pull it off the spool as it is needed on demand.

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The Gun has an electrical plug that inserts to the machine. The hose itself is threaded or clipped into place at the face of the machine near the dials for heat and speed control. The hose itself has an interior that carries the wire as well as the gas that is the shield around the burning wire. Once again oxygen and atmosphere must be removed from the welding process. When this gas shield is removed, porosity encroaches on the weld. Porosity is not your friend!! The wire travels through an inner metal flexible core keeping it from being bent with the winding of the hose at times. At the tip of the gun is just that. The tip. It is threaded into the gun and can be replaced when damaged from welding. Over the tip is called and insulator and is a buffer from the outer cup. The insulator keeps the copper cup from arcing or grounding when the cup touches the work piece and the inner tip. If the tip touches the cup while contacting the work surface, the grounding action causes the cup and wire feed contact to ground out with electrical current. There is no shock involved but the tip and wire become fused in a ball of mess at the end of the tip. This can be a frustrating nuisance.

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Mig welding is trying on the wrists at times due to the weight of the gun and the hose it is connected to. Mig welding is more of a flat or downhill procedure. It is not really meant for uphill welding. Going in an uphill direction usually carries to much metal and deposition rate causing excessive heat and the metal like to fall out due to gravity and the heat that is being carried. It is better to go in a downhill pattern. The gases that are used for this type of welding are usually a mixed gas combination. 25% CO and 75% Argon Nitrogen. Argon is not recommended nor is helium. There is also a process with this application that does not require gas as a shield. The Innershield wire feed composition does not need gas shielding. Also known as fulxcore wire. The flux is within a core of the wire. There are different sizes of wire that is measured in millimeters. Dualshield uses gas as well as a flux process. Esab has a new site with a fine machine and dualshield wire follow this link: http://www.esabx.com

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If a gas cylinder is used on the mig machine than a regulator must be applied to the bottle for controlled output of the gas to the machine. There are choices again to make with this deal as well. Usually the wire size you will most likely use would be a .035 or a .045 wire thickness once again measured in metric sizes. The tip must coincide with the wire size. The smaller the number the smaller the wire size. Pretty simple!! I also want to mention the portable (also called the suitcase) set up that can be run off a gas driven machine or an electric machine. They are able to support carbon, stainless or aluminum applications. Esab also has a view of this type of welder. http://www.esab.com Mig is a great process for auto body, muffler shops and heavy to light duty fabrication of any kind. It is a versatile application worthy of learning for even around the house with a 110 machine.

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Tig welding is probably the honors or Cadillac of the welding procedures. It holds an honor with industry standards and takes practice and constant hands on to become a master tig hand. It is very much in demand world wide. You find tig welding in the refining industries, petro-chemical, power generation fields, elite bike racing frames, and pipe welding. Tig is probably one of the hardest due to the fact that it takes movement with both hands during the welding process. It is probably one of the most rewarding methods once it is understood. Of all welding Tig welding pays the highest next to running a rig truck in the oil field. Oil field work is junk work. I never liked it. It pays good but it is hurry, hurry, hurry with no gratitude and filthy conditions. You dont find a good tig hand in the oil field unless it is compressor station work or something of that nature. Tig is short for GTAW: Gas-shielded tungsten arc welding. Some refer to tig as heliarc. Heliarc is actually a welding gun manufacturer. It is not the actual name of the process. Tig is welded in Reverse Polarity. Polarity There is a hot lead and a ground like in all welding applications to complete the loop of electricity.
Straight

The Welders Lens The negative pole on the welding machine is connected to the hot lead and the ground lead is connected to the positive lead.

This is what causes the process to be a strange animal. In actuality what happens is this: While the current is in a reverse application it actually causes the metal that is being melted down to be attracted to the electrode holder. The natural process like in stick rod is for the metal being released from the electrode to push into the joint being welded causing higher penetration. The metal is digging into the fused joint. In tig welding just the opposite happens. The metal being deposited is not nearly as forceful in reverse polarity. This allows more control during the welding. Remember in the stick rod section when I said that a fast freeze rod could be welded in reverse polarity when filling a big gap. This is why it works. Metal is not as aggressively being deposited into the fusion area. You will find that your filler metal desires to ball up on the tungsten. The filler metal is actually attracted to the tungsten. Tungsten: a metal that is akin to chromium and has the highest point of melting among all metals. Tungsten does not melt during the welding process. It becomes cherry red or bright orange but does not melt. It will even sway back and forth

The Welders Lens slightly like a tall building under high wind but will not break under the extreme heat during the welding process. In carbon metal series of welding as well as other alloy welding, tungsten is mixed with 2%-1% thorium, 2%-1% cerium, or 2%-1% lanthanum. These are metals that are added to the tungsten composition for better conductivity of electricity and electron flow. The percentage is small because the tungsten is only coated in this surface metal. Only in aluminum welding is 100% tungsten used. Tungsten comes in various sizes from 1/16 diameter up to 5/32 diameter. Usually 3/32 and 1/8 are the common sizes used. It is in a cylinder about 4 inches long and comes in a pack of usually 5 to 10 sticks. It is not cheap. 100% tungsten is up to $10.00 a stick now. Thoriated tungsten is much less. The tungsten is placed into what is called the collet. The collet is a copper cylinder that is the same size as the tungsten being used. It has a solid ring on one side and has cuts in two sides over half way down the cylinder. When the tungsten is placed in the collet and through the gas lens, there is a threaded button that squeezes the tungsten and becomes tighter and tighter as the threads choke the splits in the cut parts of the collet.

The Welders Lens You may not understand this now but if you were to look at the actual collet and how it fits inside the torch handle, you can see what I mean.

The slits in the sides of the collet allow the thin copper metal cylinder to give when it is squeezed making it shrink from its original size at that part of the collet body. The collet fits inside what is called a gas lens. Some gas lenses have screens that help disperse the gas as it flows through it giving a nice even and filtered flow. Other gas lenses only have portal holes cut into the copper fitting to disperse the flow evenly over the tungsten. Like any welding process the gas flow is used to remove oxygen and atmospheric conditions that would contaminate the welding process and the melting filler metal with the joint it is being fused to. Around the lens, collet body and tungsten is what is known as the cup. The cup is a ceramic heat resistant material in the shape of a cylinder that acts as a funnel for the gas shield and a protector or insulator for the tungsten electrode from being grounded out on the work surface. The tungsten is where the electricity flows (the heat need to break down the metal) through from the welding machine. The filler metal is a long slender metal like the metal being welded too that is burned in the heat path from the tungsten torch. The torch is the handle body that holds all the welding components together.

The Welders Lens On the torch is a valve that is turned on or off that allows the gas shield to be activated. It also acts as a mixing barrel where the gas and wiring that carries your current come together. The torch is connected to a gas hose which carries the shielding gas as well as the wiring for electrical current. Argon is the gas that is used in the cover process. A gas regulator will be needed to control how much gas is released into your cup. The regulator is not critical as long as it works. A cheaper regulator usually works just as good as an expensive one does as long as you can push enough gas shield if you happen to be in a windy environment. One important thing to mention is that you dont want any leaky connections that could draw air into your lines mixing oxygen into your cup and hoses. This will cause porosity and drive you nuts if you cant find out where the trouble is coming from. Now when exotic metals are welded such as stainless, copper, titanium etc, there is also a need at times for a purging gas. If I was welding two pieces of pipe together that were stainless 316L, I would need to have an oxygen free atmosphere on the inside of the pipe as well as around my tungsten and filler metal. Exotic metals will what is called sugar if the atmosphere is not completely controlled. Sugaring is contamination that causes the metal to crystallize and bubble due to the introduction of oxygen into the welding process. Nitrogen is a good purging gas. It is cheaper than Argon.

The Welders Lens Argon, Co2, Nitrogen are all called Inert gases. That means they are non explosive gases. You can purge with Nitrogen but you cannot use nitrogen directly to the torch as a gas shield. Some carbon applications have small percentages of Chrome in them and will have to be purged as well. 4% chrome or 9% chrome cannot fuse properly under regular torch conditions without a purge on the back side of the weld.

Tig welding is an art. It is not slinging rod after rod and there is very little slag with the welding. Stick rod puts off what is called slag. The slag is the impurities that come to the surface and the crust that forms when the weld puddle cools. In tig welding there are no sparks or spatter and very little if any slag to be concerned with. It really is a premier welding procedure. Usually the tig is combined with some type of stick rod cover in the carbon application. If you are dealing with some type of stainless exotic metal, stick rods do not usually enter the picture. Follow this link to examine further the torch and its components. http://www.weldcraft.com or http://www.techtorch.com

The Welders Lens http://www.lincoln.com or http://www.miller.com Tig rigs come in many shapes and sizes. Flexible or straight rigs. Air or gas cooled as well as water cooled. Rarely have I used a water cooled torch. They are nice in heavy welding applications, but usually not necessary.

Tungsten for all applications except aluminum should be long tapered sharp points from grinding on a grinding wheel strictly used for sharpening tungsten. You dont want to contaminate your tungsten. It is not the end of the world to use the same grinding wheel you will grind your welds with but it is better to use a bench grinder and load up at one time with multiple pieces of tungsten you can carry in a holder. You will need multiple pieces of tungsten when welding. It is best to be prepared before you start welding so there is little down time while the procedure is going on. Card board tubes or metal welded stainless tubing and swedgelock fittings make good tungsten holders. I have made both type of holders. The stainless look nice. You can take a piece of tubing and cut it to the length you like, just long enough to hold a full stick of tungsten. Use a coin of some kind to cap off one end. Take the compression fitting for joining tubing

The Welders Lens together (swedgelock) and place a quarter or nickel inside the threaded cap to seal it off and tig weld all that together. Then you have a durable metal holder that looks nice. I have many rigs and hoses that I used to pack in my tools on various jobs. For heavy welding I had a 250 amp hose and torch head that could hold up to heavy welding. I have burned up a 150 amp rig before by passing to much heat through it without letting it cool, but you see when the pressure is on to complete a job there is little down time. That is where a water cooled rig is nice but they are very rare. Tig gloves are a must rather than larger stick rod gloves. The fingertips must be able to feel and move the filler metal rod as well as handle the torch with ease. Tig welding is a sensitive welding process to the hands. The filler metal is usually rotated within the fingertips as well as moved into the puddle as it melts in the weld joint. If you are going to be a good welder, you will have to learn to use both the right hand and the left hand. Most tig tests are a fixed jig or a 6G position test. In order to do this properly, you will have to be ambidextrous. Practice and more practice is what it takes.

The Welders Lens Heat settings for tig vary with rod and tungsten sizes as well as metal type. Here is a link to some tips on that. http://www.millerwelds.com/education/calculators/tig_amperage_calc ulator.php This is an excellent calculator and suggestion tool.

The best way to start the weld is first by making sure that your weld pieces are at a temperature above 70 degrees. If they are not apply a little heat with a torch or rose bud or some form of heater. Heating takes moisture out of the metal that exists even when it is not visible to the human eye. When the heat is applied, you will see the moisture come to the surface and begin to escape the heated area. The beauty of tig welding is that it is an extremely controlled process. I have a Lincoln 185 tig/stick/aluminum machine in my shop that has a foot switch. I like the foot switch because it gives me even more control than scratch tig welding. Scratch tig start means you must somehow make contact with the electrode to ground in order to get the electricity flowing.

The Welders Lens A foot switch does that automatically. Once you get used to it, you will be spoiled to it. I can also tape a button control starter to my tig torch which does the same thing but is controlled by my hand on the torch. While welding I can move my torch away slightly from the work piece still keeping enough arc to have current flowing but not so much heat contact to melt the filler rod to quickly.

There is so much control with this type of welding. It is so clean and free of spatter, smoke, dirt and debris. One thing the tig process will not tolerate is rusty dirty metal or poor quality weld components. Everything must be cleaned. It may take an extra step to get this part done but it is worth it in the long run. If you try to weld over rusty surfaces with a tig rig, the rust will pop and fizz up on the metal making your life a nightmare. Flapper wheels or tiger discs are the best items to use when it comes to cleaning and grinding on metal surfaces when preparing for tig welding. One last thing about tig welding is this.

The Welders Lens The light from the arc is extremely brighter than average welding and can really burn your eyes if you are not careful. I recommend that you ware safety glasses at all times. I cant work without them I have worn them for so long. I fell naked without them. Safety should always be considered in everything you do. There is a technique with tig welding that you can use, but it wouldnt do any good to explain it here. You have to see it to understand it. Well get to that eventually in the videos.

The Welders Lens There really is so much that can be covered when it comes to welding. I hope I have given you some basic knowledge as well as some advanced tips too. You may be a novice or an advanced welder but I think I have given something that whether you are just starting out or have been around for a while, you can glean something from this book. I still weld for a living but I am really looking to move into another area of life. My back is not what it used to be. Welding has been good to me financially. It is a field that gives you a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. Each weld although it might be the same rod and procedure over and over again; somehow the weld is different each time. There is always, it seems, a window of challenge from the time you strike an arc to the end of the rod and final last pass of the weld. Sometimes the pressure is on you as a welder to perform in a pinch, but I have found that the best place to be is behind, The Welders Lens. To your success!!! Michael D. Treadway http://www.thewelderslens.com