Welding 101

There is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to welding. With all the options for joining materials together or making repairs on equipment, there are a ton of variables as to how you should attack specific welding jobs. A weld to repair a relatively thin body of a car is a different process than a weld to build or repair complex heavy construction equipment.

Safety First

No matter what style of welding you’re planning, it will require proper preparation. First, make sure all of your equipment is working properly for the task you’re about to perform.

You don’t want to find out the hard way that your helmet won’t protect you or that your working area is not as ventilated as it should be. Not only could something like this result in a waste of materials, time and money — it could result in a serious injury.

Protect Yourself

Welding isn’t a situation when you can just grab a wrench or screwdriver from your toolbox — personal protective equipment (PPE) is an absolute must. Depending on what type of welding you’ll be doing, you’ll need a welding helmet, gloves, boots or closed-toed (preferably steel-toed) footwear, HEPA-filtered or supplied-air respirators, aprons, hearing protection, and safety glasses or goggles.

As always, make sure the area you’re about to weld in is clear of any obstacles or hazards that could cause a slip or fall resulting in bodily injury. The tried-and-true phrase, “a clean work area is a safe work area” applies to any welding project as it does to any task.

Ventilation is also key to any welding activity. No matter what type of welding you will be performing, there are potentially dangerous gases involved. Combined with working with a flame means that ventilation cannot be overlooked.

“You can get really sick [without proper ventilation]," says Erik Esslinger, owner of Bore Repair Systems in Langdon, New Hampshire. “When you weld something, it can create some pretty noxious fumes. You need some type of exhaust or smoke eater.”

Variables to Any Task

Anyone who’s ever worked on any project in their garage, let alone major construction projects, will tell you no two jobs are the same. The same is true in welding. In addition to shapes, sizes, materials, in many cases there are also weather and climate variables with which to contend.

“If you’re working outside on a windy day, you need to make some accommodations to block the wind,” said Esslinger. “If you don’t, it could leave pinholes and affect the quality of the weld. It won’t be a nice, smooth weld.”

Bore Repair Systems is a company that offers automated welding and machining equipment designed to be used both in the shop and field. The company offers accessories for use with their welding equipment such as plates that block the wind, helping keep the shielding gas in place. Other times, tents are used to ensure wind won’t negatively affect a repair in progress.

Esslinger also mentions that preparing the metal surface before starting any welding is critical. Any welder wants to make sure the surface they are about to work on is clean and free of foreign material such as grease, dirt or effects of weather.

Bore Repair works with a wide range of companies with 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 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.

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 bare-handed. 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.