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GMAW guns, consumables, and more: 7 common questions answered
Following a few guidelines when selecting and using GMAW equipment and consumables can help improve productivity and quality in your welding operation.
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New year, new welding helmets
Taking a closer look at a few new welding helmets.
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SMAW is in session
Welding educators discuss why SMAW still holds a relevant place within their classrooms and in today's high-tech industry.
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Juggling the variables of GTAW
Gas tungsten arc welding isn’t the easiest process to learn. With so many things going on at once, GTAW is a little like juggling while riding a unicycle. With practice, the welder’s eye, arm, hand, and foot coordination will improve.
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What employers expect from welders
In his inimitable style, Marty Rice shares his thoughts on the welding job market and what today’s employers want from their welders. He also gives examples of some deficiencies employers are seeing.
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Getting to the bottom of lost welding productivity
When a welder is not welding, he's not making the company money. Fabricating operations can't afford their welding departments. Luckily, several reasons for extended arc-off time can be addressed with some simple adjustments.
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New process, new welding dynamics
A process called TIP TIG uses a constant-feed hot-wire that imparts
additional energy to the weld. The wire also is superimposed by a
secondary high-speed oscillation. The hot-wire’s current combines
with the weld-pool agitation to disrupt the...
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Robotic welding: Don’t forget the consumables
When designing and operating a robotic welding cell, don't overlook
the consumables. Choosing the wrong consumables can over time lead
to serious costs.
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Where the rubber meets the road
Joshua Shaw describes himself as half archaeologist and half fabricator. Those qualities come in handy when he's restoring vintage Sprint race cars, which can provide a number of historical and fabrication and welding challenges. To do it right...
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Adventures in titanium—WPS
Your customer wants two pieces of metal welded together. Why should you bother with a welding procedure specification? Because conformity leads to quality and enhances safety.
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From GTAW torches to accessories:
Learning the facts about five common misconceptions about gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) equipment can help you optimize this highly versatile process.
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Consumables make a difference in the welding of wind towers
Advancements in consumables for the submerged arc welding process have made it possible to increase the strength of welds in wind turbine components while also increasing production efficiency.
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A welding inspector’s tools of the trade
Weld inspectors, especially those who are new to the trade, put a lot of emphasis on the equipment needed to do the job: flashlight, mirror, high-low gauge, pit gauge, bridge camera, and a borescope. However, this isn’t the entire toolkit. A...
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Avoiding mix-ups with shielding gas mixes
Today's job shops must be prepared to deal with a variety of materials for fabrication and welding. As each material may require a different mixed shielding gas for gas metal arc welding (GMAW), familiarize yourself with these gases and the most...
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5 wire-feeding advancements welders need to know about
Modern wire-feeding technology can boost welders' performances and overall productivity. If they are working with old feeding equipment, disadvantage
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Adventures in titanium—3 questions about repairing titanium eyeglasses by welding
Nguyen needs his titanium eyeglasses repaired and wants some expert advice about how this can best be achieved. The answers to his questions about the process provide valuable insight into some aspects of welding titanium.
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Subarc for structurals
SAW offers a cost-effective and efficient means for automated welding of plates, beams, flanges, and profiles found in structrual steel environments. Technology advancements in flux combinations and SAW equipment have helped boost arc-on times,...
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A journey of 1,000 welds
Seven years ago Doug Wilkinson of Reinke Mfg., Deshler, Neb., set out to start up a welding education program for high school and adult students that would give them the opportunity to earn AWS D1.1 or D1.2 qualification. It's been an uphill...
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Little by little
Determined to make a life for herself and provide for her family, Mioshi Neal juggled full-time work,night classes, and single-parent duties to ultimately land her dream job—welding instructor.
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Adventures in titanium—Why is my stovepipe hat assembly warping, turning blue, and cracking?
Fabricating a titanium stovepipe hat assembly had one shop perplexed. What was causing the material to turn blue, warp, and crack? Why was it so difficult to make this part fit into the next assembly?
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Answers to 6 FAQs about FCAW-SS
A reliable process for heavy-duty applications, self-shielded flux-cored welding (FCAW-SS) has its challenges. Here are some FAQs about these challenges and suggestions for overcoming them.
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What would-be MIG welders want to know: Where can I learn, and what equipment do I need?
Welding instructor and reader-favorite author Marty Rice answers the two questions he’s most often asked by those interested in learning to MIG weld.
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More arc-on, less arc-off
A North Georgia fabricator analyzes welder productivity and revamps
its operations so that welders spend more time actually welding, and less time moving material and fixtures, as well as typing in data.
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FCAW-S basics: Fast, no gas cylinders required
In a nation striving to upgrade its infrastructure, FCAW-S has become the process of choice for many. It combines the efficiency of wire welding with the portability and flexibility of SMAW.
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22 possible causes of weld metal porosity
Porosity is a weld defect that is fairly common, but also fairly easy to fix. What issues contribute to weld porosity? This checklist gives a welder a good idea of what might be causing the problem.
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Better shielding gas flow, efficient welding
After an automative supplier examines its automated and manual
welding operations, it discovers greater efficiencies after analyzing and optimizing shielding gas flow.
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Better cladding, better inspection
Hot-wire GTAW and inspection advances are meeting the oil and gas industry's ever-increasing need for cladding.
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Specialty fabricator goes wireless with GTAW foot pedals
Tangled up in cable clutter in your welding shop? An Orlando, Fla.-based fabrication shop reduced clutter and improved safety by using wireless GTAW foot pedals.
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Welding guns 101: light- or heavy-duty?
From tacking operations that require short arc-on times to completing long, continuous
welds on thick plate, the welding gun needs to offer the appropriate welding capacity for the job.
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Welding the fast and narrow
Advancements in SAW concentrate on faster deposition rates and
narrow-groove welding. And today's controls, power supplies, and consumables are meeting industry's demand for process efficiency.
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The small world of welding large fixtures
Every welder is likely familiar with fabricating a fixture for a job, but only a select few work on fixtures for very large weldments. Those unfamiliar with large fixture-making may be surprised to learn about
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Automatic orbital welding simplified
Automatic orbital gas tungsten arc welding is
used in a variety of industries in which
maximum leak integrity, high performance, or
ultra-cleanliness is important. Automatic
orbital welding provides enhanced precision
and reliability compared to...
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Accelerating business with EB welding
Thanks to a specific vision and a high-end
equipment purchase, C.F. Roark Welding &
Engineering Co. Inc. is anything but
ordinary. Founded in 1949, the company
specializes in electron beam (EB) welding of
complex, specialty parts and components...
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Autogenous orbital GTAW of large, high-purity tubes
Autogenous orbital welding on large projects has become nearly routine with large numbers of successful welds completed with very low reject rates. Thus it is very easy
to become complacent. However, installers need to be alert to potential...
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Prioritzing U.S. infrastructure needs
Author and co-founder of New America
Foundation gives his insights regarding the
U.S.'s crumbling infrastructure and provides
tangible ways the federal government can
address the situation.
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Wire welding in the structural steel world
Many structural steel fabricators are loyal
to shielded metal arc welding (SMAW). But
technology advancements in the wire feed
process known as flux-cored arc welding
(FCAW), paired with an increasingly
competitive market, have changed the...
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High-frequency electric resistance welding: An overview
Architects and engineers are designing structures with new and innovative shapes. To meet these ever-changing requirements, manufacturers may turn to solid-state, high-frequency electric resistance welding (HF ERW) to produce engineered structural...
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Improving productivity with submerged arc welding
Submerged arc welding (SAW) can be performed in various ways, from the simplest process using a single wire and DC power to more advanced twin-wire and tandem operations. Choosing the right SAW process for your operation can help you increase...
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We've come a long way, baby
The orbital welding process has seen significant advancements in electronic control technology that have helped open the door to a wider array of applications while making it more cost effective to use.
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Teaming up to clean up
Like many companies, Ultra Machine and Fabrication Inc., Shelby, N.C., a fabricator of armored military vehicles, believed the welders should clean up their own weldments for spatter, slag, and other discontinuities. But when welders were...
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Welding metals of dissimilar strengths
Welding metals of dissimilar strengths requires that a welder consider some specific factors, to ensure a solid joint.
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Welding thin with GMAW
A unique method of metal transfer allows gas metal arc welding to tackle thin-gauge and cosmetically sensitive workpieces.
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Pulsed GTAW for stainless steel
Figure 1
Proper fit-up and good control of the welding parameters go hand-in-hand in producing successful fusion with minimal distortion. A poor fit-up requires more weld metal to fill the gaps. More metal means more heat, which leads to...
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Beyond low-carbon steel
When welders tackle new materials, weldability should always be on their radar. Certain alloys aren't so kind to the welding gun.
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Tons of reasons for a new welding positioner
P&H Mining equipment, Milwaukee, Wis., makes very large equipment, such as its largest electric shovel that weighs 1,200 tons. Shovel components keep getting larger, and to keep up with the market trends, the company needed a new welding...
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Holding back the hydrogen
Hydrogen cracking can send a project off schedule in a hurry. Here are ways to prevent it.
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GMAW guns and consumables
Think GMAW guns and consumables don't have an impact on your final weld? Think again. By separating the myths surrounding GMAW guns and their consumables from the facts, you can ensure you're not compromising performance or weld integrity.
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No purge, no problem
Although P91 offers many advantages for power generation in terms of strength and service life, it is more difficult to fabricate than traditional materials and many contractors shy away from it. Icon Mechanical, Granite City, Ill., is one such...
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Induction system speeds pipe welding projects
Energy Steel & Supply Co., Lapeer, Mich., a fabricator that manufactures components for nuclear power plants, used to spend quite a bit of time on pre- and postweld heat treatment. After seeing a demonstration of an induction heating system, the...
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Common technical mistakes new welders make and how to avoid them
Did you hear the one about the welder who was tired of bending over to weld and made the fatal mistake of using a 55-gallon drum as a welding table? In this article, welding instructor Marty Rice discusses this mistake and describes some common...
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