Quick Welding Tips

Miller’s iPhone and Android App for Welders

If you’re interested in quickly figuring out your welder’s settings, the answer is as close as your cell phone with the Miller Weld Setting Calculator app for iPhone and Android. So long as you have access to your phone, you can punch in which kind of welder you’re using, what kind of metal you’re welding, and the metal’s thickness, Miller’s clean and easy to use app will tell you what you need to know.

Though some reviewers have noted that the app doesn’t give specifications for out of position jobs, Miller’s app provides quite a lot of useful information in a few touches. Even experienced welding instructors have adopted this app since it’s so easy to use.

Regarding this app, Miller says, “Get your weld settings… with the Miller Weld Setting Calculator app. The calculator will help you tune your machine for optimal results based on a few simple questions. Weld calculators are handy references for weld parameters, electrode/wire type, basic techniques and process information for TIG, Stick or MIG.”

Miller has made this app available for both iPhones and Android phones. The app is a free download so that you can check it out today.

Learn more welding tips: Visit Baker’s Welding Learning Center

 

Why Stick Welding Is Perfect for Beginners

Beginning welders may want to jump right to a MIG or TIG machine that make it easy to work on a wide variety of projects and to create clean, smooth welds. However, stick welding is still the welding process of choice for many welding instructors in their welding 101 programs. Besides the low price tag for a stick welding set up, here are some reasons why you’ll want to learn welding with a stick welder before purchasing a MIG or TIG machine.

A Simple Stick Welding Set Up

Stick welding doesn’t have an automatic wire feeder to worry about or a filler metal to feed into the weld puddle. Beginners have far less to worry about with a stick welding set up.

Striking an Arc

Striking an arc is both difficult to learn and incredibly important for beginning welders. Mastering the soft touch required to strike an arc takes time, and a stick welder provides the perfect set up for learning to strike an arc.

Dexterity

Welding effectively has a lot to do with positioning your body correctly and knowing how to move with your work. Stick welding is a simple enough process that you can master the basics of welding without having to worry about feeding wires or filler metal.

Patience

Sometimes welding takes time to learn, and therefore a simple and inexpensive process such as stick welding is the perfect place to start. Traveling too fast on a weld can be especially counterproductive while welding, and therefore taking the time to learn on stick welding is a good place to start.

Travel Speed for Welding

Most of the technical skills involved in stick welding transfer to other welding processes. Stick welding students learn to watch the weld puddle and can then figure out how fast to travel across the weld.

Electrode/Torch Angle for Welding

Though a stick welding electrode looks quite different from a MIG or TIG torch, the basic principle of torch angle still apply to the stick welding process. Welders can use stick welding to learn how to angle the torch/electrode into the weld joint and how to provide themselves with optimal visibility while working.

Learn more about stick welding basics today: How to stick weld

 

3 Ways to Protect Your Welder for the Long Term

Welders are a long term investment that can last for a long time if you care for them properly. While there are many important maintenance procedures you should follow in order to guarantee your own safety, such as checking your gas lines, regulators, and electrode clamp (if stick welding), here are three simple ways you can protect your welder for the long term:

Protect Your Welder from Dust

If you don’t have a cover on your welder, you may be exposing it to dust and bits of metal that could interfere with its operation down the line. A cover is a simple way to also protect your machine from sparks that may fly while grinding metal.

Open Up Your Welder for Cleaning

Speaking of dust, even a covered welder may accumulate dust, especially if its in a garage. From time to time it will help to remove the cover and to make sure dust isn’t accumulating inside of it. If you’re leaving a MIG welder for a long period of time, take the wire spool out of it and store it in a bag so that it doesn’t get rusty inside of your welder.

Don’t Push Your Welder’s Duty Cycle

One of the easiest ways to burn up a welder is to ignore the duty cycle. A duty cycle specifies how frequently your welder needs to rest in order to cool off. The larger your projects, the longer you’ll need to weld and therefore the longer duty cycle you’ll need. If you’re tempted to push your duty cycle in order to complete a weld so that you don’t have to worry about a tie-in, remember that a little grinding is better than having to buy a new machine! 

 

Two Common TIG Welding Mistakes That Are Easy to Correct

There are two significant mistakes that beginning welders make all of the time that not only wreck a weld but also cause quite a lot of frustration. Thankfully, these two mistakes are easy to correct. Here are some tips on how to do it:

Too Long an Arc

The typical arc length should be about the diameter of the electrode. Too long an arc will minimize the amount of heat you can bring to the weld joint. If you get too close to the metal, your electrode may get stuck to the metal or may get contaminated, wrecking the appearance of your weld and requiring regrinding.

Too Much Torch Angle

If you have too much torch angle, you won’t be maximizing the heat penetration into your weld joint. The heat will deflect off the metal and may even melt the filler metal too soon. You may also contaminate your electrode if you get sloppy with your torch angle and the metal melts onto your electrode. A contaminated electrode will leave a black mark on your metal and needs to be cleaned off before you’re ready to work again.

The right angle is typically around ten degrees so that you create a clean puddle where you can dip the filler metal into it. This may need to change depending on the location where you’re welding, but more often than not, you just need to tilt the torch back far enough that you can see where you’re welding.

 

TIG welding isn’t rocket science, and by paying attention to these two, easily fixed mistakes, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and frustration in the future.

The Essentials for Getting Started on a MIG Welder

Getting started with a MIG welder is very simple for welders who are new to the welding process, but there are a few tips that every welder needs to take into consideration before getting started:

Torch Angle

MIG welding is often described as “point and shoot,” but there is a bit of technique to consider, such as the torch angle. The torch should be held at a 20-degree angle so that you can see it while you work. Move the torch in a zig zag or cursive “e” motion as you move along the weld joint, but you may need to run a straight stringer if the weld joint is smaller or you’re welding a thin metal such as aluminum.

Tack First

Before welding a longer bead, tack your metal work pieces together so that you can ensure they’ll remain straight and also to keep the metal from warping while you work on it. While you’re focusing on your technique, you don’t want to have to worry about the metal shifting while you have an arc struck.

Welding Gun Maintenance

The torch of your MIG gun is easy to overlook, but welders often mention build up in the gun nozzle as a major cause of welding problems. If you’re having a hard time striking an arc or keeping it tight and steady, check out your gun nozzle and replace any parts that have spatter build up.

MIG Wire Stick Out

If you have too much wire sticking out of your MIG gun, you’ll heat up too much metal and create a sloppy weld that could even burn through the metal if it’s thin enough. Most welders suggest that a short stick out is ideal, rarely going longer than 1/2 inch to 1/8 inch depending on the thickness of the metal and the size of the weld joint.

Learn more about MIG welding: MIG Welding Process and Tips

 

The Advantages of Pulsed TIG Welding

If you’re working on thin metals that could become distorted or burned through if you apply too much heat, then a TIG welder will be the best choice. TIG welders offer the most  control over your heat input and the highest quality weld possible, and some TIG welders offer pulsing—a process that allows welders to limit the amount of heat used for a weld.

Here are some advantages of pulsed TIG welding:

• Lower heat input for thin metals that need a smaller heat-affected zone. This will reduce damage, such as warping, to metal work pieces and save on material costs.
• A tighter arc that is focused precisely on the weld joint and can achieve sufficient penetration into the metal while maintaining a faster travel speed and creating a cleaner weld.
• Reduced power costs because pulsed welding limits the amount of power required to weld.
• Newer TIG welders such as the Miller Dynasty 200 or 350 offer an extremely high pulsing rate that dramatically increasing welding speed and saves workers significant time on task. An investment in a higher end TIG welder with pulsing can pay off quickly with significant efficiency increases.  

TIG welding may be a more specialized welding process when compared to the MIG process, but when compared to the results of MIG welding, pulsed TIG can provide a level of precision, control, and speed that sets it apart.

How to Wreck a Weld Before You Pick Up Your Torch

If you’re having problems with the quality of your welds, the issue may not be with your welding technique or settings. Sometimes your welding problems can begin before you even pick up your torch. Certain welding procedures require a significant amount of prep work in order to ensure that the weld is strong and neat, to say nothing of safe. here are some tips on how to avoid wrecking a weld before you even pick up your torch:

Learn How to Clean Your Metal

If you have thick mill scale on your metal work piece, an angle grinder is a handy way to remove anything that could wreck a weld. By using the right grinding wheel, you’ll quickly remove any contaminants. In addition, if you need to clean up the metal in any additional areas, make sure you use the right kind of sandpaper so that you won’t leave too many particles on the metal.

If you’re TIG welding, you’ll also want to clean the metal with acetone or lacquer thinners that won’t leave any kind of oil-based residue on the metal.

Cut Your Metal Cleanly

If you need to cut your metal prior to welding, you’ll need to make a clean, straight cut in order to make sure your edges line up properly and you don’t have large gaps you have to fill. While a chop saw or angle grinder can make clean cuts on smaller pieces of metal, consider an oxy-fuel set up or a plasma cutter to make straight, clean cuts on thick metal.

Set Up Usage Parameters

While it’s common to check the welder’s manual in order to find the right usage settings, one of the best practices for a welder is to test out these settings on a piece of metal in order to make sure you’re striking an arc with enough power without over-welding. 

 

A Quick Guide to Consumable Electrode Rods

The Basics of Consumable Electrode Rods

Consumable electrode rods are the fuel that makes stick welding go.

These thin cylindrical rods come in varying diameters and lengths, and their long narrow, stick-like appearance is the basis for the name of the welding process, commonly referred to as “stick welding.”

A electrode rods consist of a wire core (usually steel), surrounded by flux coating. The filler wire provides the metal which forms the basis of the bond between the two pieces of base metal being welded together. The flux coating, when heated, transitions into a shielding gas that protects the weld bead from airborne impurities, ensuring the final weld is solid, strong, and free of inclusions and porosity.

A high-powered electric current superheats an electrode rod, which is referred to as consumable, because it’s literally eaten up into nothing by the welding process.

Understanding the American Welding Society’s (AWS) Electrode Rod Numbering System

As mentioned above, consumable electrodes come in a variety of diameters, lengths, wire strengths and flux coating compositions. The type of metal being welded determines the diameter, length, wire strength, and flux coating composition of the electrode required for a particular project.

The diameter of an electrode refers to its filler metal wire core. Common diameters range from 5/32 of an inch, all the way up to ¼ of an inch. The thickness of the base metal being welded determines the diameter of the electrode. The thicker the base metal, the larger the electrode’s diameter.

The length of the weld determines the length of the electrode. The welding process consumes the electrode, requiring you to stop, and replace the spent electrode with a fresh one. Each stop and start creates the potential for a breach or inclusion in the weld,  making it advantageous to minimize the number of stops and starts in a given weld pass. Therefore, more lengthy welds call for long electrode rods.

How to Strike an Arc for Stick Welding

Striking an arc for stick welding is the first and most basic step of beginning to weld, but there are several techniques that have become popular with welders over the years. Here are two ways to begin welding by striking an arc:

The Scratch Start Technique

Think of how you strike a match and then apply that to your stick welding electrode. Drag the electrode across the metal work piece and then lift it slightly so that the arc sparks the weld. You’ll move the electrode across the metal so that you end up right above where you’d like to weld.

The Tapping Technique

This method of striking an arc involves simply tapping the electrode on your metal straight down and then lifting it slightly in order to start the arc. While this is a simple movement, failing to pull it up fast enough will result in the electrode sticking to the metal. On the other hand, if you raise the electrode too high, your arc will go out.

Keep a File Handy

If your electrode sticks to the metal, give it a quick twist in order to free it. Welders generally keep a file or sandpaper handy in order to clean off the tip of the electrode before trying to strike it again. Many welders find that a file does this quite well.

On Keeping Your Arc Going

Once you have struck your arc, you’ll need to make sure you don’t let it get so close that it sticks to the metal or the arc becomes erratic and begins to produce uneven weld beads and a weld bead with a high crown. Though getting too close to the metal can cause problems, the tighter your arc, the better your weld will look and the less you’ll need to clean up your metal. Too much of an arc will cause spatter on your metal work piece.

The ideal distance for an arc will be equivalent to the diameter of the metal core of your electrode. This ensures that you’ll weld with enough voltage, create a clean weld, and save yourself lots of clean up time. 

 

 

Four Tips for a Successful Welding Career

Welders who want to pursue a full-time career will need to learn more than basic welding techniques if they want to succeed in their field. Welding instructor Marty Rice shares at the Fabricator that while technique is important, employers are looking for the following in their prospective employees:

An Understanding of Metallurgy

If you weld with too much heat, weld with too little heat, or fail to preheat your metal work piece, do you understand what will happen? Employers want reliable welders who not only know how to weld but understand the details of the process. For example, if you warp a piece of metal, you could create significant safety or environmental hazards.

Specialized Knowledge for Tasks

If you’re applying to a job that will involve specific welding techniques, make sure you learn them before showing up for the job interview. Employers generally want trained employees who know the most effective ways to weld the metal they work on.

Knowledge of Welding Codes

Welding codes aren’t just for inspectors. Before interviewing for a welding job, make sure you understand the relevant welding codes for your particular industry. Your employer wants welders who won’t create a series of headaches by fabricating welds that will get flagged by an inspector.

Excellent Work Habits

The simple practices that make for a good employee anywhere will serve you well in a welding career. Learn to show up early for work, communicate with your co-workers, and focus on your tasks. Learn what your supervisor or boss expects of you, and then exceed those expectations.

Getting a welding job isn’t rocket science, but it will take significant training and planning before you’re ready to have a go at it.