I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard at work before!  This guy has a gift – if not for welding, then definitely for writing!

Attempting to weld in the age of duct tape

Al Batt, Tales from Exit 22
Published Wednesday, March 10, 2010

I don’t like to wear socks.

I wear them but I don’t like it.

I consider socks to be a fire hazard.

I took a welding class at a college that once thrived in Waseca.

It wasn’t my idea. It was my employer’s idea. He felt that the duct tape I used wasn’t as strong as a weld. He was annoyingly conscientious. Welding started during the Bronze Age, and it survives into the Duct Tape Age. I went to college during the day and worked nights. The welding class gave me something to fill those hours that I had been wasting on sleep.

My father had taught me how to weld with a derelict welder he had rescued from a junkyard. It was a serious stapler that performed basic farm welding with little attention paid to aesthetics.

On the farm, I welded broken wagon tongues and tractor hitches. I gave up welding once I quit breaking wagon tongues and tractor hitches.

I would have been happy not knowing anything more about welding. Welding isn’t even an Olympic event. It could be in the Winter Olympics. Replacing the brooms with welders would make curling a little more exciting.

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What are you doing this Sunday? Planning on going to church?

How about Metal Church, with your favorite preacher, Jesse James?!?

Interested in learning about restoring classic cars? Well, you’ve come to the right place!

The folks over at Second Chance Garage have given us a step-by-step guide to choosing the right welder for the job:

Selecting the Right Welder for Classic Car Restoration Projects

What Welder To Use?

The most common welders used in auto restoration, therefore, are MIG (metal arc welders, gas or flux-cored), TIG (tungsten arc welders using shielding gas) and Arc Welders (the traditional “stick” electrode).

To choose the most appropriate one for your needs, you have to consider the following parameters:

* What is the maximum and minimum thickness of metal to be welded? Fortunately, automobiles use metals that fall into a relatively narrow range.

* What is the metal type? Again, automobiles generally are made of steel and, rarely, aluminum.

* What is the normal position the welding “head” will be put in? Do you need to do a lot of welding overhead? The answer is usually no here.

* How much current is available in your shop and do you have 220 volts? Check your circuits.

Let’s be frank. Our overwhelming favorite type of welder is the MIG. We’ll explain why shortly, but first we’ll give an overview of the other contenders. Here we go!

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Welding can be punny.  It can.  And just to prove it to you all, I have my handy-dandy-back-pocket-article right here, and it’s all about stud welding.  Just take a look at that title.  Yeah, I told you.  Punny.

Small studs, big impact

Change in stud welding material saves power plant millions

By Chris Hsu

September 1, 2009

Stud welding, an often-overlooked process, can have a significant effect on the life-cycle cost of a product.

Stud welding can be performed with a hand tool that is brought to the material. Photo courtesy of Nelson Stud Welding.

In coal-fired power plants, so much relies on the little things. Smooth, cylindrical studs 3/8 inch in diameter by ¾ in. long are placed in furnaces operating at 1,600 degrees F or more. The studs transfer heat from the hot side (the furnace) into the boiler tube.

A refractory coating, which protects the tubes from erosion, is applied over the studs. As the stud wears, so does the refractory coating. At some point the studs become so short that the furnace has to be shut down, the studs rewelded, and the refractory coating reapplied.

For decades plants have used 430 stainless steel studs, a material that has to be replaced about every 12 months. This can be an expensive endeavor, especially if unplanned.

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That article was “such a stud”.  Just kidding – I don’t think that was grammatically correct.  So, what do you think – stud welding – stud or a dud?

Interested in saving money while you’re welding this autumn?  Check out this article by Welding Magazine — it lists ten simple ways that you stay thrifty, and that’s just when you’re using your MIG gun!

10 Money-Saving Tips for Semi-Automatic MIG Guns

By DAVID BELLAMY | Jul 1, 2009 12:00 PM

Your welding operation, just like any other portion of your business, offers opportunities to conserve resources.

The economy continues to challenge all of us, and it seems everyone is watching his or her finances (at home and on the job) and looking for innovative ways to save money. Your welding operation, just like any other portion of your business, offers opportunities to conserve resources. Consider these 10 money-saving tips for MIG gun care and maintenance, and don’t be surprised to discover you will improve your welding performance in the effort.

TIP #1: PROTECT YOUR ASSETS

Keep your nozzles, retaining heads (diffusers) and contact tips in the original shipment package until you are ready to use them. This prevents scratches and/or dents where spatter can accumulate and will make them last longer. It also prevents dirt, oil or other debris from adhering to the consumables and inadvertently entering the weld puddle.

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What are you doing this fall to save cash?  Share your best ideas with the rest of us!

Plasma Arc Welding (PAW) and Plasma Arc Cutting (PAC) are two processes that are pretty amazing.  Plasma refers to the physical state of gas after it has been exposed to extremely high temperatures.  This ionized stream of gas generates a column of heat that is used for welding or cutting metals.

You won’t find a lot PAW applications in a backyard weldshop, but Plasma Cutters are pretty common….

If you already know all about plasma cutting, then this article is not for you.  This article is for newbies, for people like, well, I’ll just say it — for people like me.  But now that I’ve read the article, I think I might be ready to move on up in the world… you know, to articles like these –>

Plasma cutting and how it works

By Kent Swart, Contributing Writer
August 11, 2009

What is plasma cutting, and when is it your best metal cutting option? What information do you need to choose the right plasma system? This article answers these questions and more about plasma cutting.

The basic technology for plasma cutting has been around for decades. Researchers and engineers remain focused on increasing cut speed, improving cut quality, and extending consumable life, while making systems smaller and more powerful.

What Is Plasma Cutting?

Once a gas is heated to an extremely high temperature and ionized, it becomes electrically conductive and is considered to be plasma. Plasma arc cutting and gouging processes use plasma to transfer an electrical arc to the workpiece. The metal to be cut or removed is melted by the arc’s heat and then blown away.

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Having trouble with your SMAW?  Have no fear — Practical Welding Today® is here!  This article talks you through the SMAW process from start to finish and even includes a section on troubleshooting some of your more troublesome welds.  Enjoy!

SMAW: A welder’s guide

Advice and troubleshooting tips for beginners

By Harry Sadler
September 15, 2009

Shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) is the most common form of arc welding. However, creating a good weld is not always easy, especially for a beginner. Following a few simple tips as well as learning the common weld defect and how to fix them will have you on your way to laying quality SMAW welds.

Shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) is the most common form of arc welding. However, creating a good weld is not always easy, especially for a beginner. Unlike gas metal arc welding (GMAW), in which you basically point and shoot, SMAW requires a higher skill level and a mastery of certain techniques.

By following a few simple tips, even beginners can learn how to spot common weld defects and fix them to create a high-quality weld.

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Do you have any other practical SMAW tips that you’d like to share with the rest of the class?  Well, don’t keep them all to yourselves — post some below!

There is a new welding process, recently developed in Europe, that is said to not only improve welds but also lower the skill required to make them.  It uses a “manual and automated GTAW wire feed control combined with a hot-wire power source” that improves the wire feed, weld pool, and weld deposition and decreases gas consumption.

Enhancing the GTAW process

By Ed Craig, Contributing Writer
September 15, 2009

Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW or TIG), a popular process for high-quality manual welding, has its limitations and requires highly skilled operators. A process used in Europe addresses those limitations, enhances productivity and weld quality, and reduces the skill level required to GTAW.

For at least six decades, traditional gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW or TIG) has been considered the process of choice for attaining high-quality welds in any metal application. However, this process has certain drawbacks, such as the weld energy limitation influenced by the weld pool dynamics and typically slow manual wire feed rates. Manual GTAW requires highly skilled operators who possess the dexterity necessary to feed the wire. Manual GTAW techniques vary, and the weld-wire-to-arc and weld puddle placement are inconsistent.

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