Welding process: Use tig for welding thin pieces of magnesium-based alloys; use mig if the pieces are thicker.
❯❯ Nickel-based alloys
Used for: An alloy in stainless steel. Nickel in the 200 and 300 series stainless steels is the most resistant to corrosion.
Welding process: You can use any of the big three arc welding methods for welding nickel-based alloys. Stick welding gives you a weld that’s stronger than the base metal. (That’s good!) Tig welding a nickel-based alloy involves using a 2 percent thoriated tungsten electrode and argon as your shielding gas. You can tig weld a nickel-based alloy in any position. (If some of those terms look a little wacky to you, flip over to Chapter 7 for some gory tig welding details.) Finally, if you’re going to be mig welding a nickel-based alloy, plan to use a 50/50 mix of argon and helium for your shielding gas. Like tig, you can mig weld these alloys in any position.
You may think it sounds crazy, but you can definitely weld precious metals like gold, silver, and platinum. Gold can be soldered (welded at a temperature below 840 degrees Fahrenheit) or brazed (welded at a temperature above 840 degrees Fahrenheit), and I recommend doing so with a gas torch – check out Chapter 13 for more on brazing and soldering. The same goes for silver. Platinum is a little different; oxyfuel (see Chapter 11) and tig are your best bets when welding platinum. Oh, and you may want to be sure you have a good lock on your welding shop before you start welding metals that cost thousands of dollars per ounce!
Setting Your Sights on Welding Safety
IN THIS CHAPTER
❯❯ Making sure you have the right safety gear
❯❯ Understanding basic safety rules for welding
❯❯ Knowing how to prepare for and handle accidents and injuries
What’s the most important aspect of welding? The answer is simple: safety. What good does a beautiful weld and a job well done do you if you’ve hurt yourself (or others) in the process?
Many dangerous elements make up any welding operation. You use massive amounts of electricity to join metals (which are often sharp and heavy) through melting. You’re constantly at risk for electric shock, serious eye injuries, and burns. It’s not exactly a pillow fight, is it?
You can’t change the basic elements that make welding dangerous, but you can (and should, without fail) take every precaution to make sure your welding projects are as safe as possible. Your approach to welding safety should be complete and relentless; just one careless move or lack of safety preparation can result in serious injury or death.
In this chapter, I cover all the aspects of welding safety that you need to understand and remember when you get started as a welder. As I mention many times throughout this book, this chapter is really the most important one, and I hope you read it carefully and take its information to heart.
Gearing Up to Protect Yourself
A big part of welding safety is making sure you have the right safety equipment on hand for every job, and that’s what I discuss in the following sections. Figure 3-1 shows a welder in full protective gear; make sure you have all these items available before you get going on any welding project.
FIGURE 3-1: A welder wearing recommended safety gear, including ample eye protection.
To protect your eyes from flying debris (usually metal), which you encounter plenty of if you weld regularly, make sure you wear safety glasses in your shop at all times. Make a habit of putting them on as soon as you walk in the door – that way, you’re always protected.
To fully protect your eyes from the damaging effects of ultraviolet welding rays, you need a welding helmet. These helmets protect your eyes (and the rest of your face) from damaging rays, and they include special lenses that allow you to see your work clearly without suffering eye injuries, which I discuss in “Shielding yourself from burns” later in the chapter. (Check out Figure 3-1 for a look at what a welder with a welding helmet looks like.)
You need to get a helmet appropriate for your particular welding work. New welders often buy helmets that don’t cover all their needs, or purchase ones that are far too heavy duty (and therefore expensive) for the projects they want to do. The following list explains the features of welding helmets that can help you figure out which helmet is right for you:
❯❯ Shade number: The lenses in welding helmets are rated according to shade number. Shade numbers for welding range from #8 to #14. The higher the shade number, the higher the amperage (the amount of electrical energy flowing through a circuit) you can use when welding without damaging your eyes. Most welding operations are carried out at shade #10, but if you get above 140 amps you must get a darker lens with a shade in the #12 to #14 range.
❯❯ Auto-darkening or passive lens: Many welding helmets now offer an auto-darkening lens that automatically increases the shade number to account for more-intense welding rays. The alternative is a passive lens, which is the older style of helmet that has a fixed shade number. Auto-darkening helmets are nice because you can see through the lens when you don’t have a live welding arc, so you don’t have to constantly take your helmet off and put it back on when you’re working on a project. However, auto-darkening helmets are much more expensive. Passive lens helmets are cheaper, but you’ll likely have to remove them and put them back on over and over while you’re welding.
❯❯ Comfort: Make sure you get a helmet with an adjustable headband that feels comfortable on your head and neck. The helmet should stay in place and shouldn’t pinch your head.
With all the extreme heat and sparks created during a welding job, you shouldn’t be surprised if something catches fire at some point. Because