Technical School for Welding

 

At a welding technical school, you learn to become a proficient welder whether you've been welding your whole life, or if you've never touched an arc stick in your life. They generally go through every type of welding that you will encounter. From different angles and directions, to different metals and forms of welding.  The training at technical schools prepare you for real-world applications and problem-solving skills.

Affording these schools can be easier then you might imagine. You can get apprenticeship deals that pay you to learn to weld. You can also be payed by companies that want you to work with them just to go to school! However, technical schools are normally very affordable in relation to a 4 year college.

Getting an Education for Welding

Going to school for welding is becoming an increasingly popular option every year. From a literal standpoint you don't need to go to school for welding, however it's probably in your best interest. If you're planning on getting a job almost anywhere above minimum wage you should at least have your high school diploma or a GED at the least.

My best advice would be, don't drop out of high school. Even if you don't think math or science are important to you as a welder (which I would disagree,) it is still important to be a well rounded person. If you can match, or even outperform, someone in welding, you won't get the job if you lack skills for basic math or don't understand the basic scientific concepts of welding itself. Once you get through high school, you have a couple options, I'll outline a few of them.

Go to a Welding Career School
Going to a local or regional welding career (otherwise known as vocational,) schools will vary, and its not something you should jump straight into. The reason for this is because some career schools can be very poor and give you a bad education. Some schools are known for having bad quality, but luckily we have access to the internet. There are several things you should check out before actually attending the school

Attendance fee's -  This shouldn't be a major difference, but is definitely something to look in to. The reason I say this is because if you have to pay a bit more for a couple years to make more for the rest of your life, I'd say it is worth it.


Job Placement for graduates - Obviously if a low number of graduates are actually getting a job then you are likely going to have a hard time finding a job.

Reviews Online - Check out what people have to say, if people have a lot to say then it might be a good choice.

Welding Technical School
Keep in mind, that even if you graduate from a career school, this is still a very viable option. Many people intentially go to a career school to get a firm grasp in welding, before they actually head off to a technical school. Technical schools usually have higher reputation, and offer a much more in-depth training and education.

Technical school is basically just a 2 year school, which doesn't really bother with learning broad subjects. They just specialize in getting an in-depth education. Technical schools will look much better then a diploma or a career school for a job. Getting an education at a technical school will give you a great advantage over those who don't. In my next post I'll be going over some good schools to check out if you're looking into different technical schools.

Assembling your GTAW Handle

The TIG Body Handle must be assembled prior to actual use, its a simple process and once you get the hang of it you can get it down to a couple second process. It must be done in the correct order or the pieces won't fit together. There are normally 5 pieces the come in a standard TIG Handle, those pieces will be outlined here.

A common mistake to make is screwing the collect body in the wrong direction, as it will fit inside the body. However; it won't allow the nozzle to screw onto the collet body all the way, meaning it could fall off. This is a very dangerous mistake as well, and isn't one that you want to find yourself making


The pieces must assemble in the following order, and please pay extreme attention to detail. First screw the collet body into the body, then screw the nozzle on top of the collet body, make sure the nozzle is able to screw in. The insert the tungsten into the collect, and insert both of those into the back of the body. Push the tungsten until it sticks out nearly ~1/4 inch past the nozzle. Then screw the black cap into the back of the handle body, which will lock your collet and tungsten into place; completing the handle completely.

Pieces of the GTAW handle, along with their functions.

• Nozzle - Shields the electricity from branching out; greater control of the arc.
• Collet - Used to hold the tungsten in place, must match the correct sized tungsten
• Collet Body - A heatsink for the collet and electrical connector to the tungsten
• Body - Gas and electricity flows through, and the handle.
• Tungsten - The electrical conductor made to withstand extreme heat
• Black Cap - Simply used to lock the collet and tungsten into place.

 

Choosing and Preparing Your Tungsten

Tungsten plays a crucial role in the TIG welding process, which is why it is named after Tungsten. If you don't buy the correct tungsten; it won't weld correctly. If you don't sharpen it; it won't weld correctly. If you don't glob it (described later in this post); it won't weld correctly. Preparation and selection of your tungsten is a very important part of TIG welding.

Tungsten Thickness

Thickness is probably the most relaxed specification of TIG welding. Literally almost any thickness will work for a standard bead, you don't want the tungsten to be too thick because then it becomes harder to run a small puddle, and you don't want it to small otherwise the supposedly non consumable tungsten will start melting away, and ruin your tip. There is a small selection, and for small general purpose welds you can never go wrong with 1/8, 1/16 or 3/32. However, when going on very fine, or very thick metal, the thickness will need to decrease or increase respectively. 

• 1/25 - The smallest tungsten, used for very fine applications.
• 1/16 - \  These 3 sizes can almost be used
• 3/32 -  |  interchangeably, very versatile for
• 1/8   - /   nearly all medium sized welds.
• 5/32 - A bit heavier, unnecessary for general welds.
• 3/16 - Hobbyists probably won't encounter a 3/16, its fairly heavy.
• 1/4   - Largest common size, for huge metals and extremely high voltages.

Tungsten Color

WP - Pure Tungsten, completely undoped. The only function of this is AC, mainly being used on aluminum, it can also weld stainless steel and a select few other metals.
This tungsten is colored green.

WZr - Tungsten with added zirconium, this makes it pretty unstable for DC welds, but performs great in AC, The zirconium also stops the Tungsten from consuming with too high voltages, and protects the welds. 
This tungsten is colored white.
 
E3 - These are by far my recommendation of choice. Now this is no one-shoe fits all scenario, however it is excellent in a great number of fields. It can weld nearly every metal (aluminum, titanium, nickel, copper, magnesium, etc.) It is not specialized, it is solely general purpose. They outperform thoriated tungsten. However; many firms and individuals prefer thoriated tungsten simply because that is the tungsten they learned the art with. 
This tungsten is colored purple.
 
WCe 20 - Adding Cerium oxide to the tungsten increases the capacity. However, it is still outperformed by the E3, it is mainly used for lower/medium level voltages. This is somewhat outdated due since the E3 has come into play. 
This tungsten is colored gray

Preparing the tungsten
The procedure depends on the polarity and type of current you are sending through the tip. If it is DC Electrode Positive, you want a pointed tip, if it is on AC you want a balled (otherwise known as globbed) tip. Some people prefer a tapered tip, but I believe that process is completely useless and unnecessary, so lets get started. 

The first step in either process is to grind it down with a tungsten grinder. The reason I say the word tungsten grind is, you shouldn't use a regular grinder. If you use the same grinder you use for regular metal, you will embed the metal fragments into the tungsten, but it will do you if truly don't have another option. When you start grinding, you want all the grooves of the grind facing towards the tip, you want to slowly spin the tungsten forming a cone 2 and 1/2 times the diameter of the tip longwise. Here is a picture which will describe what I just covered:

TIG/GTAW Welding Supplies List

Theres quite a bit you need to know before you start the actual welding process itself. The weld process itself is a lot like oxyacetylene gas welding, if you have any experience. Instead of controlling the puddle by the distance from the puddle, you control the weld bead from the footpeddle, located under your weld station. This peddle controls the rate of current coming out of your tungsten. When you first start welding it can take a while to get used to the foot peddle concept.
Gas Type
Also you will need Argon gas. Argon is the most common gas to use, however you can also use a mixture of argon and helium. Argon Helium mixture is commonly used for people welding through thicker metals. If for some reason, you desire to use a mixture nobody is stopping you. However for beginner welders there best option is certainly Argon.
Choosing Your Tungsten
For now I will direct you to 3/32 Purple thoriated. It is the upcoming tungsten and quickly replacing many of the other common flavors. Selecting your tungsten is a more complicated subject we will go over in a later post. It can make a big difference, but 3/32 purple is nearly general purpose standard, 1/16 would also be great, but whatever you can get a hold of.
 Power Supply Unit
As far as Power supplies go, it is the same story for every type of welding process in existence. It depends on your budget, and how dedicated you are. The ideal conditions of a GTAW welder aren't hard, but many beginners, especially, and hobbyist can't afford them. I'll outline some key features to look for. 300 volts is an excellent maximum voltage for very heavy duty welds, however this is completely unnecessary many simple beads on 1/2 inch aluminum flatbar for example.

Two other things to look for are output, and duty cycle. Output determines the maximum output of the machine. Duty cycle represents the time the machine can weld at a certain power output. You want a nice balance between output and duty cycle, as it is useless if either one is extremely disproportionate.

New power supply units are inverter-based. These can get very expensive, I won't defer to these machines. I'm assuming anyone reading this article that knows of inverters, is simply readings this a refresher or something of the sort.

Metal Type:
For beginners I would start out using aluminum for several reasons. First of all aluminum is a very easy to control the puddle, compared to something like copper. It is also very lightweight, easy to handle, and relatively cheap. Also the aesthetics of a finished aluminum bead, i believe, is the most nice looking, and smoothest of them all. You can get aluminum quarter inch flatbars at a local steel outlet and filler rods can be found in abundance online.

Intro to TIG Welding

Tungsten Inert Gas Welding is one of the most versatile and high quality welding processes available. Just looking at a correctly laid bead you can see how aesthetically pleasing it is, and the strength shouldn't be questioned. Aluminum is the most common material to be used with TIG, however almost any metal can be used with it. This includes stainless steel, copper, and even dissimilar metals! Now before we go any further, lets get familiar with the naming conventions.

TIG is also commonly referred to as GTAW, however I prefer TIG so I will stick to that for the rest of this blog. GTAW stands for Gas Tungsten Arc Welding. Whatever you prefer, stick with it. There is no difference, however I believe TIG rolls of the tongue a bit smoother.

What is all this talk about "Gas" or "Inert Gas" anyway?  The gas is called a Shielding Gas, its purpose is to protect the weld from oxygen and water vapor. It provides a shield effect, protecting the weld very efficiently. Inert is a scientific term, which simply means it does not react with very many substances. I shouldn't need to explain why the gas you're using to shield the weld with probably shouldn't be undergoing chemical reactions.