Basics of Welding Machinery

Series Summary

The fabrication process joining materials together is known commonly as welding, and it involves a welding power supply combined with metals melting (and melting pools) to create fusion. Arc welding is a common welding process which uses a power supply to keep an electric arc between electrodes and base materials to melt metals. Currents and voltage are used to maintain the energy needed for melting the materials. Undoubtedly, the art of welding can be very dangerous, and special equipment and protective gear is required to keep welders safe and guarded from potential burns. Once a welder has learned how to safeguard his or herself against the dangers, and knows the essentials of using the machinery, they can begin welding under the supervision of a professional. It is not wise to operate any machinery unfamiliar to you unless you're being instructed by a professional or an instructor. Always use caution when using machinery and lasers.

In this free video clip series, our expert will demonstrate the ways in which you prepare a welding machine, manage voltage and energy levels as well as techniques for the different modes of operation and equipment. Learn how to use the weld supplies, tig, wig and arc welds and more. Techniques such as the “Push and Pull” are explained and demonstrated, as well as basic information such as setting up the welding machine and an introduction to the gases used for welding are included.

Video Transcript

" Hello! My name is Mac and on behalf of expertvillage.com I am here to discuss the arc welding process called MIG welding. MIG is a short form that stands for Metal Inert Gas welding, it is a very popular, easy to use arc welding process. It consists of a very high strength steel wire coiled in a roll, a set of drive rollers, a power supply, a MIG gun and a supply of inert gas to shield the weld pool. It is very versatile, the wires come in a wide variety of metals for different users. You can get ordinary carbon steel wire, even though this looks like copper wire, it is actually carbon steel wire covered with copper, a thin layer copper tip to aid in the welding process. It helps the electricity to get on to the wire, as it goes to the contact tip. You can get stainless wires, you can get nickel wires, you can get wires for welding galvanized steel, very popular wire for welding aluminum. You can get aluminum welding wires etc. They come in a wide variety of diameters, different sizes of thickness of wire for different applications and for different machines. One of the integral parts of the machine is a bottle of compressed inert gas that is fed through the gun. The gas is used to protect the arc welds molten puddle from the oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere. We will go into this whole system in greater detail as we go through the series of lectures on MIG welding."