Welding Safety Course Materials

[Afloyd]

Yeah, I don’t know if they fixed it with modern regulators, but in the old days if someone left a knob turned and you opened the cylinder the rapid pressure change could turn that knob into a projectile. Better to be safe than sorry!

Another thing I feel I should have made some mention of somewhere…we don’t weld galvanized materials in the DMS shop. Zinc isn’t too bad when it’s in its solid state, but when it vaporizes and bonds with atmosphere to make zinc oxide it becomes a nasty hazard. Mild neurological damage commonly known as “brass shakes.”

There are ways to mitigate this problem, but as a rule for the shop? Let’s weather treat our projects after we’ve welded them.

[TBJK]

I have a friend that I work with who had a hole blew in his leg from a regulator.

[Afloyd]

Let’s hope that this guide helps to keep that from happening at the Makerspace.

I don’t want to test the water tightness of our liability waiver!

[jast]

Looks great!
I’ll make this suggestion: let’s include the “alternate name” and what its acronym stands for more clearly:

Oxy-Fuel Welding (e.g. oxy-acetylene)

-The oldest industrial welding technique.
-No longer common in the welding world.

Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) (aka “stick”)

-Over a hundred years old.
-Is still around and one of the most versatile types of welding.
-Uses consumable electrodes coated in flux.
-Ideal for outdoor welding environments.

Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) aka Metal Inert Gas (MIG)

-Has really caught on over the last 30 years.
-FAST: What it may sacrifice in terms of strength it makes up for in raw production.
-Commonly not as hot nor as strong as SMAW.
-Unlike SMAW, GMAW machines are complex and the consumables require a shielding gas 
          such as  argon or an argon CO2 blend. 
-Creates a very uniform and attractive bead.
-Can be used to weld many different metals: Mild  Steel, Stainless Steel, Aluminum...etc.    

Flux-Core Arc Welding (FCAW)

-One of the most used forms of welding in the industry.
-Usually only used for Mild Steels.
-Self shielding FCAW wire exists, but gas is usually either necessary or preferable.
- Has a strength equivalent to SMAW.

Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) aka Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG)

-Strong, precise, and capable of welding the widest variety of materials.
-Machine set up is not as complex as GMAW or FCAW, but not as easy as SMAW.
-Subtler than most forms of welding, it requires dexterity. Some machines use a foot pedal to 		      
           control heat. Common electrode polarity is negative, meaning the workpiece heats up 			      
           considerably. It is something that requires much practice with to become skilled.
-Very gentle welding process. No sparks or BB's.
-While all welding machines use consumables, GTAW  has tungsten electrodes which must be 
         sharpened and wear out over time along with filler metals. 
-thoriated electrodes raise concerns over irradiation, mostly overblown

Spot Welding

-Different from other processes. Not "Arc"  welding but resistance welding.
-Spot welding is commonly used in automated  production of sheet metal parts. Automobile 			 
           assembly is a good example. 
-No filler metal is needed and metal is fused in a fraction of a second.
-Disadvantages: Only for thin pieces of  material. Does not usually make "beads."
-Advantages: still a legitimate form of welding and does not need extra parts such as "pop 			 
         rivets." Exceedingly simple to operate.

Obviously, you can pitch that in the bin if it’s not helpful.
Great work!
EDIT: I agree. We should be VERY CLEAR about the galvanized and/or electroplated and/or galvanic plating, zinc plating, etc. for exactly the reasons you outline. We DO harp a bit on it in the PlasmaCAM classes, and it’s posted on the walls, and I think, like safety glasses and hearing protection, should be endemic.

[Photomancer]

Need to add in no welding on galvanized metal, extremely hazardous fumes… How it can be removed from area to be welded, etc.

Great work!!!

[Afloyd]

Thanks. I bet it could be inserted in there somewhere in the shop/environmental hazards section or where ventilation is discussed.

I need to put together a SMAW and GMAW theory/care and feeding guide since those are the two processes I use the most. Even with this general safety guide some specifics can be addressed like how to swap out cylinders, inspect hoses, and how to use regulators properly as it was mentioned above.

Demand is definitely there for classes and I’d be glad to do them, my time is just really tight with my profession. The more we can take care of online the better. I want to really get down and dirty in the shop with minimal lecture.

[Afloyd]

No, I dig it.

I think this was good to post here as helpful comments and tweaks can be suggested by the community at large.

We’re going to get this thing worked out.

[Cairenn_Day]

BTW some of this info is good for other committees, jewlery and casting needs
the shoe protectors

[jast]

Sure enough, took me forever to find where I’d stashed this, and it turns out it’s just a link.

Machine Shop class ideas

To put a penny or two where my mouth is, try this out. This is not something I am “good at”, but I have thrown together a course for “Introduction to Welding and Welding Safety” and posted it to the “free-for-instructors-up-to-five-classes-available-at-a-time” Blackboard offering “coursesites.com”. It’s a bit of a pain in the arse, but you can sign up (or sign up using a google or facebook account), self-enroll, and check out the sort of thing one could do with such an offering. This is by no …

if you go through that…stub that I put out there, it’ll show you a link to this
http://www.weldingtypes.net/
which I think does a pretty nice job of explaining each type.
So, I was RIGHT that I’d kept a description somewhere, and that it’d take forEVER for me to find it, but totally WRONG about it being mine!

[ANDREW_MACHA]

Here is the audio for Andrew Floyd’s Welding Safety Course given back in February 2015.

His presentation is lively and easy to listen to.

You can download it and listen to it at your convenience on your mp3 player.

[Afloyd]

Thanks! I had forgotten about this.

[ANDREW_MACHA]

Your lecture had gone away from Soundcloud for a while as I had uploaded another class and exceeded the very small limit that Soundcloud provides for an unpaid subscription. I eliminated one of the other classes to make yours available.

I would make more classes available if I could do it without having to pay a fee.

[Photomancer]

Possible solution: Can they be saved or produced using the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite the Space does subscribe to? They can be put on YouTube or our server.

[ANDREW_MACHA]

Great - how do I get them onto the DMS server?

[Photomancer]

Easiest way to connect to the committee drive and put it in the committee folder. Look for a folder that either reads “Training” or a folder for that tool. Place it there, then go to the committee wiki page and under that tool put in a link.

Then you become a Makerspace Super Hero!

Thanks for all your work!

[cdavis714]

As a new member and someone who intends to learn how to weld, I am impressed by the interest and work I am seeing by the more knowledgeable members in improving the training at DMS.

[Afloyd]

I’ll be teaching a MIG course on the 9th in the afternoon if the metal gods smile upon me.

Read/Listen to this safety outline so you’ll be prepared!

[Ourfilthyhands]

Any chance you can back this up to the evening (aka after 6pm)? I literally have exactly one thing scheduled for the month of September and it happens to be on the 9th from 2-530… Offer still stands to bring scrap metal if needed

[jast]

I’ve just notice something that MIGHT be missing here, and that’s the ‘how to not electrocute yourself and others when working with electric arc welders’ information.
Maybe that’s better presented in the intended discipline, but maybe it should be here, so I ask…

[legodt]

Super excited, much love Andrew!