Workshop Practice Series 07 The Art of Welding

WORKSHOP PRACTICE SERIES from Special Interest Model Books
1. Hardening, Tempering & 11. Electroplating

Heat Treatment J.Poyner 23. Workshop Construction
Tubal Cain Jim Forrest & Peter Jennings
12. Drills, Taps & Dies
2. Vertil"al Milling in the Home 24. Electric Motors in the Home
Tubal Cain
Workshop Workshop
Arnold Throp 14. Making Small Workshop Tools Jim Cox
Stan Bray
3. Screwcutting in the Lathe 25. The Backyard Foundry
Martin Cleeve 15. Workholding in the Lathe B.Terry Aspin
Tubal Cain
4. Foundrywork for the Amateur 26. Home Workshop Hints & Tips
16. Electric Motors Edited by Vic Smeed
B.Terry Aspin Jim Cox
5. Milling Operations in the Lathe 27. Spindles
17. Gears & Gear Cutting Harprit Sandhu
Tubal Cain
Ivan Law 28. Simple Workshop Devices
6. Measuring & Marking Metals
18. Basic Benchwork Tubal Cain
Ivan Law Les Oldridge 29. CAD for Model Engineers
7. The Art of Welding D.A.G.Brown
19. Spring Design & Manufacture
W.A.Vause Tubal Cain 30. Workshop Materials
8. Sheet Metal Work Alex Weiss
20. Metalwork & Machining Hints
R.E.Wakeford & Tips 31. Useful Workshop Tools
9. Soldering & Brazing lan Bradley Stan Bray
Tubal Cain 21. Adhesives & Sealants 32. Unimat Ill Lathe Accessories
10. Saws & Sawing David Lammas Bob Loader
lan Bradley 22. Workshop Electrics 33. Making Clocks
Alex Weiss Stan Bray
7. The Art of Welding

Welding, by oxy-acetylene or electric arc, is a skill in increasing demand
and one of which the basics can be learned without great difficulty. In this
book W. A. Vause, who spent 40 years as a welder and several as Welding
Instructor at Queen Elizabeth College for the Disabled, sets out the basic
techniques for oxy-acetylene welding, brazing, flame-cutting and electric
arc welding with mild steel, cast iron, stainless steel, copper, brass and
aluminium, etc., in sheet, plate or cast form.
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Preface
BH15 2RG
First published 1985 The art of welding wrought iron has for one reason or another have become
Reprinted 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999 been practised by village smiths in their interested; this might include those
forge fires for centuries; many beautiful who have just started a course in
examples of their work remain, most practical welding, or possibly someone
commonly in wrought iron gates which from management who needs to ac-
This edition © 2002 Special Interest Model Books Ltd. can be seen in almost all historic build- quaint himself with the broad outline of
(except line drawings courtesy of E. I. T.B.) ings in many countries. Gas and electric the subject, or even the amateur who
arc welding are, however, compara- wishes to follow up this absorbing
tively recent developments and in the activity with an eye to its creative metal-
Introduction their history is briefly out- work possibilities or its application to
All rights reserved. No part of this pu~licati?n may be reproduced lined. model engineering.
stored in a retrieval system or transmttted m any form or f?Y . This book (The Art of Welding, for I Some readers may have already have
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying: recordmg or otherwtse, maintain that it is an art) does not set complete gas or arc welding outfits, or
without the prior written permission from the publtshers. . out to be an exhaustive treatise on the may be about to purchase equipment,
subject but more of a useful discussion and to these I would say please, please
of a process ever more widely used and read the notes on Safety. Welding is
developed in industry, in an easily read fascinating but it does involve certain
ISBN 0 85242 846 4 and understood form for the novice, hazards and risks can be reduced or
who may never actually have seen a avoided by such simple steps as always
welding blowpipe or electric arc being having a fire extinguisher handy,
used. It is thus written in as non- having the key in position on the acety-
P E Tf.CHHIKOH
f - - - - - - - - - - ------------------- technical a way as is consistent with lene cylinder and similar common-
LIBf-\MW SE~WICE:S clarity, steering clear of jargon as far as sense precautions.
PRIVA f 1- [;.\r·, I I fl[ 6000 possible. In preparing the book I have been
Welding has by no means reached greatly encouraged by the assistance of
the limit of its possibilities, and indeed the Engineering Industry Training
0 9 JUN 2004 it could be said that its application to Board, who kindly consented to the use
engineering and similar spheres of ac- of a number of the excellent illustrations
tivity is still in its infancy. I venture to from their basic manuals, and the
predict that it will be still more widely Murex Division of B.O.C. Limited who
used in many ways in the future. How- have helped with other illustrations.
ever, the present purpose is to help
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Biddies Ltd, www.biddles.co.uk those who are strangers to welding but Hove, 1984 W.A.Vause
1
Contents
Introduction
Preface 5 In 1809 Sir Humphrey Davy first Kjellberg, patented a very thinly-coated
achieved an electric arc, using two mild steel wire electrode, which vapor-
Introduction 7 platinum electrodes, but it was not until ised minerals surrounding the arc, thus
some 83 years later than two Russian shielding it from the effects of the
scientists, Nikolas Von Bernados and atmosphere. However, it was not until
PART ONE
Stanislav Olczewski, patented the first about 1912 that the first heavily-coated
Chapter 1 Welding by the Oxy-Acetylene Process (Gas Welding) 8 process of arc-welding, using carbon electrodes were patented by Arthur P.
Chapter 2 Exercises with Mild Steel. 18 electrodes in combination with filler Strohmenger in the U.S.A.
wire, a method which with some modifi- Later other numerous and diverse
Chapter 3 Gas Welding Other Metals 29
cations is still in use for certain purposes coatings came to be used, for example
Chapter 4 Brazing . . . . 37 today. In 1892 Nikolas proposed the use asbestos, with an aluminium wire
39 of bare-wire electrodes, which were in coiled around it. Also sodium silicate
Chapter 5 Oxy-flame Cutting
fact used for many years. This method, and other various chemical substances
\ ·,' ~ l ;; ~ however, held serious drawbacks, one were used to coat the electrodes, all
PART TWO
,•,, of which was that only D.C. current having the object of creating a gas, or
could be used for bare wire. vapour shield, to exclude the air from
Chapter 6 Arc Welding 44 Another serious drawback was that the arc and the molten metal, and at the
Chapter 7 Exercises in Welded Joints. 52 nitrogen from the surrounding atmo- same time producing a fusible slag
66 sphere became absorbed in the weld covering the surface of the weld deposit
Chapter 8 Cast Iron and Stainless Steel
metal, forming iron nitride, which which on cooling could easily be re-
Chapter 9 Pipe Welding . . . . . . 70 caused the weld metal to become too moved.
Chapter 10 Vertical and Overhead Welding of Mild Steel. 75 hard and brittle. Also atmospheric oxy- In 1895 the oxy-acetylene flame was
gen created oxidation of the weld first used by Henri Louis Le Chatelier, a
Chapter 11 Building up and Reinforcement 78
deposit. Some means had therefore to French chemist. Today, however, about
Chapter 12 Resistance Welding 80 be found of obviating these problems, 65% of all welding is carried out by the
Chapter 13 T.I.G. and M.I.G. Welding. 81 and in 1907 a Swedish engineer, Olgar arc-welding process.
Appendix 1 Weld Symbols 88

Appendix 2 Aids to Assembly 93
Appendix 3 Welding Defects . 94
Welding a motor-cycle frame at
PART ONE Clews Competition Machines,
where both gas and arc welding
Chapter 1 are used.
Welding by the Oxy-Acetylene

Process (Gas Welding)
The equipment consists of: THE REGULATORS
The Blowpipe There are two of these. The Red (or
Two Regulators maroon coloured) one is the acetylene
The Canvas-Rubber Hoses, plus of regulator, and the Black one is the
course the oxygen regulator. Each regulator
Two cylinders of gas, one of oxygen
and one of acetylene.
carries two gauges, one to indicate the
contents of the cylinder at any given
Notes on Safety - Gas Welding
moment, and the other to indicate the Always store gas cylinders well away similar vessels, until they have been
THE BLOWPIPE working pressure in lbs. per square from any source of heat. cleaned by steam jet. Wear mask if any
There are several makes of gas welding inch, which is regulated by the turn- Make sure there are no leaks from any dangerous fumes are present, e.g.
blowpipes on the market, perhaps the screw provided. This is turned in a cylinders, and no grease or oil on or when welding or brazing galvanised
best known being the 'Saffire', which is clockwise direction to increase the near them. workpieces.
a very efficient, general purpose blow- working pressure, and anti-clockwise to Keep flame of welding blowpipe well Other workpieces to be welded often
pipe, and is supplied with detachable reduce it. away from cylinders. have to be de-greased first, by being
nozzles of different sizes, numbered as Before screwing the regulators on to Always keep the cylinder key in position treated with trichlorethylene, or similar.
follows: the cylinders, any dust or other foreign so that gas can be turned off immedi- These operations must be carried out
1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 18, 25, 35 and 45. matter which may have collected in the ately. well away from all welding activities.
These numbered nozzles indicate the socket of the cylinder should first be Always wear goggles, with the correct Never allow caustic soda to come into
approximate consumption of gas in blown out by 'snifting' the cylinder specification lens, also gloves, or gaunt- contact with trichlorethylene, etc.
cubic feet per hour at the appropriate momentarily. This is done by opening lets. Always have adequate fire extinguisher
pressures. the valve of the cylinder for a fraction of Wear suitable clothing and leather handy.
apron, plus protective helmet if doing Never use low pressure regulators, or
Fig. 1 (continued on page 10)
The Saffire 3 blowpipe. overhead welding. welding blowpipes, on high pressure
Wear goggles with clear lenses when systems. (Note - this book deals only
chipping or grinding. with the high pressure, dissolved
Make sure there is adequate ventilation, acetylene system).
also extractor fans wherever possible, Stand well away from cylinder regu-
to dispel toxic fumes. lators when turning on gas, as the glass
Take particular care when working in a faces of these have been well known to
confined space, e.g. tanks, boilers, or splinter if cylinders are very suddenly
drums. Never weld petrol tanks, or opened.
8 9
the one for acetylene has a left-hand shank feels to be getting hot. (I have
thread, while the oxygen one has a known blowpipes to become so hot as
normal right-hand thread. to melt the brass of the shank, as a
With these connected up to the ap- result of a backfire, which causes a
propriate regulators, and to the welding flame inside the chamber, but with a
blowpipe, the assembly is complete. modern blowpipe like the 'Saffire', it is
<== Oxygen The equipment should now be tested almost impossible for this to happen).
by turning on the gas at each cylinder If, however, you have opened the
._Acetylene
with the special key, which, by the way, valves a little too much, all that will
~ Oxygen and Acetylene should be left in position on the happen is that the flame may jump
Fig. 2 Blowpipe details. acetylene cylinder, so that it can be away from the nozzle, in which case all
turned off immediately in case of emer- that is necessary is to close the valves
a se~ond, and closing quickly with the oxygen creates a chemical combination
gency.
specJ~I key provided. from which heat can arise w~ich could again to shut off the flame and start
cause an explosion. Also, while on the again.
It Will be noted that while the oxygen
regulator has the normal right-hand subject of safety, never allow th~ oxy- LIGHTING THE FLAME
thread, the acetylene regulator has a gen cylinder (or, indeed, any cylmder) ADJUSTMENT OF THE FLAME
With the working pressure set at
left-hand thread. The reason for this is to become exposed to heat, from ~ny
about 51bs., and with a number 2 nozzle Having got the flame going fairly nor-
~ 0 that they can be distinguished even source, as this results in expans~on,
in the blowpipe, to light- open the two
m darkness and so that there can be no which again could lead to an explosion. mally, i.e. reasonably under control,
valves on the shank of the blowpipe
possi~le d~nger of confusion. After THE CANVAS-RUBBER HOSES (red for acetylene and black for oxy-
and with a fairly equal mixture of both
screwmg regulators on, make sure that gases, on looking at the base where the
gen), opening the acetylene one slightly flame emerges from the nozzle, a small
they are securely tightened up. These carry the gases fro~ the regu-
first with just a small touch of oxygen, inner cone-shaped flame will be ob-
Never at any time allow oil or grease lators to the welding blowpipe, the red
then light up, preferably using a flint served. This inner white cone of flame
to come into contact with any part of of course being for acetylene and ~he
spark lighter, but is this is not available, is acetylene, and it may appear as a
the equipment. The reason for this is black for oxygen. They are suppli~d
having a lighted candle handy on the quite long white feather, or may be
that oil or grease when mixed with with union nuts at each end, and agam
bench, making sure of course to keep quite small. It is very important to get
Fig. 3 Oxygen and acetylene pressure regulators
the hand well away from the flame and this inner white cone of flame correctly
Cylinder pressure gauge Welding pressure the nozzle pointing in a safe direction. adjusted.
Cylinder pressure
Welding pressure (indicates contents) gauge
gauge
Lighting the flame can be, until one We will assume for the moment,
gauge
gets accustomed to it, a little tricky. purely as an experiment, that we are
Sometimes a backfire may occur. This about to weld some mild steel, say
is due to one or both valves being V1sin. (1.6mm) thick, using a No. 2
insufficiently open (usually the nozzle, with gas pressure set at about
Regulator acetylene), according to the size of the 41bs. on each regulator. For this, it is
pressure nozzle. It is better to have the acetylene vitally important that we have an abso-
screw (slacken valve well open, even a little too much
when not .in use
lutely neutral flame. The importance of
rather than too little, as if the latter, all this cannot be exaggerated, for if, in the
~ that will happen is that the flame will case of mild steel, an excess of oxygen
Oxygen to 'jump' away from the tip of the nozzle, is present in the flame, this would cause
blowpipe Acetylene to cylinder leaving an airspace between it and the
(RH thread) blowpipe
oxidisation, in other words, burning of
(LH thread)
tip of the nozzle, whereas a backfire can the metal. An excess of acetylene
Gas from cylinder be a little dangerous. If a backfire does causes carburisation, which means that
(I Gas from cylinder
U enters here t enters here
Acetylene pressure regulator
occur, to be on the safe side, it is best to
Plunge the blowpipe into a bucket of
too much carbon is absorbed into the
weld, causing the metal to become too
Oxygen pressure regulator Water immediately, especially if the hard and brittle.
10 11
white cone just disappears, taking the little experimental practical welding,
same care not to overdo this. Inciden- · practising what might be called 'fusion
tally, it is advisable to check that the welding'.
flame is still perfectly neutral after This is very good practice indeed for
welding for a few moments, because as the novitiate in the art of welding and
the nozzle gets hot it tends to expand, extremely valuable in getting used to
Neutral
(equal quantities of and therefore alters the working pres- handling the blowpipe and developing
oxygen and acetylene) sure. the skill and technique so highly
Another even more accurate guide as necessary.
to whether the flame is absolutely 'Fusion welding' is simply practising
neutral or not is obtained by observing the making of straightforward 'beads'
Note the white excess the appearance of the weld metal itself of weld along a straight line, on the
acetylene flame Carburizing while it is in the molten state. The tell- metal surface, without using any filling
surrounding the rounded (excess acetylene) tale signs are as follows: wire, and must not be confused with
cone In the case of an excess of oxygen, welding proper. For our purpose we will
the pool of molten metal presents a use a small piece of sheet metal (mild
burnt-up cindery appearance, with the
accompaniment of a continuous Fig. 6 Move blowpipe to left once melt occurs.
shower of sparks. An excess of acety-
Oxidizing out the welding operation) at an angle
(excess oxygen)
lene is even more easily distinguish-
able. The pool of molten metal then of roughly 45°, but this varies enor-
presents a spotted appearance, not un- mously according to the particular job
Fig. 4 Flame types. like strawberry jam, with a lot of pips in hand, and as the welding operator
clearly visible, floating about the sur- becomes proficient his experience will
To obtain a neutral flame, proceed as face of the molten metal. tell him the best angle to suit the
follows: However, with a perfectly neutral particular working conditions applic-
Having lit the flame, continue to turn flame, the pool of molten metal should able at the time.
on more oxygen until the central acety- present a beautiful, smooth, golden The blowpipe should be held in such
lene flame appears as a white feathery colour, which could be likened to melted a position that the tip of the inner white
inner cone. Now we come to the finer butter, and should flow easily and cone is just clear of the surface of the
and final adjustment. Continue to in- smoothly, and with few sparks flying.
crease the oxygen supply very g.radu- It should be borne in mind, however, Fig. 7 Adjust speed to pool formation.
ally and carefully, until the white that the above refers only to the Direction of travel
feathery haze on the inner cone just welding of mild steel; other metals
~~
steel) say 6 x 6in. of 16 gauge thickness
disappears, leaving the white inner require different techniques as we shall set up clear of the bench, preferably on
cone sharply defined. Great care must see later on. a fire-brick. Fitting a No. 2 nozzle and
be taken not to turn on too much Always extinguish the flame by setting the working pressure gauge to
oxygen, only just sufficient to cause the turning off the acetylene valve first. 41bs. on each cylinder, and donning
white haze of acetylene to disappear; gloves and goggles, now light up the Pool~
the slightest amount more will produce flame, and having carefully adjusted it Resolidified
FUSION WELDING
an excess of oxygen, which will oxidise to neutral, apply the flame to the metal.
the weld metal. Having arrived at this point, i.e. having Now the exact position of the flame in
Alternatively, the final adjustment become fairly efficient and well prac- relation to the metal is very important.
may be made the other way round, i.e. tised in the art of obtaining a perfectly The blowpipe should be directed to
by turning off the acetylene until the neutral flame, we have arrived at the the surface of the 'parent' metal (i.e. the
white haze at the edges of the inner stage where we can proceed to try a metal on which we are about to carry
12 13
l
metal without actually touching it. The
reason for this is that this is the hottest
part of the flame, and therefore the
and a crater does develop, don't worry,
just pass over it and go on welding from
the further edge of the hole, and pro-
I metal melts. After plenty of good prac-
tice in this, the student can proceed to
something more interesting, i.e. prac-
tising beads of weld using filler wire.
most efficient position for quickly ob- ceed normally to the end of the weld. In
taining the necessary heat to create a the meantime, the crater will have For this, we proceed in exactly the same
pool of molten metal. cooled, and the operator can then come way as we did in our fusion welding
In actual fact the trainee welder back to this later and deal with it at his practice, but with the addition of filler
should endeavour to develop such skill leisure. wire.
in handling the blowpipe and hold it in Filler wire consists normally (for the
such a way that he will be able to twist it More about 'fusion welding'. As I ex- welding of mild steel) of soft iron wire,
round in his fingers so that the flame plained, this is purely for practice, and and is usually copper-coated. The pur-
can be lifted clear of the pool of molten consists in running beads of weld, pose of the copper coating is to help
metal instantly when necessary, without using any filling wire, along the absorb any excess oxygen. It is obtain-
momentarily, to avoid burning, or even surface of the metal. Keep on practising able in several sizes, as in the table.
developing a hole (or 'crater', to use the this, all the while getting more and COPPER-COATED FILLER WIRE
more technical term). When this hap- more used to handling the blowpipe,
pens, very swift action indeed has to be getting a perfectly neutral flame, and Nom. Approx. Approx.
taken, so the student will appreciate the controlling the pool of molten metal. inch inch millimetres
necessity of holding the blowpipe in After a good spell of practice in this, the .031 0.8
such a way that the flame may be student should be able to produce nice .048 1.2
whipped off immediately the first sign straight runs, or beads of weld, neatly .063 1.6
of a crater developing is observed. This and evenly, and all about the same .078 2.0
skill in handling the blowpipe is only depth of penetration. In this connection .094 2.4
attained by long practice and the it will be noticed that the molten metal .125 3.2
learner should not feel too discouraged forms itself in small waves, and this is .188 4.8 Gas welding joints on ornamental ironwork using one of the
thinner filling wires. Note that the operator is left handed.
when a crater forms, as it almost in- the appearance each bead should pre- .250 6.4
evitably will in one's early efforts. These sent, when properly executed, nice
things happen to the best of us in the straight neat even runs, as shown in Normally supplied in 36in. (910mm)
process of learning a new technical Fig. 7. To proceed with fusion welds, lengths .. ', ' ... ' ~. '' .
'·,
skill, or craft, and the only way to start at the right-hand edge of the steel (*Sometimes less easy to obtain). before in fusion welding, starting at the
achieve proficiency in any art is by plate, and hold the flame steadily con- right-hand edge of the piece of sheet
meeting these difficulties and over- centrated on one spot- just clear of the metal, and proceeding in a left-hand
coming them by constant practice. edge, and hold it there until the metal PRACTICE WELDS WITH THE USE OF direction. The only difference is that this
However, having thus been fore- begins to melt, and in another moment time having developed a good pool of
FILLER WIRE
warned, let me hasten to re-assure the or two we will observe a nice round molten metal, and with the welding
student that this need not be a disaster, pool of molten metal beginning to Using the same material as in our wire in the left hand, keep dipping the
and here is the way to deal with it. develop. When we have got this pool of fusion welding practice, i.e. 6 x 6in. x wire into the pool of molten metal as
If you have lingered a little too long, metal nicely and fully developed, we 16 gauge mild steel, with a No.3 nozzle the weld proceeds, not keeping the wire
t
or have got too big a flame, and the can start to move slowly forward, this time, and about 41bs. working pres- immersed all the time, but rather using
parent metal is overheating, and a keeping the tip of the inner white cone sure on both acetylene and oxygen, an intermittent dipping motion, the
crater looks like developing, whip off of the flame just clear of the surface of take a 3/64in. welding wire in the left object being to maintain the level of the
the flame immediately by a quick flick the plate and keeping the pool of mol- hand (incidentally, it must be under- molten metal in the pool up to the
or twist of the wrist and fingers for a ten metal about the same width and I stood that all instructions given refer to sectional thickness of the material.
second or two, just to allow the metal to depth all the time. Keep steadily right-handed welders only, left-handed Now here may I say a word about
cool a little, and then proceed normally. moving forward, the rate of progress welders will have to adapt these notes 'Penetration'. This is a very important
If, however, you are just a little too late, being governed by the rate at which the accordingly) and proceed exactly as factor in welding, and one of the things
14 15
present almost exactly the same ap- at, namely, to produce sound, 'homo- ness of the material being welded; in
Direction of travel
with blowpipe
pearance on the reverse side as on the geneous' ductile welds, which are 100% other words 100% fusion must be
welded side. That, however, will come sound and reliable throughout.
~
achieved. Incidentally (and purely in
later. The beginner cannot hope to The main purpose of these practice passing, because the novice cannot be
achieve that ideal just yet. For the welds is to impress upon the mind of expected to reach this stage until after
f~
moment we must concentrate on prac- the student the vital importance of long practice) it can be noted that in
tice welds, with the use of wire as melting the 'parent metal' which cannot order to pass the official A. I. D. Test, i.e.
described above. be too strongly emphasised. It is utterly 'Aeronautical Inspection Directorate
Support Firebrick
Continue to practise these first simple useless and futile merely to melt some Test' which the welder must take before
Sheet set-up straightforward beads with the flame welding wire on to the surface of the being allowed to work on anything
Fig. 8 Supporting the practice piece. held quite steady and the wire pre- metal; that is not welding at all. A true connected with the aircraft industry, the
weld to be 100% throughout must first point they will be concerned about
Filler rod penetrate right through the entire thick- is- 100% penetration.
which the welder must bear in mind
and be concerned about all the time. As
regards purely practice welds, we need
melts at weld
pool edge 1
not be too worried about penetration,
but when we arrive at welding proper,
the ideal to be aimed at should be to
make sure that the weld has penetrated ,!'•
through the whole material being (,,; ,. ~ .

welded, and in the case of sheet metal,
the weld should show through to the :.
: \ ~ '
other side. In other words, on inspec- '-...,
·; '\
tion the weld should be clearly visible Reinfor·~e:nent
bead
on the reverse side, and should, ideally,
'-------------------
Fig. 10 Rate of travel needs practice.
Fig. 9 Filler rod not in the flame centre.
ceding it, dipping into the pool of
molten metal at regular intervals, as the
weld proceeds. On reaching the end of
the run, extra care must be taken to
avoid burning the metal, as a crater ,,
could quickly develop here on the edge,
because of the heat being so greatly
concentrated in one small area. So what
we do here is to 'weave' the flame
from side to side a little, so as to spread
the heat over a wider area and disperse
it as much as possible, also at the same
time running a little more wire into the
weld, to build up the edge to normal.
In continuing to practise these welds
lies the surest way to success in
achieving the objective we are aiming
16
Chapter 2
t
done, we are now ready to start the
weld.
Again using a No. 2 nozzle, with the
working pressure set at 4 - 51bs. on
each of oxygen and acetylene, light the
flame, adjust to neutral. and taking up a
'.'
length of 3/64in. (1.2mm) wire, and
donning gloves and goggles, all is
Exercises with Mild Steel ready.
The first part of the operation is to
'tack' the two parts together. Tacking
plays a very important part in welding.
Fig. 11 Place tacks symmetrically.
This is done in order to hold the work
together temporarily, to enable the
welded joint proper to be carried out cooling takes place, contracts. Now it is
EXERCISE I. A BUTT WELD ON 16 a last resort, but this can be a bit risky, later. A tack is simply a small, what this contraction, or shrinking, which is
GAUGE MILD STEEL SHEET and is liable to chip and fly under the might be called a 'miniature' weld, and one of the biggest problems with which
influence of the heat, which is very in the case of the weld at present being the welder has to cope, and, as may be
Having become thoroughly practised in great. Alternatively, small steel sup- discussed, the tacks should be kept as gathered, is the cause of not a few
producing the experimental fusion ports could be used for this purpose, small as possible, i.e. the merest touch headaches. Actually, this great natural
welds described above, the operator but clearance space must be left under- of wire in the flame, just sufficient to force can be used by the skilled welder
can now pass on to something a little neath the actual line of the seam to be bridge the gap and fuse the two edges to work for him, instead of against him,
more advanced, namely, an actual welded. Also needed is some kind of together. The first tack should be placed if he uses his skill and experience to the
welded joint of two sections of mild holder or rest on which to support the right in the centre of the seam, or joint, best advantage. Once again, this know-
steel (from now on this will be referred blowpipe when not actually welding, and the second one about two inches to ledge can only be gained by actual
to as M/S which is the common practice without having to extinguish the flame. the right of the first, the third two inches experience - all the text-books in the
in machine drawings). A butt weld is a There are several devices on the market to the left of the first, and so on, world cannot take the place of this. A
welded joint in which the two sections specially designed for this purpose, following this procedure all the way book can explain the principles which
are placed edge to edge and fully fused called Economisers, which, as the name along the seam to be welded. The govern this phenomenon and start the
together by means of welding to form implies, also economise in gas. But as a reason we use this procedure in tacking learner off on the 'right lines', so to
one complete whole. makeshift expedient, just a piece of is in order to avoid distortion. This is my speak, but from then on, experience
In this exercise then, two pieces sheet metal, bent to 90° and screwed to first reference to the dreaded word alone must be the best teacher.
similar to those we used for our practice the bench, with a slot cut in the upper 'distortion', but the reader may rest To return now to our first tack. In
fusion welds, i.e. two pieces of M/S part to hold the blowpipe, will suffice; assured that it will not be the last. To making this tack, what we are actually
sheet about 16 s.w.g. x 6 x 6in., will be this saves continually putting the flame explain a little further; if we started at doing is fusing a small portion of our
needed. These, as before, should be set out and lighting again. Incidentally, the what seems at first acquaintance to be filling wire with the parent metal, which
up preferably on a piece of fire-brick, if temperature of the oxy-acetylene flame the natural way, i.e. at the right-hand in this case, is our two pieces of sheet
available, but the important thing is that is approximately 3000°C, and the edge of the metal plates, we would find metal. As soon as these - wire and
they must be raised clear of the bench. melting point of M/S is approximately
as we tacked along the seam from right parent metal - are fused together, we
This is essential, because if not the 1450°C; the melting points of other to left that the two edges would begin withdraw the flame from the work, and
bench, being steel (obviously a wooden metals will be dealt with in later chap-
to close inwards towards each other, as soon as we have done this, what
bench is absolutely 'out') would conduct ters. It is important now to get the two until before long they would actually be happens? The tack immediately begins
the heat away, thus greatly chilling the pieces of metal nicely lined up together,
overlapping and over-riding each other. to cool off, and as it does so, the weld
work, and so defeating your efforts to with the edges exactly parallel, and
The cause of this distortion is the metal in the tack very quickly contracts,
raise the metal to a welding heat. An level with each other, and leaving a gap
simple fact that iron or steel when and in doing so, it draws together the
ordinary building brick could be used as of about V32in. (.8mm) between. This
heated expands, and later, when two edges of the pieces of sheet metal.
18 1.9
I,
.1' '
.
Now, if we were to proceed in what two pieces of sheet metal perfectly flame unwaveringly in line with the sent an exactly similar appearance to
seems to be the natural way, namely, to tacked together, quite straight, and in seam, while moving forward along it the welded surface with 100% pene-
place the next tack about an inch further perfect alignment, ready for welding. from right to left, keeping pace with the tration right through the material. How-
along, the effect of this second tack Just one more point in regard to the pool of molten metal, and feeding the ever, this is something the beginner
would be to draw the edges still more above, it is important that the flame wire into it as required to maintain the cannot hope to achieve at this stage;
closely together, and the next one still should be 'whipped clear' of the metal level of the metal up to that of the rest this desirable result can only be
more so, and so on with each succes- plate after completion of the tack, in of the material. There is no point in attained after considerable practice and
sive tack, until, long before we reach the order to keep the plates as cool as building it up higher than this, as any experience. Therefore, the thing to do
end of our weld, the two edges have possible, thus limiting the distortion as more will be superfluous and probably now is to continue practising these
started to over-ride, and very soon are much as possible. In other words, as only have to be ground off; it will not experimental butt welds on sheet metal
actually overlapping. If we were to soon as each tack is placed, lift the make the weld any stronger. of varying thicknesses as much as pos-
continue along the seam in this way, by flame clear of the plate immediately, Another point is the speed of travel. sible. With constant practice of this
the time we reached the further end our thus allowing it to cool before pro- This is governed by the rate at which kind, the operator should eventually be
two pieces of sheet metal will have
become so hopelessly distorted and out
of shape that the whole work would be
ceeding to the next tack.
Now to complete the weld proper.

I the metal melts, and as the weld pro-
ceeds, it will be found that the heat will
gradually build up and increase, so
able to achieve the ideal.
EXERCISE II. SINGLE VEE BUTT WELD

useless. ThErretore, instead of starting First, reverse the plate in order to carry that the speed of travel may have to be
the first tack at the edge of the material, I increased slightly. On reaching the After plenty of practice on the above
out the weld on the opposite side.
we place the first tack in the centre of further end, it may be necessary to lift types of welds on sheet metal, the
Beginning at the extreme right-hand
the seam. Then by placing the tacks the flame off momentarily in order to operator should now be ready to pass
edge (a left-hand operator must, of
alternatively on each side of the centre avoid actual burning, and in fact it may on to attempt a single vee butt weld on
course, reverse this procedure) of the
the heat is spread evenly along the be found necessary to run a little extra thicker material, say Vain. M/S.
seam apply the flame exactly as when
seam, and the expansion and con- tacking, taking care not to burn the wire into the weld at this point, to build
traction of each tack is balanced by its up the edge to normal. A further point Edge Preparation. To butt weld two
edge, bearing in mind that the exposed
opposite the whole way along the ~- too, here. After welding for a minute or pieces of this material by the oxy-
edge of the plate will obviously melt
seam. When completed, we have our so, obviously the nozzle, becoming acetylene process (commonly called
much quicker than the material further
heated, expands, so it is as well to check simply 'Gas Welding') it is necessary to
in from the edge. Establish a pool of
Fig. 12 Leftward welding in progress. molten metal as before, and then feed the flame soon after starting, to make bevel the edges (or 'chamfer' them, to
sure it is still absolutely neutral. use the normal term). This is done so
in the filler wire. Once the pool of
molten metal is established, the opera- In carrying out this weld, the opera- that when the two edges are placed or
tor's object should be to penetrate the 'butted' together they form a V-shaped
tor proceeds along the line of the seam,
material as deeply as possible without groove. The purpose of this Vis to allow
the wire held in the left hand preceding
the flame, the tip of it just dipping into actually burning the metal and causing greater penetration, in fact, without the
a crater to form. If this does happen, V, 100% penetration would be impos-
the pool of molten metal at regular
and it is bound to do so in the sible in thicker material. Actually, any-
intervals as the weld proceeds, the
beginner's first attempts, do not panic, thing up to Vain. (say 3mm) in thickness
flame pointing exactly along the line of
the weld. but as mentioned earlier, simply leave it can be welded without any V or any
and continue with the weld; you can edge preparation, by simply using a
There are several different
small gap of about V1sin. (1.6mm) be-
'techniques' or methods of welding; always come back later, when it has
cooled off, to repair it. tween the edges, which acts instead
one already hinted at is the 'weaving'
method, in which the flame is moved On completion, the weld should pre- Fig. 13 Single vee edge preparation.
from side to side as the weld pro- sent an appearance of a series of evenly
0~
I, gresses, and so on, but this will be dealt dispersed fine waves, the same width
with later. For the present, the beginner the whole way along the seam, and to
need only concern himself with a
simpler method. That is, to hold the
be passed as a perfectly 'Homogeneous
Ductile Weld' the underside should pre-
~ (I·S-3mmJ
1---us-Jmml
20 21.
Gas welding a single vee butt
weld in approximately 114 in. mild
whole width of the vee. In this, the
steel, using the rightward flame is moved across from side to side
method. of the V while the filler wire may be held
still while preceding the flame, or it may
,.:• be moved across the vee from side to
Sealing run
side alternately with the flame.
Fig. 15 Sealing ron (after main weld).
When the weld is completed, the
underside should present practically
. :t. the same appearance as the top surface
t '',
thus proving that complete penetration
;·; • i, ·:· has been achieved.
,J:;
However, it is not to be expected that
the beginner will be able to accomplish
this straight away; quite a bit of practice
.,' is needed to be able to do this, so if, on
inspecting the underside the weld
deposit does not show through, then a Fig. 16 Weaving technique.
of the V. However, this is not always volves less distortion, because the heat 'sealing run' (or 'pass') may be carried
possible because of limits in dimension, though of greater intensity (the tem- out on the underside, to ensure full
etc. Therefore, for the purpose of our perature of the electric arc is approxi- fusion, and that it is perfectly sealed up.
In this connection it should be borne in Direction of welding
exercise, we will prepare the edges of mately 6000°C) is far more localised and ~c::JCJCJ
our '/ein. M/S plate for a single vee butt confined solely to the area of the weld, mind that in many cases a weld may
Travel of
weld by filing or grinding them to an whereas in the case of oxy-acetylene, have to be exposed to the weather on filler rod
angle of 30° on each edge. But we do the heat tends to be diffused over a outside work and therefore it would be
not chamfer (or bevel) them to a fine wide area. essential that a perfect seal should be
knife-edge. We stop short of that, and achieved on the underside in order to
just leave a slightly blunt 'nose' on each EXERCISE Ill. A SIMPLE DOUBLE VEE make it impervious to water.
edge. Thus, when the two edges are BUTT ON MILD STEEL As mentioned earlier, material of
lined up together, they form a V of 60° '/sin. (3mm) and over is usually welded
For this, proceed as follows. by the electric arc method, but if for one
angle for most of their depth, but with
the bottom fraction vertical-sided.
The weld itself is carried out in the
Setting up the plates in exactly the
same way as in Exercise I, proceed to
I : reason or another- perhaps because of
no e.lectric power, or no welding
Leftward welding
tack in exactly the same way, except mach me is available- it is found neces-
same way as in the following exercise.
that in this case we shall need a slightly sary to gas-weld material over 57in.
Generally speaking, in these days, any- Direction of welding
larger nozzle, a No. 5; also slightly (6mm) then the 'rightward' method is
thing over 'lain. (and, indeed, much
larger filler wire, say Y,sin. (1.6mm) or used; that is, the weld is commenced at Travel of c:J c:JC:H:::::=>
thinner material as well) is welded by 5/64in. (2mm) and a slightly increased
the left-hand edge and proceeds from filler rod
the electric arc process which is ap-
proximately six times faster, and in-
working pressure, to about 51bs. on
both oxygen and acetylene, again
left to right, as opposed to the tech-
nique used in welding sheet metal.
000001f,
making sure, of course, that the flame is (A left-handed operator would reverse
absolutely neutral. Having completed this of course). The rightward method
tacking, the technique to be followed is involves a slightly different technique,
exactly the same as in Exercise I, except but is basically the same, except that
that it will now be found necessary to the flame precedes the wire. However,
use the 'weaving' method, in order to it is not proposed to include this (Right-
Fig. 14 Double V butt weld. achieve full fusion right across the ward Welding) or more than a brief Fig. 17 Rightward and leftward techniques.
22
.
1.
:
'
'
Diameter Fig. 18 Types of

corner joint.
of Edge preparation
welding
rod
Less than 1·2-1·6

0·9 mm mm
(20 swg) <h--rr
in) 1·6 mm
(n in) mention of Vertical or Overhead oxygen and 41bs. acetylene. There are
welding within the scope of this book, several ways of setting these up in
as it is not intended to be more than an preparation for tacking, one of the
0·9-3 1 ·6-3 2·4 mm introductory manual to the art of simplest being just to stand them up
mm mm
!$:%%/}'~010/M w&,, ·%$»;,;<· ·· ·. l (+.in) welding for the complete novice. together in the form of an inverted 'V' at
(20 swg (tt-! an angle of roughly 90°, though the
-!in) in) I 90-100 3 mm EXERCISE IV. CORNER WELDS exact angle is not important. The only
0·8-3 mm ( n-! in) (!in) difficulty with this method is to get the
This is a very common type of weld,
and one which the average welder two pieces to stay leaning against each
3-5 mm 3-3·8 75-90 4mm other until one can get a tack on, but
would meet with almost daily in the
mm ( fi in) ordinary course of sheet metal fabrica- with patience it can be done and in the
(t-fr (t-b absence of special equipment, it is the
tion work as, for instance, to give the
in) in) 60-75 4·8 mm most common for example, an ordinary only way. However, there are several
( fr in) devices available. One is a special
...
box-like assembly. The form of joint can
'corner clamp', and with the aid of one
be a fusion of the edges of two sheets
without edge preparation (thin sheet), a of these the job is made very much
5-8·2 3-3·8 50-60 6·4 mm easier, as this kind of clamp enables the
~ 90° butt weld with chamfered edge on
mm mm (!in)
(fr-fr (t--b the butting sheet (thicker materials), an two parts to be held together vertically
in) in) I Ol 35-40 8 mm internal fillet (thin) or an external fillet edge to edge at 90° until tacking is
3-3·8 mm (!-if in) c:
:.0
(f. in) (thick), Fig. 18. (Fillet welds are the
Qi subject of Exercise V). We will take as
3: an exercise just part of an ordinary
8·2-15 3·8-6·5 '2 30-35 9·5 mm equal-sided cube-shaped box in 16
mm mm "'s (i in) gauge (1.6mm) sheet metal with a
1:
( fr-i (-fi--! ,go fusion-welded joint.
in) in) 0::
22-25 In this, the normal method of fabrica-
tion would be to fold the main part of
the body, i.e. the base and two ends, in
19-22 15 mm
15 mm 6·5mm the folding machine, and then to join up
(i in)
the two sides to the main body by
I
(i in) (!in)
and over 15-16 19 mm means of welding. However, for the
(lin) purpose of a first exercise in practising
corner welds we will first simply take
10-12 25 mm two pieces of M/S sheet 6 x in. similar
(1 in) to those used in our first exercise in butt
welds, and use the same size nozzle,
EDGE PREPARATION FOR MILD STEEL SHEET AND PLATE No. 2, and working pressure, 41bs. of Fig. 19 Horizontal corner joint.
24 25
completed. Even a vice can be a great weld, but the operator should get plenty mencing welding proper, and in the Fig. 20 Too much heat,
or wrong blowpipe angle,
he1p if one is available. One part can be of good practice in these until really order I have described. By following can cause undercut.
held vertically in the vice, and the other proficient in carrying them out, because this procedure, the forces of expansion
held with a pair of pliers or tongs, edge he will find this of great benefit to him and contraction are dissipated and any
to edge and in alignment at about goo in the course of his welding career. danger of locked-up stresses is
angle. It is then perfectly easy by avoided; result, no distortion.
applying the flame directly to the corner Complete Box Fabrication. Coming It will be gathered from the above
to fuse the metal at that point, without back now to our box fabrication, as that the process of tacking in the correct edges of the metal sheets as the goo
using any filler wire, to form a tack, and stated previously, the main body is order is almost as important as the faces of the corner into which the weld
once the first tack is made, the rest is usually folded in a folding machine, but actual welding itself. deposit is laid.
easy. There are also magnetic clamps in many cases a folding machine is not While on the subject, I would like to For this exercise a simple fillet weld
available which make positioning available. In that case, each section will commend another extremely good between two sheets of metal will be
simpler still. have to be welded separately. To do method of tacking sheet metal sections made. Take two pieces of M/S similar to
Once the tacking operation is com- this, tack the two ends to the base, which, however, can only be done with those we have used in our earlier exer-
pleted, place the assembled part on the following the procedure outlined in the aid of an assistant. In this method cises. Set them up for tacking exactly as
bench in an inverted V position and Exercise Ill, but do not weld yet. Now the assistant (wearing a pair of light- in Exercise IV for the corner weld (see
complete the weld using the same lay this tacked section (i.e. the base with tinted goggles) holds the two sections
technique as in our practice fusion the two ends) on the bench, on its together edge to edge and in alignment,
welds, without using any filler wire, to edges. Cut a strip of thin sheet metal, using a pair of tongs or pliers in each
form a bead of weld along the whole and lay it across the top. This is purely hand. The starting point is the corner at Filler
corner joint. It is as well, however, to to support the next (side) section, which the welder's right hand and the two rod
.).~;.__--Blowpipe
have ready, in one's left hand, a length we now lay on the top with the edges of pieces of metal are manipulated to
of filler wire in case of need, in this this in alignment with the ends and the bring them together at the exact point
case size 3/64in. (1.2mm) so that if at any base. Make sure that the bottom edge is at which the welder is tacking at any
point the weld deposit falls below the in perfect alignment with the edge of given moment. Thus, the assistant can
full depth required, then the wire is at the base, and very, very slightly over- move the parts up or down as required
hand to make up the deficiency. It must lapping. Now proceed to tack in the for each tack, as the welder progresses
be kept in mind that the depth of weld usual way, placing a tack about every towards the open ends of the seam, the
deposit must be maintained the whole inch. It helps a great deal to get a tight assistant watching closely and position-
length of the joint, consistently and joint if you keep a light hammer handy ing the two sections together for each
evenly; there must be no weak points with which to tap each tack smartly tack in turn, while the metal is still hot.
anywhere as one weak point could while it is hot; this draws the two edges This method eliminates all danger of
cause a flaw, and the weld would not be really tightly together, thus making the distortion, and greatly facilitates the
100% homogeneous. job of welding very much easier. operation of tacking, but of course it
Also, on inspecting the underneath Remember, the procedure is to tack depends solely on the availability of a
side, the penetration should be visible only the base edges first, leaving the skilled assistant.
and just showing through. On the other ends still open. Then having got the
hand, if the metal is built up too high on base edges tacked, proceed to tack the
the corner weld, this is only causing ends, starting from the bottom corner, EXERCISE V. FILLET WELDS
more unnecessary work in cleaning off, and working towards the open ends. A fillet weld consists of a bead (or
which may result in some variety of Repeat for the opposite side. It is very beads) of weld deposit laid inside a
uncomplimentary remarks from the important to keep to this procedure, corner made by two components
person who has to do it - it could be because it is the only way to defeat our assembled usually (but not necessarily)
that the welder himself is landed with old enemy, distortion. This is a good at goo. No edge preparation (i.e. cham-
the job! The above exercise is, of course general rule to follow in all welding -to fering) is required. An outside corner
just an elementary example of a corner tack up everything first, before com- joint (Fig. 18) is a fillet, using the two Fig. 21 Welding a square T fillet.
26
I
I
I
Fig. 19) and tack up in the same way. The great danger to avoid in fillet
I
After tacking is completed, turn the welds is 'undercut'; this is something to Chapter 3
work over so that it is set up on the be avoided in all welding, but particu-
bench in the form of a V right way up, larly so in fillets. Undercutting is caused
using any odd pieces of metal to sup- by having too big a flame, and therefore
port it. For a fillet weld one usually finds too much heat, with too large a nozzle.
that a slightly larger nozzle is required As can be seen from the illustration
together with heavier filler wire, about (Fig. 20) this causes the area at the
V1sin. (1.6mm) size. So, fitting a No. 3
nozzle, with the working pressure set at
41bs. of oxygen and the same of
edges of the weld to become burnt,
which obviously creates a weak point in
the structure. At the same time there
Gas Welding Other Metals
acetylene, and using Y,sin. copper- must also be completely 100% fusion
coated filler wire, we are ready. all the way along the course of the weld.
• STAINLESS STEEL stainless steel 6 x 6in. x 16g and set

them up as that for M/S sheet metal,
Stainless steel sheet lends itself very described in Exercise I. The flame must
• well to welding by oxy-acetylene, or, be completely neutral; on no account
· alternatively, it can be brazed. There are should a carburising flame (excess
various kinds of stainless steel, and a acetylene) be used. With a working
Portable gas welding equipment in use to repair a narrow boat's bow rail. slightly different technique is involved pressure of41bs. and a No.2 size nozzle,
in the welding of this metal, including take a length of Y,sin. filler wire appro-
the use of a special flux, with the correct priate to the particular type of stainless
filler wire, for each particular type of steel being welded, heat the end slightly
stainless steel. The manufacturers sup- and then dip it into the flux, which will
ply all types necessary for niobium, adhere to the end of the wire in the form
molybdenum or heat resistant types of of a slight tuft. Now tack up in the usual
stainless steels, etc. way, then brush the appropriate flux
As stated in the Preface, this book (paste flux is recommended) on the
does not set out to deal in great depth underside of the seam.
I~. with specialised subjects, such as this

~ for instance, and having regard to the
· multiplicity of alloys of this and other
metals, it will be understood that ex-
haustive treatment of them cannot be
The actual technique of manipulating
flame and wire is slightly different from
that of M/S. In the case of stainless
steel, the filler wire is held still while
immersed in the pool of molten metal,
undertaken. The reader is recom- while the flame is moved in wide
mended to manufacturers' standard sweeps across the width of the seam as
text-books for detailed information on the weld progresses from right to left
specialised applications, etc., of the along the seam. Once started, do not on
various alloys. any account stop at any point during
For the benefit of present readers, the course of the weld, as this may
however, I will briefly describe carrying cause cracking; the weld should be
out a simple butt weld on 16g stainless completed as quickly as possible for the
steel sheet metal purely as a practical same reason. Also, on completion of
exercise. the weld, the flame should be with-
For the purpose, use two pieces of drawn slowly to avoid sudden cooling,
28
which could also be a cause of cracking.
This is the main thing to watch out for in
welding stainless steel, but by with-
much better. A third form of cast iron is
discussed later in the book.
The technique of welding cast iron is
last lmn, s.y V.- o/,.(n. (6- Bmm) thkk·
ness, which is completely open at the
ends, i.e. not part of some other casting,
heat in a specially prepared muffle
furnace, bringing the whole casting to a
high and even temperature over all and
drawing the flame gradually the metal a little different from that of mild steel. and therefore should have no locked-up welding while still hot, then replacing in
has time to normalise itself. To sum- Firstly, we use what is called a 'car- stresses and is also perfectly free to the furnace to be cooled down slowly.
marise, weld as quickly as possible; do burising' flame, i.e. a flame with a slight expand when heated. The melting point First heat the end of the filler rod and
not stop during the progress of the excess of acetylene. See Fig. 22, in of cast iron is much lower than that of dip into flux. After sufficiently pre-
weld, and withdraw the flame slowly, which the lowest one is what is sought. mild steel (the actual figures are: mild heating, the work is now ready for
passing it over the area of the weld To obtain a carburising flame, having steel melts at about 1450°C, and cast tacking. To do this, raise the leftward
once or twice, allowing the metal to set the flame at neutral as before ex- iron approximately 1250°C), so a No.3 end of the joint to a welding heat, and
cool slowly and to normalise itself. plained, we now open the acetylene will be found adequate for this thick- here the operator must be rather care-
After completion of the weld, the flux control valve a tiny fraction more, until ness, setting the pressure gauge at 41bs. ful, because cast iron does not readily
must be removed, partly by chipping, a slight 'feather' is visible at the end of or 51bs. on both cylinders, and using the show signs of melting until it is in fact
and partly by the use of hot water and a the inner white cone. Not too much - suggested filler rod. almost at melting point. It is therefore
wire brush. Afterwards the weld may be just enough to be visible. necessary to keep a sharp eye open to
ground, buffed or polished, until it is The filler rod for cast iron must be To prepare the Material. The edges of detect the first signs, and to be ready
completely invisible. high in silicon content, and for this the two pieces to be welded should be with the filler rod to insert into the pool
purpose the author recommends the ground to chamfer angle of 30° on both of molten metal as soon as it forms. The
CAST IRON
British Oxygen Co's Aida Super Silicon, sides, thus forming a double-V when idea is to keep poking and prodding at
There are two main kinds of cast iron, or for better quality cast iron, Ferrotectic. placed together in alignment. Note that the metal with the filler rod until the
white cast and grey cast. White cast is Also, a special flux is necessary - Cast the edges are not ground to an absolute parent metal is found to be melting, and
very hard and brittle, and is therefore Iron Welding Flux, also supplied by knife-edge, but a small section is left then the rod must continue to be used
not so easy to weld, and also cracks manufacturers. untouched, forming a 'nose'. This helps with a puddling, stirring motion, while
very easily under the influence of heat. Now to get down to the actual in the case of a broken casting to line up keeping the flame still, and brioging the
Grey cast is one of the easiest of all welding technique. For experimental the two parts, so that they come to- gap at this point until a fairly strong tack
metals to weld, and being softer, is not purposes we will take a simple straight- gether exactly as they were before is formed. This puddling action is
so brittle, and therefore resists cracking forward butt weld on good quality grey being broken. It is very important to do necessary in order to avoid blow-holes,
this in a fractured casting, because it which are very liable to form in cast
I seldom, if ever, breaks in a straight line; iron, because of the various gases
if a little of the broken edge is left which are generated during the welding
untouched in the centre of the V, then it process. The puddling, stirring action
OXIDIZING FLAME An oxidizing flame is necessary
(excess oxygen) for welding brass will be found easy to line up the two closes up the blow-holes as they form.
• parts so that the 'grains' dovetail into If this were not done, the resultant weld
* each other exactly as in the original would be found to be porous. Having
'l casting. Having got them lined up, and now formed a fairly stout tack at the
~ using the carburising flame as de- leftward end of the joint, the operator
'
~ p re-~eat
NEUTRAL FLAME
(equal quantities
For steel, stainless steel,
cast iron. copper,
#
tshcribed a?o vbe,
1 hthefl whole of
e matena 1 y p aymg t e ame over
\;. the whole area for a few minutes. In a
now moves to the rightward end to
commence the weld proper. Note that it
is not necessary to place a large num-
oxygen and acetylene) aluminium, etc.
~. case such as we are at present dealing ber of tacks as in mild steel, because in
with, it is not absolutely necessary to cast iron expansion and contraction is
bring the material to red heat, as the minimal. Proceed with the weld in the
two parts are perfectly free to expand, manner described, from right to left,
CARBURIZING FLAME A small excess of acetylene
(excess acetylene)
and are not locked-up in any way. In the stirring and puddling with the filler rod
is necessary for hardfacing
Fig. 22 case of a large casting, however, it as the weld progresses steadily along to
Flame types. would probably be necessary to pre- the leftward end of the joint; continue
so 31
,I
I until the weld is completed and full remove this, because it forms on the facturers also supply suitable any signs of the approaching melting
.I penetration achieved. The flame should surface again instantly. It is for this aluminium welding wire for the pur- point, except perhaps a slight darkening
be withdrawn slowly, and then played reason that a flux is necessary, to pose), of V1sin. (1.6mm) thickness. The shade of grey. This is one of the things
over the completed weld area, to allow dissolve this oxide film. correct flame required is a very soft which make ali welding difficult at first.
it to cool slowly to avoid cracking, for The number of alloys of aluminium one, with a very slight haze of acetylene The only way by which the operator
' i several minutes, gradually withdrawing are legion. (An alloy of any metal is a showing just a tiny white feather visible can detect the vital moment is to keep a
the flame. combination of that metal with other at the end of the inner white cone. The close and unremitting watch on the
May I repeat, when the weld is com- elements). Most of these alloys of object of this is to eliminate all possi- metal all the time; the first visible sign
pleted, great care must be taken in aluminium are outside the present bility of an oxidising flame. of the approaching melting point is
cooling. The flame must not be taken scope and will not be dealt with. The Using the same working pressure and when the flux starts to run, i.e. changes
off suddenly, and the idea of playing the author proposes to confine himself the No. 1 nozzle, heat the end of the from a powder to a liquid form, then, a
flame over the weld is in order to slow solely to pure aluminium, dealing with filler wire (aluminium) and dip the end little after, the ali begins to take on that
up the cooling process as much as the welding of this material, which to into the flux. Then, holding the rod darker shade of grey. Incidentally, have
possible. All draughts of cold air from the uninitiated can prove very difficult. upright in a vertical position with the the filler rod in your left hand (the right
open doors or windows should be It is my purpose to try and help the fluxed end upwards, by playing the hand of course in the case of the left-
rigorously excluded during welding of beginner over these first hurdles, be- flame up and down the fluxed end of handed welder), and keep flicking the
cast iron. If cast iron is cooled too cause it is the first attempts which are the rod, it will be found that the flux will surface of the metal while waiting for
quickly after welding, there is not only the most difficult, and it very often liquefy and run down the wire in an the melting point to be reached, be-
the danger of cracking, but the metal happens that because he feels frus- even film, thus obviating the necessity cause this is one of the ways which
will also tend to become hard and trated, the novice tends to become of otherwise having to continually be helps the operator to tell when this vital
brittle, and therefore less machinable. discouraged. It is with this in mind that dipping into the flux. A small point here moment is going to occur. By con-
This slow cooling process is known as the author, remembering his own far- - always keep the Alotectic flux tin stantly flicking the surface of the metal
'annealing', and if this is properly off early efforts, proposes to deal with tightly closed when not in use, as the with the filler rod, the operator is given
carried out, the resulting welded joint this in rather greater detail, with the flux very quickly deteriorates on ex- a clue as to the moment of melting
should be easily machinable, and after object of helping the learner over this posure to the air. point, and so is ready to plunge the filler
grinding and on inspection, no blow- critical initial period, because, once over Practise a little of the fusion welding rod into the pool of molten metal as
holes should be visible. these first hurdles, he will then find it first, exactly in the same way as in the soon as this develops. However, at the
Afterwards, the work should be fairly plain sailing, so much in fact, that I earlier exercises in mild steel, except moment we are only practising fusion
buried in a bucket of sand or similar can assure him that he will then actually that in the case of aluminium it is welds, so not much filler metal will be
material until completely cold. very much enjoy welding this beautiful advisable to pre-heat the metal first, by necessary with these. Now, the opera-
metal (however wildly impossible that passing the flame over the whole of the tor who has never welded aluminium
may seem at the moment). First then, surface for a few minutes beforehand. before will almost inevitably find him-
WELDING ALUMINIUM
let us try a little experimental 'fusion' This is because aluminium is such a self causing the metal to collapse into
Aluminium is a beautiful metal to weld, welding to start with, to get ourselves good conductor of heat that the heat holes or craters at first, and this can be
and in some ways one of the easiest, accustomed to the feel of this metal. has to spread over the whole surface very discouraging, but here let me
and it lends itself very well to welding For this purpose, a piece of 16g before it will melt at one particular entreat the welder not to lose heart. All
indeed. But it has two characteristics aluminium sheet metal will suffice, (say point. A good method of gauging the welders have had to pass through this
which cause some difficulty. One is the about 6 x 6in. in size). Setting the temperature of the metal is to simply difficult period, but if you persevere
low melting point of this metal. working pressure at approximately rub a match-stick, or any small piece of success will crown your efforts.
Aluminium melts at about 660oC which 41bs. on each cylinder, we shall need wood, or a piece of soap, on the surface
is very low compared to that of steel or nozzle size No. 1, some flux (that recom- of the metal. If this leaves a brown Exercise in Butt Welds. Using say, 16
cast iron, for instance. The second mended is 'Aiotectic' aluminium mark, then we know that the 'ali' is hot gauge thickness to start with, cut a
characteristic which causes difficulty is welding flux), a few lengths of enough to start welding. The big couple of pieces of about 6 x 3in. and
the film of oxide which is always pre- aluminium wire (the author's practice difference between ali and mild steel is line them up in the same way as we did
sent on the surface of aluminium. No has usually been to cut a few strips that, unlike steel or iron, it does not with butt welds in mild steel. Proceed to
amount of filing or wire-brushing can from the original sheet, but manu- change colour with heating, or show tack in the same way, i.e. the first tack in
32 33
I Cleaning off the flux is highly impor- allowed to cool down slowly and uni-
the centre, and then placing tacks about has carried out beforehand. It will
"every inch or so, alternately, at the left probably be necessary to build up the tant: it must be thoroughly removed formly.
and the right. Now, starting just clear of edge with extra filler wire to avoid a after welding aluminium, as if not it will
the extreme edge of the metal, with the crater. eventually corrode very severely. To
WELDING OF BRASS
rod already fluxed and the metal well The weld procedure itself is similar to clean off, thoroughly brush the com-
pre-heated, start with the flicking that required for welding mild steel, pleted weld with a wire brush in hot Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc in
motion already described, and as soon except that the operator will find that he water, until all traces are removed. This various proportions, according to
as the flux liquefies, be ready for the will not have to do much weaving, i.e. is the simplest method, and indeed, specific requirements. Its melting point
moment of melting. Instantly this moving the flame from side to side, but probably the only method available to is around 900°C (approx. 1652°F). Brass
occurs, dip the rod into the pool of rather keep the flame steady while the average reader, but it is quite suffi- is a very easily weldable metal, the only
molten metal and proceed to follow moving forward, almost drawn along cient for ordinary purposes, the excep- danger to guard against being the oc-
along the line of the seam. One of the by the flicking motion of the preceding tion being anything intended to contain curence of blow-holes, which are
great secrets of success in ali welding is filler wire. So to recapitulate: starting or cook foods. These must be cleaned caused by gases generated by the heat
to start a little away from the extreme just clear of the edge of the metal with caustic soda and then nitric acid, of the welding. To avoid these, the
edge of the metal, as otherwise if one and as soon as the aluminium melts followed by thorough washing in clean operator uses a puddling action with
starts directly on the edge of the metal it holding the flame steadily moving for- water. the filler rod in a similar manner to that
,j,'
immediately burns away, with woeful ward, while at the same time dipping used in the welding of cast iron. The
results. The fully skilled operator will of the filler wire into the pool of molten best filler rod in my experience is Sit-
WELDING CAST ALUMINIUM
course avoid burning, and this advice is metal as required with a sort of bronze.
designed to help the not-so-skilled, and 'dragging' action, it will be found that The technique for this is exactly similar
those inexperienced in aluminium the molten aluminium will form itself to that of welding wrought aluminium, Type of flame This should be slightly
welding. The little bit left unwelded at into evenly distributed waves similar to except that a special filler rod is re- oxidising, that, with a slight excess of
the extreme edge can easily be returned that of mild steel. quired, and preferably the special flux oxygen. The purpose of this is that a
to later and welded when the sur- It is worth stressing that it is inevi- for this. It will be found quite easy to slight excess of oxygen causes a film
rounding metal has cooled. Another table that the beginner will find craters weld, using a slight puddling motion of oxide (or skin) to form on the surface
secret is in the flicking motion men- developing with great suddenness, with the rod, similar to that used in the of the metal while being welded, which
tioned above. By doing this, not only is which is very disconcerting, but don't case of cast iron. Also as with cast iron, helps to contain the gases, and so to
the operator more ready to start the be discouraged; simply pass over that aluminium castings must be pre-heated prevent blow-holes occurring. Also, a
weld at the moment the ali melts, but area, leave it to cool off, and come back but must be carefully supported on bars slightly smaller nozzle size than would
this flicking of the surface with the filler to it later. Proceed from the far side of or blocks, so that the weight is evenly be used for an equivalent thickness of
rod helps to break the skin or film of the crater and on completion of the run, distributed, and in no place can the mild steel is needed, because brass
oxide, which, as mentioned earlier, is come back to the damaged part and casting sag or droop when heated. melts at a much lower temperature than
one of the main bugbears of welding deal with it at leisure. There are far The right temperature for the pre- M/S.
aluminium. Breaking this skin allows more advanced techniques and equip- heating can be gauged by the melting Before commencing welding, heat
the operator to proceed immediately ment for the welding of aluminium of a spot of soft solder. When this melts the end of the filler wire in the flame,
with the weld as soon as melting point and all its many alloys, such as the the pre-heating temperature is about and then dip this into the tin of flux.
is reached. Intense concentration is argon-arc and C02 processes, and of right. The flame adjustment for Continue to do this at intervals as and
necessary in these first vital moments, course most large engineering firms aluminium is the same as for wrought when necessary. The technique of
but once started, he will find the metal and works now use these processes, aluminium, with just the merest haze of welding brass is quite simple. Having
flowing smoothly and evenly, and quite and have done so since about 1950. excess acetylene. This is really to en- heated up the metal until a good pool of
speedily. As the weld proceeds, and Even many small workshops do so, sure that there is no excess oxygen molten metal is formed, the operator
the heat begins to build up, the operator because the great advantage is that no present. The flame is kept steadily on then plunges in the flux-coated filler rod
may find that he has to increase the flux is required and this provides a the weld, with no weaving. and with a slightly puddling, stirring
speed of advance progressively as he tremendous saving, both in time and After welding, all traces of flux must motion, proceeds in a similar manner to
1.'; nears the end of the run, but this labour, as well as the provision of acid be thoroughly cleaned off, to prevent that for cast iron, all the while keeping a
depends on how much pre-heating he baths, etc. corrosion. Also the casting must be sharp look-out for blow-holes forming.
34 35
.
It goes without saying that complete bevel is necessary, and for plate over
I '
. penetration must be achieved through- this, a double vee is advisable, with a Chapter 4
out. When completed, the rough surface gap of about 3Asin. (5mm). Success in
can easily be machined away, or even welding copper depends a great deal I,
smoothed off with an ordinary electric upon the speed with which it is carried
sander, when all signs of the weld will out. The edges of the joint should be
disappear, and the resulting job will preheated by the blowpipe for a short
appear as one solid brass formation, time prior to welding and the filler rod
with the weld virtually invisible. of copper should be appropriate to the
thickness of the material. Brazing·
WELDING COPPER Welding Technique For normal thick-
nesses of sheet, or plate, the downhand
Copper lends itself very well to welding,
although very strong joints can also be technique is advisable, using the left-
achieved by brazing this metal. As is ward method. Brush flux on both sides
well known, one of the chief charac- of the material, and also on to the rod.
The flame is given a slightly weaving Brazing is a very handy and useful dull) and using a neutral flame, proceed
teristics of copper is its very high ther- method of joining two metals together, with a rubbing action with the filler rod,
mal conductivity - it conducts heat motion while the filler rod is kept in the
pool of molten metal. It is best to its advantage being that it does not keeping the flame steadily moving for-
more rapidly than any other common require so much heat, and therefore it is ward, but not weaving it. The filler
metal with the exception of silver. Its commence the weld at a point about a
third of the length of the seam from the useful in cases when too much would metal will be found to flow evenly
thermal conductivity is ten times that of be harmful to delicate components, along the whole length ofthe seam, and
lead, six times that of iron or steel, and end of the joint (i.e. the finishing end),
and then weld to the end of the seam. such as fine instrument work. Indeed it can be helped along by occasionally
almost twice that of aluminium. For this is often used in much heavier work, and sweeping the flame along the line of the
reason it is necessary to fit a much Then, starting from a point about two
thirds from the end of the seam, con- in quite heavy engineering structures, seam to encourage the flow of the
larger size nozzle to the blowpipe than where there is no particularly heavy molten brazing metal, which will form
would be used for the same thickness tinue to the beginning of the first weld,
then finish off the remaining part, by stress involved. It can also be very itself into a smooth and even fillet. On
in, say, mild steel, and flame adjust- useful in the case of cast iron, as it lends completion, the flux can easily be
ment must be absolutely neutral, other- starting from the beginning of the joint.
This sounds a bit complicated, I know, itself very well to this metal, provided it cleaned off by plunging into water
11,' wise porosity (blowholes) may be for- is absolutely clean and bright at the while still hot and by chipping. Inciden-
I med by trapped gases. Before welding but it is known as the 'backstepping'
method. The idea is to spread the heat surfaces to be joined. The same applies tally, it may be relevant to remind
copper it must be thoroughly cleaned to brazing generally; the surfaces to be readers that plunging hot brass (and
and degreased, by using a good grease so that distortion is avoided or reduced
to the minimum. After welding, lightly joined must be free from oil or grease also copper) into water actually softens
solvent (if possible trichlorethylene). and dirt. (anneals) the metal, in complete contra-
hammer the weld while still hot. This
Edge Preparation For sheet copper of hardens and strengthens the weld. diction to steel, which, of course,
up to 16 s.w.g. (1.8mm) no bevelling is Copper welds can be bent up to 180 The Technique of Brazing. Presuming hardens when plunged into cold water
necessary, the two edges being treated degrees without any signs of cracking we wish to unite two metal parts by this while still hot.
as a simple butt weld, with a gap of or fracture, and can even be twisted method, having got them well cleaned, Brazing is particularly useful in the
about half the thickness of the sheet without any signs of damage. They we proceed to pre-heat the whole of case of cast iron and malleable castings
or plate. For copper plates of %2in. should also be leak-proof, even under both parts overall. The filler wire recom- because of the much lower degree of
(2.4mm) up to 48in. (9mm) a single high pressure. mended is 'Brazetectic' in conjunction heat required, which is a big factor in
with Brazetectic flux. Pre-heat the end the case of cast iron, since it very much
of the wire and dip the end of this into lessens the danger of cracking. But it
i' the tin of flux, when it will pick up a cannot be stressed too strongly that for
small tuft of flux, just as in brass successful brazing the surfaces (of cast
welding. Now, having raised the work iron especially) must be absolutely
to a good red heat (just beginning to clean and bright. Brazing is also a very
36 37
lllll'
I!
I.' !j:'l
I
I useful method of uniting stainless steel,
where no great stresses are involved.
Here again, the surfaces must be clean
gen, which is fatal to aluminium. Heat
the tip of the filler wire (a strip cut from
the original sheet or a length of the
Chapter 5
and free from oil or grease, and the correct filler wire) and while still hot, dip
technique is similar to that described. it into the flux, picking up a small tuft of
flux, then run the flame up and down to
Aluminium Brazing Aluminium and its form a thin coating of flux as previously
alloys can be joined by brazing. This is described. After tacking in the usual
not welding in the true sense of the
word since the parts to be joined are not
way, slightly pre-heat the whole as-
sembly and drop a spot of flux on to the
Oxy-flame Cutting ' j' f i ' '.\· ' ' I 1 '> ~ '
1•,
fully fused together. Nevertheless hot surface near the joint. As soon as
brazing is a quick and simple method of this starts to run the temperature is just
joining aluminium or its alloys where right. Flick the filler rod along the line of
the finished components are not sub- the joint, quickly followed up with the ,•:(
jected to any great strain or stress. flame, running rod and flame together No welding notes would be complete pure oxygen on to the heated metal; a
Aluminium brazing is only suitable for quite swiftly along the length of the
without a section on this. Most big release lever for controlling this cutting
fillets, T joints or lap joints, not for butt joint. The result will be a beautiful, engineering firms employ automatic jet is fitted to the blowpipe.
or corner joints. It is carried out with smooth, even fillet. This can then be cutting machines (called profiling A typical example of a cutting blow-
oxy-acetylene and the flame should cooled in cold water, and thoroughly machines) of various types. The latest is pipe is the Saffire Universal Cutter,
show a very slight excess of acetylene brushed with the wire brush, to remove the electronic photo-electric cell type, in which can be used on mild steel of
to ensure that there is no excess oxy- all traces of the flux. which a photo-electric cell automatic- 55in.- 6in. thickness (3- 150mm) using
ally follows the design or drawing re- the appropriate nozzle size. As an
quired to be reproduced and the oxy- example, if it is intended to cut a piece
acetylene flame follows this, cutting
':: with perfect precision on the mild steel
~ ' I
plate underneath. (Cast iron cannot be
'~ ''
cut by this method, except with the use
of special powders). Obviously the
amateur, or the small workshop, cannot
enjoy the use of these expensive
'. machines, nor would they have the
scope for them. So I propose here to
deal solely with hand-cutting methods
and equipment.
'i
The principle of oxy-cutting is based
J;
on the fact that when oxygen comes
into direct contact with hot steel, the
' ~~·' steel is immediately converted to iron
oxide, and the hand-cutting blowpipe
makes use of this. It is generally similar
to a welding blowpipe but the nozzle is
different, since in addition to the outlets
for the oxy-acetylene flame on a Oxygen cutting
welding nozzle, there is a central orifice
. ,..
·'
on a cutting nozzle which directs a jet of Fig. 23 Cutting steel plate.
39
38
of 48in. (9mm) M/S, a 3/64in. (1.2mm) gress of the cut. The operator must
I
Pressure Blowpipe with the Saffire The fault may be due to the fact that
,nozzle is used. keep the nozzle absolutely in a vertical A-NM Acetylene nozzles. the edges of the orifice of the cutting
Having marked off the line of the cut, position all the time, and move along at Other gases can be used in con- nozzle may have become pitted or
it is best to 'bob-punch' this, with an a steady regular speed. If too fast, the junction with oxygen in place of acety- burned or otherwise damaged. In this
ordinary bob-punch, or at least to scribe metal will cease to cut, in which case, lene for cutting purposes, especially in case the cure (apart from fitting a new
the line, because obviously an ordinary he must shut off the cutting jet, heat up profiling machines, e.g. coal-gas, North nozzle) is to re-face the tip of the nozzle
!' ; chalk line would be burnt away under the metal again, and start afresh. If a Sea (or natural) gas, or propane, bu- (which is usually of solid copper) by
the flame. Donning gloves and goggles, back-fire occurs (which often does tane, and other similar gases. The two rubbing on fine emery paper placed on
set the working pressure on the pres- happen) this is usually due to small last are supplied in liquid form in an absolutely flat surface, smoothing
sure gauge to about 25 to 301bs. (this particles of scale, which always forms appropriate cylinders and give off a the surface of the jet tip until the face is
will in fact cut up to 42in.). Turn on both on mild steel when sheared. This need highly inflammable and volatile gas; once again absolutely level and true.
valves on the blowpipe (i.e. both oxy- cause no concern, as all hoses today are either in combination with oxygen is There is a limit to the number of times
gen and acetylene), but with the fitted with non-return valves which pre- highly effective for oxy-flame cutting that this can be done before a new
acetylene valve fairly widely open and vent any danger of a blow-back of a purposes, though of no use for welding. nozzle is unavoidable.
the oxygen valve only slightly open, flame to the cylinders, which of course They are mostly used in profiling An important point is correct replace-
light in the usual way (keeping the hand could be highly dangerous. machines, because these hold the ment of the nozzle on the blowpipe.
well clear) and adjust the flame, just as If particularly accurate cutting is re- flame-cutting jet with absolute rock-like Two of the outer holes must be in line
with an ordinary welding blowpipe, i.e. quired, the operator can use a guide in steadiness, maintaining exactly the re- with the cutting jet so that a jet of
to a neutral flame; this is the heating the form of a piece of angle-iron quired uniform speed and distance heating gas precedes the cutting jet in
flame. The 'Cutogen' nozzle has four clamped to the work, or some similar from the surface of the metal -factors order to ensure pre-heating of the
small orifices, emitting four small device, but some caution is needed which no human hand can reproduce. metal. Which leads to the point that
flames, with the cutting jet in the centre, measuring the distance from the guide many novitiate operators tend to have
but this jet does not come into opera- to the edge of the cutting jet orifice. Hints to help in obtaining a perfectly the working pressure of the cutting
tion until the operator releases the Care must be taken to measure from the clean cut by Oxy-flame. A perfectly oxygen far too high when cutting. This
central lever, which he does only when edge of this, nearest to the side of the clean cut can only be obtained when the is a very great mistake, because too
the metal is hot enough to start cutting. work which one wants. In other words, central jet of cutting oxygen emerges high a pressure can actually cool the
Apply the flame to the extreme edge one must allow for the diameter of the from the nozzle absolutely straight and metal to be cut.
of the metal to be cut, holding the inner orifice in measuring the distance from true - like the lead of a pencil - so
white cone of the flame almost but not the guide, otherwise one may finish before commencing actual cutting, a Flame Cutting thin M/S sheet with a
quite touching the surface of the metal. that much too narrow or that much too check should be made by simply Step-Nozzle The step-nozzle is specific-
With experience, it is quite permissible short. opening and closing the control lever of ally designed for cutting thin mild steel
to have the inner white cone actually in The secret of good clean cutting is in the cutting jet momentarily when it will sheet, which under a normal cutting
contact with the extreme edge of the always keeping the nozzles clean, the at once be seen how the central cutting blowpipe can simply melt or be burned
metal, in order to get a quick start. In cutting jet orifice in particular. This is jet is behaving. If it emerges from the away. In the case of the step-nozzle,
fact, one usually finds that there is a liable to become clogged, and to keep it nozzle in a fanned-out or other distorted part of one side is cut away and this
slight burr or ragged edge on the clean, the operator should use the form it will not cut cleanly. area contains the orifice(s) for the
extreme edge of the metal, where it has special reamers supplied for the pur- The cause of this may be some heating flame. The cutting jet is incor-
been sheared, and this can be used to pose. Never use steel wire as this would obstruction inside the jet nozzle which porated in the full-depth position and
great advantage, because the burr soon enlarge the copper nozzle orifice can be cleared by the use of the correct this part is held down in close contact
quickly becomes incandescent, and as of the cutting jet. Effective and accurate size of the special reamers which are with the surface of the sheet metal,
soon as this occurs, the metal will start cutting can only be obtained if the jet supplied by B.O.C. Limited. On no contrary to the normal cutting nozzle
to cut immediately the cutting jet is orifice is absolutely clean and sharp and account must bits of steel wire or such- which is held some 5/,sin. (8mm) above
released. Then as soon as cutting square with the end of the nozzle. The like be used, though in extreme cases the surface. Care is needed in fitting
begins, the flame is moved steadily accompanying table gives a brief guide where the special reamers are un- a step-nozzle to make sure that the
along the line of the cut, quite slowly, at to oxy-cutting of mild steel of varying obtainable a suitable size copper wire oxygen cutting jet is forward to the
a speed which accords with the pro- thicknesses, using the Saffire High may be used as a temporary substitute. heating flame, although in the cutting
40 41
process the flame precedes the cutting Table for Oxy-Acetylene Flame-cutting.
I Gas cutting and gouging
Recognition of cutting and gouging
defects, their causes, prevention
and permissible methods of
jet. rectification
Flame-cutting relies on the metal Plate Nozzle Operating
being heated to incandescence before Thickness. Size Pressures.
inches inches pounds/sq.in. 1. In a correct cut the top of the cut is both
the oxygen jet can have any effect. In sharp and clean, the drag lines are almost
contrast to thin sheet, a large diameter Oxygen Acetylene
invisible, producing a smooth side. Oxide is
round steel bar can be difficult to start. easily removed, the cut is square and the
Holding a length of welding (or other 57 25 4
bottom edge clean and sharply defined.
mild steel) wire in the area of the flame
against the bar will, as the wire be- 42 30 4 Drag lines should be vertical for profiles. A small
comes incandescent, promote the amount of drag is allowed on straight cuts.
whole process and allow cutting to start 40 5
2. Due to melting, the top edge has become
immediately. rounded. Gouging is pronounced at the bottom
2 45 5
edge, which is also rough. Scale on the cut
Flame Gouging. Gouging is a flame- face is difficult to remove.
cutting process which can be used as an 3 50 5
To rectify: traverse at recommended speed.
alternative method of weld preparation, Increase the oxygen pressure.
when the normal methods of bevelling 4 50 5
cannot be used. Gouging is carried out 3. The top edge may not be sharp; there is a
by means of a specially shaped nozzle 6 60 5 possibility of beading.
which cuts a groove in the workpiece to To rectify: slow down the traverse to the
be welded, varying in depth as re- recommended speed. Leave the oxygen
quired. Needless to say, gouging is only Remember- these tables are for HIGH pressure as set.
carried out on very thick material, or PRESSURE BLOWPIPES ONLY. Low
4. Excessive rounding and melting of the top
perhaps to a defect deep in the material, pressure blowpipes require different
edge. Undercut has been caused by the oxygen
to create a specially deep fillet, or even figures.
stream opening out.
to remove a faulty weld.
And may I add one final word of To rectify: adjust the stand-off distance
. '~,
warning - never work without gloves between the nozzle and the plate.
and goggles, and a pair of tongs (or at
least pliers) if one wants to avoid burns, 5. Heavily beaded and rounded top edge,
which is the one hazard to constantly be otherwise of good appearance.
on guard against. To rectify: correct the stand-off distance by
raising the nozzle to the recommended height.
'1', '" ,.
6. The edge has a regular bead. The kerf is
wider at the top with undercutting just beneath
it.
To rectify: set the oxygen at the recommended
pressure (on thinner steel it can cause a taper
6. Pressure of cutting
. ,, /J. oxygen too high cut likely to give the impression that the cutter
\' is set wrongly in relation to the plate).
7. Due to excessive heat the pre-heat flame has
'! ! 'f
'. caused the top edge to melt and become
rounded. The kerf tapers from just below the
top edge to the bottom of the cut face.
Fig. 24 Forming a groove by flame gouging. 7. Pre-heat flame too large To rectify: set a pre-heat flame as
recommended, use the correct nozzle at the
42 recommended gas pressures.
II
PART TWO
Chapter 6
·~u;pment now ;n u•e, the'e ;, p'8c-
tically no limit to the thicknesses which
can be welded, leading to the ever-
increasing use of welding in the world
of engineering and construction.
Electric arc welding is universally
used in engineering workshops and in
industries like shipbuilding and ship-
Arc Welding repairing, as well as in the fabrication of
large structures such as storage tanks. It
is also used to a very great extent in car
manufacturing for the welding of car
bodies and components. Car bodies are
,,\".
all-welded into one whole, in what is
known as a 'flash-welding' machine.
Although we have already dealt with very high amperage, i.e. between The two sides, the roof, and back are
the question 'What is Welding?' perhaps around 50 to 200/300 amps, in con- inserted into the machine and tightly
it will not be out of place to re-define it junction with a correspondingly low clamped, the edges being forced to-
here. Basically, it is simply 'the joining voltage (approx. 45/60) an electric arc of gether by great pressure. A switch is
together of two similar metals by high intensity could be caused to jump pressed, there are a lot of flashes, and
heating to a molten state, and, while in across a gap between the point of an in seconds, the whole car body be-
that state, fusing them together into electrode and the workpiece. The heat comes one piece. This is known as
one homogeneous whole'. Part 1 has so produced was more than enough to M.t.G. welding of small components in jigs. Note protective
clothing -leather apron, gauntlets, strong boots- and safety aids
already dealt with the method of melt mild steel, which (as stated earlier such as fume extraction.
achieving this by means of the gas- in part 1) melts at about 1450°C; the
welding process. temperature of the electric arc is now
Until about the end of the 19th cen- known to be in the region of 6000°C.
tury this was virtually the only satis- From then on this method was swiftly Notes on Safety-
factory method available. It was excel- developed, at first simply by using as
lent for the lighter jobs, such as light electrodes short lengths of bare soft Electric Arc Welding
sheet metal and non-ferrous metals, wire, which, however, could only be See that the hand screen, or helmet, is
See that qualified electricians only are sound and has no holes in it.
and in the absence of any alternative, it used with D.C. current. The drawbacks
perforce had also to be used for much allowed to connect up power cables to Have adequate screens to protect other
of this were that the arc was difficult to the power source.
heavier work, even for materials up to workpeople, and other welders, from
maintain over welds of any length and Always attach welding earth tightly to
an inch thick or more. This was inevi- the flashes of the electric-arc.
needed very great skill on the part of the actual workpiece or bench.
tably very slow and involved such heat Goggles alone are not sufficient pro-
operator to keep it going. Subse- Always avoid accidentally arcing
diffusion that on really heavy work its tection for the eyes.
quently, it was found that by giving the wherever possible, and use fully insu-
use was greatly limited. About the turn If the operative does suffer from what is
electrode a fairly thick coating of flux it lated holders.
of the century, engineers began to cast known as 'arc-eye' from excessive
could be used in conjunction with A.C. When holder is not in use, place it
about for some alternative method, by flashes, the eyes should be at once
current, which gave a much more stable securely on an insulated hook.
which much heavier material could be bathed with a good eye lotion.
arc, and therefore of course, a much Keep gas cylinders well away from arc
welded, and naturally enough, turned Arc-eye is really conjunctivitis, and if it
easier one to maintain. This is what welding activities.
to consider the possibilities of using does not clear up within 48 hours then
opened up the enormous potentialities Wear suitable clothing, including
electricity for this purpose. During their medical advice should be taken.
which we know today in the field of leather apron, and gloves or gauntlets
experiments with this, it was found that Never on any account have any loose
welding. With the most modern elec- and preferably rubber soled shoes or
by passing <! current of electricity at a connections anywhere, always see that
trodes and welding machines and boots. all these are tight, with no arcing.
I I
44
I I
I, i
1
11
I'
I
I
beads) compared with a small village types he is restricted to perhaps 5-10 The leather apron should be of the
garage, a local smithy, or a model points to plug into, which makes it bib t'(pe with neck and waist straps,
engineer's workshop, but the principles impossible to obtain very fine adjust- covenng the whole of the front of the
remain the same. ment of the current amperage; this is body. Asbestos-type gauntlets are an
often a serious drawback. acceptable substitute for leather. The
ARC-WELDING EQUIPMENT
writer is aware that though these are
(Machines and Accessories)
Electrodes These are nowadays almost compulsory under the Industrial Safety
An arc-welding machine is basically universally of the coated type, that is, Regulations, many operators cannot be
simply an electrical transformer, which coated in varying thicknesses with flux. bothered with the leather apron be-
transforms, or converts, the electric There are many different types but cause of its weight and the small
mains supply from volts to amps, which most are of the 'contact' or 'touch' type. amount of restriction of movement, but
is necessary for the purpose of arc- With these it is possible to keep the the writer urges habitual use of the
welding, which requires a very high electrode tip in continuous contact with apron for safety reasons. Splashes and
amperage. The welding transformer the workpiece, which makes its very blobs of molten metal can cause severe
converts the high mains voltage (i.e. the much easier for the operator to achieve burns; even if you escape painful
Fig. 25 Arc welding principle.
usual two-phase power supply of a neat even edge. Electrodes come in injuries, it can be ruinous to clothing.
resistance welding (of which more approx. 440 volts) down to about 45/60 seven standard wire gauge sizes, which Beginners or trainees must cultivate the
anon). volts, with around 50 to 200/300 amps. with approximate metric equivalents habit of wearing the regulation gloves
There is a world of difference in There are smaller transformer sets are 16s.w.g. (1.6mm), 14s.w.g. (2.0mm), and apron.
places like motor car factories and aimed at the small user or D.I.Y. en- 12s.w.g. (2.5mm), 10s.w.g. (3.15mm),
properly equipped large engineering thusiast which operate from normal 8s.w.g. (4.0mm), 6s.w.g. (4.75mm), Screens These are of two types, hand
workshops where even very large fabri- single-phase 220-240v domestic 4s.w.g. (6.0mm) and 2s.w.g. (7.1mm). screen and helmet with visor, and both
cation work can be carried out (with the supply; these are frequently advertised Always keep electrodes dry. incorporate special lenses. With the
aid of hoists and lifting gear, enabling in hobby magazines etc. and can cope ordinary helmet type the operator has
the workpiece to be turned round and with most light jobs. Other equipment necessary is the the advantage of having one hand free,
over, thus enabling most of the welds to Some firms use their own electric electrode holder, which is attached by to hold the workpiece while 'tacking' for
be done in the down-hand position, generators, or rotary convertors, but cable to the positive pole of the trans- instance, but it is sometimes an encum-
resulting in much neater welding these deliver D.C. current, whereas the former, and the 'earthing' clamp, which brance when working in a cramped
more commonly used transformer runs from the negative pole of the space (inside a small-sized tank for
gives off A.C. current. Either form is machine. This clamp is attached to the example), in which case the hand-screen
quite suitable for arc-welding, and in workpiece itself or, as more often in may prove more convenient. For safety
Water-cooled fact in one case, i.e. for welding general practice, permanently to the always inspect carefully that the screen,
aluminium by electric-arc, using work-bench (which, of course, must be whichever type, contains no holes or
aluminium electrodes, D.C. current is a metal one), or at least to a steel plate cracks through which the intense ultra-
essential. on top of the bench, on which the violet rays emitted by the electric-arc
However, for the purpose of this workpiece can be placed. can penetrate. These ultra-violet rays
book, unless specifically stated it will be The welder's essential equipment in- are extremely dangerous to the eyes,
assumed that A.C. transformers are cludes a chipping hammer (with which and exposure to them causes conjunc-
being used. Here again, these vary a to remove the coating of 'slag' after tivitis, commonly known as arc-eye
little. Most of the bigger machines completing the weld; see later) and (inflammation of the eyes) as well as
incorporate facilities for continuously another essential is a wire brush, both burning of the skin of the face. To any
variable current. These are far more for cleaning the surface to be welded operator who values that most precious
advantageous, as with this type the and to clean up the weld afterwards. A of all human senses, his sight, the only
welding operator can adjust the number of leather apron is advisable, and the safe course is to scrap the faulty screen
amps he requires for any particular job same applies to a pair of leather gaunt- and obtain, if not a brand new one, at
Fig. 26 Resistance welding. to within fine limits. With fixed-point lets, again almost a 'must'. least one which is perfectly sound and
46
Iill II
gives full protection. I know it is blind at first until the arc is established,
I the latter). All this is naturally rather
tempting to merely patch a piece of but this becomes quite easy with prac- frustrating and discouraging to the Core wire
·sticky paper over the deficiences, but tice) 'strike the arc' on the piece of amateur, but there is no need for any of
believe me, this is useless as the ultra- scrap. Striking the arc is, as much as it, because there is a quite simple way
violet rays can penetrate it easily. anything, just like striking a match, and of avoiding it. If you get a dead short,
The lenses are of varying opacity and almost as easy. But do have the screen don't panic, simply release the holder
should be fitted according to whether well in front of your eyes all the time. from the electrode. Then, when cooled
the job in hand involves heavy material, This is done prior to starting the weld a little, it is a perfectly simple matter to
and consequently higher amperage, or proper, to gain two advantages (especi- break off the electrode from the work-
lighter work. ally to the beginner). Striking the arc piece. Thus no panic, and having
immediately before starting heats up avoided that feeling of frustration and
SOME PRELIMINARY PRACTICE
the tip of the electrode and at the same annoyance you are ready to start again
WELDS
time gets rid of any surplus flux or slag, quite coolly for another try.
Starting with the assumption that the or anything else which might obstruct Although all this may sound a little
operator is an absolute novice to whom the flow of the arc. Immediately after formidable, it really becomes quite easy
the whole thing is a complete mystery, striking the arc on the piece of scrap, after practice, and may I repeat again, Fig. 27 The welding arc.
the first step is to switch on the move over to the workpiece and while the secret of success is to strike the arc
machine, which we are assuming for the electrode tip is still hot, strike the arc on the piece of scrap material first and attain this technique, the operator must
the purpose of these first elementary again, to commence your first welding then to 'get down to it' at once on the become used to distinguishing this slag
steps is a simple ordinary welding bead on the workpiece. Now this may main workpiece, while the tip of the from the true metal. After some practice
transformer, already connected up to sound fairly easy, and in fact some electrode is still hot. But above all, do this is really quite easy, because the
the mains by a qualified electrician. novitiates have been known to start keep the hand-screen (or helmet) in slag is a much brighter yellow than the
For a few practice trial runs, any piece straight away and proceed to complete position shielding the eyes the whole pure molten metal, and easily dis-
of scrap mild steel plate, say about the whole bead of weld without a single time. tinguishable to the trained operator.
%in. thick, will serve the purpose. The break or stumble. But this is excep- The important point about all this is that
earthing clamp may be attached directly tional, and happens rarely. Practice Welding Beads. The operator, the slag must never be allowed to
to this, or to the work-bench, (provided What usually does happen, even with having surmounted these first hurdles infiltrate into the pool of true molten
this is a metal one) or to a solid steel the utmost care, is that the beginner and gained some dexterity and mastery
plate on the bench. gets what is known as a 'dead short'. of the technique, can now go on with
Now taking say (just for a first experi- That is, on striking the arc, the novice the laying down of a few practice weld
mental try-out), a No. 12 s.w.g. elec- fails to establish a sufficient gap be- beads, or passes, as they are some-
trode, and gripping the bare (uncoated) tween the tip of the electrode and the times called.
end of this in the electrode holder, set work, and consequently the dead short It is important to establish a really
the welding current at about 140 amps. occurs, which results in the electrode good pool of molten metal right from
This is rather on the excessive side but welding itself to the work. When this the start; also, and this too is important,
will make things as easy as possible for happens, the unhappy novice tends to to get thoroughly used to being able to
the beginner to get started. Also have panic, and tries desparately to drag the distinguish between the pure molten
ready a small piece of scrap metal. electrode from the workpiece. This is metal itself and the slag. In the process
Having donned gauntlets, take up the absolutely the wrong thing to do, be- of welding, the flux on the electrode
hand-screen in the left hand, if right- cause in floundering about he usually melts, along with the metal core of the
handed. (A left-handed person must lifts the complete workpiece off the electrode, and in doing so floats to the
reverse this, of course). Make sure that bench, causing a lot of arcing all over top of the pool of molten metal. To be
the odd piece of scrap material men- the place, almost blinding himself tem- more correct, this is what should take
tioned above is handy, and holding the porarily, and anyone else who happens place automatically, providing the
screen well in front of the eyes (in arc- to be in the vicinity (and probably operator is skilful enough in his tech-
welding one has to start completely accompanied by urgent protests from ,nique to ensure that it does happen. To Fig. 28 Ready to strike an arc.
48 49
[:
1:.
metal, as this impurity would weaken continue to do so. Keep the arc as short
the weld. This is known as 'slag in- as possible, along the whole length of
clusion', and is something to be the bead of weld, which greatly lessens
avoided at all costs, because it is fatal to the possibility of any slag getting into
good welding; it is the cardinal fault in the pool of pure molten metal.
the whole sphere of welding work. After the fledgling welder has com-
The secret of ensuring that the slag pleted his first run, and, after cooling,
does float to the surface of the weld is has chipped off the slag coating, the
to keep the arc as short as possible resulting bead of weld deposit should
during the whole process of depositing be revealed as an even, unbroken, Coa.rse .ripples
evenly spaced
~
the weld metal. As the weld proceeds, uniform, and neat welding deposit, its ~~ . ;;,.,
the electrode burns, or melts, and the surface resembling something like the ~
operator's object to maintain the melt following in appearance-((((((((((((((((- Crater flat ""~
at a steady and even rate along the that is, a series of fine waves of weld Arc too long and blistered
whole length of the bead, and therefore, metal. It is not expected that the
to do this, he must feed downwards at
exactly the same rate as the electrode
melts away. This demands quite con-
siderable skill and finesse, but it is
beginner will produce this desirable
result at his (or her) first attempt, but it
is the ultimate object to be aimed at,
and with reasonable practice, he (or
~
~<:;;; ~evenly
spaced
Coarse ripples
Crater flat
§ ~-
\ .
.
actually surprising how easy and she) should quite soon be able to
......~ .
natural it becomes after plenty of prac- achieve it.
tice. One other point- after each welding Travel too slow
There are tricks in all trades, and here bead is concluded, the slag has to be
is one. Start the bead of weld right on to removed, but do not attempt to do this
the extreme edge of the workpiece, thus until the weld has cooled. To start Fig. 30 Effects of variations or faults in welding procedure. ~ Smooth r i p p l e s @
getting the slag flowing over the edge, 'chipping' immediately the weld is ., . · evenly spaced · •
away from the pool of pure molten finished might result in a blob of still
himself proficient enough to pass on to ~,~~
Correct~-~~-
metal right from the start; it will then be red-hot slag flying into one's eyes, with, .
something a little more advanced,
found that it will almost automatically as can be imagined, very painful and
though still in the category of practice
even dangerous effects. So make it an -......._ __
steps.
invariable rule never to chip the slag
until the weld has cooled off. This has a
double purpose, since the coating of
slag protects the hot metal from atmo-
spheric oxygen (which would otherwise
cause oxidisation of the weld metal)
and also helps the weld to cool slowly,
thus ensuring that it will remain soft,
ductile, and therefore machinable - a
very important property in a satis-
factory weld.
When the operative has reached the
point when he can consistently lay •';'
down a bead of weld metal neatly and

evenly, and of equal width and pene- ''~ '
Fig. 29 Correct electrode angle. tration throughout, he can consider
50
I
. Chapter 7 Examples Type of joint
Exercises in Welded Joints

- With backing strip Butt
Unequal thickness--fillet welded Unequal thickness--butt welded
1 ,.! I·· .,•, f
THE SINGLE BUTT WELD

blunt edge or 'nose', the purpose of
Tee
This in its simplest form is the union of which is to leave a little solid metal on
two sections of mild steel of identical which to develop the pool of molten
,,I thickness into one homogeneous metal, without actually burning
whole. (Other metals can, of course, be through. Also, in conjunction with this
i I similarly joined, but these will be dealt slightly thick edge, we always leave a Fillet welded Butt welded Resistance welded
with at a later stage). slight gap between the two sections to
As a practice butt weld then, let us be welded. So, in lining up our two
take for a first attempt, say, two pieces practice pieces of M/S plate, leave a ) ' '' ' " :~
of M/S plate of about Vain. thickness, slight gap of approximately v,sin.
~.,,,.,
and roughly each 6 x 3in. As a general (1.5mm) at the bottom of the vee. Place
rule, anything thicker than this would the plates in alignment horizontally on Corner
I'
have to have the edges prepared by
chamfering (or bevelling), i.e. the edges
the earthed bench and clamp them , j....
,n·, ,,· ' . ,, . ' ' '
I
down so that the operator can work
,' ' I
to be joined must be ground to an angle from left to right, if a right-handed

of 30° on one side (in the case of a person. A left-handed person would, of Fillet welded Butt welded Resistance welded
single butt weld). For material of not course, have to reverse this.
more than Vain. thickness, edge prepa- We will, for this thickness, require a
ration is not really essential, but for the No. 12 s.w.g. electrode, the end of
purpose of a practice butt weld, we will which is now bared and fixed into the
do some edge preparation. For this holder. The welding current should be
thickness (Vain., or 3mm) only one edge set at approximately 120 amps. This is
Lap
need be prepared to form what is slightly less than that suggested for the
known as a 'single-vee'. This is done by practice runs, although our material is
grinding each piece of plate along one of the same thickness. This is because Fillet welded Resistance welded
edge, to an angle of about 30°, so that we have now prepared the edges by
when lined up together, they form a grinding, thus reducing the thickness at
total angle of roughly 60°. However, in this point. With the screen in position,
grinding the chamfer do not grind this 'strike the arc' as before explained, and
I! to a fine knife-edge. Always leave a light immediately proceed to start the weld, Fig. 31 The four basic forms of weld applied to the commonest types of joint.
52
commencing at the end opposite the the problem of distortion will be dealt
I the actual welding procedure to begin.
tack. Beginning well over the left-hand with later in the book. Every tack-weld should be a true fusion
edge, to get the molten slag flowing
well away from the pool of pure molten
DOUBLE VEE BUTT JOINT
weld and long enough to hold parts
safely together. Many otherwise pro- ~lf~~~
-~
metal, steadily proceed from left to ficient operators do not fully appreciate
right, steadily feeding down the elec- For M/S of %in. (6mm) and over, it is that getting into the habit of making
trode at an even rate as it melts away, advantageous, wherever possible, to sound tack-welds can on occasion pre-
Gap-J~e
and maintaining the width of the use a double vee edge preparation. I vent risk to life and limb.
welding bead, so that it embraces the emphasise 'wherever possible', be- To return to our practice double vee
whole width of the vee, along the cause in many cases it is just not butt-weld, having tacked the two com-
ponent pieces together while clamped Single V penetration for butt joint
whole length of the seam. In carrying practicable for various reasons to weld
out the above practice weld, two points both sides of a job. As an example, the to the bench, the workpiece can now be Fig. 32 Single vee edge preparation.
should be borne in mind. First, the joint may have to be welded after the released from the clamps and turned
operator must try to achieve 100% work has already been placed in posi- over, so that the initial welding run can
penetration throughout the whole tion and the underside becomes inac- be carried out on the opposite side. The
deposit can now be ground off, which
length of the seam, and he must prac- cessible. However, for our present pur- idea of doing this is to minimise dis-
should then render the weld completely
tise this until he can complete the weld pose which is purely that of a practice tortion, which is an ever-present
invisible, with no sign of a joint what-
without the slightest speck of any 'slag double vee butt weld, the plates can danger, a major cause of which is the
ever. If you wish, the plate can (as a
inclusion' whatever. After the weld is be easily assembled on the bench contraction of the weld on cooling. To
test) now be sawn through at any point
completed and cooled, it should be surface. overcome this the aim where possible
across the line of weld, and on inspec-
possible to saw through at any point, Using two plates similar in size to is to counteract each welding run (or
tion, should show nothing but solid
with the cut edge showing nothing but those in the previous exercise, chamfer bead) by placing an opposing bead of
metal throughout.
100% solid metal right through. the edges to be welded by grinding an weld deposit on the reverse side, thus
Second, after completing the weld on angle of 30° at both top and bottom, causing the forces of expansion and the
SINGLE AND DOUBLE VEE BUTT
the 'vee' side, it is advisable to turn the leaving an unground strip along the accompanying contraction to work for
WELDS IN HEAVY MIS FABRICATION
practice piece over, and place just a centre line of each edge. When the two us instead of against us. It is hoped that WORK
slight 'sealing run' on the reverse side, pieces are placed on the bench they will the reader will take particularly special
using the same size electrode and show an angle of approximately 60° at note of the above passage, because it is It is in the field of heavy plate and angle
current setting. Strictly speaking, this both top and bottom, but they should a vital point which contains a whole work that electric-arc welding really
should not really be necessary because, be separated by a gap of about %2in. world of significance, and because this comes into its own, because there is
theoretically, complete penetration (2.5mm) along the centre flats. simple strategy contains the secret of almost no limit to its possibilities, or to
should have been achieved on the first Clamping to the bench both holds them the means by which that great bug-bear the thicknesses which can be welded by
run on the veed side; this is what the securely and minimises the effects of of welding, distortion, can be defeated. this process. Also the speed by which
vee is for. However, it is unlikely that distortion. Having turned the workpiece over, work can be executed far exceeds that
the novice will be able, in fact, to A tack-weld should be made at each the weld can now be carried out in the of oxy-acetylene welding - it is in fact
achieve this desirable result in his first end of the seam. These tacks are simply vee on the reverse side to that of the considered to be up to six times as fast.
few attempts, so the 'sealing run' on the small blobs of weld metal placed at tacks in the normal way. On completion However, each system has its own
reverse side is a wise precaution. Also, strategic points, their main function of this bead, the workpiece is again sphere, and the two processes do, in
there is another point: quite possibly being to hold the separate parts in turned over and the final weld carried fact, complement each other. Oxy-gas
(probably, in fact) the M/S plate on correct relationship while the main out on the tacked side. This is known as welding is supreme in the field of light
cooling may have warped, i.e. become weld is made. It is important that each a setting run, or setting bead. After sheet metal and non-ferrous metals
bent upwards. This is caused by the tack is a proper weld, i.e. true fusion of cooling the slag can be chipped off (a such as aluminium (though this is now
contraction of the main weld (on the the components is achieved, because it lot of it will probably have already fallen welded by a combination of the two,
vee side) on cooling. A sealing run, or often happens that a whole, heavy off), and the completed workpiece known as the shielded-arc method, of
bead of weld, on the reverse side will fabrication may be held by tacks until should now present one whole section which more anon) while arc-welding
help to correct this. However, more on the assembly is advanced enough for of M/S plate. If desired, the surplus is superior in the sphere of heavy
54
arc-welded later. I have re-referred to about 6 x 3 x 1/4in., but these must for our practice fillet weld. The pro-
the above in order to illustrate how now be set standing in an upright cedure for this is very little different
Toes Weld face the two systems can complement each position on the bench, at an angle from that of the single-vee butt weld -
other in economical and commercially (roughly for this simple exercise) of goo we have a similar vee in which to place
viable techniques. to each other. There are specially de- the bead of weld. A similar size elec-
To revert, however, to our original signed corner clamps sold for this pur- trode (12 s.w.g.) is used but the current
theme, that is, single and double-vee pose, including magnetic clamps, needs to be set a little higher than that
butt welds on heavier material. In these which are very useful indeed, and if any for a single vee, because a fillet weld
cases, because the vee has, of neces- of these are available, they make the job requires a little more heat in order to
I, sity, to be much deeper and wider, of holding the two parts in position until achieve sufficient penetration. The pro-
more welding beads, or passes, will be a tack can be placed very much easier. cedure is as before, working from left to
found to be required. These are called However, in the absence of a special right, striking the arc, establishing a
'multi-runs', and must be placed in their corner clamp, the two sections may be good pool of molten metal, and keeping
correct order or sequence. First, the stood on end on the bench at the goo the arc as short as possible. Proceed
,11.·.'11 Weld initial run or 'root' bead is carried out in angle, and if the operator is wearing a steadily along the root of the vee,
width
the normal way, (on both sides in the helmet, he can hold the two parts in feeding the electrode down at a steady
lliii Fig. 33 Multi-runs in a double vee. case of the double vee), and then position with his free hand while rate as it moves along, and all the time
engineering. Frequently both processes the following beads are laid in the tacking. If only a hand-screen is avail- keeping a close watch to make sure that
IJ.f. are used: heavy M/S plates and angles sequence illustrated. For the benefit of able, and no-one by to help, a tack may there are no slag inclusions. The reader
are cut by oxy-acetylene, preparatory to the beginner, there is an important be placed on the top edge of the corner. will have gathered by now, I am sure,
being arc-welded. In large engineering point. After each run or bead the slag However, here again we fall foul of our that arc-welding demands intense con-
'I works, the cutting-out is often carried must be completely removed before old enemy distortion, because as soon centration throughout the whole dura-
out on automatic profiling machines, of starting each succeeding bead of weld as the tack-weld has cooled, its con- tion of the welding operation, and the
which there are various kinds; there are deposit. This is absolutely essential, to sequent contraction will cause the two utmost vigilance to guard against the
also oxy-acetylene planing machines, make completely certain that there is no sections to open apart at the base (or danger of slag inclusion, but after
which are used for the purpose of possibility of the slightest speck of slag bottom ends) of our practice pieces. reasonable experience this becomes
chamfering the edges of the work to be inclusion in the weld. There is, as it happens, a quite simple automatic.
way of getting over this problem which Distortion, as referred to earlier, is the
can be classed as another 'trick of the one other big problem which constantly
FILLET WELDS
trade', but the operator must be fairly confronts the operative in the sphere of
This joint is perhaps the most fre- 'quick on the draw' to carry it out. This welding, but there are ways and means
quently and widely used of all the is how it is done. As soon as the of overcoming this, as witness the
welded joints, constantly needed in all operative has placed the tack, he drops examples cited earlier. All it really
engineering and construction work. It is the screen and grabs the base of the needs is the exercise of a little thought
also, at the same time, probably the workpiece before it has time to cool off, and strategic care in the order in which
easiest to carry out. In its simplest form, holding it while the tack is still hot. the successive beads of weld deposit
it merely involves the running of a bead Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? It is are placed. In the case of very large and
of weld deposit along the inside of the quite easy, after a little practice. The bulky sections of plate, other methods
juncture of the two sections to be workpiece can now be laid horizontally than simply laying beads on opposite
welded, which are set at an angle of goo on the bench, when it is perfectly easy sides have to be used to combat this
to each other. to place a corresponding tack on the fundamental and ever-present problem.
Welding sequence opposite end. Devices such as wedges, combined
A Practice Fillet Weld on the bench. For So, now with our practice piece lying with cooling systems, and a special
our purposes, two similar pieces of M/S on the bench open side up propped by sequence in the order of laying the
plate to those used in the previous any odd piece of angle or other welding beads (known as 'back-
Fig. 34 Order of applying multi-runs. exercise can be used, i.e. two sheets of material, it is now in the perfect position stepping) all have their place, but the
56 57
IIF
II
novitiate welder need not concern him- pletion the outer edges of the plates
self with these at this present stage. tended to rise upwards from the bench
Sufficient to reiterate that all these surface. If the workpiece had previously
stratagems are based on the P.rinciple been clamped to the bench, or some
of making the forces of contraction and other firm solid surface, then this effect
expansion work for us instead of would have been lessened, but what-
against us. This strate~y can be v~ry ever contraction and consequent distor-
effectively used in the f1llet weld wh1ch tion had taken place was counteracted
we are now discussing. by the 'sealing' run which, it may be
On completion of the first bead of remembered, was placed on the reverse
i' this it is inevitable that contraction will
side. The use of a second bead of w~ld
Longitudinal contraction tak~ place on cooling; the effect of this deposit on the opposite side to the f1rst
contraction will be that the two 'flanges' is in fact the most effective and simplest
II or sides of the angled plates will tend to counter to distortion, where it is possible
close inwards towards each other, on or practicable to lay one immediately
the same side as that on which the after completion of the first; in this way
welding bead has been placed. the use of clamps, jigs or special cooling
Knowing in advance the direction in
arrangements can be avoided or, at
which the integral parts of a welded
least, the need for them reduced. .
fabrication are going to move enables
Applying the principle to our fillet
weld the first bead has caused the
side; of the vee to close inwards and if a
second bead is now laid on the outside
of the joint, the anticipated contracti?n Fig. 39 Avoid reducing plate section.
should restore the vee angle to 1ts
Transverse contraction
original goo. This we can proc~ed to do Wasting of plate
by simply turning the workp1ece o~er section
Fig. 35 Contraction caused by the weld bead. and laying a bead of weld on th~ s1~e Weak cross-
now uppermost. Incidentally, 1f, m section
Fig. 36 Balanced welding. setting up the two sections (before at throat
welding) we placed them edge to edg~,
this should now present a perfect vee m
~---------~=
L-----------: ---------3
----------~
which to lay down the second bead of
weld. In effect it forms a 'corner weld',
When weld is made from one side only, which we now come to.
angular distortion is produced
Unsatisfactory profile
'' CORNER WELDS ON MILD STEEL
i
==*= ..,
!Irr-----=~=*==--------,,, Fig. 37 Distortion in all directions.
The two abutting edges of the plates
us to defeat the forces of contraction.
When welding is balanced, heat input is above, placed corner to corner, clearly
The key is that the direction in which
balanced, eliminating transverse angular produce a goo vee angle in which to lay
distortion contraction takes place after cooling is
the weld deposit. In this case, where we
always to converge towards the bead of
are only using %in. (6mm) M/S plate,
Effects of unbalanced welding weld which has just been deposited.
one 'run' or bead of weld will be found
about the neutral axis This was seen in the simple practice
to be sufficient to build up the corner to Satisfactory profile
single-vee butt weld, where on com-
the level of the surrounding material as
58
I
I[ I I! I
I ,
illustrated, and here too, is an important the weld. These factors are particularly
point - the level of weld deposit must applicable to fillet welds, but neverthe-
', I be built up to the full strength of the less, the same principle is of equal
,li adjacent steel plate section, just as if, in importance in butt welds and, in fact, in
fact, the plate had simply been bent all welded joints.
round to the 90° angle. When the surplus Overlap
weld material has been ground off, the FILLET WELDS ON HEAVIER MATERIAL
workpiece should present just that
appearance. Obviously, when very much heavier Undercut
Before leaving the subject of fillet and greatly thicker material has to be
welds, a word or two should be include welded, one welding bead would be
on the two main pitfalls to be avoided. totally insufficient and several beads (or
passes) have therefore to be placed at
1. 'Undercutting'. This, briefly, hap- the joint. These are called 'multi-run
pens where too high a current has been
A
fillets' and they must be placed in their
used, causing the electric-arc to burn correct sequence as shown. After the u d
into the material at the edges of the first or root run is completed, the n ercut
weld bead and creating a gouging effect second run, or bead, should be placed ~~
at these points, which is very bad at the base of the first, slightly over-
practice because it obviously means lapping it. The third run is now placed _ _
that the metal is greatly weakened. This above the second, again overlapping
then is a danger to be avoided, and to that. See Fig. 34. The reason for this
do so, beware of setting the welding procedure is to ensure that the whole of Fig. 41 undercutting.
current too high. The effects of under- the multi-run fillet is one homogeneous
~
cutting are clearly shown in Fig. 41. whole, i.e. solid metal throughout. If the
2. The other danger to be wary of is the beads of weld deposit were placed side
very opposite to the above. This is by side, a weak spot would be left
insufficient penetration due to using too between each succeeding bead, an in-
Excess weld metal
low a welding current. This can be as admissible fault which could cause a
serious a defect as that of undercutting, serious fracture.
though in a different way. Because the
welding current is too low, the arc 'T' JOINTS
cannot penetrate deeply enough into These are, in effect, very similar to the
the steel to achieve a really strong ordinary fillet welds, except that the
joint. The sketch illustrates this very vertical plate (the stem of the T) is
essential consideration in all welding placed on the horizontal one to leave
work, which cannot be too greatly what might be termed a flange re-
emphasised. The welding current must quiring welding each side.
be set high enough to achieve deep The technique and procedure are
penetration of the material being much the same as in the fillet weld, but
welded, while avoiding the corre- here again, be it noted, we are still up
sponding danger of having the current against the same old enemy, distortion.
so high as to cause weakening of the However, and to reiterate, by using the
material by undercutting at the edges of technique of opposing each bead of
, I weld by an equal bead on the opposite
Fig. 40 Faults to avoid. side, this problem can be beaten. Fig. 42 T-ioint.
60
1.·
.
.
'
A Practice Weld on a 'T' Joint. Briefly, welds are included later, where possi- underside is advisable. If this is not
• the procedure is as follows. First, set up ble downhand techniques are recom- possible, then great care should be
the two practice pieces (similar plates to mended for the amateur. exercised in laying the first or root run,
those used for the practice fillets will be On very heavy sections of material ensuring that this really does penetrate
excellent) on the bench at a 90o angle where a tee joint is required a slightly right through the material, even p_ro-
for tacking, held in place by the aid of a different method of edge preparation truding slightly through the underside
fig. 44 U edge preparation.
magnetic clamp if possible. If this is not has to be used. There are two ap- at the base.
available, then the 'grab' dodge can be proaches, the single or double 'U', and bases ofthe edges to be joined, on both
used as described earlier. Incidentally, the single or double 'J'. sections, which, when placed together LAP JOINTS
this is a case where the helmet type then form the desired single 'U'. The
screen comes into its own, because as it THE SINGLE AND DOUBLE 'U' JOINT As seen in the illustrations, the lap joint
same procedure can be utilised for the
leaves the operator with one hand free, really consists of two fillet welds, one at
When a weld is called for in exception- double 'U', except that in this case, the
he can hold the two sections together each end of the sections to be welded.
ally heavy material, say from about one bead (or beads) of weld metal should be
while he places the first tack on the top Whether these can be done with a
inch thickness upwards, the edge pre- placed in the centre of the edges_of t~e single bead, or pass, of weld deposit
edges of the workpiece, and als?, at the sections to be joined as shown m F1g.
paration required for the vee would depends on the thickness of the
same time, he can hold agamst the
have to be of such enormous pro- 44. ., . material. Thicknesses of up to about
forces of contraction until the tack has A single or double J joint is sim1 ar m
portions, and would entail_ such a vast 3/ain. (9mm) can be successfully
cooled off, thus comprising a double concept, but applied to tee joints rather
amount of grinding or cuttmg, or other welded with a single bead using a No. 8
advantage. than butts.
means of chamfering, with the con- s.w.g. electrode, with the appropriate
The practice workpiece can now be
sequent time involved, that it would not Important Note In welded joints of this amperage, but for anything thicker than
placed horizontally on the bench, and
be economically viable. However, there kind, many more than one welding that, two or more runs will be found
as was done in the practice fillet, sup-
is a simple alternative method which bead or pass will be found necessary, necessary.
ported by a piece of packing in the vee
can be employed for the purpose of and the order of procedure is the same
position, and the welder can now pr?- A Practice Lap Joint. For this two more
preparing the edges to be butt-welded. as that obtaining in the multi-run fillet
ceed exactly in the same manner as m pieces of M/S plate of 6 x _3 _x %in. can
This is known as a 'U' joint. When only welds, that is, in the same correct
the practice fillet, taking care, as be used, but in a lap weld JOint, the two
one side of the material is accessible sequence. It is worth repeating that the
emphasised above, to place a _bead of sections are clamped together, one on
only a single 'U' is possible, but if both coating of slag must be completely
weld on each side alternately, m order top of the other and overlapping,
to counteract the distortion effect. If sides are workable, then the double 'U' removed after the completion of each
edge preparation should be employed leaving a space at each end of the wei~.
carefully followed, this procedure successive bead before commencing
wherever possible. For this thickness a No. 10 electrode will
should result in a perfect 90o angled tee the following one. It is impossible to
There is a very easy way of forming be found sufficient to complete the
joint. When completely cooled off, a stress too highly the vital importance of
these kind of edge preparations which weld with one bead. After firmly
check can be made with a steel square. this. Also, in the case of the double U or
is not only simple and effective, but clamping the two sections together, the
The reader may perhaps wonder why J joint, the succeeding beads of weld next step is to place a strong tack at
involves a minimum of time and very deposit should be placed alternately on
1 always advocate laying do~n the both the upper and lower sides_ of the
little effort. It merely consists of laying a opposing sides, in order to _combat ~he
practice piece on the bench. m th~ practice piece. This is essent1al be-
horizontal position. The reason 1s that 1t bead, (or two or more beads) of weld effects of distortion as descnbed earlier.
deposit, using a fairly large size elec- cause, even with the clamps on, a
is far easier to weld in what is known as Further, if it is at all possible to do so, certain amount of distortion can take
the 'downhand' position, i.e. horizon- trode (say number 8 s.w.g.), along the with a single U or J, a sealing run on the
place, especially if the clamps ~ere
tally. Of course, in fully operational mistakenly removed before the fl~al
welding work it is very often necessary welds are carried out. So the moral IS,
to carry out a weld in the vertical tack very strongly at each side before
position, and al~o very often_ overhead. removing the clamps. (In an actual
This is moving mto the provmce of the welding construction job, the c_lamps
expert professional welder, however, may have to be removed pnor to
and although some notes on such Fig. 43 Single and double U-joints.
Fig. 45 Single and double J joints. welding).
62 63
I .
'
golden rule is to make sure that the

weld fills up the whole of the fillet or
vee- any surplus material can be easily
ground off later if necessary.
Arc-welding of Very Thin Mild Steel

Sheet
Let me say at the outset that thin mild 'Chill' bars are
steel sheet (say 16 s.w.g. or less) is far used to prevent
better welded by gas (oxy-acetylene) melting away of
which results in a far superior weld. It is
extremely difficult to weld by the
\'";"'h"'
~
electric-arc, which simply burns right
through the material, or the amperage
has to be cut so low that it is very
difficult to get the electrode to run. In
fact, many otherwise highly skilled
welders cannot do it at all. However, if
no gas welding plant is available, then
sheet metal work will perforce have to
bar
be welded by the electric arc.
The best way to do this is by using a Welding sheet metal to plate
'chill block' consisting of fairly thick slab
Welding a patch under a car bonnet is a common repair and is effectively a fillet joint round all four sides of the patch. Note earth clip,
centre foreground.
or bar of steel, not less than 1/4in. thick. Fig. 47 Some chill-bar applications.
If copper is available, so much the
Now, with the welding test piece better, because it is such a good con- be deposited on the reverse side. To
always finishes on the tack, or, alterna-
lying flat on the bench, commence to tively, builds up the weld at this point ductor of heat- which, as no doubt the make it easier the whole assembly,
weld (it doesn't matter which side first), reader will quickly guess, is the whole sheet metal and chill-bar, can be set up
with extra weld deposit to compensate.
starting at the end opposite to the tack: idea. at an inclined angle (of about 30°) and
There is also one other important
in other words, so that the bead of weld particular concerning lap welds. This is The pieces of sheet metal to be joined welded in a downwards direction, at a
finishes on the tack. Incidentally, here is to make sure that the bead of weld are tightly clamped to the block at both fairly fast speed, but do not attempt to
'I,i a maxim which in fact applies to all deposit completely fills the vee, or fillet, ends by G-clamps and a No. 16 gauge weave. For fillet welds and corner joints
welding. Whenever a welding bead is formed at each end of the workpiece, (1.6mm) electrode used, with about 50 the same technique may be used, with
laid down, the heat builds up pro- i.e. the bead of weld metal should reach or 60 amps. One run will be sufficient, the chill bar clamped accordingly, as
gressively as the weld proceeds. There- right to the top surface. If the metal but if necessary, a light sealing run can shown in Fig. 47.
fore, as the end of the run is reached, does not fill the space but leaves a gap
the heat is built to a much greater unwelded, the danger is that this again
maximum to that at the beginning, so, leaves a weak area, and the material
unless the operator is careful to avoid it, could therefore split at this point. The
the edge of the material at the con-
clusion of the weld may become burnt
'Ill away, leaving a large cavity or crater.
This would constitute a very serious
1
! I,:1,'',
1 weakness in the joint and to avoid such
II' a problem the experienced welder
i
Fig. 46 Fillet-welded lap joint.
l I
I, il 64 65
!f
iron) metal than that used in the arc-
, Chapter 8 welding method, the filler metal of
which is nickel alloy, or similar. Having
said that, however, the arguments in
favour of the arc-welding of cast iron
''· rest on the grounds of speed, conveni-
ence, accessibility, and general circum-
stances, as well as economic considera-
Cast Iron and Stainless Steel tions.

A further point in favour of the
electric-arc is that the heat is kept far
more localised and the heat-spread
restricted, therefore greatly reducing
the danger of cracking of the casting,
though clearly in considering this a
There are three kinds of cast iron in problems in welding, because, in effect great deal depends on the shape of the
general use, the two commonest being we are dealing with two distinct metals casting. If, for instance, this is just a
white cast and grey cast. There is also in one, the soft outer skin, and the inner simple straightforward cast iron bar,
malleable cast iron. hard core of metal. For the purpose of where the ends are not secured in any
Of these, grey cast iron is the most this book discussion will be confined to way and are therefore completely free t = 32 mm and over
easily weldable, as it is far less brittle that of welding grey cast iron, though to expand and contract, then welding it Double-sided joint preparations for
than white cast iron, because of its malleable castings can be dealt with by is a comparatively simple matter pre- welding fractured cast iron
lower carbon content and greater pro- brazing (or bronze welding) which has senting no difficulties. No pre-heating is
already been dealt with earlier. Fig. 48 Preparation for cast iron repair.
portion of silicon. Grey cast is also far necessary, and it can therefore be
more easily machinable. White cast In considering the welding of cast welded in the routine way, by either gas
iron is not regarded very favourably for iron the perennial question is always or arc-welding technique. If on the other
welding purposes at all. which method of welding is preferable, These are quite easy to use, with the arc
hand the casting to be welded is not so
Malleable cast iron, as its name im- gas or electric-arc? This, like so many always kept as short as possible. Also,
straightforward, or in cases where the
plies, is far less brittle than either grey other problems, may finally be decided after each run as with mild steel, the
ends are 'locked up' (as for instance a
or white cast iron. Its peculiar quality is by expediency. No gas welding plant slag must be completely removed be-
fractured spoke of a cast iron wheel),
brought about by a process of an- may be available, or the job may be far fore commencing each following run.
then pre-heating of the whole casting
nealing, involving a very slow pro- too large and massive to use the gas- would be essential, and for this purpose A Simple Exercise in a Double-Vee Butt
longed period of gradual heating to a welding method with no pre-heating a muffle furnace big enough to take the Weld of Cast Iron. For this purpose let
high temperature, followed by an furnace available. job is necessary. If a proper purpose- us take just a simple straightforward
equally prolonged period of slow If a pre-heating furnace is available, built muffle furnace is not available, it piece of casting -say, for example, the
cooling. Sometimes the casting is and the job is not too large and bulky, might be possible to build a temporary leg of a turning lathe, or anything of
buried in quicklime for this purpose for then gas-welding probably does hold makeshift one round the job. similarly straight shape, which has
several days, or perhaps even weeks, in the advantage, because when all the broken in a clean fracture, leaving the
order to achieve the degree of ductility factors are considered, this process on Preparation for Cast Iron Welded Joints ends fairly square, and of about say,
or malleability required. This is a long the whole produces a more satisfactory (Arc-Welding). Edge-preparation for 3 x %in. in thickness. A casting of this
and costly process, and even then only job from the point of view of machin- arc-welded joints in cast iron, i.e. for kind, being completely free at the ends,
achieves a soft outer skin, of greater or ability and general soundness of the butt welds, fillet welds, tee joints, and therefore involving no compres-
less depth, while the centre still remains weld. Also, with the gas-welding corner welds, etc. is exactly the same as sion problems on expansion, as ex-
relatively hard and brittle. method, the filling material, (ferro- that for mild steel, and the procedure is plained earlier, will not need pre-
It is the last feature which causes silicon or similar filler rods) has a almost identical, except that the elec- heating, although no harm is done if
malleable cast iron to present special greater affinity with the parent (cast trodes used are of the nickel alloy type. gas equipment is available if the flame
66
is played over the two sections as a
~preliminary before actually starting arc-
welding. This would remove the chill
from the metal and the warming-up
effect helps to save time, especially on a
piece should be turned over and the
second weld proceeded with on the
other (tacked) side. Once again, we are
balancing two beads of weld to combat
distortion. On completion of the weld
'
must be remembered that there are
today many varied kinds of stainless
steel and care must be taken to select
the correct and most suitable electrode
for each particular type.
to each face of the chamfer of the vee
prior to proceeding to weld with the
stainless steel electrode. This is known
as a 'buttering layer' and it helps to
prevent any cracking of the final beads
really massive casting. In addition it on both sides of the double-vee, the Apart from this important point arc- of stainless steel electrodes. It should
makes starting easier, but it is not casting on cooling should finish up welding of stainless steel does not not be necessary to stress once again
absolutely necessary. perfectly straight and in accurate align- differ greatly from the normal tech- that it is vital that every particle of slag
Edge preparation for a double-vee ment. With cast iron, cooling should be nique used with mild steel. There is a must be got rid of after each bead is
butt-weld on cast iron is the same as gradual - as long and as slowly as slight danger sometimes of a tendency laid, before proceeding with the
that for mild steel, i.e. chamfering by practicable, because sudden cooling for the completed weld deposit to crack following one.
grinding to 30° angles on both sides, could cause cracking, as well as on cooling, but this 'hot cracking' as it is
leaving, however, a slight section of the rendering the weld deposit too hard for called is usually due to the weld having Edge Preparation. Edge preparation of
casting untouched at the centre. This is subsequent machining. To help slow been carried out too fast, with too high stainless steel for butt welds, both
particularly useful if a broken casting is cooling of the casting, it can be covered a current. If this trouble persists, a way single and double, and for tee, single
being repaired, since leaving a little of in dry sand or by some other protective of obviating the danger is to lay a bead and double 'U' and lap joints is exactly
the fractured edge of the casting un- material to exclude as far as possible of ordinary mild steel weld deposit on the same as that for mild steel.
touched by grinding allows the broken cold air and draughts. If this procedure
edges to line themselves up beautifully is followed the resulting welded joint
ready for chamfering in position. should be 100% sound and quite ductile
Using a No. 10s.w.g. nickel alloy and machinable. .'
electrode, set the current at about 140
Fillet Welds and Tee Joints in Cast Iron.
amps, bearing in mind that cast iron
It will be found that these types of joints
melts at a much lower temperature than
are not very frequently met with in
mild steel: grey cast melts at 1240°C,
castings, in general engineering work,
while mild steel melts at about 1430°C.
probably because most castings are
The actual technique of welding cast
gusseted or otherwise reinforced at
iron by the electric arc is not very
such junctions, and are unlikely to break
different from that of mild steel. There
at these parts of the section.
is one slight difference - the flux
If, however, the occasion does arise
coating of the nickel alloy electrode is
and such a weld becomes necessary on
very much lighter, resulting in not quite
a casting, the welding procedure to be
so much slag to be removed, but again
followed conforms exactly with that for
it must be stressed that every particle
mild steel fillet welds and tee joints.
must be removed after each bead of
weld deposit before commencing a ,. A
ARC-WELDING OF STAINLESS STEEL
following one. The arc must be kept
as short as possible throughout. Stainless steel in reasonably thick or
Assuming that the two sections are heavy sections lends itself very well to
perfectly lined up, first place a strong welding by the electric-arc process,
tack at the edge on one side, to hold the using stainless steel electrodes in-
pieces in position, then turn the work- tended for the purpose. Stainless steel
piece over and proceed to weld in the sheet is better welded by the gas-
normal way as with mild steel, from welding method, described earlier, but
right to left. After completing one bead best of all by the T.I.G. or M.I.G. pro-
of weld deposit on this side the work- cesses to be described later. However, it
68 69
.
1
\
using a fairly long section of large weld deposit. Obviously, on much

.Chapter 9 angle-iron, fixed in the vee position. larger diameter pipes, one bead of weld
Alternatives would be rollers or a length will not be sufficient to completely fill
of iron channel large enough to allow the vee, even with larger size elec-
the two sections of pipe to be placed trodes, and several multi-runs may be
inside and clamped. They need to be necessary. For the finishing run it may
butted close together but with a small be found necessary to weave slightly,
gap of about V1sin. or 55in. according to i.e. use a side to side motion of the
thickness of material. The two sections electrode while welding proceeds, in
Pipe Welding of pipe can now be tacked at about
three or four places around the pipe,
order to ensure that the final bead of
weld metal covers the whole width of
: ,.' '•,. after which the weld can be proceeded the vee and to make sure of complete
.,I', with in the normal way, in the down- fusion of the edges of the weld with the
hand position, turning the pipe round parent metal.
as the weld progresses to suit the The above is just a simple elementary
Pipe (or tube) welding is really a welding involves a lot of positional operator's convenience, but keeping it exercise for a butt weld on a compara-
separate and distinct branch of its own work, i.e. it includes vertical and over- firmly clamped while actually welding. tively small size pipe in which the
in the sphere of welded production head welding as well as the normal Great care must be taken when operator can turn the pipe round to suit
work and those welders who do engage downhand (horizontal) welding posi- changing electrodes to commence a his convenience, but it should be borne
in this class of work are usually special- tions. Additionally, in the case especi- fresh pass, which must maintain perfect in mind that in large-scale construc-
ists, in the sense that they have under- ally of gas or oil pipework, the joints will union with the previous one, i.e. there tional work, such as gas or oil pipelines,
gone a period of special training and on completion have to be subjected to must be no gap or break in the con- this is rarely possible. The welded joint
experience to acquire specialised skill. stringent tests, such as examination by tinuity ofthe weld, no matter how many must usually be made round the
Such skill is very necessary for pipe X-ray, and proved able to withstand electrodes may have to be used. The stationary pipe, which involves quite a
welding, because pipes and other pressures of up to 1,0001bs. per square finished weld, on completion, should lot of vertical and overhead work, often
tubular constructions, by the very inch or more. It will readily be seen present one unbroken whole bead of in extremely cramped conditions. This
nature of their shape in the round, from this why pipe welding is such a .' '
present their own peculiar and unique specialised branch of welding. How-
problems in jointing and fitting. Pipe ever, for the sake of completeness
welding most frequently arises with some descriptive exposition of this par-
heating installations in building and ticular work should be included, so let
•
construction work and - especially in us review the more usual and normal
recent years - in connection with gas welding joints as they are applied to
and oil pipelines. The latter two are pipework. m·t.
often of very large diameter, frequently ..,
of two feet or more, with the thick- Edge Preparation for a Butt Welded
nesses of the pipe walls in proportion. Joint on (for example) a 6in. dia. Pipe or
Another special feature of pipe Tube. The edge preparation for this is,
welding is that many of the joints have in its essentials, the same as that for a
to be carried out after the pipe is placed single vee butt weld on flat mild steel
in position - perhaps at the bottom of a plate, except of course in this case we
deep trench for instance, with perhaps are dealing with a circular-shaped work-
just enough room for the welding piece. ' .•
operator to crawl underneath to carry First we have to get the two sections Example of edge preparation
out his task. A further point is that into perfect alignment and a simple way for single vee butt weld on a
because of their shape, pipe and tube to accomplish this is to form a cradle by larger diameter pipe.
70 71
is where the overhead welding tech-
nique becomes essential. As can be
imagined, this is not only very difficult,
but often dangerous, with the risk of
I (o' ve,tlc•lly pl"ed) pipe. To
achieve this, both pipes must be care-
fully marked off and for this purpose
most up to date engineering firms have
on a useful tip from personal experi-
ence. Even with the utmost care it is still
possible that a leak may be discovered
in, say, the pipework of the central
blobs of molten metal falling on to the complete sets of metallic (tinfoil) tem- heating system for a large block of
operator's clothing, or his face, or plates of all shapes and sizes and with offices or flats, and the leak may well be
worse still, on his eyes or ears. Obvi- the use of these, marking off is made at an inaccessible place for welding, like
ously, every precaution has to be taken comparatively easy. It is a simple at the back of a pipe which itself is fixed
by wearing the regulation leather matter to wrap the correct flexible bang up against a wall. To weld and
apron, gauntlets, and some kind of metallic template around the pipe and seal such a leak may seem impossible,
protective covering for the face. The mark off the contour with a scriber. The but there is an easy if dramatic answer.
hand type of screen is usually found same procedure is applicable for Simply cut a hole in the front ofthe pipe
more convenient in these circum- marking off the contours of the ends of opposite the leak just large enough to
stances because of the limited space in pipes to be welded. allow manipulation of the electrode (or
which to manoeuvre, though many Marking the pipe joint faces without a gas blowpipe) and weld up the offend-
welders may still prefer the helmet type template is a little tricky, the more ing leak. Replace the cut-out piece of
to which they are accustomed. difficult being the vertical pipe. It is
However, the novitiate welding possible to coat it with whitening or Fig. 50 Edge angles for a saddle joint. Weld opposite quarter
operator is hardly likely to have to cope chalk (or, better, engineers' marking circles.
with this kind of specialised welding fluid) and to use a short length of the
work, and I have only referred to it in horizontal cross-pipe to guide a scriber
order to give some indication of what to the required shape, or the two pipes
may be anticipated should he at a later may be held together and the shape
stage be attracted to this branch of Fig. 49 Preparing the horizontal component of a saddle joint.
plotted using a pair of dividers or a
welding by the undoubted high (and height gauge, if available. It may be
well-earned!) monetary rewards offered. the part of the operator, bearing in mind possible to tape a sheet of card or
OTHER IMPORTANT JOINTS IN that while only single-vee preparation tinplate round it, extending the tube so
PIPE WELDING for the joint can be used, at the same formed beyond the end of the pipe and
time 100% penetration must be snipping until it fits the cross-pipe, then
The Tee or Saddle Joint. Before achieved. In the case of the saddle (or sliding it back on the pipe and scribing
deciding on procedure, several factors tee) joint, a great deal depends on round the fitted shape. The marking
must be considered, for example what whether or not a free flow of fluids is must be made more permanent by
will the particular pipe have to carry? required to pass through the assembled centre-punching about every 42in.
Water? (Hot or cold). Oil? Or gas, per- joint. If the pipe is simply part of a since when cutting with the oxy-flame a
haps? Or it could be any one of the tubular structure and is not intended to fine scribed line is likely to be burned
many diversified uses to which tubes convey any fluids, etc. it is only neces- away.
and pipes are today put. Also needed is sary to cut the end of a vertical section Once the vertical pipe is cut to a close
the amount of pressure per square inch to fit over the horizontal section, with- fit on the cross-pipe it is only necessary
to which the pipe or tube may be out any hole needing to be cut in the to hold it in position and scribe round it
subjected. Obviously, also where a pipe latter. mark the aperture required in the cross-
or tube is intended to carry a fluid of If, however, there has to be a free pipe. This line, too, must be centre-
any kind, there must be no undue flow of the contents through the system punched before applying the cutting
penetration or protuberance of the weld of tubes and pipes, then a perfectly flame. A neat and workmanlike fit of the
metal through to the inside of the pipe, fitting aperture must first be cut into the two pipes will simplify the welding and
as this would cause an impediment to horizontally-placed pipe, exactly con- help to achieve a 100% leak-proof joint.
the flow. This calls for skill and care on forming to the size and contour of the In this connection it is worth passing
72
I~
pipe and weld it back into place and the
job is done.
metal-arc electrode accompanied by a
high pressure jet of air- but this gives
Chapter 10
only a very roughly contoured cut, with
very jagged edges, and not all engineer-
ARC WELDING STAINLESS STEEL PIPE
ing workshops have this sort of equip-
Stainless steel pipes present one rather ment. If this method is used, the rough
difficult problem - it is not possible to edges and slag must be thoroughly
cut stainless steel by the normal oxy- cleaned off by grinding, etc. Where this
flame process and other means must
therefore be used. Ordinary square
system is not available, as a rough and
ready method, an ordinary metal arc Vertical and Overhead
ended cuts can be made with a power electrode can be used with a very high
saw, or by hand with a hacksaw, or in
the lathe. The edge preparation can
amperage, but only in the case of light
fairly thin pipe, and again this gives a
Arc Welding of Mild Steel
then be carried out by grinding, or very rough cut, involving a great deal of
'scurfing' as it is popularly termed, by a cleaning and grinding.
hand-held power grinder, or in the last However, there is another method. These welds are very difficult to carry necessary. The second run will have to
resort by filing. Square cuts, then, are This is to drill a series of small holes out. Indeed, only very experienced and be carried out using the weaving tech-
fairly simple. But what about in the case along the scribed line, as closely to- highly skilled welders can do these nique, in which the electrode (now of
of welding a stainless steel branch pipe gether as possible, after which the kinds of welding, but they play a very the normal type for this and all succeed-
on to a main pipe? These can be marked jagged metal between the holes can be important part in welding work. To take ing runs) is moved from side to side, as
out using the same methods as with chipped away by hammer and chisel vertical welding first. This occurs to a shown in Fig. 16. In the case of thicker
mild steel, i.e. by using the appropriate and the edges bevelled off in the usual great extent in ship repair and shipyard material, where a third run is necessary,
template, with the aid of the scriber, or way, by grinding or filing. Then, from work, and pipework. To conform with use a much wider weave, wide enough
as described a few lines back. Now we this stage onwards, the technique of arc Department of Trade and Industry regu- to ensure complete fusion with the
are presented with the problem of welding of stainless steel pipes is basic- lations, all vertical runs, or beads, with parent metal at each side of the weld. In
cutting out the aperture in the main ally the same as that of mild steel, the exception of the root run, must be the case of extremely thick material, a
pipe, the shape of which must conform except that it involves the use of special carried out by the Upward Vertical series of multi-run beads must be
to that of the branch pipe at the joint. electrodes which must be of the correct technique. This art can only be acquired deposited in the correct order. After
Stainless steel can be cut by the air-arc type, appropriate to whatever stainless by long practice. After the root run is completion of the vee and after
process -which is simply the ordinary steel alloy is being used. completed (see below) all subsequent thorough chipping and cleaning of the
runs must be started from the bottom of back of the weld, a sealing or capping
the vee and continued upwards and run must be deposited.
each run or bead must overlap the With vertical welding, it is important
previous one. :,, :. to get a good start. Therefore, first fully
establish the arc at the bottom of the
Single Vee Vertical Butt Weld. The first, joint, obtaining a good pool of molten
' ,, ~ \ ,, '~ : or root run, can be done in the down- metal there before moving upwards
ward direction, by using cellulosic elec- with a weaving motion, keeping the
j ,.
trodes, in order to obtain adequate electrode pointing upwards at an angle
penetration. This should penetrate right of 70°- 80°.
'-,'! ',,· through the material - and far enough
,-, ' through to project at the back of the Upward Vertical Welding of Corner
';.•,/, vee, to enable a sealing run to be Joints. Here again, the procedure is
deposited there. In the case of material much the same as above, with the
over, say, 55in. (3mm) thick one or proviso that the weld must be built up
more further runs (or beads) may be to the full sectional thickness of the
74
~!:
fl,:
has started to flow away from the must overlap the previous one, and in
molten pool of metal, it will continue to the final run, the material must be built
do so throughout the length of the up to the full strength of the parent
welding joint. As an aid to this, it is a metal, as with all corner welds, by
good idea to step up the current a little making sure of full fusion with the
above normal at first, gradually parent metal on each side along the
reducing it as the weld proceeds. whole length of the joint.
Overhead - Single Vee Butt Weld on Horizontal Welds on Vertical Surfaces.
M/S of about 48in. (10mm) thickness. This sounds like a contradiction in
After bevelling each edge 30° as usual, terms, but it is a technique which is
allowing a gap of 1/16in. (2mm) tack in sometimes necessary, for instance
the usual way, spaced about 2 - 3ins. when a fabrication cannot be turned
apart. Then commence as described over for welding in the flat position but
above, holding the electrode in an can only be stood up vertically. A good
almost vertical position (i.e. 90° to angle example is the bulkhead of a ship as it is
of welding joint) and deep in to the root being built, which has to be worked on
of the vee, to ensure deep and full in the vertical position. The edges of the
penetration. For further runs, the mild steel plates to be joined, usually
weaving technique must be employed, about 48in. (9mm) in thickness, are
and, as for all welds, in the final run, full prepared in the usual way as for a
fusion must be maintained with the single vee butt weld, with a gap of
parent metal at each side of the weld. 1/!6in. (1.5 to 1.75mm) except that the
Fig. 51 Vertical corner joint. And at the risk of wearying the reader lower face of the bevel is ground to only
by constant repetition of this theme, the 15°, and the upper face to 45°. Both ends
material. Many operators fail to do this author makes no apology for once more are tacked before commencing the root
with the result that the weld is not up to referring to the vitally important task of run. For this a very short arc is used,
full strength, (Fig. 39) and therefore chipping and thorough cleaning of the with the electrode held at about 65°
leaves a weak point in the structure. The slag after each run, before proceeding from the horizontal, and without any Horizontal~vertical arc welding, typical of large storage tanks,
completed corner weld should appear with the next one. ships' sides etc.
weaving. The second run is deposited
as shown in Fig. 51.
Overhead Corner Weld. The root run for so that it overlaps the root run, and
Overhead (Metal-arc) Welding. In the this can be done using cellulosic elec- likewise with the third run. If this weld is side of the bulkhead, in which case the
overhead position, the operator has to trodes, but these are not essential. being treated as a single vee the reverse weld would be treated as a single vee
work against the pull of gravity, but he Actually cellulosic electrodes are speci- side then has to be chipped and butt weld at each side of the joint, with
will find that the electric arc can over- ally designed for the downward vertical thoroughly cleaned and a sealing run the edges prepared in a similar way,
come this. The secret is to keep the arc root run on large circular storage tanks, deposited. Possibly, however, two and of course no sealing run would be
very short, in fact using the electrode large diameter pipes, and similar fabri- welders may be employed, one on each necessary.
almost as a contact rod. B.O.C.'s Vodex cations; for all ordinary normal over-
electrodes are eminently suitable for head and vertical welding, the normal
either overhead or vertical positions. type of electrode, such as the Vodex, is t.,
In overhead welding, a good start is perfectly suitable.
all-important. Thoroughly establish a The technique of carrying out an
good pool of molten metal right from overhead corner weld is much the same
the beginning, even allowing a little of as in the previous welds. The essential
this to over-run the edge to start with, points are that after completing the root
especially the slag, as again, once this run, the next and all succeeding runs
76
77
rt
Chapter 11
Building up and Reinforcement

. :,•
Rib-run reinforcement of digger tooth
Arc welding is valuable as a means of

building up under-sized or damaged
parts, e.g. worn parts of machinery,
The same order of
deposition should be
//>\
Studding and welding repair of cast iron gear
Fig. 55 Rib-run reinforcement.
required. After completion, the surface

may be ground, thus leaving a smooth
worn-down shafting, axles, etc., and followed until the whole
Fig. 54 Repairing a cast iron gear.
especially valuable in the building up of surface is covered ,:. ' finish.
worn teeth on machines such as exca- . ,)
vators. The latter process requires

special hard steel electrodes and is
~·:1 ·.' . "' ,·; 'f '
known as 'hard-facing'. For this B.O.C.'s
'Armex' electrodes are very well suited.
Let us take a simple example of
reinforcement on 57in. mild steel plate,
.~ •,'
Fig. 52 Hard facing preparation. Symmetrical reinforcement

to prevent excessive
distortion
Fig. 53 Surfacing a shaft. ,"''

·.·
,',_
:', ,, I
in the down-hand (flat) position. After
the first bead of weld deposit, the
following bead must overlap the first,
from its centre, and likewise each suc-
ceeding run, until the whole piece of
plate is uniformly covered. After this is
done, we turn the plate round goo and
deposit the next layer at right angles to
Hard facing of new material
the first one, again each run over-
lapping the previous one. Further layers
79
Chapter 12 Chapter 13
tl
Resistance Welding i.J.G. and M.I.G. Welding
This form of welding is used exten- manufacture. Great numbers of them Electric Arc Welding Aluminium escapably present on the surface of
sively in sheet metal work, for which it are suspended from the roof by coil Welding of aluminium by the oxy- aluminium and its alloys. However
is well adapted, particularly in spot springs and when an operative requires acetylene process has already been much the surface is scrubbed, abraded
welding, in a spot welding machine. to use one he simply reaches up, pulls dealt with so let us take a look at the with wire brushes or even filed, the
This is almost a purely mechanical down the appropriate welding 'gun', pros and cons of welding this metal by oxide reforms almost immediately. Flux
operation, in which very little skill is inserts it into the required spot, presses the electric-arc process. The great ad- deals with this but carries the drawback
required. Spot welding is used exten- the lever, and the job is done; it can be vantage this method possesses is, of that all traces must be removed after
sively in car factories and in many other repeated all along the seam if needed. course, speed, which is about six times welding; the process is time-
manufacturing shops requiring large The aforementioned Flash-welding is greater than that of the gas-welding consuming, since the only certain
numbers of sheet metal joints. The two similarly another form of resistance method. method of complete removal involves
pieces to be joined are inserted in welding. Aluminium, and most of its alloys, immersing the welded work in hot
position into the machine, the time can be electrically welded by using water, followed by a quick dip in caustic
switch is set, the current is switched on, British Rail and other railways also coated aluminium electrodes, but it is soda, then a brief submersion in dilute
the foot pedal pressed by the operator use resistance welding for joining their only possible by using D.C. current, nitric acid and finally thorough washing
and the two pieces of sheet metal are all-welded rails, using a special obtained usually from an electric in cold water.
fused together at one spot between the machine for the purpose. The two rails generator or rotary converter. Because T.I.G. or M.I.G. welding eliminate the
upper and lower electrodes. All the skill are placed in the machine end to end, of this the procedure is not in very problem completely, by excluding
that is needed is to set the correct and they are forced together under general use today, and in fact it has atmospheric oxygen and nitrogen, etc.
timing and the correct amperage; and tremendous pressure as the current is been almost superseded in recent years from the weld area, using an electric arc
the machine does the rest, as the opera- switched on. The rail then becomes one by the much superior process known as shielded or enveloped by an inert gas.
tor presses the foot pedal lever. whole, requiring only the slag and T.I.G. (Tungsten Inert Gas) or M.I.G. In the first system, a tungsten electrode
Smaller versions of these machines surplus metal to be removed to result in (Metallic Inert Gas), or as sometimes is used which does not burn away or
are also extensively used in motor car a perfectly finished job. referred to, argon-arc or C02 welding. melt into the weld like a normal elec-
trode. It can be regarded as more or less
T.I.G. and M.I.G. Systems permanent, although the tip tends to
These systems of welding aluminium become pitted after prolonged use and
both have one advantage over all other has to be trued up by light grinding. It
methods of welding aluminium in that must also be kept clean and free from
no flux whatever is required. The fluxes adhering spots of weld metal. The
used in gas welding aluminium dis- correct size tungsten electrode and
.lve the film of oxide which is inappropriate size porcelain nozzle must
80 81
Automatic self-drive arc-
welding machine used for moving on to it. Use is not confined to this would burn away too quickly. For a
long straight joints. Note aluminium and both systems are widely double-vee joint, edge preparation is
the gas pre-heating nozzle
and large spool of electrode
used for stainless steel and non-ferrous the same, except that chamfering is
wire. alloys. In the U.S.A. they are extensively carried out both top and bottom, but
used (with a small amount of oxygen leaving a slightly blunt nose at the
added to the gas) for mild steel, but at centre. In both cases always leave a
present this is not considered a suffici- slight gap of about 1/1sin. (1.6mm) in
ently economic proposition in Britain. order to help achieve 100% penetration
.,,1 Edge Preparation. Edge preparation for right through the material.
single and double-vee butt welds of For fillet welds and tee joints no edge
aluminium by any of the above pro- preparation is necessary, and the tech-
cesses is to all intents and purposes niques for assembly and tacking are
identical with that for mild steel. That is, much the same as those for mild steel,
chamfering the edges to an angle of 30° and the same precautions should be
on each edge for the single-vee joint, taken to avoid distortion.
but leaving a slightly blunt edge at the Aluminium has a very high thermal
bottom of the vee- not a knife edge, as conductivity and a little preliminary pre-
'·'.
•:,
• ···~ J !
be used for different material thick- leaves the operator with a free hand,
nesses and the current and gas pres- which enables time to be saved on light
sure are adjusted to suit. For fairly light jobs when the operator can simply hold . •';
work the cables and holder are air the work for tacking, dispensing with
cooled, but heavier work requires them the need for clamps and holding
to be water cooled. devices.
The difference with the M.I.G. method Both methods involve more expen-
is that the electrode is a continuous sive equipment, but commercially this
length of welding wire fed mechanically is compensated for by the elimination
from an overhead spool and geared to of the post-welding operation of flux
be fed at a rate synchronised with the removal and freedom from any danger
welding speed. There is thus a con- of corrosion. With a skilled operator the
tinuous flow of welding feed wire into welds resulting are beautifully formed
the weld area, which is also shielded by and provide faultless fusion and, after
inert gas; argon or carbon dioxide are grinding and polishing, invisible joins. Manual application of M.I.G.
the commonest gases used. The gas T.I.G., or argon-arc as it was initially Welding on an extensively
has a scavenging effect which replaces called, has been in use since about 1946 iigged and clamped work-
the flux as a means of dissolving the and neither it nor M.I.G. is really a piece. Return can be seen
film of oxide on the metal. An incidental system for the amateur, though either clamped to base of steel
advantage of the M.I.G. system is that it should offer little difficulty to readers bench.
heating, though not absolutely essen- Welding Stainless Steel by T.I.G. Manual arc welding using the
T.I.G. system in car production.
tial, always helps, especially on a very Process. The T.I.G. process is ideal for The need for protective clothing
big job, involving a large mass of the welding stainless steel, but there are is obvious.
metal. However, in dealing with light many types of stainless steel, and the
sheet metal aluminium, edge prepara- operator must know exactly which type
tion is hardly necessary for thicknesses he is working on, and also the correct
of less than 10 gauge (55in. or 3mm), filler rod to use for each type. To obtain
though slight chamfering can be carried this information, he must obtain guid-
out if thought desirable. It is really not ance from the manufacturer. Argon gas
essential provided the 1/16in. gap is is usually the most suitable, but if C02
maintained between the two sections to is used, first seek expert confirmation
be welded, as this performs the same that it is suitable for the particular type
function as a vee, provided the operator of stainless steel being worked on,
makes sure of 100% penetration when because they and the parent metal vary
carrying out the weld. so much in composition, with varying
percentages of chromium, nickel, and
Corner Welds on Aluminium, (as for so on. In the case of very thin sheet
example, on Box-shaped fabrications). stainless steel, the edges may be
As in mild steel fabrications of this kind, slightly flanged with the depth of the
it is best first to place a tack about every flanges about V16in. (1.6mm) - tightly
inch, along the whole length of the butted up together by clamping. With
corner joint, before proceeding with the this assembly no filler rod is needed,
weld proper. The help of a colleague the flanges simply being fused to- e seam. Some filler rod may be sheet stainless steel can be T.I.G.
may be needed to hold the two sections gether, but right from the start the necessary for this weld. To take the welded by using a chill block or bar
together while the operator is tacking. flanges must be fully melted until a full weight from the operator's arm, the clamped to the metal sheets with the
Place the two sheets of aluminium pool of molten metal is formed, before cables should be slung over the edges to be joined tight together. The
together with one edge very slightly progressing to the end of the seam. shoulder and wrapped round the fore- chill bar helps to conduct the heat away.
overlapping the edge of the other, so as arm, which helps maintain steadiness. This method is suitable for thicknesses
to leave a slight vee to accommodate Technique of Vertical Corner Weld on The weld should be carried out by the up to about 55in. (3mm) but over this
the final weld. This is in fact very Thin Stainless Steel Sheet. Use flanged leftward method, and with a slightly thickness no chill bar will be necessary.
important, because if the edges are edges in a similar way as before, weaving motion, using filler rod as Thicker material can be T.I.G. welded by
placed together with one completely clamping up in the usual way. This weld required, especially at end of run to clamping in the normal way, with the
overlapping the other, there is obvi- may be carried out by the downward ensure full build-up of the edge to the edges tightly together, and tacked in the
ously then no room left for the weld vertical method, without using filler full strength of the parent metal. Any usual way, i.e. place the first tack in the
deposit, and if welded in this position rod. Move the welding torch downward burrs should have been cleaned off the centre, then use the back-stepping
and the bead of weld metal later ground fairly fast, while at the same time edges before commencing. On thicker method, that is place the second tack to
off then clearly there is nothing left to completing fusion of the two edges. A material, two or more runs may be the right of the first one, and the third
hold the two sections together. This little of the filler rod may be found needed. If so, thoroughly clean the first tack to the left of the first, and so on,
principle applies to all corner welds, of necessary at the bottom end of the run, bead of weld before proceeding with along the length of the seam. This
whatever metal. to build up the edge to normal thick- second or further runs. Clean with a method avoids distortion, which would
In T.I.G. welding of aluminium the ness. stainless steel brush. Never use a mild occur if all tacks were placed con-
technique is very similar to that of steel wire brush, which is liable to leave secutively.
ordinary gas-welding, with a pool of Overhead Lap Joint on Thin Stainless small specks of mild steel embedded in T.I.G. Welding of Heavier Sections of
metal first established and the filler wire Steel Sheet. This again may be flanged, the material and could cause rusting Stainless Steel. For thicknesses of over
fed into the pool of molten metal in just clamping together as before, then later. If through lack of a folding 55in. (3mm) the edges should be cham-
the same way. four tacks placed equally spaced along machine flanging is not possible, thin fered and treated as a single vee butt
84
Teamwork with four welders done with filler rod, as they are liable to metal and maintain this along the
working on one car body shell.
Robot resistance welders are
crack during welding. If this happens, whole length of the joint, but do not
now more often used in mass the tack must be re-welded with full weave the tungsten arc. At the end of
production. fusion. When starting the weld proper the run, build up the edge of the
mence with a good pool of molten material with plenty of filler rod.
~ METAL TRANSFER IN GAS-
1 w
Rg.56
SHIELDED WELDING
For good penetration and high deposition rates, currents of

240-500A may be used with the spray transfer system {Fig. 56)_
where small droplets of molten metal from the electrode free-fly.
This system can be used with aluminium in any position but only
1. Droplet forming 2. Droplet being in the down hand position with other metals. For other positions
'pinched' off
Fig. 58
weld. Stainless steel plate of 48in.

(9mm) should be treated as double vee
butt welds. From this point, the pro-
manganese deoxidised copper, i.e. as
quoted above- grade 106 and 107.
As is well known, copper's most
11
3. Droplet in
free flight
4. Droplet deposited
Schematic diagram, spray transfer

1. Droplet formed 2. Pulse current
applied
cedure is the same as that for mild steel prominent characteristic is its very high t' ~ \
~ ~··
except that the correct filler rod must be thermal conductivity, or in simpler
used for whatever type of stainless steel terms, it is a very good conductor of
is being welded. heat, and for this reason some pre-
liminary pre-heating may be necessary,
Welding Copper by the Tungsten Inert especially when argon gas (the gas in
Gas Process (T.I.G.). There are certain
deoxidised grades of copper which are
best suited for welding by T.I.G.,
notably grades C106 and C107. Other
most general use) is being used.
Procedure for a Butt Weld on Y1sin.
(1.6mm) Sheet Copper. First, remove all 1. Electrode short-
circuited
2. Current increased
•
3. Droplet in flight •
4. Droplet deposited,
new droplet forming
grades can be T.I.G. welded but are not burrs from the cut edges and thorough-
so highly recommended for this, being ly clean off all grease and dirt. Also
Schematic diagram, pulse transfer
liable to suffer from embrittlement as a paste the joint area with a suitable flux
result of the heat involved in the to reduce oxidation. The flux may be
welding process. Argon, helium, or the same as that used for the oxy-
nitrogen may be used as shielding acetylene welding of copper. This must
be thoroughly cleaned off after welding. or thin material the current is reduced to 80-200A and metal
gases, but of these, helium results in transfer is by dip or pulse. In the former, used with a low current
the neatest welds. It is very important Joint Assembly. Taking two pieces of short arc, the end of the electrode touches the weld pool, current
4. End of electrode 5. Electrode about to rises, metal melts off, electrode touches etc. 50-200 times per
that the correct filler rod is used, sheet copper of the above thickness, heating short circuit second, but this system is only suitable for metals with fairly high
according to the particular grade of clamp them edge to edge tightly to- electrical resistance, such as steel (Fig. 57). In other cases a
special machine supplies up to 100 high current pulses to the
copper being welded. With argon gas, gether, or in a jig fixture. Tacks may be Schematic diagram, dip transfer electrode (Fig. 58) produced metal transfer similar to spray
the most suitable filler rod is of silicon used, but they must be very strongly transfer but at considerably lower average current.
86
!1,
,~,
Weld symbols for types of joints

APPENDIX 1
BS 499- Pt 2 - 1980
Typical joint Typical joint

preparation Drawing indication preparation Drawing indication
Weld Symbols
Plan
Engineering Working Drawings --Jf--115~25mm)

sions are expressed in feet and/or
T~G£:
Working drawings present views of a inches and fractions (or, of course,
workpiece in three ways, plan, eleva- metres) and important dimensions in
tions and sections. The plan view is as decimal parts of an inch (or milli-
seen from above, looking down ver- metres). tl5-3mmJ roo
tically. Elevations are side and/or end Symbols are used in welding
views, and sections are drawings on drawings, as illustrated, and indicate
planes cut through the object, vertically the type of weld required (single or
or horizontally. All large objects are double butt, fillet, T joint, corner, lap,
drawn to a scale, which is shown on the single or double U joints, etc.) plus,
drawing as a scale line with full-size usually, dimensions of gaps, grinding
dimensions marked as they appear re- angles, etc. It will be noted that the
duced, or a statement, e.g. V4in. - 1ft., illustrations include one or two forms of
or sometimes as a fraction (1/10 full- joint not discussed in this book, but the
size) or a ratio (1 :25). However, uses are self-evident and all the
drawings for constructional engineer- symbols rapidly become familiar to a
ing include all dimensions and welder needing to work from such
materials; usually non-critical dimen- drawings.
(15-Jnmj
!":
I sa ~
'"'
~(15-Jmm)
88
89
Typical joint Typical joint Type of joint Drawing indication
Drawing indication Drawing indication Type of joint Drawing indication
preparation preparation
Plan
Wider included angle

used with the smaller
gap Fillet welded
T-joint (intermittent
fillet welds.)
The same method
of indicating backing Commencing each
strips as for the side with a weld.
square butt joints 8 mm fillet, 50 welds,
100 mm long, 100 mm
Note that structural The weld symbol is
Backing strip between weld
member may also be The backing strip is changed to indicate
or backing elements.
used as a backing indicated by full or V-preparation
strip dotted lines as bar
appropriate to the view
Square butt weld with permanent backing Single-V butt weld with temporary
strip held in place by fillet welds or permanent backing
Elevation Plan
Plan
!(
The vertical Fillet welded lap joint

depth of the Fillet welded
penetration is T-joint
added at the
left-hand side Staggered
of the symbol intermittent fillet
In all views the backing Partial penetration single-bevel weld welds. 8 mm fillet, s ~ 50x lOOjoom
strip is indicated by Arrow points at component prepared 50 welds, 100 mm 8 v50x100~0l
chain-dotted lines The above applies also to partially penetrated long, 100 mm
Square butt weld with backing strip single-V, single-U and single-J weld, except between weld
that the appropriate weld symbol is used elements.
Plan
Plan
Plan
~
The vertical depth of ~
the penetration is T-joint with I
l
added to the left- unequal leg length
hand side of the fillet weld }
symbol for each side
The backing bar Partial penetration double-V weld ( ~· .·.
is not indicated
Corner joint
l 11
on the drawing
The above applies also to partially penetrated f
double-U, double-J and double-bevel weld, Weld should not
Square butt weld made on a backing except that the appropriate weld symbol is be represented
tool (bar) used with unequal leg I
APPENDIX 2
Supplementary
Type of joint Drawing indication instruction
Drawing indication
Aids to Erection and Assembly
Plan
17 Weld all round a

joint eg. a flange
to a pipe; a stanchion Placed at 'elbow' of
to a base-plate. arrow shaft with the
Both weld symbols are used, A peripheral reference line
the butt-weld symbol being Bolt, clamp
weld
nearest to the reference line.
Size of fillet weld not stated
and wood blocks
unless it differs from that
/
To be welded
on site
For other types of compound

welds the appropriate symbol
is used together with the
symbol for the superimposed
fillet weld
Unequal leg length fillet weld superimposed Single straight line Chain and bar
on a partial penetration single-J butt weld Flush finish to aCJded to symbol. This for flat plate or
with fillet at root (other side) butt weld may be used with any incorrectly rolled
type of butt weld with•
Plan
appropriate symbol, I , ~cylinder
and may be used to
request flush finish \\
on one or both sides \I
\1
of the weld
Convex finish
(to butt weld)
Sealing run
Concave finish
Plan (to fillet weld)
Weld to be
radiographed
Symbol is to attract
attention, added at end
of reference line
bearing appropriate
weld symbols
Sealing run
92
93
APPENDIX 3 10 Under-cut along vertical member of
21 Lack of fusion along lower edge of one
fillet welded tee joint. Incorrect angle of
side face in single vee butt joint. In-
Welding Defects and 11
tilt used in blowpipe manipulation.
Root run too large with undercut in butt
correct technique. Angle of blowpipe
tilt. Concentrating heat mainly on one
most likely causes joint. Use of too large a nozzle and/or fusion face.
excessive lateral blowpipe manipula-
22 Lack of inter-run fusion. Angles of nozzle
tion with too slow a speed of travel.
Unequal leg length fillet. Incorrect angle and blowpipe manipulation incorrect.
of filler rod and blowpipe. 12 Under-cut both sides of weld face in
23 Lack of fusion of one or both root edges
butt joint. Wrong blowpipe manipula-
2 Fillet weld with insufficient throat thick- with lack of root pentration. Incorrect
tion; incorrect distance from plate sur- alignment of joint edges.
ness. Speed of travel too fast, leading to face; excessive lateral movement. Use
insufficient deposited weld metal. of too large a nozzle. 24 Lack of fusion between deposited metal
2a Fillet weld with excessive throat thick- and root edges (lack of root fusion).
13 Oxidised weld face. Use of oxidising Slope of nozzle too small. Too much
ness. Speed of travel too slow causing flame setting. Insufficient cleaning of
heavy deposit. Filler rod too large. heat dissipated forward and filler rod
plate surfaces. Incorrect manipulation melts too soon.
3 Excessive concavity in butt weld profile. of blowpipe permitting cone to contact
Excess heat build-up with too fast a the molten pool. Atmospheric contami- 25 &Weld face cracks in butt and fillet welds.
speed of travel, or filler rod too small. nation. 26 Use of incorrect welding procedure.
Unbalanced expansion and contraction
4 Excessive convexity in butt weld profile. 14 Overheated weld. Use of too large a stresses. The presence of impurities.
Insufficient heat - too slow a speed of nozzle. Speed of travel too slow. Excess
Undesirable chilling effects. Use of in-
travel- nozzle size too small- filler rod blowpipe manipulation extending the correct filler rod.
too large. weld pool.
27 Toe and underbead cracks. Use of
15 Incomplete root penetration in butt
5 Undesirable weld profile (lap fillet) - incorrect procedure leading to internal
joints (single vee or double vee).
excess melting of plate edge, giving stresses. Chilling effects producing
Incorrect set-up and joint preparation.
insufficient throat thickness. Incorrect hardening of parent metal in thermally
Use of unsuitable procedure and/or disturbed zone.
tilt angle of blowpipe fusing top edge of
welding technique.
plate, which flows down to produce 28 Surface porosity and gaseous in-
unequal leg length fillet with un- 16 Incomplete root penetration in close
clusions. Use of incorrect filler rod and
desirable profile. square tee joint. Incorrect set-up and
technique. Failure to clean surfaces
joint preparation. Use of unsuitable pro-
6 Notch effect with overlap at side of fillet before welding. Absorption of gases.
cedure and/or welding technique.
weld. Incorrect manipulation together Incorrectly stored fluxes, unclean filter
with incorrect angle of blowpipe and 17 Welds incorrectly positioned. Welds rod. Atmospheric contamination.
filler rod. Lack of fusion have been deposited out of alignment
24 22
with the centre line of the joint. 29 Crater at end of weld run. Small cracks
7 Notch effect with overlap at side of butt may be present. Neglect to change the
weld. Incorrect manipulation together 18 Notch, instead of root underbead. Lack angle of blowpipe, speed of travel or
with incorrect angle of blowpipe and of root penetration. Angle of nozzle too increase the rate of weld metal deposi-
filler rod. small. Speed of travel too fast. In- tion as welding is completed at the end
sufficient heat applied. of the seam.
8 Excessive penetration. Excess fusion of 19 Lack of root penetration. Incorrect joint
root edges. Angle of slope of nozzle too
penetration and set up. Gap too small.
large. Insufficient forward heat. Flame
Vee preparation too narrow. Root edges
size and/or velocity too high. Filler rod touching.
too large or too small. Speed of travel
too slow. 20 Lack of fusion on root and side faces of
double vee butt joint. Incorrect set-up
9 Burn through. Excessive penetration and joint preparation. Use of unsuitable
has produced local collapse of weld (By courtesy of the Engineering In-
welding technique.
pool resulting in a hole in the root run. dustry Training Board, Watford)
94
95

Workshop Practice Series 07 The Art of Welding

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WORKSHOP PRACTICE SERIES from Special Interest Model Books

1. Hardening, Tempering & 11. Electroplating

7. The Art of Welding

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN

SPECIAL INTEREST MODEL BOOKS

Appendix 1 Weld Symbols 88

Chapter 1 are used.

Welding by the Oxy-Acetylene

through the whole material being (,,; ,. ~ .

Now to complete the weld proper.

EXERCISE II. SINGLE VEE BUTT WELD

Diameter Fig. 18 Types of

Less than 1·2-1·6

• STAINLESS STEEL stainless steel 6 x 6in. x 16g and set

I~. with specialised subjects, such as this

down a bead of weld metal neatly and

Fig. 29 Correct electrode angle. tration throughout, he can consider

Exercises in Welded Joints

Unequal thickness--fillet welded Unequal thickness--butt welded

1 ,.! I·· .,•, f

THE SINGLE BUTT WELD

to be joined must be ground to an angle from left to right, if a right-handed

golden rule is to make sure that the

Arc-welding of Very Thin Mild Steel

Cast Iron and Stainless Steel tions.

using a fairly long section of large weld deposit. Obviously, on much

Building up and Reinforcement

Rib-run reinforcement of digger tooth

Arc welding is valuable as a means of

required. After completion, the surface

vators. The latter process requires

Fig. 52 Hard facing preparation. Symmetrical reinforcement

Fig. 53 Surfacing a shaft. ,"''

Resistance Welding i.J.G. and M.I.G. Welding

~ METAL TRANSFER IN GAS-

For good penetration and high deposition rates, currents of

weld. Stainless steel plate of 48in.

Schematic diagram, spray transfer

Weld symbols for types of joints

Typical joint Typical joint

Engineering Working Drawings --Jf--115~25mm)

Wider included angle

The vertical Fillet welded lap joint

17 Weld all round a

For other types of compound

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