Thread: Welding set up

G'dy all,
thanks to everyone for your patience and advice with my newbie questions, it's very appreciated.
My welder is on the way and I also ordered an auto darkening helmet to go with it. My question now is what other equipment do I need to get me started on my welding adventures, and is there an order of preference for them?

I thought I'd at least need these things,

- Cart/trolley for the welder,
- Welding table,

I am leaning towards the Kobe RB26 rods as I've read some good reviews on this site. Are these OK to learn on, or are there others that would be better suited?

Are there any other essentials, or 'handy to have' items that you can think of?
Thanks for looking,
Steve.

RB26 rods are fine to learn on, they are a good all-round rod and perform well. Presumably you will be getting decent welding gloves as well and a long sleeved, non-flammable jacket to protect from burns and radiation from the arc.
Chipping hammer and wire brush for cleaning off the slag.
4" grinder and flap wheels to clean the area to be welded would be handy.
Scrap/off-cuts of various sizes to practice on would be good.
The kart/trolley for the welder is something you can make once you have the art of gluing metal together sorted, it's a good practice job.
Same goes for the welding table, you can buy one or make one depending on your preferences, I went for many years welding on a metal workbench I made 40 odd years ago and it was perfectly OK, I've since got one of the Stronghand tables but it's not something you need to start off with.
What you will need is clamps, start off with a few G clamps and you'll expand your collection over time. Buy decent quality clamps and they'll last you a life-time if you look after them.

Thanks Gavin,
would a long sleeved shirt/long patns or overalls treated with proban or similar suffice, or is a jacket the go? I see that some clothing treated with proban is more expensive than some of the jackets that I've seen.
Are there different types of gloves for different processes? I've seen ones called welding gauntlets and others called TIG gloves, what's the difference?
I've got a huge wooden work bench now, so I'll get a sheet of metal to cover it and use that. I was looking to make a welding table when I've had some practice, maybe a smaller one on wheels.
Thanks again for the tips,
Steve

For stick or MIG you want a pair of heavy welding gauntlets. If nothing else, they'll save you from a serious burn when you inevitably touch or pick up something that's incredibly hot. Be assured you will do this. A pair of channel-lock pliers is a good thing to have handy to try and reduce the incidence of this.

For stick the Kobes are a good rod - get 3.2mm rods and start with thicker sections (3mm+) just to get started laying beads, watching the puddle etc.

And watch this video and others by this guy - by far the best welding videos I've come across.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP8hh0yQibM

Originally Posted by Lovey71

would a long sleeved shirt/long patns or overalls treated with proban or similar suffice, or is a jacket the go? I see that some clothing treated with proban is more expensive than some of the jackets that I've seen.

Unless it's wintertime I found a full length jacket gets too hot.
I think they're more for if you are going to be cranking all day, or in awkward spots where you greater chance of stuff falling on you.
For DIY use I wear a pair of tough long sleeved cotton overalls, and sometimes a full length leather apron for higher current stuff.
Whatever you are wearing you need to be able to do the top collar button up otherwise you will UV burn your neck/chest.
Lace up boots or overalls that go over the boots will stop spatter falling down inside the boots -ouch.

Are there different types of gloves for different processes? I've seen ones called welding gauntlets and others called TIG gloves, what's the difference?

TIG gloves are usually thinner so provide better feel. Also you should use TIG gloves for just TIG work or you will get all kinds of crap on them which will affect the work & rods and hence the weld. If you are TIGing Al and Steel you should use separate gear for each. Not just gloves but flap sanding discs, wire brushes etc.

I've got a huge wooden work bench now, so I'll get a sheet of metal to cover it and use that. I was looking to make a welding table when I've had some practice, maybe a smaller one on wheels.

I used to do that - just some 3mm plate and it was OK for a while.

I find magnetic right angle clamps are very useful, I have several different sized pairs.
You can't have too many clamps, I have several pairs of 2,3,4 and 6" G clamps plus a few bigger F type clamps.
The other type of clamp that is really useful is the type that clamps on 3 sides - this allows you to do things like clamp a small piece of steel onto the end of a piece of tubing so it can be tacked in place.

Here is my top tip - before you start, fill up a bucket with water and have it readily available. If you burn yourself, drop everything and INSTANTLY get some water on it. Better still is running tap and keep it under the running water for 10-15 minutes - it's amazing what that does. I didn't believe it would make that much difference but it reduces or even eliminates blisters.

I wear a T shirt, shorts and a pair of crocs, not the best safety gear but I'm real good at hopping and yelling obscenities. I do prefer not to use anything made of polyester though - it burns good!

Thanks for the tips BobL, I've got some quick release clamps but they've got plastic bits on them, so I'll go and get some metal ones.
Thanks Sacc, that reminds me of my mate who used to go chainsawing in thongs and shorts, until he rolled a log on his toe and busted it up.
He used to laugh at me when I turned up to chainsaw in long sleeved shirt, pants, chaps, steel cap boots, face shield, ear muffs and safety glasses, reckons I'd be too hot wearing all that gear . I'm not as agile as I used to be, so my hopping skills are a bit lax/ My swearing skills are top notch though .

I agree with BobL about running water, but I would suggest at least 15 minutes and depending upon how thick your flesh is where you are burnt, possibly 20 minutes. Personal experience with myself once with some hot metal and a family member who picked up a hot gas stove trivet another time.

I use magnetic clamps for many of the tack welds I do, running from small ones right up to a couple of monster ones I picked up at a deceased estate auction on a hobby farm. They are hard to place correctly they have that much pull, but by jingo, once in place, nothing moves. Usually I have picked these up for a reasonable price from those tool sellers that seem to be at many country fairs

As far as leather wear goes, you will need various things at various times. Believe it or not, Aldi has some very good gear for arc welding every now and then. I picked up some heavy duty welding gauntlets that go up to the middle of the forearm, a full leather apron and a perfect pair of welding spats, all sourced from India and very very cheap.

Depending upon whether or not you could be welding overhead, or close to face level, a welding cap ensures you don’t get little bits of molten metal down the back of your neck. A quick search brought this welding hood up, something I haven’t seen before. It would certainly be lighter than the leather welding cap I have borrowed from a mate for an overhead job.
Firefox Welders Hood Black Proban Flame Retardant Material Welding CAP Hood | eBay

Mick.

Just a note to be wary of magnetic angle clamps - when I was learning, I found that the magnets can move the arc when you get close to them, which threw me a bit when trying to stay right in the root of a fillet weld. They're great apart from that little quirk.

Thanks for the Aldi tip Mick, I'll keep an eye on them.
Thanks Rusty, I imagine I'd be having a moment when the arc was magically moving away from where I was aiming .

When I started in the trade around 50 years ago there was no such thing as OH&S. Everyone wore T shirts, shorts and boots, the boss didn't supply safety glasses, gloves or anything else. Most bought their own leather aprons to spare their T shirts and shorts. Welders, like myself, were easy to spot by their two tone tans: red on the exposed bits and the lilly white beyond, boots were great for catching red hot slag. The foreman always scoffed at those wearing aprons, said his wife wore an apron and so refused to wear one himself, at least until the day he was cutting a slot in a large pipe with his body pressed up against the end, boy could he scream loud, he wasn't shy about shedding his shirt either- very quickly.... After that incident he relented and bought an apron but would only used it when welding, of course after that whenever donning it we all called him 'Mrs Joseph', think they call that 'live by the sword'!. The problem with working in environments like that is PPE is a difficult thing to remember later on.

A couple more points:

Before you start welding make sure that bystanders are warned not to look at the arc.

After you finish welding don't leave the area unmanned until you are 100% sure nothing is smoking or on fire. You'd be surprised how far welding and grinding sparks can travel!

I would suggest you sign up for a welding course at TAFE, save yourself a lot of time.

+1 for the TAFE course. A lot of information can be imparted in a relatively short period.
If you don't already have an angle grinder, I suggest giving consideration to a 5" over a 4" model. A 5" grinder is much more versatile in my opinion and is fairly much the industry standard for a boilys small grinder, with either 7 or 9" as your big grinder (depending on site rules etc). If unfamiliar with grinder usage, stay away from thin cut off discs as they are both unforgiving when contacting flesh and explosive if stressed.
Don't be afraid to experiment with different techniques and find what works for you.
One essential item for any area where hot work is performed is a Dry Chemical fire extinguisher or better still 2 of them. Read the instructions before you need to use them as well.
The actual welding side of things is actually fairly simple, or at least can be, but the fabrication and fit up side is where good tools really come into their own. You will probably want a decent chipping hammer if stick wlding as the ones that come with welders are invariably rubbish.

Originally Posted by Karl Robbers

. . . .stay away from thin cut off discs as they are both unforgiving when contacting flesh and explosive if stressed. .

This is not my experience and I reckon they are one of the safest discs around. Their high surface area to volume/mass ratio means that any pieces they generate are rapidly slowed down by air friction and as they have little momentum (apart from eyes) they cannot serious hurt you. I have gone through hundreds of these before I got my bandsaw but I still use them in a small table saw arrangement. I break about 10% of the discs I use. None have ever "exploded", mostly they snap off at the arbor hole and flop out on the bench - they don't go spinning off around the shed like a frisbee. The pieces that come off may raise a small welt and very few have drawn any blood. The greatest injury I sustained using one of these was when I was cutting a piece of angle that I did not realise was under compression and when the cut broke through the grinder grabbed and pushed my hand into an adjacent length of metal - the disc did not shatter, a few bruises on the hand which would have been minimised if I had been wearing gloves.

I'm not suggesting these can be used without any due care and diligence like PPE and not using them for purposes for which they are not intended but they are not the devil of the grinding game as they are often made out to be.