Tag Archive for: welding
How to Lower Your Welding Costs
Gravity makes welding more expensive, it’s a fact… That is why downhand welding costs less than vertical or overhead welding. It’s all about deposition rates. When welding in the vertical or overhead position, the higher your metal deposition rate, the more likely the weld metal is to sag and run out of the joint. To combat these problems try using a pulsed power source that produces less heat, or use current and voltage settings that reduce the burn-off rate or use smaller diameter electrodes with good out of position characteristics. All of these solutions require a skilled welder.
Another disadvantage is that deposition rates are lower, therefore production costs are higher, not to mention the cost of a skilled welder and the ability to find one! Every solution to out of position welding problems has the same disadvantage – deposition rates are lower, and your production costs are higher. They often are much higher.
Predicting Deposition Rates
The following is a rule of thumb guideline to predict deposition rates. In the vertical position a welder should be able to weld approximately 3 pounds per hour with a stick electrode when welding. Unfortunately even a good welder welds only about 25% of the time. The rest of his time is spent changing electrodes, chipping slag and positioning. The actual deposition rate will then be about ? lb per hour. Downhand, the same welder should be able to weld 10 to 15 lbs. per hour, when he is welding.
By replacing the stick electrode with flux core wire or submerged arc, weld downhand and your welder should double his output to 30 lbs per hour. That’s also when he is welding. Using semi automatic welding equipment, your welder can weld a heavy work piece from 50% to 75% of the time, actual arc-on time. He’s then only giving you 15 to 20 lbs. per hour of weld per man hour worked in the down hand position. Using semi automatic power sources designed for overhead welding, a welder can weld about 1/8th of what he can deliver in the down hand position.
In Position Welding Can Provide a Payback
While change in welding process has a positive impact on welding costs in position versus out of position welding, the major cost savings is generated by moving the weld into position far outweigh the benefits of process changes. The savings offered by in position welding are often large enough to provide a payback of the positioning investment in less than one year.
Positioning Equipment Reduces Materials-Handling Risks
By mechanizing the weld system using the proper positioning equipment and multi wire welding, expect 60 lb. weld deposition per hour. There are several reasons for using positioning equipment. Operator fatigue is a factor in lost productivity and reduced weld quality. Safety is another important factor. Any time that a work piece is manually handled, accidents can occur. Positioning equipment reduces materials-handling risks because the work is handled one time to load and only once more to unload it.
Positioning creates better weld quality. If the weld metal is all down hand, gravity helps the weld. The result is equal legs on fillet welds, a smoother bead surface, minimum cleanup and less weld-repair time, and often a reduction in weld defects.
Effective Use of Available Floor Space
Positioning equipment also makes more effective use of available floor space. A positioner under the weldment will shrink the total space required to handle the work. For example, a weldment cannot be turned over 180 degrees without setting it on the floor and re-hooking it to a crane. A positioner can do that in about half of the space.
Positioning equipment should be considered a cost savings due to improved safety, weld quality, better floor space utilization, possibly a lower welder skill level requirement. But most importantly a positioner can reduce your cost per pound of weld metal deposited by moving your welding into a down hand position.
SOHO WELDING can custom design systems to increase your deposition rates by using new and used welding equipment. The company’s experienced staff can help you size your positioning equipment. “Call us, we know welding”
What Can a Welding Positioner Do for You?
Weld positioners come in a variety of shapes and sizes built to create the best possible output in the workplace when it comes to welding. Their purpose is to position the product to make a welding job much easier. They also increase safety in the workplace when dealing with heavy machinery. Weld positioners are not only built for and utilized in the heavy machinery trade, but also for applications in the automotive, heavy construction, oil and pipe, and defense industries, among others. Weld positioners are in high demand in the agricultural industry as well. Welding positioners for gas metal arc welding (GMAW) applications are common in the agricultural or equipment manufacturing fields.
Welding is possibly the most complex manufacturing process and may be the least understood. This has led to a shortage of educated employees in this field. For instance, the need for welders with experience all over the world is very high. Positioners help to make the welders you do have more productive. For manual welding, it creates a sturdy base for the welder to work at and places the weldment at the optimum angle for comfort and accessibility. Therefore, the welder can accomplish the task much more quickly. In addition, it saves space in the work area.
Positioners also provide quite a few benefits for a company with regard to automation. They offer an avenue that is very beneficial because automated welding can improve welding quality and increase the overall output. Automation ensures consistency so that every joint is properly and securely welded at the same rate. While there is an initial money investment that goes along with automated welding, in the long run, a company can save a lot of money and time by making the investment.
Types of Positioners
Since weld positioners have become a recognizable tool in workplaces to increase productivity, positioner manufacturers have developed a variety of designs to help accomplish the job or task at hand, such as sliding tailstock trunnions, ferris wheel positioners, five-axis positioners, L-hook positioners, and dual trunnion turntables.
Sliding tailstock trunnions offer a floor-mounted headstock utilizing precision-bearing, high-quality alloy pinion and large tool mounting plates. Multiple payloads are accommodated quickly and precisely by means of adjusting the tailstock mount to a servo-driven rack and pinion slide. These positioners are coordinated with a robot by means of the robot’s auxiliary axis.
Ferris wheel positioners come ready to integrate with the robot of your choice. Ferris wheel positioners have a 16-ft-long horizontal exchange axis to minimize station footprint while accommodating longer parts. A metal arc screen divider creates a barrier that safeguards the operator from arc flash. Ferris wheel positioners are very versatile as they can handle longer parts while requiring a lesser amount of floor space than other workholding methods.
Five-axis positioners provide an ergonomically friendly positioner height. They give you the flexibility to rotate your work, providing access to difficult-to-reach areas. With a five-axis positioner, an automated project can be welded in the 1F position instead of being welded horizontally and having the weld spread, which results in a weld that isn’t as solid as a weld performed in the 1F position.
A drop center positioner can handle demanding jobs that most other positioners can’t, such as extremely heavy and long parts. While commonly used in the agricultural industry for GMAW applications, drop center positioners have proven to be reliable for use on any kind of weld in any industry.
L-hook positioners are two-axis positioners that utilize a robust, four-point contact with a ball radial bearing and pinion with 360-deg rotation on both the main and the table axis. L-hook positioners are mostly used for agricultural equipment. Cab assemblies are put on L-hooks because of the angle and range they provide for the product to be GMA welded. In the agriculture industry, L-hook positioners are mostly used for GMAW because agricultural equipment has heavier parts and needs larger machines for bigger jobs.
The dual trunnion turntable positioner (H Positioner) provides an ergonomic positioner height. With this type of positioner, excessive machine evaluation is not required and robot risers are significantly reduced. Dual trunnion turntables are primarily used for GMAW of car and truck frames in the automotive industry.
Weld positioners have proven to be a productive investment for any company seeking more efficient routes in their welding practices. Since weld positioners have become recognizable tools in today’s places, manufacturers have developed different variations to accompany manual or automated welding tasks. While automated welding can be a costly investment for businesses, it can save money in the long run because of the efficiency and punctuality of every weld on the path to accomplishing a welding goal.