Welding plant for handyman

Press, 2 August 1979, Page 10

Welding plant for handyman

Provided certain basic safety precautions are followed, a welding plant can be an indispensable addition to a home handyman’s equipment. Oxy-acetylene is a particularly versatile form of welding, as the operator can perform a variety of processes, including welding, heating, cutting and brazing on a wide range of metals. A welding plant can either be purchased as a complete kit or built up from separate components as necesssity or finance permit. Safety precautions are

mainly a matter of commonsense but booklets detailing safety precautions and regulations are available from both N.Z.I.G. and the New Zealand Standards Association, and it is strongly recommended that anyone contemplating a start in welding become conversant with these basic rules. One of the fundamental rules with oxy-acetylene is that all equipment should be kept free from oil. Welding plants are pieces of precision equipment and should be treated as such. Electric arc welding is also a very popular form

of welding, and anyone can become a competent welder with a little experience. Arc welders vary in capacity from 130 ’ amp machines up to 500 and 600 amp, and larger, but 200 amp is usually all that is required for general work. A wide variety of jobs can be undertaken by choosing the correct electrode, as each type is designed to perform under varying conditions and to give varying operating characteristics. Once again there are basic safety rules to ob-

serve, perhaps the most obvious being to use correct eye protection, as an arc-flash can be extremely uncomfortable. Booklets giving comprehensive safety rules are also available from N.Z.I.G. and the Standards Association. Although both gas and arc welding are relatively simple to master, courses, such as those run by Christchurch Technical Institute, are available to allow a welder to attain varying levels of profl-, ciency. Sex is no barrier to anyone wishing to learn welding as an increasing number of women are findng that welding opens a new range of interests and hobbies. Advice on equipment choice, as well as free technical information is available from welding equipment suppliers. The initial choice of good, high quality welding equipment will ensure years of use and pay for itself many times over by increasing the home handyman’s ability to handle those previously impossible jobs such as playground equipment and tool repairs.