www.weldreality.com

This web site / blog was started in 1998 by Ed Craig. www.weldreality.com ©.

What you will find at this home page. [] An introduction to TiP TiG. [] There will be weld issues at the Bejing Olympic stadium. [] Why is the weld industry wasting money on useless electronic bells and whistles? [] Why the concern for the so called shortage of skilled welders. [] The consequences of hands off management. [] Is the weld shop run by a firemen or weld manager? [] How important is fundamental weld process control expertise to your organization? [] Where are the qualified weld managers? [] Never ask a designer of a welded part, a weld question. [] For the first time, Ford and Dana engineers saw optimum robot frame welds. [] There are more than sixty MIG gas mixes available, yet the global weld industry only needs four.

All weld programs at weldreality.com

Welcome. My name is Ed Craig. Many of you will know me from the 18 years I wrote the QA weld column in the USA Weld Design and Fabrication magazine or perhaps you read one of my thirty published articles on the simplification of manual and automated MIG and Flux cored weld process controls. If you have a Machinery Handbook gathering dust on you shelve and its not too old, I wrote the weld section. I have written three books on MIG and FCA weld process controls and with forty five plus years of hands on weld process control expertise, I have resolved manual and automated weld issues in more than a thousand companies in thirteen different countries. I hope you enjoy weldreality.com and it's focus on MIG, TIG and flux cored, Best Weld Practices and Weld Process Controls:

To examine the extensive programs at this look to the links on the left and visit all programs.


WHEN YOU WISH TO CONSISTENTLY PRODUCE THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE CODE QUALITY, MANUAL AND AUTOMATED WELDS, THERE IS ONLY ONE WELD PROCESS AND IT'S CALLED TIP TIG.

In 2009 I was in Europe helping Cameron a subsea valve manufacture with their automated Hot Wire TIG clad welds. While in the UK I heard about a unique weld process called TIP TIG, and with my business partner we bought this process to N. America.

When you visit www.tiptigusa.com you will find that TIP TIG is the natural evolution of the seventy year old TIG process. This process delivers 100 - 400% more hourly production than regular TIG, is easier to use than TIG, and attains superior weld quality than any other weld process. If you weld alloys this process also delivers the lowest possible weld heat and the least possible weld fumes. So after 40 years of optimizing MIG and flux cored welds, and 30 years of wasting time with the manual pulsed MIG process, instead of early retirement, I am now trying to keep out of my wife's way and ensure North - South America and Australia becomes aware of the TIP TIG process.

2009. Have you seen the patent pending TIP TIG process. This is the first, practical manual - automated advance in North American TIG weld technology in seven decades.

 

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Ed's Robot / Manual, MIG and Flux cored
Best Weld Practices and Weld Process Controls.

 

BELLS AND WHISTLES CANNOT COMPENSATE FOR LACK OF WELD PROCESS EXPERTISE?

Why do the majority of global weld shops rush to purchase the useless costly bells and whistles found in manual MIG pulsed equipment?


It was my job as a Training and Weld Product Manager with companies such as Praxair, Airgas, AGA and Liquid Carbonic to test MIG equipment and weld consumables available from around the globe. I did this for more than 30 years.

Today in 2012 you can pay $3000 for a traditional MIG power source, or pay $12000 for a Lincoln pulsed MIG power source.

The weld reality is this. With The MIG process control expertise available in this site's Weld Process Control Training Resources, you will attain the same manual MIG and Flux Cored weld quality and productivity results from both power sources on the majority of all steels and alloy steels weld applications.


WHY ARE COMPANIES WASTING MONEY ON UNNECESSARY CARBON STEEL METAL CORED AND FLUX CORED WIRES AND ON USELESS, COSTLY THREE COMPONENT MIG GAS MIXES?



It's a weld reality that in the global weld industry that we are in dire need of individuals who can live without the weld advice from a salesman, individuals that will take ownership of the equipment and processes on their weld shop floors, individuals that can make rational weld decisions based on technical substance, individuals that are actually aware of the real costs of a weld.

Many weld shops will use Metal Cored or Flux Cored wires that can cost from $2 to $4/lb for steel welds made in the flat and horizontal weld positions, while the same weld quality and productivity could be attained from a MIG wire that costs approx. $1/lb. Some salesman may have convinced their customers that the MIG process cannot achieve the desired weld quality or productivity results, however in a quick 10 minute demo I would prove them wrong on > 90% of applications.

There are more MIG gas mixes available today than the cereals available in a super market. Global MIG gas confusion has been the norm for more than five decades and gas companies thrive on the weld shop confusion which generates higher prices for their commodity products.

It's a sad weld reality that the majority of the gas information found in weld shops is based on engineering / management apathy, weld process ignorance and salesmanship.

If you use any three part gas mixes for carbon steels and austenitic stainless applications, you are part of an industrial gas marketing con game. For a few years I was on the AWS committee that wrote the USA. MIG Gas Specifications, and much of my efforts at the committee meetings went to keeping biased sales data out of the specification. (Many AWS spec committees are made up with individuals that typically make or sell the products being written about).

In the last three decades in my management roles at Airgas and AGA I developed four of the most practical MIG gas mixes sold in North America. If you want the most affective, low cost MIG gas mixes and gas information without sales bias, visit the MIG Gas section at this site.


When will the manual - automated weld industry stop being a "PLAY AROUND" INDUSTRY?

If a machinist is not allowed to play around with their machine controls, why would any experienced weld manager, engineer or supervisor allow their weld personnel to play around with two simple MIG controls that in reality have hardly changed in the last six decades?


A QUESTION THAT COULD BE ASKED AT MANY PLANTS?

Why spend $150K on a robot cell and then let the weld personnel "PLAY AROUND" with the robot weld data. When the robot MIG weld process utilized has been around for decades, and that process is attached to a costly robot, why would any experienced manufacturing manager or engineer accept poor robot weld quality and production?

A FUNDAMENTAL WELD REALITY: Since the introduction of the MIG process, there has been little management or engineering focus on "MIG Weld Process Control Expertise". The result is the majority of global weld personnel "play around" with their simple MIG or Flux Cored weld controls. There is an easy solution to lack of Process Control Expertise and lack of uniform Best Weld Practices. During the last three decades I developed the world's most simple, self teaching weld process control training program called the Clock Method. With my process control training resources, in a few hours your employees (without taking notes) will have all the process control expertise and best practices necessary to instantly set correct, optimum weld parameters for any MIG / Flux Cored steel applications.

To attain optimum robot MIG weld quality and productivity or instantly deal with robot weld issues requires MIG weld process control expertise. With the global average robot MIG weld production efficiency range at only 40 to 60% of it's real potential and robot weld rework usually in the range of 20 to 100%, many manufacturing companies have a great opportunity for dramatic robot cost reductions and robot weld quality improvements.

For a few years, I was the North American Robot Weld Manager with ABB Robotics where I established the world's first Robot MIG weld Process Control Training Program. For the last decade as a consultant I have provided both manual and robot weld optimization to companies in 13 different countries.

Before I optimize a companies robot welds, I start out by providing my Seven Steps to Robot MIG Process Controls Training Program to all the weld decision makers at the plant. I will not provide this type of training unless all the relevant management and engineers attend, (lack of management - engineering weld equipment - process ownership is a global problem). I developed the program so that anyone (no weld expertise required) could present it. Why not provide your employees with my easy to use Robot or Manual, MIG or Flux Cored, weld Process Control" training program, and also take a look at my Self Teaching MIG and flux cored weld process control books and CDs. Imagine after a few hours of viewing this unique training program, that all the participants will have the ability to instantly address their daily robot or manual MIG weld issues that impact the weld quality and productivity. Imagine no one in the plant "playing around with weld parameters" and imagine the plant management satisfaction in daily achieving consistent, optimum weld quality / productivity without weld rework.


WELD COSTS? You cannot control MIG - Flux Cored weld costs unless you fully understand the processes. A common weld produced is a MIG or flux cored 1/4 (6mm) fillet. In your organization you may not want to ask the engineering mgr - weld mgr or supervisor the real world weld costs associated with a fillet weld thats 10 inches long. If they attempt to answer, dont expect that answer straight away and if you ask three people, expect three different answers.




When you ask a manager the cost of a MIG or flux cored weld, the majority of managers typically will want to talk about the cost of the weld gas or the weld wire.

Many weld supervisors are happy as long as the welder's shield is down and weld smoke and spatter is being generated. What management often are not aware is that welder can weld a vertical up flux cored 1/4 fillet at 6 lb/hr, or they can weld the same fillet weld with the wire feed set to deliver >10 lb/hr. A MIG welder can weld a horizontal 1/4 fillet at 6 lb/hr or using my MIG process control data weld that fillet at 12 to 20 lb/hr.

The weld reality is few managers or supervisors understand the weld deposition rate potential of the weld process for the applications they daily weld, and less than five percent will have the process control knowledge and expertise necessary to optimize their weld quality and control and understand their weld costs.

My unique, low cost weld process control training resources enable the attainment of consistent, optimum MIG and flux cored weld quality and productivity for the majority of weld applications and also these resources simplify all weld costs.

The shortage of MIG - Flux
Cored welders is simply a myth:

Why are managers and engineers concerned about the so called global shortage of MIG - TIG or flux cored weld personnel?

Welding Caterpillar parts or
welding ASME pipe 5G welds.

If an instructor utilizes my MIG - Flux Cored weld process control training methods, you will find it should take approx. 40 hours to train a "none welder" with the capability to provide optimum MIG and flux cored welds that will meet any global weld code / specification requirements.

Of course you can also have them
attend a local weld training establishment and after six months you may find they can stick weld and that they are also will be playing around with their MIG and flux cored weld controls.

As for the shortage of those highly skilled TIG pipe welds. If your organization used the Tip TiG process, they would find this process dramatically reduces the weld skills required for 5G pipe welds. With the right Tip TiG training, it should take a none welder about 5 - 10 days to pass any 5G ASME pipe test. The TiP TiG welds will be better quality than the TIG welds and they will be done 200 to 400% faster. Please remember this is not theory, I have already provided this training to many companies and my MIG and flux cored training resources have been used in over 1000 companies in 13 countries.

If your organization is concerned about weld rework costs eating weld profits, or concerned with the qualification of welders to pass an all position pulsed MIG / flux cored pipe or vee groove weld test, please note, you will dramatically improve the weld pass rate, if before the welders strike an arc you provide the weld personnel with my four hour classroom training program that actually shows them the correct techniques and weld settings that enable weld process optimization.

Set that MIG pipe root or 16 gauge weld at
10'o'clock - 17 cups of coffee.




Ed's easy to remember Weld Process Control
"Clock Method". Copy Right © Protected.

The weld reality of the the majority of robot MIG welds that join global cars and truck parts, is the average weld size is approx. 4 mm, while the average gage part thickness welded is less than 3 mm. Thanks to the general lack of best weld practices and lack of MIG process control expertise in these industries, it's too frequently the "over weld" rather than the robot or manual MIG - FCAW weld integrity that holds together those >$25,000 vehicles.

LET THE WEB TELL YOU HOW IMPORTANT THE "WELD MANAGERS" JOB IS:
Visit the world's largest career web site "monster.com" and type in the key words "WELD QUALITY MANAGER" and monster will typically provide many jobs in the USA. Now try the key words, "WELD MANAGER" and typically less than three jobs will be evident.

Its always been more important to prevent weld defects rather than find them and a good weld manager would know how to achieve this. The problem in the global weld industry is no more tha 10 percent of this industry has managers that are Weld Process Control experts. If weld engineers at the major universities are not getting the process control education they need, what can you expect from the average weld shop manager or supervisor?

In the majority of global MIG weld shops, few managers have established best MIG and flux cored weld practices, few managers have implemented effective weld process controls. Few weld managers are "hands on" and few managers have the ability to quickly get to the root causes of their daily welding issues or weld costs.

Corporations in industrlal nations need to be aware that optimum MIG - TIG - FCA weld quality and productivity is easy to attain in third world weld shops that may pay less than $2 /hr for it's weld labor costs. For those of you having an acid attack, try not to blame the messanger, put your energy into working out the the cost of a simple 3/16 or 1/4 (4.8 - 6.4 mm) MIG or FCA fillet weld one meter in length. (my self teaching process controls simplifies this requirement while showing you how to attain the highest weld quality at the lowest possible weld costs).

OF COURSE THERE ARE DRAMATIC MANUAL - ROBOT WELD COST CONSEQUENCES FROM THE GLOBAL LACK OF MIG MANAGEMENT WELD PROCESS OWNERSHIP.

For more than two decades, in global manufacturing facilities, over 90% of MIG welding robots have been set up by inexperienced robot companies and integrators and owned and controlled by inexperienced plant technicians.

The majority of the technicians responsible for the weld data utilized
in the robots never received MIG Weld Process Control Training. Combine the global lack of MIG weld process control expertise with the too frequent apathetic engineering / manufacturing standards that result in the common, unacceptable, weld part dimensional tolerances, then mix in poor weld fixture design and poor robot cell / fixture maintenance and what a global, daily waste we have in the purchase of that costly robot weld automation.

NEVER ASK A DESIGNER OF AUTO - TRUCK WELDED COMPONENTS, A SIMPLE WELD QUESTION:




DESIGNERS DON'T CONSISDER THIS STUFF:

From car seats to car frames, thin wall tubes are great for increased strength and stiffness, however tubular components offer unique robot MIG weld - energy concerns. In a "J" groove tube joint associated with welding round to flat gage parts as indicated on the right, the required increased weld mass necessary for the "J" fill, dissipates some of the energy that would typically be applied to attain side wall weld fusion.

FROM WELDING THIN GUAGE PARTS TO WELDING
7 mm FILLET WELDS, FEW WELD SHOPS UNDERSTAND THAT TOO OFTEN THE "MIG PROCESS DELIVERS A POOR RATIO BETWEEN THE WELD ENERGY PRODUCED AND THE WELD MASS AND WELD SPEED DELIVERED".

Combine the poor fusion with the frequent short cycle weld times that often result in small weld lengths and the rapid freeze, low energy welds will often end up with welds that on the surface look sound, however as this 1.4 mm tube to brkt weld macro reveals, lack of robot MIG weld fusion will be common. J grooves welds typically require > 200% more weld necessary for the part thickness welded. An oversize MIG weld adds to the excess part heat in the welds HAZ, (an issue with reverse polarity weld processes). The high part heat will weaken the tube parts.

Robot weld fusion - porosity on cold rolled components will also be influenced by lubricating oils from the manufacturing process. Also on tube welds its difficult to control the robot TCP and attain consistent robot weld speeds from the robot's multi-axis rotation movement. The quality and consistency of the robot programming, the global lack of weld process control expertise with robot operators, the parameter influence of MIG wire stick variations out and wire helix issues can influence the weld quality attained on small round welds.

As mentioned small tubular welds are often over sized welds and these REVERSE POLARITY welds will rapidly build up weld heat in a small localized area. On thin gage HSS tube steels, the excess weld heat in the HAZ has to be a concern especially when additional weld passes are delivered from weld rework which is typical with auto / truck robot applications. To retain some of the High Strength Steel (HSS) structural integrity in the weld's heat affected zones, it's critical in the robot welding of these high strength components, to ensure that correct weld sizes are applied and manual MIG weld rework is minimized. Also whats the sense of providing welds if they dont consistently provide weld fusion.

The HSS small tube robot weld application is one that management is advised to keep their millwrights, electricians and other inexperienced maintenance personnel away from. These robot welded parts don't need inexperienced maintainence personnel "playing around" with the robot weld data making "unqualified weld changes. The weld solutions to all of these issues are addressed in my robot weld process control training resources.

CONCLUSION: It's fine for designers and engineers to talk about the reduced weight benefits of high strength steels, however if you destroy the properties of those steels with unnecessary weld heat, if you weld parts in which manuafacturing has lost dimensional control of the parts and weld gaps, or you create difficult weld joints, you will produce welds with questionable and unnaceptable quality. If this is the case and lawers out there take note, what's the real benefit of the high strength tubular steels or any car - truck steels when it come to vehical collisions?

Successfully welding auto - truck components and avoiding future weld failure liability consequences, will come from designers, engineers, management and robot weld personnel who understand the robots, the weld processes and consumables used. All engineers and robot weld decision makers working with robot welded part should be aware of the fundamentals in my Best Weld Practices and Robot Weld Process Controls Training Resource.



ROBOTS, WELD COSTS AND POOR
MIG WELDING PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY:

i have been in hundreds of plants in 13 countries that use MIG welding robots and in the majority, it's typical to find the plants will use three robots to do the work that two could do. The managers and engineers in these plants will not be aware of this costly fact as they do not understand the process requirements necessary to attain optimum robot weld production without weld rework.

For more than two decades in the auto / truck industry, the typical, high volume, robot weld down time per-8 hr/shift has been a ridiculous 60 to 90 minutes, which according to Detroit auto industry sources, can result in an approx. cost of $2000 - $2500 per-hour. In my numerous visits to Detroit plants that were having robot issues, I found few managers or engineers understood the root cause of their robot weld issues and and even fewer wanted to get involved.

2013. The average global, robot MIG weld production efficiency range is 40 to 65% and the average robot weld rework range is 20 to 100%.



The last thing a weld shop needs is to ask weld QA personnel who typically have no weld process control expertise a question on weld process quality - productivity issues. QA personnel who are process control experienced are typically wasted in the majority of weld shops as the management and engineers direct them to react after the welds are complete.

For decades too many global manufacturing companies have placed their weld quality labor resources and focus on "finding weld defects" rather than on providing their employees (including QA personnel) with highly cost effective weld process control training programs, that would "enable weld defect prevention".

THE GLOBAL WELD QUALITY DEMISE:

Many of you reading this have been in the weld industry for many years, yet how many of you have worked with managers or engineers who have established Best MIG Weld Practices or implemented effective Weld Process Controls?

How many weld decision makers have you met that can look at a weld and instantly know the optimum consumables utilized, the optimum weld data used, the weld deposition rate attained and the robot weld speed potential for those welds?

How many highly skilled weld individuals with 20 plus years MIG weld experience are aware of the weld process solutions to their common daily robot MIG weld process issues?


WHERE ARE THOSE EFFECTIVE WELD PROCEDURES? Weld procedures are not weld process controls. In north America, we loose billions of dollars each year on weld rejects and unnecessary weld rework, and the majority of those welded parts had so called pre qualified weld procedures. We should all recogognize that welding skills are only a small part of the requirements for optimum welds. The reason for most welds issues is simple. The individuals setting and controlling the procedures and welds lack the weld process best practices expertise. Apart from best practices and process controls, the manual or robot weld procedure data should also compensate for the variables that will daily influence the intended weld applications.




For decades I walked through weld shops in 13 countries, searching to find a weld decision maker who;

[a] did not need the advice of a weld salesman,
[b] understood the importance of weld best practices - process controls.
[c] were aware of their real weld costs.
It was not a fruitfull saerch.

With my roles as a weld training manger and weld product marketing manager for Praxair, Airgas, AGA, and Liquid Carbonic, I have delt with more than 1000 salesmen, which I believe allows me to have an opion on weld reps and and their qualifications.

Thanks to decades of global MIG weld industry reliance on sales advice, three of the largest growth and most profitable weld products sold in industrial nations for welding carbon steels are,

[1] costly, unnecessary pulsed MIG equipment,
[2] costly, unnecessary metal cored wires,
[3] costly, and unnecessary three part gas mixes.

As its been for three decades, and today in 2011, if the above three products were no longer available to the weld shops that weld mostly carbon steels, low alloy steels and stainless, there would be no impact on the global weld industry's weld quality and productivity.

There are many weld decision makers who need to cut their Umbilical Cord which is attached to their local weld sales rep:

When MIG or flux cored weld advice is needed, many weld shops with weld personnel who have been in the business for decades will not think twice about asking a weld equipment rep or salesman who's education back ground is a degree in English or Fine Arts.

The sales reps and their biased advice are usually ready to recommend another new, useless three / four part gas mix, or their latest $11,999.99 pulsed MIG power source with it's programmable magic wave forms, sensitive circuit boards and short life span. If you want evidence of the MIG weld equipment and confusion, take a look around your shop:

Test your Weld Process Knowledge with these fundamental weld questions. If it takes you more than 15 minutes to provide the correct answers to the following questions you are not in control of the world's most common weld equipment and consumables.

[] NO ONE uses more flux cored wires than a ship yard or a facility making oil - gas platforms.
[] NO ONE has more weld defects than these facilities.
[] NO ONE has greater weld repair costs than these facilities.


Yet the sad weld reality is this. If you want to find lack of management and engineering weld "process ownership", the first place you visit is the above facilities and the next place is an automotive - truck plant. The good news is for those employed today in these industries, there is the greatest opportnity for someone to be a hero by producing tremendous weld cost savings.

In the weld cost section, take a look at the multi-million dollar cost savings, one ship yard attained using my one day flux cored process control weld training program.


As a weld process control expert, you should have the ability to instantly master any manual or automated weld equipment - consumables utilized, and without playing around with the controls, attain both optimum weld performance and productivity with all welds.

As a weld process control expert you know it's your responsibility to ensure the correct process control training is provided.

Imagine a weld shop in which all the weld personnel are aware of the root causes of the manual / robot MIG and flux cored weld problems, and these employees have the ability to provide instant, logical solutions to their weld issues, without playing around with the weld controls.

Imagine a weld shop in which all weld personnel understand the relationship between the wire type, weld gas, wire diameter, weld transfer mode, part thickness and the weld deposition rates and weld travel speeds required and the welders are also using the correct weld practices and techniques for the process and consumables utilized.

It's always "rare pleasure" to watch the weld personnel I have trained over the years when they act in a professional manner and instantly set optimum manual or robot weld parameters for their application.

Sixty participants from six countries including Australia, England, Spain, Mexico and Canada, attended one of Ed's work shops called "Seven Steps to Robot - Manual MIG Weld Process Controls".

For both Ford and Dana engineers, it was a rare opportunity for their engineers to witness consistent optimum robot weld quality.

Welding conventional carbon and alloy steels? I hope you visit the pulsed MIG section to view why you should not waste $6000 - $120000 on that pulsed MIG power source.

GLOBAL MIG WELD GAS CONFUSION:

There are more than 60 MIG gas mixes available for your MIG applications when no more than 4 mixes are typically required. In general, the common global MIG gas confusion is simply a reflection of the global weld industry lack of MIG process expertise.

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Ed developed the MIG gas mixes that provide real world weld benefits.

Note: Working in management with AGA, Airgas and Liquid Carbonic, Ed developed and introduced four of the top selling MIG gas mixes used in North America.

 

EITHER NO WELD JOB DESCRIPTION OR THE WRONG DESCRIPTION?
Weld quality and productivity issues will always be more numerous in weld shops in which confused managers, surround themselves with confused supervisors, who are surrounded by confused engineers, who are surrounded by confused employees who get no assistance from their none existing or confused job descriptions: A well run weld shop starts out with all weld personnel having job descriptions that clearly identify their required expertise and responsibility and accountability for the weld quality - productivity attained.

GM - FORD - HARLEY - DANA - MAGNA - TENNECO - VOLVO - TOYOTA - HONDA - IMPERIAL OIL - COMBUSTION ENGINEERING - CATERPILLAR - JOHN DEERE - MERCEDES - DOW CHEMICAL - ESSO BABCOCK - ABB - GENERAL DYNAMICS - GENERAL ELECTRIC - VW - TEXTRON - INGERSOLL RAND -

The above, are just a few companies
that utilized my Weld training resources.