From Newsgroup: sci.engr.joining.welding
basic welding ideas and also how can I save my face from the fire.
Ignoring welding safety is often like playing Russian roulette. The odds of hurting yourself may (or may not) be low but when it is your skin, your limbs or your life you are playing with, how high do the odds have to be? Accidents happen in a fraction of a second and donrCOt just affect ourselves but often hurt others around us.
Welders have gotten away with ignoring shop safety rules often enough that they tend to think they are immune or that because nothing bad has happened yet, it never will. OSHA files are filled with reports of welders who have hurt, maimed, or killed themselves or others doing those very same things.
Be very wary of welders that tend to flaunt safety. Welding is not for dummies, neither is welding safety. Some additional safety tips are [url=
https://weldzone.org/mig-welder-under-1000/]here[/url] but I will tell you some basics:
1. Hauling oxygen and acetylene cylinders in your trunk. A little leak hererCa a little leak thererCa a static sparkrCaboom!! This goes for truck tool boxes also. Throwing a set of pony bottles in your truck tool box can turn into a bomb.
2. Moving high pressure cylinders with no protective cap. The cylinder fallsrCathe valve gets knocked offrCa2500 psi escapes out of a hole the size of a nickel and you have a missile flying around with no guidance system.
Moving a cylinder with a crane hooked through the hole in the cap can lead to the same outcome. These bottles are quite heavy and the threads on the cap cannot be relied upon to support that kind of weight. Especially when you consider how long some of these bottles have been in service. One inspection found a bottle testing stamp dating back to the 1910rCOs.
3. Making oxygen and acetylene balloon bombs. A little fuel gas like acetylenerCaa little oxygenrCamixed together in a balloon so that you can impress the neighbors on July 4thrCaa static spark between the 5 balloons you so hid so cleverly in a plastic garbage bagrCaboom!
4. Welding inside a tank or any enclosed area with MIG or TIG. Both use Argon. Argon is an inert, colorless, odorless gas that is about twice as heavy as air. It is almost like an invisible liquid the way it can fill up an unventilated room. No air, no life. Breathing Air with no oxygen in it will kill you. In fact it will often kill 2 people: you and your working partner who comes to try to rescue you.
5. Welding in Water Can Kill You. DonrCOt get a mental picture of standing in a bucket of water. I am more thinking of lying underneath a pipe making a weld with a puddle of water on the concrete that you didnrCOt quite get dried up. Granted welding current is low voltage and high amperage but it can still kill you.
6. Welding without a fire watch when there is stuff around you that can catch on fire. Welding requires skill. Skill requires focus and attention. Put that together with the fact that yourCOre wearing a welding helmet and canrCOt see what might be catching on fire and you have a situation that could definitely kill you. Remember, in the right situation, sparks and embers can live up to 4 hours after work has been completed.
7. Blowing off your clothes with pure oxygen from a cutting torch saturates your clothing with oxygen, making you very susceptible to a flash fire. It can turn you into a roman candle and kill you in style.
8. Blowing off yourself and your clothes with compressed air can also be dangerous for a different reason. Given the right circumstances, a human eye can be blown out with as little pressure as 10 psi; and high pressure can blow air, dirt and oil into open wounds or body orifices causing extreme pain and swelling, even embolisms and possibly death.
9. Welding a gas tank or any container that held something flammable. Metal may be a solid but it is somewhat porous. It absorbs some of the chemical it contains. An empty or partially empty tank is more dangerous than a full one because the fuel may be flammable but the vapors are explosive. Special precautions can be taken that can actually make it pretty safe (like washing the tank with soap and water and then purging with argon or water) but if you are not thorough enough or forget something or donrCOt purge well enoughrCarCaYou guessed itrCaIt can totally kill you.
10. Inflating a tire with Oxygen is a really bad idea and can be a lot worse than having a under inflated or flat tire. Because it can explode and kill you!
--
For full context, visit
https://www.polytechforum.com/welding/need-advice-for-new-welder-1549786-.htm
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2