Welding-information

symbols and requirements.

SOLUTIONS with Effective, Powerful Advice.

Welding-information, welding instructions, welding terms, welding symbols, welding drawings, welding specifications, welding requirements, welding procedures, welding techniques, welding links, welding tips: these are some of the items developed in this Site page for the benefit of interested readers.

What is in here for me?

Some crucial questions on Welding Information.

How do we know what drawings ask for in Welding information?
By reading and understanding their conventional language and shorthand notations.

Welding-information is a suggestion or a requirement?
Whatever note is always an imperative requirement unless a clearly written comment states: "May be ..."

In case of doubt on the meaning of Welding-information whom would you ask?
It is recommended practice to look for yourself in the official sources, specifications, symbol lists, etc. You may discuss the question with other people but, except if you ask the boss, remember that "So he/she told me..." is never accepted for an excuse.

Are you authorized to change the process specified by Welding-information to another one?
Only if you obtain permission in writing either on the drawing or on an official note signed by the person in charge of the project.

What if the prescribed consumables are not available?
Ask for written instructions from the person in charge of the project.

What if you perceive a danger in executing the Welding-information?
Stop and present your concerns in time. Don't be pressed by production schedules.

What should you do if you think you have a better way to perform your task?
Discuss your proposal with the person in charge: maybe he/she will ask you to prepare a test piece your way, to make sure everything is OK, and for the record.

How to reduce scrap or rework? by understanding requirements.
How to improve your workforce worth? by upgrading their welding literacy.
How to save time? by learning and memorizing welding notations.
How to increase productivity? by making it right the first time.
How to improve quality? by realizing exactly what is demanded.

What is Welding-information and how should it be delivered.

This page intends to show the accepted basic means that permit complete and exact Welding-information to be presented in a standard form that will be understood by all involved in welding manufacturing processes.

Welding-information concerns all aspects of communicating effectively among interested parties working together, in order to eliminate costly misunderstandings and to ensure that final manufactured products present all the characteristics of stability and functionality that they were designed to provide. A general document may require that the welder or welding operator be certified according to a given procedure, and that preliminary test pieces be submitted to test before starting the job.

Welding-information starts with material specification and condition before welding, form and dimensions of the joint, welding process to be employed, type and specification of filler material (but not its dimensions). Final heat treatment to perform following welding, testing techniques required, reference to non destructive testing requirements, mechanical tests, if any (e.g. hardness test).

In a following page on PROCEDURES, we shall see how this complement of Welding-information covers all other aspects of the practice of welding that are not specified in the drawing, and that may make reference to particular equipment and means proper of the given welding shop. It is part of the education effort required from the part of the manager or owner of the welding shop to collect the Welding-information needed and to convey it in the form of posters or of tables or of booklets to the workforce, not only to upgrade their understanding but also to avoid costly mistakes due to misinterpretation.

Standard Welding TERMS are expressions defined by recognized authorities and accepted by the welding community in order to provide a shared basic language for all involved.

The following document is the accepted reference used throughout the industry:
AWS A3.0 - STANDARD WELDING TERMS AND DEFINITIONS; INCLUDING TERMS FOR ADHESIVE BONDING, BRAZING, SOLDERING, THERMAL CUTTING, AND THERMAL SPRAYING.
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Tip!: Whenever transmitting written instructions one should beware from using colloquial terms which may be misunderstood. Use only standard terms.

It is evident that anybody involved in the realization of a welding project, the Welding-information requirements of which are spelled out in some form of standard engineering drawing, should become proficient enough in reading and understanding correctly the meaning of general symbols and of welding symbols.

One must accept that in order to ensure the above goal one should make an effort and spend the time needed. It is strongly suggested that any exertion spent to learn and to achieve that knowledge will pay handsome dividends in improved performance and saved time.

Standard Welding SYMBOLS are shorthand conventions established for conveying on drawings and technical documents, the exact meaning of the intentions of the designer, that is of the person responsible for establishing requirements for the welding project.

The following documents are also available as a set of charts and book: AWS A2.1 - WELDING SYMBOLS CHART (WALL OR DESK)
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AWS A2.4 - STANDARD SYMBOLS FOR WELDING, BRAZING AND NONDESTRUCTIVE EXAMINATION
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Important general recommendations.

People responsible for welding are urged to procure the standards, to learn and to propagate the correct use of welding terms and symbols and to refrain from using approximate expressions or signs which may induce erroneous interpretations.

Consumables are called for either by a Specification type or by a commercial name. In a small running commercial weld shop it is common to refer to market name of consumables. It should be appreciated that although referred to the same Specification standard designation, different brands may respond in different ways to operation with the same parameters.

When using more than one type of filler material it becomes imperative to make all due arrangements to avoid inadvertent mix up of different consumables. Filler rods can be procured having an individual identification tag, either in the form of a flag attached to one end or as an embossed mark. One should never remove from the original box the material except when it is needed and consumed. And one should never put any excess material back in the container if there is any doubt as to the correct identification.

Tip!: Customers surveying welding shop facilities for establishing if they meet their standard requirements, routinely check the actual practice of filler metal identification and the procedures for ensuring avoidance of mix up. They shall express satisfaction when they meet correct habits.

Tip!: Once determined that a certain brand gives consistently acceptable results one should not change it without beforehand making sure that the same or better results can be obtained with a new brand.

Some consumables, notably covered electrodes, could become spoilt by environmental causes like humidity: one should make sure to observe the manufacturer's requirements concerning storekeeping and handling. If a drying cycle is required in a suitable oven, then it should be performed with no shortcuts.

Tip!: Clean conditions are an obvious request for the workpieces. Attention should be paid also to the state of consumables, particularly of bare wire. It may be quite difficult to remove rust from a dirty and entangled reel of fine wire. So it is better and it also saves time and materials to dedicate some efforts to good housekeeping, to ensure that fine and expensive material is not allowed to become useless. And one should never use dirty or rusted filler material.

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For your Free subscription to our Practical Welding Letter and for your Free copy of our book downloadable directly to your computer in pdf format, on the subject of PRACTICAL HARDNESS TESTING MADE SIMPLE, click here.

It may become handy if you have difficult welding jobs to do.

To reach a Guide to the collection of the most important Articles from Past Issues of Practical Welding Letter, click on Welding Topics.

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Welding-information is what needs being conveyed to those who transform a set of instructions into a physical entity meeting functional and stability requirements.