Some people are interested in welding as a career. Others simply want to do it for themselves as a hobby or maybe a side business. The path you choose in welding will largely determine the kinds of tools and equipment you may encounter and the size of shops you may work in. There will be differences in what will be found in a home shop or garage versus what will be found in an industrial fabrication shop, as well as the capabilities of each.

Power Supply

Power supply is a major difference between a home shop and a fabrication shop. Most residential service drops do not exceed 200 amps, split between all circuits connected to the service box. The available voltage will be 110v/120v and 220v/240v, and the number of circuits may be limited. In contrast, a decent-size fabrication shop can have a service drop of several thousand amps, with dozens of circuits and voltages up to 480v. Additionally, many circuits in large shops are wired for 3-phase power, which is a three-wave version of alternating current required for some machinery such as large electric motors. These high-powered electrical circuits require large circuit breakers, up to 50 amps.

This difference in available power will determine the size and number of machines and equipment a shop has. It is important to match the lineup of welders and other tools with the power supply. It wouldn’t make sense to buy a welder that required more power than was available.

Application

It is fairly common sense that smaller shops will be limited in their work capacity. This is simply due to space. Shop space is not only important for the room necessary to work on projects but also for how much equipment can reasonably fit in the shop. Often, large fabrication shops specialize their workspace for the size and type of material they handle and the products they put out. The space and equipment are streamlined to increase production. This is not to say that home shops or small shops can’t do lots of work. It is more that they must be somewhat selective in the types of things they work on. Many home shops and other small fabrication outfits produce quality products, but usually in less quantity and/or size.

Another factor determining a shop’s workload limit and type of work is the number of persons working at one time. Obviously, for a home shop where the welder is simply working for themselves as a hobby, this isn’t a big issue. But a small business run from a garage or small workshop can be limited by how many people they have. This has to do with time. Specifically, the number of hours that can be put towards finishing a product. Almost all work done for profit has deadlines attached to it. As an example, one person working a standard 40-hour week will only ever put in 40 hours of work per week. If a job is estimated to take 120 hours, it will take one person three weeks to finish it. Simply adding a second person (bringing the work hours to 80 per week) cuts the production time in half as far as delivering the product. This is not a perfect example, but hopefully, it gives you a picture of this concept. Shops that have more workers/employees can complete tasks faster. Additionally, it is easier to work on large weldments in a team of two or three people. Once again, a limited number of workers does not necessarily mean less quality.

One outlier in the field of small welding operations is mobile welding. Sometimes mobile welders are part of a larger organization, but often they are a single welder in business for themselves. Mobile welding businesses are purposefully small because everything the welder needs usually has to fit on a single truck. Mobile welders are skilled professionals who know how to get by with the minimum amount of tools and equipment. The value of these small operations is in their necessity. The men and women who work in this particular area of welding and fabrication service customers who have a broken piece of equipment that needs to be repaired immediately or something that needs to be built where no one else can get a welder. This means that these customers are usually willing to pay handsomely for the work to be done.

Material Handling

One aspect of welding and fabrication that often gets overlooked (until it is too late) is material handling. Once again, this isn’t too much of a problem for the hobbyist in their own garage, as the projects you will be working on will likely be small. But as a shop starts to take on larger projects, material handling can become a limiting factor. Metals are fairly heavy, particularly steel, with a weight of 0.283 lbs per cubic inch (7.85 grams per cubic centimeter). To put this in perspective, a 1” (2.5 cm) square bar of steel 1’ (30.5 cm) long weighs just under 3 ½ lbs (1.56 kg). One cubic foot of steel weighs 489 lbs (221.81 kg). Weight is not the only issue either. Space can be a challenge as well, as many steel bars, angles, channels, tubes, and pipes often come in standard lengths of 20’ (6.1 m). Plate and sheet steel often come 4’ (1.2 m) wide and anywhere from 4’ to 20’ (1.2 m to 6.1 m) long.

This is to say that, at a certain point, it is not possible to move material solely by hand. Material handling equipment and machinery need to be considered. Things like forklifts, hoists, and cranes are common in large shops, but a garage shop might find these tools’ expense and space requirements out of their reach. While there are small hoists and hand-powered fork trucks available to small shops, these may not always be sufficient to handle large materials if the need arises. All material handling tools have weight limits that must be considered before moving any object. Understanding the material handling needs of any project is an important step to take before beginning the work.

Shop Safety

As with everything in the welding and fabrication industry, safety plays a big part when considering tools, equipment, and the welding shop. Remember that working safely is always your responsibility. No amount of rules, regulations, or precautions is a substitute for common sense and being aware of your environment. Building a good safety mindset should be just as much a part of learning to weld as the welding skills themselves.

Many tools were discussed in this chapter. Tools safety is such a broad category that it would be difficult to list every possible hazard. Keep the following things in mind when working with tools.

• It is important to maintain any tool in good working order. If a tool or an accessory of a tool becomes damaged, it is better to take it out of service until it can be repaired or replaced.
• Many hand tools can get burs or sharp edges as they are used. Wear gloves as often as possible when using these tools, and make sure such burs and sharp edges are filed or sanded off as they appear.
• Almost all power tools and shop equipment have guards or other safety features. Never use a tool or piece of equipment if the safety features aren’t in place.
• Many power tools, such as grinders and drills, have trigger locks that allow the tool to keep working without the operator needing to constantly hold the power switch on. Make sure the trigger lock is off before plugging in a tool. Otherwise, it could start up unexpectedly while not being held correctly.
• Never set a power tool down or leave a piece of equipment until it has completely stopped.
• All power tools and pieces of shop equipment have moving parts. While keeping any part of your body or clothing from touching these moving parts is important, it is especially important with rotating parts. Many power tools and shop equipment items have a rotating part, such as a spindle or wheel. The reason these features are more dangerous than other moving parts is because of the tendency for them to grab and pull you in if you were to become caught in them.
• It is important to keep your body parts and clothing away from power tools and equipment with clamping or shearing functions, as these will crush or cut off whatever is put in them. It is also important not to get any body parts in between these tools and any material they are clamping or shearing, as this can also result in body parts being pinched and crushed.
• Remember that power tools and shop equipment run on electricity. In some cases, a lot of electricity. Keep an eye out for damaged power cords and other electrical components. Take damaged tools and equipment out of service. Be sure a machine’s power switch is off before plugging it in or unplugging it. If a high-voltage cable is damaged, turn off the breaker before handling it or unplugging it. Follow all electrical safety guidelines for working with power tools and equipment.
• Material handling can be dangerous. Most accidents related to material handling are due to a lack of attention. Be aware of other workers moving material around you, and always alert others to your presence if you are the one moving material. Never try to lift a heavy object by yourself. If the material is too heavy to lift safely by hand, always use an appropriate machine or device. If heavy material is being lifted by a hoist, a crane, or a forklift, stay out of its path and never put yourself or any part of your body under the material. When lifting material with a crane or hoist, stay to the side of it and always keep one hand or a rope (called a tagline) on it to keep it from swinging. Be careful not to get caught in any pinch points between material being moved and stationary objects. If you are moving material, be careful not to hit any shop equipment or other objects in your path, as this could both damage the equipment and dislodge the material from the things that are carrying it. Falling material can crush whatever is below it. If a falling piece of material lands on a power cable or air line, it can sever it. Severed power cables and air lines should be shut off at the source before being handled.
• Compressed air in a shop can be more dangerous than most people realize. While you should always be wearing eye protection while in a shop it is especially necessary while using air tools. This is because all pneumatic tools eject air from a vent somewhere on the tool, which can kick up debris from grinding, sanding, or cutting. This is in addition to the debris already produced by those activities, so again eye protection is a must.

Compressed air can also contain moisture from the compression process. This moisture can travel through the pneumatic hoses that attach to air tools and can be blasted into electrical equipment. This is especially dangerous with plasma-cutting tools. It is important to have a moisture filter attached to the air compressor to eliminate this scenario.

If an air hose is severed, it can whip around wildly if there is enough air pressure. Do not try to grab a flailing air line, as you could be struck and injured in the process. Shut off the air at the compressor or manifold before picking up the hose.

Compressed air alone can be dangerous. Be very careful with air nozzles that are commonly used to blow dust and debris off parts. Never put an air nozzle directly against your skin. The air produced from the nozzle can be at such a high pressure that it can penetrate your skin and enter your bloodstream. This causes an air bubble, called an embolism, in your bloodstream, which can work its way back to your heart and likely cause death.

Finally, never substitute compressed oxygen for compressed air. Oxygen is one of the three elements on the fire triangle. While not a flammable gas in and of itself, it makes everything it touches flammable. If you were to use oxygen to blow debris off a part or your clothes, or somehow attach an oxygen line to a pneumatic tool, you would have just saturated everything in the area with oxygen. A small spark is all it would take to ignite the oxygen-rich environment.

Working in a fabrication shop of any kind means working in a hazardous environment. However, these hazards are overcome by safe work practices. Hundreds of thousands of people in America and around the world work safely and effectively in these environments every day. They succeed by paying attention and working in a common sense manner. With training and practice, you will also.