Welding Tips and Tricks

Every welder should have a trick bag. I always had a .50 cal ammo can full of all sorts of things. Die grinder with several different air hose connections for it. Wrenches for the grinder. Several different style and size carbide burrs. Several arbors with different thicknesses and diameters of grinding wheels and one with a twist wire brush. Measuring tape. A tungsten holder (old electrical fuse holder with screw on cap) full of pointed tungsten in 3/32 & 1/8. Different caps for TIG torches and spare collets for each size tungsten. Eight ft. light gauge welding whip w/ small Tweco stinger. Couple of 8" files, small cold chisel to clean off chi-chi's. A box of different size TIG cups. An 6" Cresent wrench (always had a 10" Cresent in the right side pocket of Carhart bibs, and a torch striker on the left side hammer holder). Electrical tape and friction tape, clear lenses for hood, filter lenses in different shades, notepad, pencil, soapstone etc.- etc. - etc. and a bunch of other stuff.
I also always had a few pieces of 309 filler rod. When welding old burned up tubes (pipes to you fitters, round bar with a hole in it for you neophytes) to new material there are times when you fight porosity really badly on a root pass. A little 309 on that root pass will prevent that and I challenge any inspector to tell it visually or pictured if he does not see the shiny rod stubs.
Somebody else besides me or my welding partner getting into my trick bag gets a slag pick in the forehead!

Very interesting! I have a craftsman toolbox that was actually my first tool box as a kid I got from my dad that I use as my portable tools. Has anything I could need for just about anything tool wise. and then an old mortar can with sticks, filler wire, etc....

Right there with you, only thing I would add would be the blue and black book in a ziplock.

+1 on the 309! I've used and shared this trick a lot. I've used it a lot in vacuum repairs where the least bit of porosity will fail a helium leak test. Often in cases where a proper "full shine" prep is impractical to imposible. 309 will forgive a multitude of sins.

Steve S

Amen! I keep it around in tig wire and in stick.

50 cal ammo box?
You guys travel light. I see something nifty I gotta buy it, have to restrain myself these days, too many nick nacks now.

Otto Nobedder wrote:+1 on the 309! I've used and shared this trick a lot. I've used it a lot in vacuum repairs where the least bit of porosity will fail a helium leak test. Often in cases where a proper "full shine" prep is impractical to imposible. 309 will forgive a multitude of sins.

Steve S

I used to get calls to troubleshoot vacumm leaks on a 5000 gal reactor piped to a couple junk Sihi liquid ring pumps. The thing that worked best in my trick bag was a fifth of Jack Daniels.