Stick Welding

[m_brothers]

Hey, this is a dumb question, but I can't remember. I'm a new welder still However, I think I'm getting the hang of it. I'm picking up a new welder either this week or next week. A cheap but functional one.

If i wanted to weld, I'd attach the ground clamp to my welding table and i could then use clamps to hold down the metal and then just weld right? Now what would I get shocked by if i like touched the table or pieces. I can't remember.....and i don't meet my teacher again for like a week. Just can't remember. Sorrry, lol.

[Thomas Dean]

Wear gloves and make sure they are dry and you should have no problems. I worked with a father/son duo back in the 70's & 80's in a pressure vessel shop. They were working in a vessel, one fitting the other tacking, and the son accidentally touched his dad on the forehead with the end of a rod. You can still hear the echo from him hollering! The old man said it nearly welded his fillings in his teeth together. Good luck with the new welder!

[Glenn]

IForgeIron > Forum > Welding > Good Ground connections for welding

[philip in china]

I finally got my buzz box mains lead hard wired in so it no longer rubs on the edge of the welding bench. Also the locals will find it harder to "borrow" now. Next job is to make up a maybe 10' welder cable with a 30 amp clamp on each end so I can ground stuff too big to fit on the welding bench. My ground is excellent nowadays.

[MooseRidge]

I agree with Thomas.... dry gloves are a must. Most of the welding I do is in the field, so no jigs or big clamps. Usually just hold the piece in position and weld away.... used both 100 and 225 amp welders (the 225 may tingle occasionly)

[rawblacksmith]

or not....be the ground! i have always done just about everything barefoot; from training horses to welding....everything except rollerskating!!!

only this week have i felt current from the clamp...put on shoes? no! solved by sitting on a wooden mechanic's creeper!

when i was in school, the welding instructor demonstrated the complete safety of arc welding by touching everybody with the stick...oi, nebraska!

sure, everybody is appalled at my barefoot state, but it came in handy to find an electrical fault that the "electrician" had made....
i had made some hay racks for the horses that had shoots going up to the hay loft...so hay could be dropped all the way down thru to the horse...one attachment point was the conduit.
when the "electrician" wired up the barn, he somehow made the conduit hot.
when the horses wouldn't eat, i found the short too...becauses i was barefoot.
the "electrician" wouldn't believe he had made such a mistake because he couldn't feel it...until i told him to take his shoes off! then he decided to check his work instead and found the hot conduit connection!!

thanks for the lesson in making sure the grinder doesn't fry!!

[Glenn]

It makes one wonder why they make test instruments to detect electrical faults.

Safety precautions are to insure you go home under your own power (and in one piece) at the end of the day.

[Dodge]

It is helpful if your shoes are dry, as well. Especially if they have leather soles. I've only felt the buzz once. I was welding in a packing house cooler and the scaffolding was standing in a puddle of water. Feet were dry, but I was sitting on the metal frame of the scaffolding.

[John B]

Just make sure you are not forming part of the circuit between the rod and the earth clamp,

I found this out when welding fairground rides on site when kneeling on the metal flooring and putting the rod in the holder without wearing gloves.

I prefer to get a buzz in other ways

[Ken Kelley]

After I retired from the USAF I took some welding courses at Solano County Community College near Suisun City, CA. There was a bench outside the shop that we called the "Crying Bench". You went and sat on the crying bench when your welding wasn't going too good and you needed a break to regroup and try again. I was having a bad day one time so I went out and sat on the bench for a couple of minutes. It had rained so the bench was a little damp. Not enough to really get wet but enough to dampen the seat of my pants. I went back inside and sat down on the metal seat in my metal booth (the table and seat were all steel and the ground was connected to them). I grabbed my stinger barehanded and the shock hit me in the seat of the pants. Tingled something fierce until I let go of the stinger.