Welding Showcase Two

HARDENED, EXTRAORDINARILY FLAT WELDING TABLES
Strong Hand Tools™ (Pico Rivera, CA), the manufacturer of Strong Hand Tools® Welding Clamps, BuildPro Welding Tables and North American distributor of German-made Siegmund High Precision Welding Tables, offers the new Professional Extreme 750 Siegmund Welding Tables, the hardest, most durable, and extraordinarily flat welding tables available in the world. Constructed from premium through-hardened tool steel, the Professional Extreme 750 Welding Tables are finished with a Plasma Nitride treatment, resulting in a double hardened table that will last a lifetime. This newly optimized hardening process results in a deep, hard case that prolongs the life of the table surface, protects against stroke impact, and creates a glossy black shine.

Plasma Nitration is an unrivaled surface hardening and tempering treatment providing a more wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant surface. The Professional Extreme 750 tables have a surface hardness of 750 HV (~60 HRC). Choose from System 28 (28 mm boreholes) or System 16 (16 mm boreholes).

Strong Hand Tools, 7141 Paramount Boulevard, Pico Rivera, CA 90660, 800-989-5244 x213, pam@stronghandtools.com, www.stronghandtools.com.

WELDING ELECTRODES LAST TEN TIMES LONGER
A manufacturer of switchgears tested TZM back cast electrodes from Plansee SE (Österreich, Austria) for resistance welding and discovered that, due to the seamless joint with the electrode holder, these back cast electrodes have a substantially longer service life than their soldered alternative. Until now this switchgear manufacturer had used soldered electrodes to combine silver contacts with brass or copper. In this process an electrode could weld around 5,000 spots before it had to be reworked or even changed. Plansee thought this result was far too low and recommended the customer to check out their back cast TZM electrodes.

In the first results that were received, the back casted electrodes managed to weld as many as 50,000 points at about 120 welding points per minute before being reworked for further use. In other words, these back cast electrodes lasted a remarkable ten times longer. In contrast to soldered electrodes, the back cast version provides constant thermal conductivity as well as constant electrical resistance of the electrode from the seamless joint that runs between the TZM electrode and the electrode holder, which is made out of copper. The better this joint is, the longer the service life of an electrode is and the more reproducible the welding results get.

Plansee USA LLC, 115 Constitution Boulevard, Franklin, MA 02038, 508-553-3800, Fax: 508 553-3823, usa@plansee.com, www.plansee.com.

SPOT WELDING OF NON-FERROUS AND NON-METALLIC FLAT MATERIALS
With the move toward lightweight materials, OEMs are looking for the most effective way to cut weight without sacrificing quality or safety. Existing technologies needed to process these lighter materials typically add weight or cost, result in low weld strength, or have porosity defects. But the SpotMeld™ friction spot welding system from Coldwater Machine Company (Coldwater, OH) overcomes these issues and is efficient enough to run in a production environment.

Based on Refill Friction Stir Spot Weld (RFSSW) technology, this system spot welds aluminum (1000 – 7000 series), magnesium, non-ferrous and dissimilar sheet materials as an alternative to single-point joining processes like resistance spot welding, laser welding and riveting. SpotMeld friction stir spot welders can be configured to application specifics and mounted on any industrial robot. A variety of weld recipes can be used on demand by the robot controller, which results in a very flexible production system.

Relying on RFSSW technology, the SpotMeld system uses rotational friction to heat the materials along with pressure to forge together the parts using wear-resistant tooling to join two or more surfaces. Basically, heat is generated between the tool and material, creating a soft region. Pressure is then applied, resulting in a solid state joint. In addition to its ability to join dissimilar and lightweight materials, benefits include high quality joints with a small heat affected zone, consistency in weld duplication and faster weld times, as well as being environmentally cleaner and safer with no filler material, spatter, smoke, radiation or shield gasses.

Coldwater Machine Company, 911 North Second Street, Coldwater, OH 45828-8736, 419-678-4877, Fax: 419-678-3565, coldwatermachine.com/services/spin-welding.

POWERFUL PORTABLE WIRE FEEDER
ESAB Welding & Cutting Products (Florence, SC) offers the MobileFeed 201AVS, a rugged, suitcase-style portable wire feeder with powerful feeding mechanisms that provide even and secure wire feeding for exceptional reliability and smooth operation in a range of industrial welding applications. Small in size and extremely lightweight, this wire feed unit weighs less than 30 lb (13.6 kg) and is designed to fit through a 16 in (41 cm) manhole.

The MobileFeed 201AVS is a versatile voltage-sensing wire feeder for use with any CV or CC welding power supply and is powered off the arc so only the welding cable is required for basic operation. This feeder’s high duty cycle of 450A at 60 percent ensures trouble-free operation for high-amperage applications. A quick-change four-roll feed unit provides powerful, dependable wire feeding and quick, tool-less wire changeover. Digital meters for both Voltage and Wire Feed Speed (WFS) ensure more arc time and are labor-saving for critical welds using specific welding parameters.

The MobileFeed 201AVS features a super impact-resistant, flame retardant case that protects against dirt, metal grit, and moisture, as well as extreme abuse from grinding sparks, corrosive chemicals, and drops. An optional remote control allows voltage to be adjusted away from the power supply, reducing setup time and enabling long welds in difficult-to-reach areas. This wire feeder has a tachometer-controlled wire speed for better feed speed accuracy and consistency. It is also equipped with a sun-friendly display and wider viewing angles that make it easy to read settings in difficult lighting conditions.

ESAB Welding & Cutting Products, PO Box 100545, 411 South Ebenezer Road, Florence, SC 29501, 843-669-4411, Fax: 843-664-4258, www.esabna.com.

FILLER METALS FOR ALL APPLICATIONS
Hobart Brothers Company (Troy, OH) offers its 2015 Full-Line Catalog, a 152-page catalog featuring the theme of the company’s “It’s the tie that binds” brand campaign. The new catalog signifies the next step in the brand consolidation that began in May 2013 and transitioned all prior brands (Tri-Mark®, McKay®, Corex® and MAXAL®) under the single Hobart brand to simplify the process of selecting its filler metals.

All Hobart filler metals — including a full product line of tubular wires (metal-cored and flux-cored), solid wires and stick electrodes for welding carbon and low-alloy steels, stainless steels and aluminum, as well as options for hardfacing — are featured in the catalog. The catalog also includes the new offering of MEGAFIL® seamless wires and the FabCO® Element™ family of low manganese wires.

The 2015 Full-Line Catalog features product specifications, including chemical and mechanical properties, and operating parameters; information on American Welding Society (AWS) filler metal classifications; packaging options; tables to help users calculate the necessary amount of filler metal for common weld joints; and more — all in an easy-to-read layout. PDF copies of the 2015 Full-Line Catalog can be downloaded at HobartBrothers.com/support/catalogs or hard copies requested at HobartBrothers.com/support/literature-request.

Hobart Brothers Company, 101 Trade Square East, Troy, OH 45373, 800-424-1543, Fax: 800-541-6607, hobart@hobartbrothers.com, www.HobartBrothers.com.

HEAVY DUTY WELDER FOR MINING, CONSTRUCTION, PIPE WELDING
The Lincoln Electric Company (Cleveland, OH) offers the Vantage 520 SD engine-driven welder / generator, which joins the larger Vantage 600 SD and Air Vantage 600 SD to form a Severe Duty group of welders suitable for such extreme environments as mining, construction and pipe welding. Each is equipped with a Tier 4 Final (T4F) compliant engine that meets all new EPA diesel fuel emission standards. The Vantage 520 SD is engineered to handle a variety of processes, including:

• Stick welding
• TIG welding
• MIG welding
• Pipe welding
• Flux-cored wire welding
• Arc gouging

To deliver improved arc characteristics and other advantages, the Vantage SD series welders share a new digital platform. The results are smoother arc action, faster arc response and improved pipe welding capabilities, including reduced spatter. New pulsing capabilities provide improved arc control for out-of-position work and can be used to reduce heat input, resulting in less distortion of the base material.

ArcLink® digital communication enables fast, reliable digital communication with advanced wire feeders like the Power Feed® 25M portable semiautomatic wire feeder or other components. With access to the Power Feed® 25M, welding teams can take advantage of user memory presets for common repeated welding application procedures, as well as operator limits and lockouts. Both features help eliminate operator error on critical welds. The Vantage 520 SD features a Deutz® 34.8 hp D2.9L4 engine that enables the welder to produce 520 amps/30 volts at 60 percent duty cycle and 450 amps/32 volts at 100 percent duty cycle. In addition, the 520 SD is capable of delivering to 11,000 watts single-phase or 17,000 watts three-phase, 120/240 volt AC generator power.

The Lincoln Electric Company, 22801 Saint Clair Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44117-1199, 888-935-3876, Fax: 216-383-2699, www.lincolnelectric.com.