Tools You’ll Need To Get Before You Light Your Welding Torch
Have you ever tried to glue two popsicle sticks together in arts and crafts? Well, welding is sort of like that, except it isn’t at all. In all seriousness, welding is a craft that like any other requires a lot of experience under your belt, and hundreds of hours of practice to be able to master it. Before you are able to do that however, you will need to get the right tools to help you get started.
Aside from the many different types of available welding torches, there is also a large assortment of other items as well. While there are many welding tools you can get that can be perfect for the certain task that they are specifically designed for, they can all be generally divided into two groups – Protection gear and Shaping equipment.
The protection gear is with no hyperbole whatsoever the most important equipment that you can get when it comes to working with welders. They, of course, have the task of protecting the user from the sparks, the bright light that the welder generates, and provide as much protection against the heat that is produced as they possibly can. The most important out of these (at least if you want to still be able to use your eyes) is the welding helmet, some models of which come with an automatically darkening visor for some extra added protection. Next come the gloves, which are generally made out of flame retardant heavy-duty materials in order to withstand any accidental sparks and not catch fire, as that would be disastrous. And lastly, there are a few different items that you can get to protect your body, like the welding apron that’s designed to cover the front of your body, or the complete overalls made out of durable and flame retardant material just like the gloves.
The other welding tools, that are used by both amateur welders that just picked up the torch last week and skilled hands in the craft, are the precision shaping and polishing items. These tools can either be used during the welding process to hold the item that’s being welded into place (clamps) or in a specific shape that’s required for a specific weld (pliers), or they can be used to apply the finishing touches. There are for example the wire brushes that come in different sizes and are usually made out of stainless steel, brass or nylon and can be used to remove paint and rust, do descaling and general cleaning.
As I said before, there are many of these additional welding tools that you should get along with your torch, but if you are looking to get by with nothing but the bare minimum, then I suggest getting the gloves, the helmet and orienting your welds only around ones for which the clamps would be necessary. But in time, it is highly recommended that you get all of the above mentioned items, as well as those that I didn’t manage to cover.
