welding requires a steady hand, and an understanding of power requirements, depending on the thickness of the matrerial to be welded.
Modern protective helmets allow the welder to see what he, or she is doing! but the abiltiy to maintain the appropriate angles of the "torch" create almost insurmountable problems. This proposal is to add a hand and angle steady to the welding torch. Its half baked as the details have not been ironed out. But if the would be welder cannot appreciate and maintain the most suitable SLOPE and TILT angles then little progress can be made. The device must be non-conductive and adjustable and suitable for various welding technologies, eg., TIG and MAG.-- uked, Jan 21 2003 A robot seems not very related to this idea, [Dimandja].
I'm having a hard time picturing what you are proposing, [uked]. Have you ever heard of a maulstick? Is it anything like that but more articulated . . . or something?-- bristolz, Jan 21 2003 Yes, Bristolz a sort of maulstick with stabilisers. No Dimandja, The robot welders must have means to adjust the slope and tilt angles to provide effective welding, such robot welders have programmable rates of feed and welding path. Could the mechanisms for robotic welders be redesigned to help the welder, human variety, to maintain suitable slope and tilt angles?-- uked, Jan 25 2003 This is fine for simple butt and fillet welds, but would quickly become awkward in the real-world conditions of, for instance, chassis repair - where you tend to encounter complex, multi angle or curve joints. It's prohibitively expensive to program a robotic welder for this and that's where human skill comes in. I'm brushing up my MIG and TIG welding skills at the moment so I appreciate the thought behind this.
NB: suggested category - "Product:Tool"-- 8th of 7, Jan 25 2003 [8th] // MIG welding //
They're easier to repair if you don't shoot them down. ;-)-- lurch, Jan 25 2003 Wire fed fighters-- bristolz, Jan 25 2003 8th of 7 yes, my present problem is I have a class of students that have variable experience in welding. I'm not a welder, but have my own gear and have limited experience. One of the lecturers commented on the inability of some students to identify slope and tilt angles. My observation was that, to a large extent if these students cannot appreciate the importance of these concepts, then no amount of practice can improve their performance. We need knowledge and where appropriate support, including devices. I once tried to weld a hole in an aluminium beer keg, the air, gas, prevents a satisfactory weld. I didn't know that I should plug the hole with ali rod and weld around the rod! At present Basie, my college dept is opting for practice, practice , practice. Ok, provided these students do have some understanding of the requirements for success. The idea is to provide a tool that will provide some help to students untril they have reached some degree of proficiency. How do I alter this idea to Product:tool category 8th of 7th? Thanks-- uked, Jan 26 2003 Unabubba, yes I suppose so.-- uked, Jan 28 2003 I was thinking more like some sort of trammel that you could slide the torch upon.
[I recategorized this to Product: Tool]-- bristolz, Jan 28 2003 yes, Bristolz. That makes sense as well. I' ll have to start sketching out a prototype.-- uked, Jan 28 2003 It should be bendable or articulatable to accomodate varying contours and topographies. Perhaps it could even be soft like a sandbag with a grippy surface on the work side and, on the top, a harder/smoother ridged surface towards the edges where one can rest either the heel of their hand or a torch brace. On the side closer to the person doing the welding could be a loom bracket to help manage the hoses or wire (or both) and conduct them out of harm's way.-- bristolz, Jan 28 2003 Wow, you've lost me bristolZ-- uked, Mar 12 2003 That's okay, I lost me, too.-- bristolz, Mar 12 2003 random, halfbakery