Robot welding help for absolute beginner

    Hi everyone.

    I got involved in an old project in my company that has been sitting and collecting dust for a year. MIG welding with OTC Daihen robot. Me and few of my colleagues got a very quick 2 day training where we were shown how to jog the robot, make a basic program, call it, make a weld, do a weave, and comunicate with the second manipulator robot.


    I have some experience with Fanuc and the programing part is not a problem for me. But I have absolutely no experience with welding. There's a lot of welders in the company but I don't know how to ask them questions and get useful answers. They can't tell me anything about the speed since they can't measure it, and their default answer is more/less amps (showing the same weld to different people got me opposite answers)


    One od the teammates is a welder, but he's doing it for only 3 months, and only TIG, and he doesn't give any useful input.


    So the actual question is, how to start with welding? What would be some default settings you'd go to when welding? How to position the gun? How to make sure I've kept the same angle relative to the weld? Does anyone have any good literature I could read from? Any good place to ask specific welding questions after I get to really "start"?

    We're welding stainless steel, 1.5 or 2mm sheets. For practice we got two pieces just laying on top of each other with some curve to follow.


    Thank you for reading.

    Mag Welding - Предполагам, че заварявате неръждаеми парчета с неръждаема тел !! Накланяне на факела 45 градуса X / Y 45 градуса X / Z 45 градуса Y / Z. Доброто заваряване зависи от няколко неща, които просто не могат да бъдат написани в кореспонденция !!!! Но ще се опитам да обясня някои неща, които да опитам. Заваряването зависи от: ампераж, напрежение, скорост на подаване на тел, скорост на заваряване, какъв е най-опитът от използването на заварчика !!!! Потърсете данни за апарата, върху който работите / таблица за ток и напрежение / Потърсете литературата за заваряване за приблизителни данни за дебелина 2 mm.

    Само въпрос, няма начин. Необходими са много опити / пробна грешка / пробна грешка / и накрая добър резултат.

    Съвет: Обадете се на заварчик, работата с инфузията е няколко минути, няколко практични съвета за минути и готово.

    Ще спестите много време и нерви !!!!

    i have translated valkamars Post with Goolge Translator:
    I guess you are welding stainless pieces with stainless wire !! Torch tilt 45 degrees X / Y 45 degrees X / Z 45 degrees Y / Z. Good welding depends on a few things that just can't be written in correspondence !!!! But I will try to explain some things to try. Welding depends on: amperage, voltage, wire feed rate, welding speed, what is the best experience of using a welder !!!! Look for data on the apparatus you are working on / Current and voltage table / Search welding literature for approximate 2 mm thickness data. Just a question, no way. It takes a lot of trials / trial error / trial error / and finally a good result. Tip: Call a welder, work with the infusion is a few minutes, a few practical tips in minutes and you're done. You will save a lot of time and nerves !!!!

    Talk to your welding supply contact, See which type of wire they reccomend, They use flux core and pulse for stainless exhaust systems.

    Sheet metal especially stainless like to move when heat of welding gets applied. Fixturing, and planning your welding pattern will be very important.

    You need to make sure the materials are fixtured in place very rigidly when you start welding because they will try to move.

    If you don't have a ticket, they shouldn't have you welding at all tbh - now I know regulations differ but that's pretty dangerous. I've been dealing with a welding robot for almost a year now and just got my ticket, but I've been lucky enough to have a fully experienced welder operating the thing while I just program and troubleshoot.

    I'd ask your company for a welder.

    Какво точно се интересувате от заваряване с роботи?

    Какъв робот използвате и какъв източник?:smiling_face:

    Quote from WhyDoesMyRobotHateMe

    If you don't have a ticket, they shouldn't have you welding at all tbh - now I know regulations differ but that's pretty dangerous. I've been dealing with a welding robot for almost a year now and just got my ticket, but I've been lucky enough to have a fully experienced welder operating the thing while I just program and troubleshoot.

    I'd ask your company for a welder.

    I think its a long stretch to say its dangerous to have him welding without a ticket. I am a trade qualified boilermaker but I have employed plenty of guys who can "just" weld. Once I teach them the basics they can produce "safe" welds in a couple of hours. Is it ideal - No but thats the real world. Will they kill anyone - again No because the weld I have them do are not critical. One of my brothers is a pressure welder. All his welds are x-rayed and if any defects detected he grinds the weld out and re welds. But they ARE critical welds.


    As far as learning how to set the welding parameters for the welding robot goes, nothing comes close to real world practice. Get hold of some scrap metal and go to town with different settings. Try different angles, travel speed, wire speed and amperages. Produce some welds and talk to your welders about how the welds look. Once you get some good looking welds try breaking them apart. Look at the penetration and for defects like porosity. Also pay attention to the sound the welder makes while welding. Good welds have a "sound" and when you hear something different its time to have a good look at the weld.


    Also these days its easier than ever to learn the basics of welding. Spend some time on Youtube and you should be able to learn the very basics in a couple of hours.

    Quote from TheFabricator

    I think its a long stretch to say its dangerous to have him welding without a ticket. I am a trade qualified boilermaker but I have employed plenty of guys who can "just" weld. Once I teach them the basics they can produce "safe" welds in a couple of hours. Is it ideal - No but thats the real world. Will they kill anyone - again No because the weld I have them do are not critical.


    Depends on where they're located I guess - here, if you're welding production parts and you don't have your ticket or are not a registered apprentice? You'll get fired, for one; your employer will get fined severely, and the college of trades could suspend your ability to write your ticket for however long.

    You say once you teach them the basics they're good to go - have you seen a program go *really* wrong? Or how a new robotic operator can panic when they do? There are safeguards in place, sure - and I do think the likelihood of someone dying is low but the point of the ticket is to eliminate the possibility of anyone getting harmed, period - not to mention depending on what the parts are, their integrity could be an issue as well.

    My point wasn't really safety-related, moreso that if they aren't being trained whatsoever and yet expected to just 'learn on-the-job' then their employer is failing them.

    I agree that the duty of care lands with the employer. What kind of employer would let an incapable person operate a welding cell if the parts where critical without any previous experience. I dont know what kind of company the OP works at, but in my workshop I would not let a guy weld parts that I was not 100% certain that they could do the job.


    Formal education does help but I have employed people who are qualified that I would not let weld certain jobs. They had the paperwork but could not do the job well enough - either because they were lazy or just not capable. Maybe the OP's employer has faith in him to pick it up.

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