If you are a beginner in welding or just planning to embark upon, chances are you might have at least wondered about which are the must have welding gears out there to kick start your welding career.
Well, we’ve made this ultimate guide to remove all your concerns and make you familiar with every possible type of welding gears that will be crucial in practice.
So let’s explore them:
Complete List Of Welding Gears
We have categorized the welding gears into 6 sections depending on it’s use and convenience –
1. Full-Body Safety Gears:
- Auto-Darkening Helmet:
One of the most essential items in the list, a welding helmet especially with an auto-darkening feature is the “go-to” gear for any welder before going in practice. Not to mention, apart from protecting your full face against sparks and other harmful substances, it will allow you to closely observe the welding task by putting a shade in front of your eye when the bright light appears across the arc. - Respirators:
We all know welding generates a mass amount of gases and some of which are very toxic for the human to inhale. Besides, this can go more wrong if the fumes are of zinc and magnesium. On top of that, it may even trigger diseases like Asthma and Parkinson’s which is life-threatening or even lead to lung cancer.This makes the necessity of using respirators more vital and a welder should also buy the one from a reputed brand or seller because it should be manufactured especially for a welder and posses a standard filter with air supply system. - Earplugs:
Well, there are basically two reasons why you should use earplugs during welding.1. We all know welding produces intense loud noises which can oftentimes make harm or even damage the ears of a welder. In this case, earplugs would be an essential device to bypass that noise.2. Secondly, welding is an art and it requires a welder’s full attention. Earplugs will keep the welder focused and concentrated during the whole process by preventing that disrupted noise. - Welding Cap:
They are probably one of the overlooked items on this list. As we value the welder’s safety first, it is certainly required that all of his body including the overhead should be protected from any unanticipated sparks or other substances. In this regard, a burn-proof welding cap will ensure the highest safety across your overhead. - Fire-Resistant Jacket:
As the name suggests, fire-resistant jackets are specially manufactured for keeping the welder safe and protect him from fire, sparks or other hot materials. This is, without a doubt, a crucial thing to wear before even thinking to weld because you can easily assume that the body area that’ll be covered by this jacket is more vulnerable to fire and sparks than that of other areas.A standard welding jacket will also cover your neck and shoulder area which provides your body with ultimate protection. Just make sure to buy the one that seems more comfortable in your body with due regard to the jacket material.
- Welding Sleeves:
Welding sleeves are quite similar to welding jackets but are mainly used in the summer days which primarily protect the hands and shoulders of the welder from fire, spark, and heat.Every welder should certainly own one or multiple welding sleeves before going into practice because they are very convenient to make small jobs done and doesn’t require wearing other fancy and high-duty apparels before beginning to weld. - Welding Gloves:
Welding gloves are one of the most essential items on the list because your hands and wrist will have more proximity to the arc than the other body parts. It is very crucial to buy the gloves that fit perfectly in your hands because you’ll feel more comfortable while drawing the lines and also removes your concerns of accidental taking offs. - Welding Boots:
Now here come the gears for the lower body parts which are basically designed to protect your legs and feet from sprinkles of fire, sparks, and hot metals that may considerably damage you lower body skin. The most crucial among them is welding boots.You should certainly be aware of the boot material as whether they are made with shockproof leather materials or not because this attribute will play the biggest role in protecting your feet against fire and sparks.
- Welding Kneepads:
Kneepads are one of the overlooked items in this list. We all know welding requires a frequent movement of your legs especially the movement of your knee joints.
Now when you are working for long hours and carrying out a sophisticated project, chances are often times you need to put down your knees over a rock-solid object which may trigger potential chronic pain over the knee plates.In this case, having kneepads will be an added advantage which may also prevent your knees from approaching hot metals and scraps.
- Welding Chaps:
Similar to that of welding jackets, they protect the lower side of your body from waist to heel. They basically come in two forms. One as an attached bib and the other as pants only. Just make sure to buy the one that fits comfortably with your legs with due regard to whether the material is fire and shock resistant or not.
2. Atmosphere Controlling Gears
- Fire Extinguisher:
Fire extinguishers are extremely essential especially in a welding operation. We all know accidents are uncertain and it may happen anytime without prior notice. Since welding is a fire intensive operation and it possesses more explosion and fire risks than any other typical jobs, it is very crucial to place fire extinguishers in a near proximity to the operation before even starting to weld. - Ventilation:
Welding generates an excessive amount of fumes. And if the materials are galvanized and consist of magnesium and zinc, chances are it may potentially trigger diseases like fume fever or even lead to lung cancer. The most effective way to remove this flaw is by ensuring enough ventilation system has been provided across the whole welding area. However, in case of MIG and TIG welding, it is not mandatory to have this facility in place but if you are going to weld with flux cored or stick welder, it’ll become a compulsory requirement.
- Welding Curtain:
Welding curtains are basically designed for in-house welding operation because they allow you to stay under a protected cover especially to prevent the children and pets from walking into the welding area.
3. Welding Support Gears
- Welding Table:
A welding table is a must-have for any welder in practice because they increase the safety and accuracy of your welding operation. As a welder, you are always working on an electric and fire intensive sophisticated process.This may require you more concentration along with a safe working area. A welding table will allow you to focus more on the work while positioning all the essential equipment in an approachable area and also allow you to get the one right away by moving your hands.Now, it is not mandatory to buy a welding table from the market because if you have all the materials in place and a sort of expertise, you can easily make your own.
- Welding Magnets:
Welding magnets can be very handy especially when you are working on a special project generally consists of multiple parts to be joined together. They will allow you to position the parts in a 90-degree angle before drawing beads over them. Besides, as this tool serves as an essential accessory, you should buy multiple of them before carrying out any small or large projects. - Welding Clamps:
Clamps are absolutely crucial before carrying out any welding task. They are primarily used to hold the individual parts to be welded together and drawing a tack weld before performing the final process. Now you may require multiple of these before carrying out any project because without using them before drawing beads can potentially result in your whole project to get ruined.
4. Cleaning & Sharpening Gears
- Chipping Hammer:
Many types of welding processes create slag layer and spatter over the weld area. And these need to be removed right away after finishing the weld which is basically performed by a chipping hammer. You should definitely have one in your collection. - Wire Brush:
One of the common causes of contamination is not performing adequate cleaning of the weld metal from all sorts of dirt and debris. Many welders forget to do that which consequently results in porosity after performing the weld. Hence, it is required to clean the weld area with a wire brush for preventing any contamination - Angle Grinder:
Angle grinders are a must-have tool for any welder because without properly making your metals ready to weld can cause unanticipated contamination as well as poor welding performance. They are primarily used to cut and grind the materials to be welded.Besides, you’re required to smoothen out the surface of your material as well as install extra accessories with the grinder like a wire brush and a flap disc for removing paint and perform grinding respectively.
- MIG Pliers:
Now this tool serves a serious job if you are a MIG welder. Sometimes the wire can get burnt and the tip needed to be cut off before drawing any new line. The MIG pliers will help you in this regard. Besides, you can also remove contact tip and gas diffuser from the gun. Another essential feature it offers is the ability to remove weld spatters out of the nozzle of your welding gun.
5. Measuring and Marking Gears
- Sheet Metal Gauge:
We all know setting out the welder right according to the metal thickness is the most crucial part of welding. This is admittedly true among all the welders in practice. Without properly setting up your welder machine as per your metal thickness can lead to total project failure and even cause serious porosity. You don’t want to experience that, do you? Well, this sheet metal gauge will help you to precisely measure the thickness of your welding metal before starting to weld. - Speed Squares:
Speed squares are a very handy tool. In some cases, you cannot think of having an accurate and precise weld without using these. For instance, if you are working on a project that requires a 90 degree or a 45-degree angle cut, you cannot do that accurately with the help of a traditional marking scale. In this case, speed squares come handy. In fact, they are used by every professional welder in the industry. - Soapstones:
Soapstones are a basic kit which performs the same task as a permanent marker. But since you’re going to work on industrial and high-duty projects, Soapstones will be very essential. They will help you to precisely mark the areas to be welded.
Final words
Thanks for reading the whole post. Our objective was to make you familiar with every essential welding gears that a welder should certainly own in order to effectively carry out any welding process. Stay along with us for more precious welding related guides and articles. Thanks.
