Tack welding is an important welding process that most welders will become quite familiar with their career. For anyone new to welding you might be asking yourself “What is Tack Welding?”. Tack welds are essentially temporary welds that help to hold two metals in place. The main purpose of the tack weld is to hold the two pieces of metal in place while you apply the actual, final weld. The tack weld can be used instead of other means like a clamp. This lets you weld without the worry of your metals getting misaligned.
One other important thing when it comes to tack welds is how easy they are to remove. If the alignment on your finished weld is off, it can easily be dissembled and reapplied with tack welds.
How To Tack Weld
Basically, tack welds are just small welds spaced out from one another. The number of tack welds mostly depends on the size of the metals you are fusing together. Typically the weld you’re using for the final weld is what you could use for the tack welds. Now even though these are just small beads you are placing it is still considered welding.
What To Avoid When Tack Welding
When tack welding, it is absolutely necessary that it does not affect the quality of the final weld. Improper tack welds can cause the final weld to have defects like cracks, craters, hard spots, and much more. This then can affect the overall quality of the project.
Also, if the metals are hoisted or moved while they are tack welded, they could fall apart. The initial tack welds are weak and only meant to temporarily hold the metals together. So use caution or you could possibly cause damage to the metals or even bodily injuries.
One other important thing to note is that some metal can be sensitive to the rapid cooling associated with tack welds. In some cases, the areas where the heat was applied and cooled can become brittle and prone to cracks. This can also cause problems when the tack weld is removed. Leaving invisible cracks int he bases metal.
Benefits Of Tack Welds
As I stated earlier, all welders will become quite familiar with tack welds. They are essential in difficult or easy projects and can make your welds a lot better. Here are some of the benefits of tack welding, so you can see for yourself why it is important to learn.
- Maintains the joint gap
- Holds the metals in place
- Makes sure everything is aligned properly
- Ensures the strength
- Controls the metals from moving while implementing final weld
As you can see tack welding has its benefits and can be useful for almost every project.
Joe Stephens
Joey has over 20 years of experience working in the welding industry and now works with providing readers with intensive reviews. Joey has also self-published an e-book and has written countless articles regarding welding information and safety.
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