Great Advice To Consider When Welding Structural Steel For A Project

There will be times when structural steel needs to be welded for a project. Maybe it's to combine multiple steel beams together for a particular structure. If you want to have smooth welding operations when working with said steel, follow these guidelines.

Make Sure Structural Steel is Free of Contamination

You don't want to weld structural steel that has contaminants because what that's going to do is lead to poor welding quality. For instance, contaminants can cause holes in your welds and then they won't be as strong nor hold up as long.

For this reason, carefully inspect each structural steel piece that's about to be welded. If you see things on the surface, you need to clean them off before you begin welding. That's going to set you up for better welding quality on a consistent basis, which is key because structural steel isn't always cheap.

Don't Let Welder Get Out of Position

The entire time you weld structural steel, you need to make sure your welder stays in the right position because that's going to help you weld the right sections without having to deal with inconsistencies later. 

It will be easier to keep your welder at the right position consistently if you mark off weld lines on structural steel that's being fabricated. Then you'll have a guide to use the entire time, which saves you from causing damage to structural steel or having to start this welding process all over again with new pieces of structural steel.

Wear Heat-Resistant Gloves For Added Safety

It's typically required to use both hands when welding structural steel because this approach gives you maximum control. So that your hands are fully protected during this structural steel fabrication, be sure to wear heat-resistant gloves at all times.

Then you'll have less worry about your hands getting burned and can thus put more focus on the type of welding you perform on structural steel. There are many welding glove solutions available. Just make sure the gloves fit and provide enough protection from heat and sparks generated by your welding machine.

If there's a project that requires pieces of structural steel to be combined together, welding is an appropriate fabrication to focus on. You'll have no issues with it if you take time to study all of your structural steel pieces, as well as verify your welding techniques are set up for total success. Look into structural steel fabrication for more information.