HPBooks Welder’s
Handbook: A Guide to Plasma Cutting, Oxyacetylene, ARC, MIG and TIG Welding
Even for me, reading a book on welding
is a little off-character. The most skilled thing I do with my hands is garden.
Reading about welding may be against my character, but character is exactly why
I read the book. I’m a writer. My latest novel opens in the vault of a bank
just as the thieves are ready to exit with their loot. To delay discovery of
their crime, they weld the vault door shut. Like a good writer, I do my research.
How does one weld? What does one use?
How does one cut through criss-crossed steel bars in reinforced concrete to get
into the safe in the first place? This book answered many of my questions, but
not all.
My limited knowledge had led me to
believe welding was always done with tanks of gas and a big protective mask. I
was surprised to discover gas welding is only one of the many methods. Even after
reading this book I don’t really understand the difference or the technicalities
of ARC, MIG and TIG welding. For my writing project, I decided to stick with
gas welding. It seems to be the most portable of the methods.
Gas welding, the book says, is done with
a tank of oxygen and a tank of acetylene: oxyacetylene. I admit, after the
basics, I became confused. Finch shares charts and details about metal types
and thicknesses and how they will or will not match up with different types of
filler rods. There’s welding, cutting, brazing, jigging and fitting as well as
heat forming. I suppose this book would be fantastic for someone with welding
experience, but having never laid eyes or hands of actual welding equipment, I’m
still lost.
The good news is that I learned enough
not to accidentally allow my characters to make a mistake that could get
themselves injured or killed while they handle the equipment. That reminds
me, I need to rewrite that first
chapter to remove some errors. I wasn’t so educated the first time around. J
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