With 100kg up to 30,000 kg positioning machines in stock, we can supply or rent you a piece of kit to help both the welder and consistency of your welding project. We could even refurbish your existing welding positioner if you don't want to invest in new equipment. We offer a loan machine whilst the refurbishment is carried out.
Welding Positioners allow round or tubular pieces of metal to be rotated easily, making for better welding work and increased efficiency.
Welding work on pipes can be quite difficult without the aid of a welding turntable, which also reduces the time and effort required by the welder while working.
Brands we buy and sell include but are not limited to Bode, ESAB, Pema, Silvistrini, Red-D-Arc,Muller Opalden, Koike, Lincoln, ProArc
Why do we need welding positioners?
As well as reducing time and effort for the welder, a welding positioner can help produce a better weld. High quality welds require much concentration and work, and this cannot be done if the welder has to constantly move around their workspace in order to get the best position.
A welding positioner removes the necessity to move around, thus allowing for the creation of better welds, in less time.
Dpn't want to tie up funds? We have many New and Used Welding Positioners to choose from for hire. Please ask for rental rates.
Around the world this type of equipment can also be known as a Bench Positioner, Tilting Positioner, Welding Turntable, SubArc Positioning Equipment, Rotating Table or Head Stock
You can learn more about these applications below
Table or Welding Floor Turntables
Welding floor turntables range from table top models of 25kg to over 100 tonne floor models. Even larger capacities and special requirements are manufactured to suit specific weld fabrication and other manufacturing requirements.
Most turntables are variable speed in both clock wise and counter clock wise direction. Tables most often have 4 slots cut into the table to allow tooling and fixtures to be mounted to the table's face on both standard manual or semi automatic welding turntables.
Welding turntables do not tilt and work much like a lazy susan always rotating in the horizontal plain. The part is most often in the vertical plain and rotated while the welding torch is mounted in position by a weld head director or sub arc column boom manipulator. This allows the part to rotate for continuous welding application such as hard facing or cladding.
One thing to keep in mind is turntables most often have the same rating as a welding positioner using the center of gravity of either 6" or 12" from the center of the table out and away. Why this maybe important is if you are rotating a part where the weight of the part is not concentric. If you are dealing with a offset load this can cause the table to deflect or perhaps not rotate at a even speed. Most turntable face plates are designed around the suggested capacity rating of the turntable. Un-like a tilting turntable a welding floor turntable can handle more weight based on table size, but can only rotate in the horizontal position. Larger tables can be used but they either have to be thicker or use out rigger roller supports to keep the tables deflection to a minimum.
The primary function of a floor turntable is to allow the welder or operator to rotate the work piece through out 360o reposition for inspection or welding positioning. Welding turn tables can be used for polishing, painting and shot blasting. The floor turntable can also be used for different applications other than welding such as high speed turntables for metal spray coating applications in either hand held or interpreted with a spray gun holding apparatus, such as a robot. Preston - Eastin is a major manufacture of high speed turntables for non welding applications.
One growth area in recent years do to energy demands has been cladding of oil valves were the turntables are used in conjunction with a bore welder or manipulator set up to weld then index up or over. The floor turntable is placed below floor level in a pit with the face plate level to the ground. The valves are attached to the floor turntable were they are first preheated on a specialist design slip ring assembly, incorporated into the design of our Cladding Turntables then cladded internally while the table is rotated beneath the part being weld.
It is always a good idea to ask your knowledgeable welding positioning technician for some help in sizing the proper size welding turntable. Let them know if you plan to welding while turning or if you just want to rotate in between welding. This is important for speeds and costs. We recommend
Bode, Instrument Engineering, ProArc, Murex, ESAB, Pema, MPE, Key Plant, A&N, Pandjiris, Ransome, Aronson, Preston Easton, Instrument Engineering, Co-Weld quality made machines.
Tilting Bench Top and Floor Mounted Welding Positioners
Welding around any kind of circular pipe or turning is a tough. Making a smooth fillet weld in the horizontal position, you either have to walk around the work bench, keeping constant arc length if you wish to make a continuous air tight weld. Work like this may be OK if you just need only a few parts welded. Larger batch production runs need positioning devices for higher productivity. The solution is to rotate the work piece with a rotating welding positioners, such as a version called a table or benchtop positioner for small cylindrical parts such as pipe and tubing using a gripper chuck.
Welding fabricators need to weld tubing and pipe sections with small jobs and higher production jobs. Tube to elbow, pipe to pipe, and pipe or a flange, all are common welding operations in a fabricating environment. Circular piece like tubes and pipe can be a difficult when rotating. A example, say you want to weld a piece of pipe to a flange. First you tack the two pieces together and clamping the assembly to your work table. To make a weld fillet smooth looking in the horizontal position, you have to move around the welding table, trying to maintain a constant arc length if you want to make a quality weld. One solution to this dilemma is to rotate the work piece past the welding arc with a rotating welding positioner, such as a small to medium-size benchtop machine. Fixed Base and tilt welding table bench top positioners are the answer. Also called Table Rotary Welding Positioners.
Tilting positioners use different tilt options, some use hand wheel for infinite degree of tilt from flat to 90 degrees. Others used fixed set positions of angle, other use a thumb screw nut to allow the tilt positioner a wider range of angles, hand wheel design is the best version on the market today. Of all the defined welding positions, the flat position is the best way to provide the fastest travel speed, highest deposition rate, and best penetration while giving best weld appearance .
If you set your pipe and flange assembly to the welding positioner table, tilt to 45 degrees, you are presenting the joint in the flat welding position. When joining the two pieces of pipe end to end, tilting the positioner to 90 degrees to attain that same flat welding position. This is the most common way pipe sections are joined together with a secondary support.
Benchtop welding positioners typically are rated by the weight they can handle based on center of gravity. The most common sizes are 25kg, 50kg, and 100kg welding table sized positioners. The center of gravity ratings are based on the work piece being centered and balanced on the positioner table. Work weight load is the weldment parts plus fixture used to secure the weldment to the positioner's table or to the tooling or chuck..
Elbow non concentric out of balance loads do not pose a problem when the welding table is in the flat or horizontal position. When a unbalanced load is tilted on a positioner and it speeds up or slows down as the overhung load goes through the 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock position the positioner is under torqued or to small for your job or part. Off set parts often are cause stress on the gear box and motor do to lack or needed torque to maintain constant rotation speed. Securing a weight directly opposite the offending clamp can eliminate this off set load condition, but adds weight and possible problems.
Long parts though perfectly balanced, can cause a problem when the positioner is tilted. Often exceeding the positioners rated center of gravity. This creates an overhung load that can place a severe stress on the positioner's shaft bearings. Most pipe fabricators use some sort of steady rest or pipe roller stand to support the outboard end, such as a pipe stand with a dual roller head.
Benchtop positioners are powered by geared motors that usually drive the table's shaft via a secondary rotation gear or sometimes on cheaper models a drive belt. Most all bench top welding positioners have forward and reverse variable speed rotation, plus foot control. Some foot petals are on/off others are variable speed design.
Securing small diameter tubes and pipe in a spin lock chucks are the best based on weight and lower center of gravity. If you intend to weld a variety of ongoing jobs with parts with different diameters, spin lock chucks allow you easy self centering of the work piece on the positioner's table. Lathe chucks or scroll design chucks are less expensive but push out the center of gravity do to their size, spin lock chucks have both OD and ID reversible jaws.
Some code welding jobs require argon inert gas back back purging. Inert gas purging from the back side of the arc prevents contamination of the root bead during the welding process. This requirement usually is encountered in mig or tig of stainless steel and other alloys. Some positioner manufacturers offer the option of a hollow table shaft with a means of connecting it to an inert gas supply to facilitate purging. Some table top designs use a large through hole to bring a offset load closer to the chuck or positioner's table center of gravity.
If you are considering a bench top positioner, be sure it has an earth for return welding current to your welding machine. A capacity of 250 amps or most often needed and a standard on domestic produced positioners. Be sure to attach the ground lead of your welding machine to the stud on the side of the positioner before you start any welding. Welding on a positioner table that is simply bolted to a grounded steel bench will cause welding current to flow through the machine.
Some welders have devised ways to automate entire welding processes using a benchtop positioner as the centerpiece of their automated welding system. When designed and assembled correctly, rack-mounted torches, mounted to the turntable, and micro switches or timing devices can lead to a welding system that requires only loading of the part and pressing a start switch. This requires a less skilled operator, not a skilled welder saving you labor costs. This is a example of a welding automation circle welder using a torch stand and a bench top positioner much like a simple welding lathe.
If the positioner breaks how quickly can you get parts? Be sure to ask about the warranty and where you can buy parts if needed. We stock parts and repair all our welding positioners and turntables. Quality makes like Jetline, Pandjiris, Bode, ESAB, Murex, Key Plant, Co-weld are stocked at Westermans and offer durability at an affordable price. Take a close look at our welding positioners in the refurbishment process to see a machine from start to finish here or go to our YouTube channel.
We can supply all associated equipment from self centering chucks, variable control units, pendant controls, foot controls. We also sell lathe type welders which compliment the bench type welding positioner.
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