Other Necessary Tools for Portable Welding

Unless you are using your portable welder inside your workshop, with no intention of taking it out – in which case its portability is moot – then you will be unable to bring every conceivable tool that you might need to every welding task you undertake away from your usual work area. The logistics of hauling along a full workshop’s complement of tools are beyond most portable welder users, and it will therefore be necessary to pick and choose those which are most likely to come in handy.

When you become more experienced with portable welding, you may wish to draw up lists of the “kits” of tools that you need for specific kinds of jobs. In this way, when you find yourself confronted by a certain kind of task – whether that is repairing a tractor in the midst of a windswept filed of wheat, building a pipe from for a shed or pole barn, or carrying out a certain kind of construction work at the building site – you will have an efficient method of determining which tools to bring along for the specific job that you need to complete.

Besides your welder itself and its inevitable accompaniment, the generator, you should bring along an oxyacetylene torch (or other gas torch), its cylinders and hoses, and several different torch tips. Since carting a reciprocal saw and several other types of saws along may prove to be impractical, your main metal-cutting implement is likely to be the oxyacetylene torch, fitted with the appropriate cutting tip. The torch is a multi-use implement in any case, which can be used for softening metal for bending, cutting metal, welding steel, and braze welding other metals.

You should also bring along an angle grinder and several discs. This tool is used both to clean and prepare metal prior to welding by grinding away paint, rust, factory scale, and other substances, and to test unknown metals by grinding on them and seeing what color and pattern of sparks is produced, hopefully producing an identification – as detailed in a previous article. An angle grinder of 4” is preferred, as this is lightweight and maneuverable, and suitable for use in unexpected places, such as those you will often encounter while using a portable welding machine.

Simply because you are potentially welding outdoors does not remove the risk of fire. Here, dry grass, wood chips, leaves, and the like are more likely to be flammable risks than sawdust or cans of thinner. You should always bring a first aid kit with burn cream so that you can treat burns at the worksite, as well as a fire blanket and a fire extinguisher. Fire extinguishers can be used outdoors as well if the blaze is small enough, and you should always be aiming to put out an accidental fire while it is small.

Finally, your “kit” should always include some clamps and wrenches. Needlenose pliers are useful for handling small, hot pieces of metal, while C-clamps, magnetic clamps, and Mole grips are all essential for holding metal in place until it can be welded firmly into a single workpiece. Magnetic clamps can only be used on ferrous metal, but have the immense advantage that they can be moved quickly and efficiently from place to place, yet provide a strong grip that does not damage the surface.