Use and Maintenance of Hand Tools, Power Tools and Welding Equipment
This domain checks that you can select, inspect and maintain the tools around a FCAW station - chipping hammers and gauges, angle grinders and cut-off saws, and the wire feeder and gun itself. Questions usually hinge on a safety interlock, a speed rating or a maintenance symptom.
Hand tools
Chipping hammer, slag chisel, wire brush, files, fillet gauge, hi-lo gauge, taper and feeler gauges, tape and wrap-around. Inspect before use: mushroomed chisel heads must be dressed or scrapped, hammer heads tight, handles free of splits, gauge edges clean so readings are true.
Power tools
Angle grinder rules: guard fitted, side handle on, wheel maximum RPM at least equal to the tool nameplate RPM, flanges correct, no cutting disc used for side grinding, unplug before changing a wheel. A ring test applies to vitrified bonded wheels, not to diamond or laminated discs. Full face shield over safety glasses with wire wheels; dust mask when grinding galvanized or painted steel.
Feeder and gun maintenance
Match drive roll groove to wire diameter (1.2, 1.4 or 1.6 mm), set tension so the wire deforms slightly but does not crush, replace worn liners, clear spatter from the nozzle, check contact tip bore and gas ports, drain moisture traps, verify the work lead and gun cable for cuts.
Worked example
A grinder nameplate reads 11,000 rpm; the only available 230 mm disc is marked 8,500 rpm maximum. The welder wants to mount it because the guard fits. Answer: reject. The wheel's marked maximum speed must be at least the tool's no-load speed; an overspeed wheel can burst and the guard cannot contain the fragments. Fit the correct disc or change to a slower tool.
Traps that cost marks
Removing the guard for access. Using a grinding disc for cutting. Wrong groove size causing birdnesting or wire slip. Oversized contact tip causing arc wander. Judging feeder tension by feel rather than by the crush test.