Company resupplies machine stock to keep S. African market supplied

To keep its supply of stud-welding machines current, furnace and industrial services company The Dickinson Group keeps a range of such machines in stock at its Vereeniging headquarters at all times.

The company has supplied more than 600 stud-welding machines over the past 24 years to the mining, engineering and construction industries. Each machine is supplied with a stud weld pistol, and the various machines can stud weld from 3 mm to 20 mm studs in mild steel, stainless steel or aluminium studs to plates.

A variety of stud welding methods are offered – Capacitor Discharge (CD), Drawn-Arc (DA), Short Cycle (SC) and Magnetic Field stud welding (SRM) – says The Dickinson Group refractory anchor division manager Miles Simpson.

Stud welding is not like stick welding were only a fillet weld would bond the outside parts together, in stud welding the two parts become one solid homogeneous piece of material.

Simpson explains that the machines are powered by 220, 380 or 500 volts and some bigger machine have an output of 3000 A able to stud weld up to 25-mm-diameter studs.

He states that mild steel and stainless steel can be welded together, provided that the correct settings for the heat and length of the weld are used. However, when working on aluminium, only aluminium studs can be welded onto aluminium parts. Simpson recommends that a higher-quality stud welding machine be used when working with aluminium studs.

The company supplies the South African market with stud-welding machines and stud guns from stud-welding machine manufacturers Soyer from Germany, and Taylor stud welding from the UK.

He points out that when the company sells a machine to a client, training sessions are provided to ensure that machine operators know how to properly set up the machine. The company issues a certificate to show that the operator has received training and if another machine is sold to the same client, refresher training will be provided.