To cut the costs associated with importing overseas manufactured semiautomatic armature welding machines, state-owned rolling-stock company Transwerk's Cape Town operation commissioned Argon Arc Welding Supplies to design and manufacture a tungsten inert gas (Tig) armature welding machine for its manufacturing and repair facilities.

The East Rand-based welding company began building the machine in January and it was commissioned on site early last month.

The Argon Arc Welding team responsible for producing the machine included a mechanical engineer, an electrical engineer and a welding technician.

"The machine is designed to continuously Tig-weld connections between the commutator bars in coils at Transwerk's manufacturing and repair facilities," explains Argon Arc Welding's Jim Dooris.

Dooris and his associate at Argon Arc Welding Andy Chrysanthou, believe that it was critical for Transwerk to install the device at its operation because it facilitates in-house repair.

The semiautomatic armature welding machine incorporates CEA welding technology, an Italian product which the company supplies to the welding industry.

"The machine has continuous rotation of the work piece and the arc also holds in continuously," explains Dooris.

"This combination reduces the time-consuming process of controlling the index from bar to bar," he elaborates.

Moreover, it eliminates the need to initiate the arc at every bar.

The Tig torch is powered by a CEA Tigtronic 505 DC rectifier.

Once the Tig operation is set up, it runs automatically.

"Because the Tig torch is mounted on a post with three slides, including one motorised slide, the torch steps automatically over on each 360

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