When you first start welding it may be difficult to understand what you are seeing when you look at the weld symbols. However, if you think of this as a system of codes or a way of shorthand that tells you different information about the weld that needs to be done, these weld symbols will be easier to read.
The information you can gain from these symbols is important; they tell you the type of weld to do, the size of the weld you should do and other information about how you will process it or finish the job. These are all weld symbols that are set up by the American Welding Society and the American National Standards Institute.
The first part of the weld symbols that you will find is a horizontal line because this is the one that tells you much of the information. This is also referred to as the reference line because it is the part that all the other symbols will be attached to. In other words, you will look at this line first to see what is needed a then the other lines act as the attachments for the rest of the work
There are also going to be arrows on different parts of a diagram after this initial reference point to show you where you need to do the weld. You might have one side of the joint that needs welding or more than one place. The diagram and the reference line will tell you what to do.
You will know which side you need to weld by the way that the symbols are laid out. As an example, the weld symbol will show one side with an arrow and white space that will put the reference line in the middle of the space to be welded.
You will have the side with the arrow called the arrow side and whatever information you have below and above the reference line will be what you will do on that side. The second side of the joint of course called the other side will have directions of what to do listed under the reference line. This helps to keep things form getting to confusing, and will be the same no matter how the arrow is directed.
When you see a small circle around the angle part of the arrow and the reference line, this indicates a flag which means that the weld you are making should be made in the field when you are creating the structure. If you do not see the flag then this means you are to do your weld inside the shop. Also, the circle may also tell you that the weld needs to go the full circle of the joint. In some of the drawings of older structures you might see a filled in black circle which will indicate that this weld should be done in the field.
You will find that every weld type will be shown with a different symbol and usually it will be placed close to the center of where the reference line is located.
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