Welding
Requirements
Revised January 2019
Requirements for the Welding merit badge:
- Do the following:
- Explain to your counselor the hazards you are most likely to
encounter while welding, and what you should do to anticipate, help
prevent, mitigate, or lessen these hazards.
- Show that you know first aid for, and the prevention of, injuries or
illnesses that could occur while welding, including electrical shock,
eye injuries, burns, fume inhalation, dizziness, skin irritation, and
exposure to hazardous chemicals, including filler metals and welding
gases.
- Do the following:
- With your counselor, discuss general safety precautions and Safety Data
Sheets related to welding. Explain the importance of the SDS.
- Describe the appropriate safety gear and clothing that must be worn when
welding. Then, present yourself properly dressed for welding in protective
equipment, clothing, and footwear.
- Explain and demonstrate the proper care and storage of welding equipment,
tools, and protective clothing and footwear.
- Explain the terms welding, electrode, slag, and oxidation. Describe the
welding process, how heat is generated, what kind of filler metal is added
(if any), and what protects the molten metal from the atmosphere.
- Name the different mechanical and thermal cutting methods. Choose one
method and describe how to use the process. Discuss one advantage and one
limitation of this process.
- Do the following:
- Select two welding processes, and make a list of the different
components of the equipment required for each process. Discuss one
advantage and one limitation for each process.
- Choose one welding process. Set up the process you have chosen,
including gas regulators, work clamps, cables, filler materials, and
equipment settings. Have your counselor inspect and approve the area for
the welding process you have chosen.
- After successfully completing requirements 1 through 5, use the
equipment you prepared for the welding process in 5b to do the following:
- Using a metal scribe or soapstone, sketch your initial onto a metal
plate, and weld a bead on the plate following the pattern of your
initial.
- Cover a small plate (approximately 3" x 3" x 1/4") with weld beads
side by side.
- Tack two plates together in a square groove butt joint.
- Weld the two plates together from 6c on both sides.
- Tack two plates together in a T joint, have your counselor inspect
it, then weld a T joint with fillet weld on both sides.
- Tack two plates together in a lap joint, have your counselor inspect
it, then weld a lap joint with fillet weld on both sides.
- Do the following:
- Find out about three career opportunities in the welding industry.
Pick one and find out the education, training, and experience required
for this profession. Discuss this with your counselor, and explain why
the profession might interest you.
- Discuss the role of the American Welding Society in the welding
profession.
Resources:
Scouting.org Merit Badges - Requirements
boyscouttrail.com Merit Badges
usscouts.org Worksheets
Troop 109 Merit Badge Library
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ft2YzKpD0g