** Tip: Grooving flash coving is easier if you lightly pre-heat the flooring material with your heat welding gun. **
Assuming that you have already laid the sheet vinyl with a narrow gap in the seam - approximately 1/64th of an inch - it's time to groove out the seam. We recommend using the Turbo Cove Groover. The Cove Groover is designed with a front guiding fin that that will help keep the groover in place even when there is low visibility. The Turbo Cove Groover really stands out when you are grooving under toe kicks and cabinets by guiding you through the seam when it can't be seen.What's next...
Sign up with the Turbo Newsletter and be the first to learn about the heat welding solutions we perfect here at the Turbo headquarters. Fill out the form below and sign up now!
]]>---
Conclusion We hope this guide helps you out. Transitioning from Vinyl to Linoleum/Marmoleum can be tricky if you're unprepared. With the right tools and the right mindset - we're confident that you'll get the job done with no problems. As always if you have any questions, feel free to send us an email at info@turboheatweldingtools.com or post on our Facebook page. Thanks for reading.
**Interested in the Turbo Marmo Groover? As a reward for reading all the way through this article, we're giving you a coupon for $100 off the Turbo Marmo Groover Set or Turbo Marmo Kit, for a limited time only and while supplies last. Simply enter the Coupon Code weldlino2015 at check out. Click here to purchase either the Turbo Marmo Groover Set or Turbo Marmo Kit with ease.
]]>We are all certainly grateful for the advancements the electric groover has brought us as installers but it was only the beginning. After years of research and development - push groovers such as the Master Turbo Groover and the Marmo Groovers have picked up where the electric groover left off in terms of design. How have they done this?
Ease of use
With great power comes a need for great precision. While the electric groover forces you to be extra careful to prevent a disaster on the job. Turbo's Master Turbo Groover and Marmo Groovers are far more forgiving and easier to use. As seen in the video, lay the tool flat on the ground, adjust the blade to the depth you need, and simply push. As long as the tool is flat, you can groove as fast as you can crawl. No worries about going too fast or jumping off the seam or going too slow. Go at your speed and the tool will do the rest and groove at the best angel every time.
Shapes and designs
The electric groover can only groove in straight lines. This forces the installer to use a hand groover whenever they're tasked with shapes or designs in a project. But why invest so much money in a groover if you can't use it for such a crucial task? Turbo Groovers can groove shapes, serpentine, designs, etc. with ease. The video above has a couple of examples.No electricity
No electricity means no long electrical cord taking up space while you're working. You don't have to worry about where to plug the groover in or whether there's a power source near you. It also means that you're not using an overwhelming amount of power towards grooving. Turbo strongly believes that using that much power to cut a seam is unnecessary when the groover is designed properly.Light weight
You can see the difference in the video. The Master Turbo Groover easily fits in any tool box and you can carry it around in your tool pouch for ease of use. Hard to say the same for the Electric Groover.Wall to wall
The ability to groove wall to wall without any extra tools is a huge difference. The electric groover forces you to finish the grooves near walls with a hand groover. The Turbo Groovers can groove from wall to wall with absolutely no problems. It's specifically built to avoid having to use another tool to finish the grooving process.Warranty
Finally, all of the Turbo tools have a Lifetime Warranty which insures that you won't have to make yearly investments on the same tool. This is the only warranty of its kind in the industry. We're that confident in our tools and our mission. We hope this article was informative on what sort of differences you can expect to see from an electric groover and a Master Turbo Groover. We know that this decision can be tough. Whether you're purchasing for the first time or wondering whether to upgrade or not, it's important to have as much information as possible. If you feel we missed anything or have any more questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. Send us an email at info@turboheatweldingtools.com and we'll be sure to respond ASAP. ]]>But before getting to that, I want to talk about how extensive the set-up process was. We had a 10x30 booth this year and it required a ton of hard work to put together. 5 tables, almost all of our Turbo tools, 9 Turbo banners, a bunch of sample sheet floors, our laptop, our camera, etc. etc. All of that needed to be carried from the van and put together to make a good-looking booth.
Fortunately, I think we succeeded! [caption id="attachment_1742" align="aligncenter" width="614"] After hours of work, this is what our booth looked like at Surfaces.[/caption]After the set up, the fun part began. We had the chance to meet so many awesome people and demonstrate our tools. It was a really cool experience. Having the chance to talk to people from all sectors of the flooring industry was such a learning experience. Basically, people would come to our booth and we’d chat about what kind of work they were into. If they worked with sheet flooring and welding, we’d take them step by step through the entire process. Grooving, welding, and skiving and all of our tools associated with each process.
[caption id="attachment_1743" align="aligncenter" width="614"] This is a nice visual that shows what our set up looked like. Leo is demonstrating the Chiquita here.[/caption] Each section of our booth had different demonstrations going on so we could talk to as many people as possible.1. Our first table showed off our Detail Nozzle and how it worked when welding corners, toe kicks, flash coving.
2. Our second table showed off our Turbo Master Groover and our Marmo Groovers. We would change our sample sheet floor depending on what the installer wanted to see or we would show them both.
3. Right next to that, we demonstrated how our Groovers can groove circles and designs with ease and the possible real world uses of the product.
[caption id="attachment_1766" align="aligncenter" width="614"] Luis demonstrating how to groove designs and circles using our Turbo Groover.[/caption]4. In the middle, we had our fully automated welding machine, The Chiquita being demonstrated by Leo Martinez. More on this later.
5. We had a section set up that allowed people to give us their business cards and/or sign up for our mailing list.The highlight of our Surfaces adventure was definitely showing off our new product, the Chiquita, and talking to people about it. I won’t get into the specifics - you can check out our video and product page for that but it’s an awesome machine. It’s the type of technology that would attract people from different sections of the flooring industry - even if welding wasn’t their interest or expertise - they would stop and watch the demo. The response was overwhelmingly positive.
The people are always what make this event fun. We were so eager to show off our new product and the whole team was pleased at how people reacted. Surfaces 2014 was great and all I can say is - I can’t wait for Surfaces 2015! [caption id="attachment_1745" align="aligncenter" width="614"] Luis demonstrating for the guys at Home Owners Design. Great group.[/caption] ]]>In today’s post, we’re going to focus on how to become a professional and the very beginnings of the welding process.
Heat welding, like most trades, is perfected over time with experience and practice. A great way to get into the trade is to go through an apprenticeship program in a union or flooring associating. Most of the programs take around 4 years and work by teaching you everything you need to know and setting you up as an apprentice for the last year.
Unions to check out:
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades United Brotherhood of Carpenters Armstrong Training Forbo Tri-West TarkettIf you’re interested in learning more about each program, feel free to check out the websites and read more information on their training programs.
As for the actual welding process, there are essentially three parts to floor heat welding after laying the sheet flooring down. Today, we’re going into detail on the first part only.
1. Cutting the groove into the seam you are going to weld.
2. Welding the groove, dependent on the material
3. Skiving the welding rod
1. Cutting the groove into the seam you are going to weld.
Keeping in mind the angle of the blade when you cut the groove
Your blade should be 45 degrees when cutting to make sure you are grooving uniformly and at the right depth. The depth of the groove that you are cutting
The groove should be two thirds the depth of the material. You should not be cutting all the way through to the ground because your weld will not hold very well and your blades will dull.
If you are grooving organic materials with a jute backing (linoleum, marmoleum) you should be grooving all the way to the jute backing to ensure that the weld has something to hold on to (pictured below.)
The straightness of the groove when you cut
You should groove as straight as possible. This ensures that when you groove you are grooving over the seam and you won't have to come back and do a repair job. To ensure an absolute straight groove use either the Master Turbo Groover or the Marmo Turbo Groover with groove guiding wheels.
That’s all for Part 1 of Turbo’s “How To Weld For Beginners” Guide. In the coming days, we’re going to post details about the rest of the heat welding process and conclude our series. If you have any questions or details you would like us to include, be sure to email us at info@turboheatweldingtools.com and we will do everything in our power to add it to the guide. Of course, you can just comment below as well, we'll be sure to respond as best as we can. Until next time guys!
]]>