You may have seen someone joining two pieces of metals or working in sparks and have called him a welder but this is not the whole story. According to myweldingyard.com A welding job requires much more than just joining two metal pieces or playing around in sparks. According US department of labors, welding is one of the most difficult and hard-to-learn job. An average welder can earn $45000 annually and demand of welding labors are about to increase 20% by the end of 2020. So, you may have now perceived the importance of a welder.
But being a welder is not an easy job. A welder has to work with so much sparks and wear safety jackets and heavy helmets even in hot summer days. To being a skillful welder, needs you to master a lot of techniques like welding, grinding and cutting. Welding alone is divided into a number of types like TIG welding, MIG welding and STICK welding. In this article, I will discuss the basic of these types so that you gain knowledge of different sort of welding procedures.
TIG Welding
TIG stands for Tungsten Inert Gas welding. This is the most widely used technique to weld and difficult to learn. This technique does not use any filler metal but only electrode that is made of tungsten (non-consumable). The torch is used to create heat and arc that attach two metals strongly.
This technique can deliver strong welds on almost all kind of metals like aluminum, steel, nickel alloy and copper alloys. A gas tank is necessary to use with TIG welding that provide constant flow of gas needed to protect the weld from impurities and contamination. This also implies that this technique is needed to be used indoor.
TIG welding needs the welder to use both of his hands and require some time to master. A decent tig welder can help you in car restoration and all the home applications. This welding method deliver the most precise welds and can be used where visual appealing is required along with strong welds. Thus, it is a technique that is reserved for professional and skilled welders.
MIG Welding
It’s a type of GMAW (Gas Metal Arc Welding) which is a process that uses continuous metal wire that travels through the welding gun. This process is relatively easier and faster as compared to TIG welding, involving a filler metal being fed through the torch while the gas is expelled around it to shield it outside the metal.
Unlike TIG welding, a special type of MIG welding technique enables the welder to work outside it is known as Flux cored welding. Flux cored welding does not use a gas supply or flow meter as it uses heat generated by electric arc or fused based metal in the weld joint area. MIG welding is usually finer than the TIG welding as it uses a wire that is continuously fed through the torch and its feed speed can be controlled. Does the MIG welding produces a smooth and tight weld that is visually appealing.
STICK Welding
STICK welding is a form of arc welding that is old fashioned. This is a form of SMAW (Shielded Metal Arc Welding) that uses a consumable electrode covered with a flux to lay the weld. This technique uses an arc that connects from the end of the stick to the base metals. This technique creates stronger welds than MIG welding technique but as it creates spatters so the welded joints are not neater.
Most important advantage of using STICK welding technique is that is does not uses any gas so you can use it on site. It also works well on rusted, painted, and dirty surfaces, making it great for equipment repairs. So, it is used frequently by professionals and those who have to deal with versatile metals and different kind of jobs. STICK welding needs to be learnt properly before implementing it on the metals. This technique is usually common in shop owners or welding of automobiles.
Electron Beam and Laser welding
These two techniques are used for most precise welds. Electron Beam welding utilize a stream of high velocity electrons that have high kinetic energies thus elevated temperatures. This technique is generally performed by machines under highly specified conditions usually in vacuum.
Laser welding is used generally to weld thermoplastics. This method uses a highly focused laser beam to create intensive heat which can deliver highly precise welds. Like Electron Beam welding, this technique is also utilized in industry under supervisions. These techniques are used in robotics industry or in manufacturing some parts of automobiles.
Conclusion
In this article we have discussed different forms of welding that are used nowadays by welders all around the world. This will help all those who are interested in welding to gain more information. Some technique requires high skills and supervised environment to be done while other can be used by hobbyist or other shop owners. If you are going to start a career in welding than this article is very useful for you.
