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How do you choose the right process for your welding job?
The welding process explained
If you’re new to welding and don’t know where to start, Dynaweld, the Welding Supplies Experts, are here to help.
Welding can be a little confusing at first… it can feel a bit like a baptism of fire.
There are a number of different techniques and equipment to choose from. What you are welding will dictate the process that you will need to learn.
In these videos, Andrew Bosco from Dynaweld introduces five of the most common welding processes you’re likely to use.
MIG Welding
MIG welding is one of the simplest and most common types of welding.
MIG welding is especially great if you’re just starting out.
It is much like using a hot glue gun, making it one of the easiest welding processes to pick up.
MIG wire comes rolled on a spool and is loaded into an electric MIG welding machine, which goes through a hand-held MIG gun.
Pulling the trigger on this gun completes the circuit once you’ve got your earth lead attached. The MIG wire is fused into the metal, joining the two pieces that you are working on.
Watch our MIG welding video.
Arc or Stick Welding
Arc or stick welding is another way to join metal together, this time by using electrodes instead of wire.
Just like MIG welding, this is a simple technique and no gas is needed.
In this welding process, metals are welded using a consumable electrode rod and the heat generated by an electric arc.
A welding machine is used, the welder holds onto an electrode holder and the arc is struck on the two pieces of metal that you want to join together – much like a match lighting a sparkler at a party.
The electrodes burn away, and the melted metal joins the two pieces together. The flux inside keeps the air out of the weld so you don’t get any porosity or holes in the weld.
This process is great for tacking up a bracket.
Watch our arc stick welding video.
TIG Welding
TIG welding is a technique that needs a more professional hand than MIG or stick welding.
Basically, a TIG torch is used to create a molten pool of metal. TIG rods are used to feed the filler wire into the molten pool.
It can be used for jobs that need heat control – stainless steel exhausts, commercial kitchens – work that uses thin metals and needs more experience to control amperage.
This technique is great for thin plates you don’t want to burn holes in …you can control the amperage.
Watch our TIG welding video.
Plasma Cutting
Sometimes you need to cut metal, rather than weld it together.
Plasma cutting is a high speed/low cost cutting method…point and shoot.
It is replacing oxy acetylene cutting because it is much cheaper to run the plasma cutting machine.
This process cuts through electromagnetic materials with an accelerated jet of hot plasma. Using an electric machine, compressed air is pushed through a plasma torch, joining with an electric arc and creating a plasma arc. It can slice through sheet metal like butter. It’s really impressive to see how a 240-volt machine can cut metal up to 18 millimetres thick.
Plasma cutters are handy to have in your shed or workshop. They can be used for a lot of different applications, such as thin sheet metal or even 8, 10 and 12mm plate.
Very simple. You just grab it, plug it in and go.
Watch our plasma cutting video.
Oxy/Acetylene Process
With this technique, the cutting torch creates a molten pool and the metal melts.
This is similar to the TIG process – which uses a molten pool to JOIN metal – but with oxy acetylene, you are instead creating a molten pool so you can CUT through metal.
A jet of pure oxygen is directed onto the preheated area to form iron oxide or slag. The oxygen blows away the slag, enabling the jet to cut through the material.
Expert advice goes a long way
Experts at Dynaweld can take you through the specific wires and welding guns that you need to use. We can explain electrodes, gases and arcs. We can talk metals.
And safety too….
…to make that baptism of fire a more empowered and enjoyable experience.
Contact us to find out more.
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