How welding actually works: MIG, TIG and stick compared, plus rods, shielding gases, AC versus DC, and what each choice changes at the joint.
8 articles
The two ways to weld underwater, compared: wet welding straight into the sea, and dry hyperbaric welding inside a pressurised habitat — how each works, how deep each reaches, and why one produces a far stronger joint.
Read guideWelding gases do two different jobs: some shield the puddle from the air, others burn to make the heat. Which gas belongs to which job, which one to buy for your process, and the cylinder rules that are regulations rather than advice.
Read guideThere are dozens of types of welding processes, but four cover almost all of the work: stick, MIG, TIG and flux-cored. All four strike an electric arc and melt the parent metal. What separates them is how the weld is shielded from the air, and that one difference decides which you can use outdoors, on aluminium, or on rust.
Read guideThe difference between MIG and TIG welding is who feeds the filler. MIG drives a consumable wire through the torch automatically, so one hand welds and the machine keeps up. TIG holds a tungsten electrode that is never consumed, and your other hand feeds a rod into the puddle. That one difference produces every other difference between them.
Read guideWelding is a process that involves joining two pieces of metal or plastic, and this is done by melting the pieces of metal. The heat produced provides a strong joint between the two joined pieces of metal or plastic. Two popular types of current are used in the welding process. These are Alternating current (AC) and
Read guideOne line separates all three. Welding melts the parent metal; brazing and soldering melt only the filler and leave the parent metal solid. Brazing and soldering are then separated from each other by temperature alone: TWI put the line at 450 degrees C. Above it is brazing, below it is soldering.
Read guideWelding rod means three different things, and confusing them is the most common mistake a beginner makes. A stick electrode is consumable, flux-coated and carries the current. A TIG filler rod is bare, carries no current and is not an electrode at all. A tungsten electrode carries the current and never melts. Only the first has the famous four-digit number.
Read guideWelding melts the two pieces of metal themselves, so that when the molten metal freezes it is one continuous piece rather than two parts stuck together. What that means in practice, and why welds often fail beside the weld rather than in it.
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