Learning how to weld can be a long process – sometimes taking an entire life to master, but by understanding the basics you will be able to understand the different aspects of welding, how they all work together, and how you can use this knowledge to become a more proficient welder.  This introduction to welding will cover all of the basics about how to weld including what is welding, a brief history of welding and the prominent different types of welding.

An Introduction To Welding

Welding is the process of joining two or more different work pieces, most often pieces of metal, together to form one solid, sturdy product.  With modern advances in synthetic materials, welding is possible with materials other than metal, but this introduction to welding will focus on the welding of metal.

The most common types of metal that you will encounter while you learn how to weld are going to be steel and aluminum, depending on what type of welding and project your pursue.

Welding works by joining multiple work pieces together at their seams (edges) through a process of heating filler metal to a molten state, connecting the pieces, and then allowing the molten “joints” to cool and harden.

While in theory this sounds very simple, there is a lot that you need to learn about what types of filler metals to use, the gases you use and how they react with different types of metals, the size of welding flame you need, how to properly hold the welding torch for your specific project, welding techniques to use to create a sturdy joint and countless other specifics.

Learning how to weld is a complicated process that without proper instruction can be difficult to master.

CLICK HERE for over 1100 pages, charts and diagrams that explain everything you need to know about how to weld.

A Brief History Of Welding

Welding has its roots thousands of years in the past, dating back as far as the bronze and iron ages.  Primitive craftsmen first used molten metal to join larger pieces to use in weapons, armor and construction.  This early welding is nothing like the scientific and advanced practices that we have now, but its importance is still very significant.

In the 1800’s electric arcs were discovered, the first major breakthrough in welding as we know it today.

Over the next 100 years, metalworkers developed ways how to weld that harness electric arcs into a constant, steady source of energy to bind metal together.  In the early 1900’s, major advances such as using shield gases and automatic electrode feeding were seen which set the stage for modern welding.

The welding community is continuously striving to make welding more efficient, safer and simpler for the average welder.

Types Of Welding Used Today

The two most common types of welding in practice today are gas welding and arc welding.  Although advances in how to weld have moved the industry further toward arc welding, gas welding is still a process that maintains a lot of use due to the ease of using it for small welds and repairs.  This introduction to welding will provide insight into both processes.

In application, the type of gas welding generally used is generally oxyacetylene welding.  This basic type of welding uses acetylene gas which combusts in pure oxygen in order to make a focused flame which heats to around 3100 °C in order to join the work pieces together.  Because of the simplicity of this type of welding, its uses are limited due to the relatively crude outcome.

While not applicable for large or commercial products, gas welding is an easy, affordable way for a beginning learning how to weld to become familiar with different types of welding techniques.

CLICK HERE for over 1100 pages, charts and diagrams that explain everything you need to know about how to weld.

More common in practice today, arc welding is generally used by all serious welders, both as hobbyists and in commercial settings.   The three prominent types of arc welding are stick welding (sometimes called shielded metal arc welding [SMAW] or manual metal arc welding [MMA]),  metal inert gas (MIG) welding (sometimes called gas metal arc welding or GMAW) and tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding which is sometimes referred to as gas tungsten arc welding (or GTAW).

If you’re just learning how to weld, it is crucial that you become familiar with arc welding.

Stick welding is the simplest type of arc welding as it simply uses an electrode to create an electric arc between the welding rod and the pieces being welded.  This electrode acts as the filler material and creates an easy way for beginners to get familiar with arc welding.

This type of arc welding is appropriate for smaller projects where the strength of the weld is not too important, such as in decorative welding.  For the beginning, learning how to weld with arc welding, stick welding provides the easiest and most affordable way to get started

MIG welding uses a continuously fed wire electrode to create a non-stop welding pool that allows for quicker and more efficient welding.  MIG welding also uses an intern gas mixture in order to shield the weld from contaminants that would otherwise get into the welding pool and take away strength from the weld.

This type of welding is much stronger and quicker than stick welding but requires more time and resources that many people learning how to weld are not ready to put in initially.

CLICK HERE for over 1100 pages, charts and diagrams that explain everything you need to know about how to weld.

TIG welding is similar in principle to MIG welding, but instead of using a continuously fed electrode, it uses non-combustible tungsten electrodes in order to create a constant source of heat while using separate filler material to join the work pieces.  Which more complicated and requiring more expertise, this allows TIG welding to be used for applications that require the utmost strength and stability from the weld.

TIG welding may be an advanced topic for an introduction to welding, but it is still a very important one.  Once you have a solid grasp of how to weld and practice in the field, you’ll want to focus on learning how to TIG weld – especially if you plan to pursue welding as a career rather than a hobby.

This short introduction to welding should have provided you with the basics about the different types of welding that you’ll need in order to learn more specifics about welding processes and techniques that you’ll need in your journey to learn how to weld like a professional.