Welding is used in sheet metal fabrication, steel fabrication, and sheet metal fabrication. If you ever want to work as a metal fabricator or boilermaker, you must be able to weld. You can still benefit from the below information even if you aren't planning on becoming a metal fabricator. Hope you find this useful.
There are many different forms of welding, but there are four primary ones. TIG: Gas Tungsten Arc Welding, MIG: Gas Metal Arc Welding MIG: Gas Metal Arc Welding MIG: Gas Metal Arc Welding MIG: Gas Metal Arc Welding Stick: Shielded Metal Arc Welding, and Flux-cored: Flux-cored Arc Welding. I’ll tell you about those ones, and a bit more.
MIG Welding
One of the simple types of welding for beginners to master is MIG welding. There are 2 different parts of welding in MIG. The first use bare wire and the second, flux core.
Bare wire MIG welding is used to stick-thin pieces of metal together. Flux core MIG welding does not require a flow meter or gas supply, it can be used outdoors. Usually, MIG welding is the welding of choice for hobby welders and DIY enthusiasts who don’t have the money to spend on pricey material. This type of welding is more used in sheet metal fabrication.
TIG Welding
TIG welding is extremely adjustable. Lincoln Electric TIG welders are professional individuals, considering that TIG is one of the more difficult welding techniques to learn.
For TIG welding, 2 hands are needed - one hand to feed the rod whilst the other holds a TIG torch. The heat this torch creates is used to weld most standard metals - aluminium, steel, nickel alloys, copper alloys, cobalt, titanium, etc.
Steel, stainless steel, Chromoly, aluminium, nickel alloys, magnesium, copper, brass, bronze, and even gold can be welded by TIG welders. Bike frames, lawnmowers, door handles, fenders, and more are mainly welded with TIG. TIG welding is best used for steel.
Arc Welding
The weld doing it the old fashioned way is Arc welding, a.k.a, Stick welding. MIG welding is easier to learn and understand than Arc welding. Arc welding is the easiest and widely used welding knack in metal fabrication.
Flux-Cored Welding
Flux-cored arc welding is a semi-automatic or automatic arc welding process. The process is widely used in construction because of its high welding quickness and portability.
Plasma Arc Welding
Plasma arc welding is very related in technique to TIG welding, but the electrode is recessed and the ionizing gases inside the arc are used to generate heat. Plasma arc welding is commonly used in scenarios where metal thickness is 0.015 of an inch. An example of something like that would be an engine blade or an air seal.
Electron Beam and Laser Welding
Electron beam and laser welding are extremely accurate, high energy welding techniques. They are also flexible, powerful, automatable processes. Electron beams and lasers can be focused and aimed with the exceptional perfection needed to weld the tiniest of medical devices, and yet also deliver the humongous portions of power necessary to weld large spacecraft parts.
Gas Welding
These days, gas welding is not as known as other techniques. However, it has been replaced with TIG. Oxygen and acetylene are mandatory in gas welding kits. Gas welding kits are very transportable.
MIG, TIG, Stick, and Flux-cored welding are the most popular welding types, as I said at the start. The way they differ is that MIG welding is clean and easy and can be used on thin or thick metals. Close to MIG, flux-cored arc welding is a wire-feed process but the difference is that self-shielded FCAW does not need shielding gas. Instead, flux-cored wire shields the arc from contamination. MIG is the most flexible and the easiest one to learn; Stick and Arc generate the strongest welds and can operate under less than sensible states; TIG is the most beautifully pleasing.
Aston Precision Metal Fabricators based in Dandenong, Melbourne, Australia are pioneers in 3D Cad Designing and Drafting and turning your concept into reality with the use of different types of welding techniques. They are flexible with their lead time and cost-effective with their pricing. Contact today.
03 8595 6706