Entry into welding

Do not look into the light, otherwise you will be blind! Even children learn that welding releases great energies, from blinding light, impressive crackling and hissing to steam, scents and red-hot steel. Perhaps such childhood experiences are the reason why many makers remain in awe-inspiring fascination with the idea of ​​joining glowing metal together forever instead of simply daring to weld. The multi-sensory experience is great fun, endless possibilities – and is easier than ever.

From a few hundred euros, online shops offer devices and complete welding sets with which makers who previously only wielded the soldering iron can achieve absolutely respectable welding successes after a little practice. Thanks to the microprocessor control with IGBT transistors and China production, which is absolutely acceptable for do-it-yourselfers, today’s welding machines are more compact, lighter and easier to use than time-honored, ton-heavy transformer devices, which also usually require a three-phase connection.

Welding process

All three common welding processes involve fusing metals together using heat and adding an additive. First of all, the workpiece must be earthed at a bare point with an earth cable clamp. For the sake of good results, the contact point on the workpiece should be sanded bare. Thanks to modern inverters in welding machines, a welding current of up to 200 amperes is also possible at home sockets, which creates a short circuit, the so-called arc, between the earthed workpiece and the welding torch. So that nothing oxidizes in the process, every welding process is based on protecting the welding point from the inflow of oxygen from the ambient air, otherwise the seam looks like an Emmental cheese and does not last.