Different Types Of Welding Machines and What They Are Used For?

There will come a moment for every DIY enthusiast when considering purchasing a welding machine. Being an inexperienced and novice welder, you don’t always know what equipment elements to pay attention to. 

We come to the aid of these people and indicate the main elements that are important when choosing a welding machine. Here are different types of welding machines that you need to know!

Types of Welding Machines

There are various types of welding machines on the market for small workshops and home use. The basic division differentiates them according to the method of welding. So they will be TIG and MIG / MAG welders. Due to the mode of operation, we can distinguish transformer and inverter welders. 

TIG welding is too difficult for a novice user, and it is better to start your adventure with the MIG / MAG method. Similarly, a transformer welder requires experience and a certain degree of initiation. So if you are a person starting his adventure with welding, choose inverter equipment. 

Which welding machine you choose also depends on the material you have to weld. Although, for example, you can join them with both MIG / MAG and TIG methods by welding aluminum, the latter method will be more precise. 

1 – MIG Welding

The MIG welding machine is one of the most widely accepted welding machines. It is extremely efficient, but it also has its own characteristics.

It’s very common for welders to use the welding machine for different kinds of output – from cutting metal to welding subassemblies and frames. In the past, people used electric hand tools to perform a wide range of cutting tasks. Nowadays, electric tools are being gradually replaced by MIG (inert metal gas) welders and arc welders due to several reasons: 

1) The MIG welding machine offers a wide range of outputs that can produce in a short time. 

2) It also offers higher productivity than other techniques such as electric arc or oxy-acetylene torch and leads to shorter cycle times. 

2 – Stick Welding

A stick welding machine is a welder that has no shielding gas. It is powered by compressed air or pressurized oxygen gas, for example. In this weld, the current will only pass through the material, causing it to heat up rapidly and melt together at a different location. This creates high temperatures and great toughness on the weld surface. 

The radiation from the current through the material makes it possible for the welders to control in which directions they want to easily apply those heat beams without affecting each other.

3 – TIG Welding

TIG welding is a type of welding in which the molten metal is deposited by high-frequency currents applied to the electrode and heated by an electric arc.

Welders that use a TIG welding machine can get a mind-blowing effect on their work. This type of welding makes it easier for welds to be done with minimal effort – they are now able to reach higher temperatures, making them more efficient. This helps them reduce their time working on the job and get it done faster, resulting in a cheaper price tag.

4 – Electron Beam and Laser Welding

Electron beam and laser welding are two different types of welding machines. The difference between them is that the electron beam welding machine uses electricity to heat the metal to a moderate temperature, and then it is automatically cut by lasers.

If we take the example of making a car, when you buy a car, you will go for an automatic transmission as it is easier and more efficient than any manual transmission model that you have ever seen before.

This type of technology has been around for ages, but its use in vehicles was not widely popularized because it was perceived as dangerous. However, this perception started changing after new safety features were added to cars like carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) in the form of stronger frames and tires, etc. These technologies are now becoming more common due to their cost-effectiveness.

5 – Gas Welding

A gas welding machine is used to speed up the manufacturing process of an object.

There are a lot of brands in the market, such as Electro-steel, Welder, HVAR, etc. Since the 1980s, the welding industry has changed from manual welding to automation. These machines can use for different tasks such as cutting through pipes and cables, drilling holes and fitting pipes, etc.

Then came the gas welding machines, but these are used for one single purpose only – melting metal materials or welded steel structures. These machines can achieve this effect with air-powered gas or under pressure.

Welding Differences: TIG, Specifications, and Clarifications

Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding is part of one of the so-called electric arc welding systems in an inert atmosphere. It is a highly effective system, which must, however, be carried out by experienced personnel and which allows, if done properly, carrying out welding operations of extraordinary quality for almost all types of metals.

This technique is particularly suitable for elements with thin thicknesses. According to some interpretations, unlike other systems, it is a somewhat more expensive practice, but this is due to the machines used and the gasses used.

Yet, from this point of view, we need to remember once again, as if it were a sort of mantra, that this practice requires a marked and verifiable level of knowledge and professionalism and meticulous preparation of the joint to be welded. This is why it is always necessary to rely on expert hands.

MIG/MAG Wire Welding: What it is, How it is Done?

When we talk about wire welding ( MIG-MAG), we are talking about a welding realization, also called continuous wire, chosen for particular and specific operations. In detail, this welding is basic and required for parts and components that require a high-level mechanical seal and large amounts of metal use.

Also, in this case, we are talking about a technique that requires a joint with adequate preparation, even if it is also fine for operations that do not require detailed precision. And, in addition, compared to TIG operations, this instead boasts lower costs.

Projection Welding: Differences in Condensing Systems

Then we have the so-called spot welding, otherwise called more generally projection welding. Projection welding is a technique particularly used in processing some elements in detail, such as sheets and thin wires (nets, trolleys, handles), because it is possible to automate and is also a specific technical low cost and rather cheap.

Compared to this technique, however, condenser or capacitive discharge welding is a technique that allows you to have a high and specific level of welding ‘in your hands,’ usually chosen to bond a sheet metal to a stud) threaded structures, pins, pins, fasten).

This technique is chosen to carry out the welding of thin sheets, for which, among other things, the aesthetic aspect is of great importance, at least on a par with that of functionality.

Welding Method

Welding with the MIG / MAG method consists of an electric discharge in a gas (electric arc phenomenon) that gradually burns the wire that forms the weld. This happens in a gas shield. The MAG method is an active gas (e.g., carbon dioxide), and in the MIG method, it is inert (e.g., helium). However, the MIG method is dedicated to welding aluminum, copper, and non-ferrous metals. The MAG method is intended for welding steel.

A TIG welder similarly uses an electric arc, but welding uses a non-consumable electrode made of tungsten. The arc melts the welded material in the form of a metal rod. Such welding also occurs in a gas shield; gas is always an inert gas. Although it is a more difficult method, learning it allows you to weld very thin sheets, the welds are clean and accurate, and the TIG method is used for precision welding. 

But welding and brazing are different processes through which a lasting union can be achieved over time, obtaining the continuity of the connected materials, even if through different paths. Which?

In particular, to make a weld, a real localized fusion of the components of the pieces to be joined is carried out, by the experts. People working in the sector of this branch say and know very well whether or not filler materials are added.

We speak of brazing or, specifically, even more, of brazing than when the base material is not melted but just heated, and the process of joining the materials is carried out to melt only the filler material, which has a temperature of fusion reduced to that of the base material.

What can be Welded: Elements and Clarifications

As the specialists in the sector explain, in the current state of things, a material is considered potentially weldable when it lends itself to creating a structure in which continuity is ensured and has characteristics that fall within the required quality requirements.

There are several elements to consider when welding. This is because the welding process compares one or more types of materials, which must primarily meet two requirements: the base material, i.e., the material that represents the pieces to be welded, should be the same for both pieces (and in this case, we speak of homogeneous welding), or it can also be different (and in this situation precisely we speak of heterogeneous welding).

But the metallic materials that come more generally are steel, aluminum alloys, nickel alloys, and titanium alloys. The only polymeric materials that are welded, on the other hand, are thermoplastic ones.

Beware the filler material, which is placed between the edges to be joined and is inserted in the form of rods, threads, or ribbons. The filler materials are always particularly pure, so imperfections within the fused area of ​​a joint generally derive from the base material.

Parameters for Welding

When it is necessary to weld, it is then necessary to respect some constraints. Or rather, welding is based on the necessary compliance with some specific parameters for each type of process.

Generally speaking, there are, in principle, two main characteristic parameters: specific power, which indicates the thermal power supplied per unit of the surface of base material and is measured in W / cm2; welding speed, which indicates the speed of the heat source, measured in cm/min.

There are, it is good to say it and have it clear in mind, always risks and dangers as such in the very nature of this type of operation. Welding itself, working on certain types of materials, can produce unpleasant consequences if carried out by inexperienced personnel. This is why it must do with experts.

Which welding is strongest?

The strongest welding method is TIG welding, which produces cleaner and more precise welds than MIG welding or other Arc welding methods. However, different welding jobs may require different methods; even though TIG is generally more durable and high-quality, you should use MIG or another method if necessary.

What is the easiest welding?

It is often considered the simplest type of welding for a beginner to learn, MIG (inert metal gas) welding. MIG welders use a wire welding electrode on a spool that is fed through a welding gun at a predetermined speed.