7 Causes of Spatter and How to Eliminate It

Mig welding is characterized by sparks and spatter flying all over the place. It looks great on movies, but when we are doing the welding we realize spatter is a bad thing. It creates more work by increasing clean up time, it wastes material, and it can burn you if you are not wearing the […]

Deposition Rates for Stick Electrodes

Although most people may believe that stick welding is antiquated and a bone-headed choice for a welding process, this is simply not true. It is true that in production welding, especially in a controlled environment like a fabrication shop, the use of stick welding is typically a big mistake due to its low efficiency, extremely […]

Guidelines For A Proper TIG Setup

Tig welding can produce beautiful looking welds, and more importantly, x-ray quality deposits on some of the most critical welding applications. For the beginner it may be a very intimidating process. Selecting the right tungsten (type and size), cup size, and shielding gas and gas flow can be a daunting task. Below is a quick […]

Tips for Vertical Up Stick Welding Using E6010 & E6011

Stick welding can be a challenge for novice welders because of the constant need for adjustment caused by the  shortening of the electrode as it is consumed.  Go out of position and all hell may break loose.  For those of us that are experienced welders a 3F or 3G vertical up with SMAW can still […]

Advantages and Limitations of GMAW

The GMAW process is a commonly used arc welding process. As all other processes, it has its advantages and limitations. The gas metal arc welding process, most commonly known as MIG, is one of the most used joining processes in the world today. The process had its beginnings over 60 years ago, but it is […]

Benefits of Pulse Welding

We are frequently asked if there are any real benefits of using pulse over CV in the MIG process.  The short answer is “absolutely.” But before we can answer we need to ask: “what is the application?”  To really appreciate the benefits of pulsed GMAW compared to traditional CV (short arc or globular) it is […]

4043 v 5356 Aluminum Filler

Should I use 4043 or 5356 aluminum wire for my application? This is a very commonly asked question.   The application of these two aluminum alloys has such a big overlap that a lot of times it simply comes down to welder preference, cost or availability. When determining which filler alloy to use the most important […]