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Things to Know About Home Workshop Welders

Welders serve many very useful purposes and if you are shopping around and looking at welders with an eye toward buying one for your home workshop, it might help to acquire a little basic information.

Having at least a working knowledge about a product will always help you make a more informed buying decision. After all, who has money to waste on buying the wrong thing?

What is Welding?

Basically, welding is a method of melting and fusing two sections of metal together by using an electric arc or, in some cases, a gas flame. Simultaneously, a wire rod is melted into the joined metal sections that makes for additional strength. The metal must be shielded from oxidation in the process, so a flux coating is added to the metal rod. Alternatively, a gas may be expelled from the welding tip.

Type of Welders

Generally speaking, there are three basic types of welders found in a home workshop:

1. Arc or Stick Welders---Arc or stick welders use a consumable rod that is usually around 12 inches in length with a flux coating. This rod is clamped into an electrode holder, and then a ground is clamped to the metal. When the rod comes into contact with the metal, it forms an arc. The arc is created when you strike the rod against the metal. It takes a fair amount of practice to master the art of arc welding. For instance, you need to know what heat setting to use according to the thickness of the metal in order to make a good, strong weld. There are both 110 volt and 220 volt welders. Most arc welders use 220 volts.
2. Wire Feed Welders---In the not too distant past, wire feed welders were uncommon in home workshops. Nowadays, though, thanks to the availability of smaller, economically priced welders, more and more DIYers and those with home workshop projects are using wire feed welders. This type of welder works by feeding a continuous wire from a spool. This wire might be flux coated or a bottle of gas may be connected to the welder. In this case, an uncoated wire is used. Most people find the wire feed welders more user friendly than the arc welders and as an added bonus, you can become fairly adept at it within 2-3 hours of use. This type also offers more flexibility as you can weld various types of metal just by changing the type of wire you're using. Yet another huge advantage of wire welders is that your workspace doesn't fill up with smoke and fumes as it will with arc welders. Last but not least, most of these welders use 110 volts, so they are more portable than arc welders.
3. Oxy-Acetylene Welders---These are usually called cutting torches. But, they are actually a dual purpose unit that can be used for both welding and cutting. With use of the right tips, rods and fluxes; you can weld, heat or cut almost any type of metal. When welding with this method, the flame is applied to the base metal and held there until a small puddle of molten metal forms. Then, the puddle is moved along the path where the weld bead is desired, adding more metal to the puddle as it is moved along by dripping metal from a wire rod.

Any of these welders can be successfully used in a home workshop. Before you buy, think about the types of projects that require welding because this will help determine which type of welder is best suited to your needs.

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