There are a lot of people who are aware that welding is one of the processes that metals need to undergo to ensure that they will stick together. Some may think that welding involves certain heating metals and making sure that they will be connected, but actually, there are different welding techniques available depending on the metals that need to be fused.
Why Do You Need to Use the Right Welding Technique?
Using the right welding technique will ensure that the metals will be able to hold together, even under stress. For example, metal bed frames would need to be appropriately fused; otherwise, the bed may suddenly collapse while someone is lying on the bed. This can make people more prone to accidents. When people use the wrong welding technique, these things may occur:
- The bonds of the metals will be weaker.
- The weld joint may start to corrode earlier than expected.
- The weld may not be completed successfully, which means that the metals will not be appropriately fused.
Most Common Welding Techniques
If you would ask people who have been welding for a long time if some welding techniques are more popular than others, they would probably say that these two are MIG or metal inert gas welding and TIG, which stands for tungsten inert gas welding. What is TIG and MIG welding used for? These techniques are used to weld different metals together successfully. These two welding techniques may have some similarities, but their differences will help you choose which one is better.
People usually interchange the two because of their similarities. These techniques will require the use of heat so that objects can be connected. They also use inert gas mixtures to ensure that the weld joints will not destroy for a long time.
Material Thickness
Are you going to use MIG or TIG welding? You can answer this question after you have determined how thick the materials are of the items that you are going to weld together. MIG welding is considered to be better because of the filler amount that it will use to make welds. If you want to make heavy−duty welds, you are better off using MIG. TIG welding will require the use of thinner metals. If you need to weld lighter portions of metal, you can use TIG.
For example, for MIG vs. TIG welding aluminum, it is obvious that TIG is the better option because aluminum is a type of thin metal that would need to be welded precisely and adequately so that it can be used.
Ease of Use
One of the things that people want to know is how easy to control MIG and TIG are. MIG is generally recommended if you would like something more comfortable to use. If in case you make mistakes, it will not be too apparent as compared to when you are using TIG. If you do need not to make any mistakes and you want to use something more precise, TIG can be the better option.
You need to have strict control and proper timing when you use TIG, but most people who have already used this say that this is worth it. To use TIG properly, you need to have a CNC or Computer Numerically−Controlled Welding Machine. This can make welds more identical as compared to how manual welders will use the TIG.
Which is Better?
You have learned some details on which one you should use depending on the materials that you are welding. There are also some details that you have learned about how easy they are to use but, which one is better out of the two? It should be remembered that the answer will depend on the items that you are welding together. If you know that you are going to weld heavy−duty metals, MIG will be the better option because this will allow thicker metals to have a stronger hold. The filler material that MIG uses will enable metals to be joined better.
TIG can be used better when you want to connect smaller pieces of metal. For example, you would need to connect two small items. You need more precision to ensure that they will be welded together. This means that the TIG can be the better option for this. TIG will make sure that two pieces of metal will be joined together without any filler materials. This can make welding look clean and polished, while MIG will typically not even show if there are some mistakes with the solder.
TIG welding is considered to be more low maintenance as compared to MIG welding. This is because of the welding electrode of TIG welding that is not always exposed whenever it is used. To properly maintain the welding electrode, it should be thoroughly cleaned and polished. It would require special cleaning when used to fuse stainless steel.
Those who would like to do some welding tasks should have the needed tools on−hand to do the proper welding techniques depending on the project that needs to be done.
Other Considerations
You may think that choosing the right welding technique will be easy until such time when you will realize that there are still other factors that you ought to consider so that you can make the best choice. These are other things to think about:
- Check out the electrical conductivity of the two items that you want to fuse. If you are going to weld electrically−resistant metal, TIG may be the better option to use. If you need more heat to fuse items, MIG is better.
- When welding dissimilar items, you need to use filler materials, which means that MIG will be the better option.
- The surface condition of the metals will matter. The smoother the surface condition, the more that you need to be precise when welding. TIG can be the better option for smooth and even metal surfaces.
Are you ready to start using TIG or MIG welding techniques depending on the metals that you are welding?