The 3 basic Welding methods
There are three basic welding methods: manual, semiautomatic, and automatic. Manual welding is the oldest method, and though its proportion of the total welding market diminishes yearly, it is still the most common. Here an operator takes an electrode, clamped in a hand-held electrode holder, and manually guides the electrode along the joint as the weld is made. Usually the electrode is consumable; as the tip is consumed, the operator manually adjusts the position of the electrode to maintain a constant arc length.Semiautomatic welding is becoming the most popular welding method. The electrode is usually a long length of small-diameter bare wire, usually in coil form, which the welding operator manually positions and advances along the weld joint. The consumable electrode is normally motor-driven at a pre selected speed through the nozzle of a hand-held welding gun or torch.Automatic welding is very similar to semiautomatic welding, except that the electrode is automatically positioned and advanced along the prescribed weld joint. Either the work may advance below the welding head or the mechanized head may move along the weld joint.There are, in addition to the three basic welding methods, many welding processes which may be common to one or more of these methods.