At a very early age of my life, I was introduced to a metal welder by my parents. At the age of five, I would visit my father at the auto body shop that he worked for. As i would cruise around the shop, I would notice the tiny blue sparks that quickly turned yellow before it disappeared mid air. I was taught to never look at the “blue sparks”. The purpose of a welder is to be able to join two metal pieces, turning into one piece. There are different kinds of welders for different kind of metals, such as iron, aluminum, steel. These are the three welders we have at the body shop that my father and I currently work for. When welding, you must figure out the size of welding sticks you need in order to get the job done. It all depends on the position of the job and the weight of the metals. Numbers on rods will look like “6011”.
“This one is a 6011. The 6-0 means 60,000 pounds worth of tensile strength. So, 60,000 pounds before that weld breaks. The 1, the first 1, means it’s good for all positions: flat, vertical, overhead. If it was a 2, a 6021, that would mean it’s good for flat or horizontal. If it was a 3, that would mean it was only good for flat welding”.
What happens is the welding rod serves as a bridge where energy is transferred through it and converted into high temperature heat where it will then melt the two metal pieces and rapidly become solid becoming one metal piece. In order to weld, you must use a one or two welding electrode clamps that will serve as a ground so that the electricity can transfer causing the rod to melt and bond the metal pieces. The molecules within the metal begin to heat and move a lot faster causing the metal to melt. As you continue to weld the two pieces of metal, you will see that the previous welds have become solid because the molecules have cooled down.
References :
http://www.kevincaron.com/video_detail.php?id=164
http://www.thefabricator.com/article/metalsmaterials/metallurgy-matters-the-science-of-welding-metallurgy
http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5036385_welding-machines-work.html