Heat sinks for welding: keep your cool
July 10, 2017
“I can’t possibly assemble this product with a weld. It’s too sensitive to heat.” Really??? Tell me more. This is probably not the problem you think it is. Yes, welding involves heat. After all, we’re talking about…
We’re playing music with lasers for the 4th of July
July 4, 2017
It’s almost the Fourth of July, and before we all head out to celebrate with fireworks and barbecues, I thought we’d do something a little different to kick off our first video blog. What’s the perfect song for…
Weld tolerance and “how big a gap can you weld?”
June 22, 2017
Let’s talk about weld tolerance. For this post, we’ll focus only on the weld joint and follow the common theme of customer-vendor interaction. Customer: “What kind of gap range can you tolerate in a weld?” Vendor:…
Welding gaps and “Just weld it”
June 14, 2017
One of the most dreaded phrases we can hear on the welding job shop side is “Just weld it.” This is a trap, no matter the good intentions behind it. It's also a recipe for disappointment and hurt feelings. To avoid…
10 Reasons to use Laser Welding
June 2, 2017
With so many ways to join materials, here are our top 10 reasons to use laser welding. 1. Laser welding works with a variety of materials Laser welding can be used to join a variety of metals, including stainless…
Weld Contaminants: Your Guide to Prevention
May 26, 2017
What are Weld Contaminants? Anything and everything that is not the “stuff” being welded is a potential weld contaminant. Whether it be oil from machining, paper fibers, soapy water from a wash cycle, a…
Common weld defects and their causes: porosity
May 11, 2017
I like to talk about porosity more than other weld defects because even though there are many contributing factors to it, at the end of the day it is always (did I use an absolute?) trapped gas in the solidifying……
Welding Myths Part 3: A weld is never as strong as the parent material
May 11, 2017
To go along with the last post on welding myths and non-weldable materials, I also often get grudging calls from a designer who has been “forced” to add a weld to a design. Customer: “How much do I have to…
Welding Myths Part 2: If it’s metal, I can weld it
May 3, 2017
This misconception about welding comes up far more often than I’d like. An engineer calls in a rush to get a prototype stainless steel part welded. To save time and cost, he had the parts made from free machining…
Welding Myths Part 1: Welding will distort my part
April 27, 2017
There are lots of misconceptions about welding that keep it off a designer’s list of preferred joining methods. Over a couple of blog posts, I’ll debunk a few of the most common myths and explain why they aren’t…