Complete Guide
Welding
Straight technical coverage of where welding and metal fabrication are moving, from the people who helped put these processes on US shop floors.
Welding is moving faster than the standards bodies and the sales literature can track. Handheld laser tools are already running production welds that used to take a TIG welder years of practice to match on cosmetics. Additive processes that sat in university labs five years ago are showing up on real production floors now, and plenty of textbook weld prep still assumes equipment most shops replaced a while back.
Between us, we were among the first to bring wire arc and plasma arc additive manufacturing to US shops, electron beam welding with them, backed by years running sales and marketing for major welding-equipment makers. We still walk the leading EU welding shows every year, scouting what's coming before it reaches the US. That's the bar for what runs here, whether it's laser welding, additive deposition, or a weld prep method the textbook hasn't caught up to yet.
When a process claim looks interesting, we run it down and report what actually holds up.
Shipbuilding & Thick-Section
-
Thick-Section Welding for US Shipbuilding: A Guide to the Technologies Closing the Gap
US shipbuilding is scaling to a 450-ship fleet by 2031. Thick-section welding on 15-30mm+ plate is the bottleneck. A guide to 5 technologies closing the gap.
Read -
Why the US Shipbuilding Revival Is a Welding Capacity Problem
The Navy's FY27 budget is up 46% and targets a 450-ship fleet by 2031. The Department of Labor says the industry needs 250,000 more welders and technicians.
Read
Vacuum & Chamber Welding
-
Electron Beam Welding vs. Laser Welding: EB Quality Without the X-Ray Room
Electron beam welding vs. laser welding: EB needs demagnetization, X-ray shielding, and a licensed operator. Vacuum laser matches its quality without any of it.
Read -
Hermetic Seal Welding: One Pore Scraps the Part
Hermetic seal welding has no partial pass. One pore fails the test. A stable keyhole and easier degassing under vacuum are why sensor and implant makers use it.
Read -
Will a Vacuum Chamber Solve My Welding Problem?
Vacuum laser welding beats gas shielding on coverage and matches electron beam without X-ray shielding. Chamber size, cost tier, and when the answer is no.
Read
Automation & Robotic Welding
-
Drive Rolls and Wire Feed Systems: Getting the Push Side Right
Drive rolls push wire downstream of the feeder. Groove selection, tension calibration, and how to tell a drive roll problem from a conduit problem.
Read -
How to Feed Wire Through Long Conduit Runs Without Birdnesting
How to feed wire through conduit on a long run without birdnesting. The step-by-step threading procedure, and what a rolling-contact conduit changes.
Read -
MIG Gun Liners vs. Wire Conduit: Which One Is Actually Your Problem
A MIG gun liner and a wire conduit are separate parts of the wire path with different failure modes. How to tell which one is causing your feed problem.
Read -
Why Your MIG Wire Feed Keeps Jamming (and How to Stop It)
MIG wire feed problems have five distinct root causes, each with its own symptom pattern. Find which one matches your line before you start swapping parts.
Read -
Welding Wire Conduit Systems: Why Long Runs Jam and How to Stop It
Welding wire conduit systems jam or birdnest on long runs when friction builds in the conduit. The mechanism behind it, the fix, and how to check.
Read -
Feeding Welding Wire From Bulk Drums and Pay-Off Packs Over Long Runs
Centralizing welding wire supply in a bulk drum cuts changeovers, if the conduit can carry wire that far. Sizing the setup and what Rolliner is built for.
Read -
Cobot Welding for High-Mix Shops: Who Programs the Next Part?
Every welding automation vendor promises to remove the programmer. Each one relocates him instead. What that does to the payback math on a high-mix line.
Read
Handheld & Portable Tools
Weld Quality & Post-Processing
Additive & Advanced Deposition