History of Welding Ferrous metals

The First Welds in Iron

1400 BCE

When ironwork started to become more widespread, people realised that if you heat Iron to a high enough temperature, the atoms will become excited and begin to bond to each other. This process, known as forge welding, creates an extremely strong bond that will permanently join two pieces into one. https://school.eb.com/levels/middle/article/ironwork/311833

Brazing becomes common in iron

1101 BCE

Brazing processes become more common to join metals, allowing for shapes that would be difficult for a forge weld to be created. It involves melting a non-ferrous metal in between a joint, acting like glue. http://www.weldinghistory.org/whfolder/folder/bhpre1900.html

Concept of arc welding

1829

Sir Humphrey Davey creates an electrical arc and melts two carbon rods together, which is how arc welding works in metals. http://www.weldinghistory.org/whfolder/folder/wh1800.html

Gas welding invented

1876

Now that the Acetalyne torch has been invented, people started melting steel and iron together, creating a more modern interpretation of welding. http://www.weldinghistory.org/whfolder/folder/wh1950.html

Arc welding truly invented and patented

1888

The first arc welding machine was patented and sold. It worked by oxidizing carbon into CO2, shielding the molten metal created by the arc from oxygen, which makes a stronger weld.

Modern stick welding Invented

1891

This process created an arc to melt the base material. Now, filler material is added when the rod itself melts into the puddle. The rod is coated in a flux, which burns into a combination of gases, including CO2 and argon. This now shields the weld from oxidation. http://www.weldinghistory.org/whfolder/folder/wh1800.html

Modern MIG invented

Jun 29, 1926

A new welder was patented, which uses metal wire that melts in an electrical arc to join two pieces of metal. The first welder to use a shielding gas, as opposed to flux, to prevent oxidation. http://www.weldinghistory.org/whfolder/folder/wh1950.html

TIG welding invented

1943

TIG welding was used to join thin ferrous metals in a clean and precise manner, but more importantly, to the U.S, it could weld non-ferrous metals as well, so it was used to weld aluminum panels on aircraft. http://www.weldinghistory.org/whfolder/folder/wh1950.html

FCAW invented

1957

Flux core arc welding was patented. This is a wire feed welder, but does not require gas, instead using flux on the inside of the wire to shield from oxidation.
http://www.weldinghistory.org/whfolder/folder/wh1950.html

explosion welding invented

1960

WHere else, but the USA, would anyone decide blowing stuff up to join them was a good idea?
Well, it turns out it is, because this process creates an extremely strong bond by using the pressure of an explosion to force the peices together. http://www.weldinghistory.org/whfolder/folder/wh1950.html

Future of welding

2026

Massive leaps forward in welding technology have been made, including the invention of laser welders, which are becoming more effective. Massive leaps forward in safety have been created to, including welding hoods with built in particulate/gas masks, and clearer and more robust welding lenss tht come in a variety of different colors, so that you can get a better veiw on the weld.