Welding Supplies Blog

Think of the ultimate example of power, strength and unmoving force. What comes to mind? Maybe a bulldozer with rocket jets? Or a rhinoceros that can shoot lasers out of its eyes? What about… water...

24 hours of Darkness. It’s what they call a "Polar Night." The only UV light you’ve seen in the last day has been from your welding arc. From a survivability standpoint, humans have almost no busin...

In a previous month, we covered portability while welding out in the field. However, there are many of you that weld in a workshop or your garage. This doesn’t mean portability isn’t important to y...

“Shake the house”—that was the original term for “spring cleaning” over 3,000 years ago. As the first spring cleaners, the ancient Persians believed that clearing out their houses after winter prev...

Welding might be one of the world’s greatest passions, but it doesn’t hurt to get paid for your skills. A capable welder can be incredibly sought after, and some jobs can pay quite an astonishing a...

The day was perfect, with only a calm breeze. As the behemoth of a ship was cast off, its dual gun decks were an astonishing sight. Every inch of the ship was finely decorated in honor of the king,...

Welding in TV shows and movies always leaves a weird taste in our mouths. Some guy flips his hood down and presto, he’s built a 747 in an afternoon. Even many of the popular home or auto DIY shows ...

It was 1960 and the US/Soviet arms race had become a full-blown marathon. Just off the east coast, the USS Barbel cut through the waves on its way to a training exercise. The sub’s massive 219’ hul...

September 2021 Like Lincoln, Miller welders are made in various parts of the world, but as U.S.-based companies with a long history, the rivalry between these welding machines is especially heated ...

Darkness. An engulfing, black void like you’ve never experienced before. Beyond your small headlight, the world is simply gone: No shapes, no faint colors, just emptiness. Everything feels so empty...

It’s both magic and unsettling at the same time to watch a 3D printer at work. Its movements are cold, calculated and unnatural. Where a person would approach a project from multiple angles, the pr...

Everyone has a different reason for enlisting. For some, it’s always been their plan. For others, it seems like their chance to see the world. For others, it’s an opportunity to learn skills that’l...

For the amish community, the main idea is simplicity: removing distractions and focusing on the parts of life that the modern world tends to forget. That means cars, televisions, radios and the int...

Human flesh and an inferno of over 5000 degrees, separated only by a few inches. For a thousand seconds, the Apollo astronauts would wait with bated breath as their ship re-entered back into the at...

Every time mankind is thrown a curveball, our reaction is to go underground. From tornados to nuclear bombs, shelters have been a key survival tactic. But even more interesting is how much of a pro...

A recent study from Georgetown found that next year, almost 2/3rds of jobs will require some type of college or other formal education beyond high school. What exactly does this mean for the weldin...

Within any community you’ll find a sense of pride, loyalty and a clinically-insane amount of memes. This has never been truer than within the world of welding. In case you’ve somehow avoided being ...

When the web was first being populated by an unwavering multitude of cat videos, a few welders managed to claw their way out of obscurity and become something of internet celebrities. Specifically,...

Often where you weld can be just as important as how well you weld. Your location determines how much work is available near you and how much competition there is. For instance, you’ll make a whole...

We’ve all been told if there’s any risk of electrical shock, make sure you’ve got some solid rubber boots. But would rubber boots really keep you from being zap-fried by an electrical jolt? What’s ...

We’ve covered everything from space welders to working on oil rigs and yet we’ve never hit on one of the most aspirational positions in the industry. That’s because pipeline welding is a mine field...

Sight. It’s an important part of welding. It’s so important, we’ve gone to great lengths to protect our eyes. Because sight helps us understand what we’re doing. It helps us comprehend our surround...

Look us in the eyes and give us your honest opinion: Do you think welding is a dying career? What’s weird is that no matter what you say, you’d be right (at least, in part). According to the Bureau...

Over the years, we’ve featured a smorgasbord of different career paths a welder might choose. Some of these have been fairly normal, while others have been dangerous, surprising and down-right weir...

It’s a big fat can of worms stuffed inside a truck packed to the brim with cans of worms. We’re opening the Pandora’s Box of controversial welding subjects. You’re thinking, “What in the world are ...

  What’s the most nerve-racking project to work on? A bridge? A plane? A nuclear bomb? How about food grade piping? Sure it doesn’t seem too bad, but welding in the food industry actually requires ...

We’re in the middle of the cast-iron renaissance. Seriously, this material was actually named as one of 2016’s “hot” items. A new wave of younger Americans are rediscovering the cast-iron ways, esp...

We were there, in the beginning. The automobile was first coming into public view, blanketed by a shroud of excitement and mystery. These metal marvels allowed us to exceed speeds we’d been limited...

Think about how often people take welding for granted. You and I see precision beads done by a highly skilled worker. They see a fence with some decorative bits. The cars we drive, the buildings we...

The stress should be enough to give a silverback gorilla an aneurysm. You’ve got a $3,000,000 precision machine at the mercy of your torch. Every bead counts, every arc needs to be perfect. Engines...

For hundreds of years we’ve been working with the same materials: Copper, bronze, iron. For the most part, we’ve got these metals figured out. Then suddenly some scientists come along and zap up so...

We’ve all heard of Rosie the Riveter, but what about Winnie the Welder? In the 1940s, when the U.S. became involved in WWII after Pearl Harbor, thousands of able-bodied men left their welding jobs ...

After busting a few welding myths of our own, we’ve decided to look into 2 of the world’s most famous Myth Busters from the hit TV show MythBusters. Few fans of the show realize that both Adam Sava...

Throughout the years, we’ve heard a lot of questionable statements about welding. Some of these have been created by Hollywood’s depiction of welding, while others have been spread through the comm...

Ah, imagine that: Being your own boss, working the hours you want to work and only taking the jobs you want to take. Freelance welding can be incredibly enticing. But before you give your foreman t...

Nothing is normal about living on a man-made island of steel. It’s a world of its own. Everything and everyone you know is stacked on top of each other in the same 250 ft by 400 ft space. Like the ...

You’re interested in artistic welding. You feel passionate about creating with metal in one hand and torch in the other. Could you explain that sensation to someone if you tried? And yet, artistic ...

Close your eyes. When I say “Welding”, what’s conjured up into your brain. Maybe a construction site with sparks flying around or a couple steel plates being tack welded. How about Tom Hardy runnin...

You peer over the edge of a muddy trench as bullets whiz overhead. Blurry black shapes struggle towards you through the rain and slurry. A man behind you runs down the trench, screaming in a thrill...

Until 1889, aluminum was one of the capstones of rare, expensive metals. A single ounce cost around $300 in today’s money. Now, it’s everywhere, from cars to streetlights to sliding doors. It has...

Over the years, our experts here at IOC get a lot of questions. How does duty cycle really work? How do I keep burnback from ruining my workpiece? Can I weld in a swimming pool? Addressing these q...

It’s hard to imagine a world where the tri-faced king of processes didn’t reign supreme. But beyond MIG, TIG and Stick lies a fascinating realm of barely-known welding processes. Here are 2 you’ve...

Welding machines are built tough. They’re tested against high temperatures and made to survive industrial environments. So what maniacal little critter brings these metal behemoths’ to their knees...

Often welding is split into 2 different categories of thought: structural welding and artistic welding. This differentiation has caused a lot of welders to assume some welding techniques can only ...

We’ve got manless drones soaring around and children scooting down the streets on electrical motorized machines. Half our cashiers are robots who always seem to suspect we’re trying to steal somet...

1. The Emma Maersk Ship Half a century ago, steel ships were built with rivets. Hot metal dowels were placed in the holes of two overlapping steel plates while the dowels were still malleable. The ...

It’s a ravine. A big fat, deep ravine and no one knows how big it truly is. That ravine is the shortage of welders America is facing. Some experts are stating that within the next couple of years,...

Imagine if welding and ceramics both went to an unchaperoned Charlie Sheen party. Then they had a baby. That baby would be glassblowing: A little bit welding, a little ceramics, a little something...