Welding Equipment Selection

The first thing anyone will need to know is the style of welder you require.  There is sheet metal welding, seam welding, butt welding, “T” welding, and others.  Most common applications however are simply sheet welding or wire/cross-wire welding.  The guide below applies to sheet-to-sheet welding exclusively.  Should you need help with other types of welding, please contact us for further assistance.

When welding sheet metal, it’s best to start by knowing the material you’re welding.  The thicker or larger the material, the larger the welding equipment requirements.  Size your equipment for the worst case scenario (maximum material thickness).

• Material Type (Mild Steel, Stainless Steel, Aluminum, Titanium, HSLA, Tantalum, etc)
• Material Thickness (in millimeters, inches, or gauge)
• Material Shape (flat sheet, 3D stamping, rod, round or profiled wire)
• Material Coatings (Galvanized, Galvanneal, Aluminized, Tin plated, other)
• Fasteners: Fastener size (typically a diameter or thread size)

Once you have determined the material thickness, you can use this very general guide to assist in finding the equipment style you will need.

Mild Steel, Stainless Steel, Titanium
0.0005 – 0.005: micro welding, foot operated, visual magnification required, HFDC, Linear DC, Capacitive Discharge, Micro-Tig
0.004 – 0.010 foil: capacitive discharge, HFDC
0.005 – 0.030 stainless: Tecna rocker, benchtop welder, rocker arm
0.005 – 0.060 mild steel: Tecna Rocker, benchtop, press spot, rocker arm
0.040 – 0.125: mild steel and stainless: RockerRite, Press Spot, Press Projection
0.090 – 0.250 mild steel: Press Projection

it is best to also consider the rate at which you intend to weld.  Typically, we size our equipment for 50% duty cycle.  There are exceptions, with Capacitive Discharge equipment and some other mini and micro welding applications.  The equipment you need to weld 200,000EAU is likely going to differ from equipment intended to weld 5,000 welds per year, depending on how fast you want to weld it.