Welding Supplies Blog

With the end of the year comes a barrage of sweet deals on welding equipment and gear. It’s the perfect time to snag those machines you’ve been eyeing for the last 12 months. But most of these prom...

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...

You probably think welding in the rain is illegal because electricity and water don’t mix. But then you think of all the stories you’ve heard from other welders, how they were stuck welding in ditc...

We get it. Bright lights and sparks aren’t great for our eyes. In fact, 99% of welders in the US aren’t doing stupid things like welding with their eyes closed or using $5 shades they bought from t...

As Halloween nears, ghouls and ghost slink out of their graves and clowns with bright red hair haunt our sewers. Our imaginations become a weird wonderland of terror. But the most real fears aren’t...

  Halloween is the perfect holiday to get those creative juices flowing. It’s the only socially-acceptable time to turn your home or apartment into a house of horrors. Sometimes coming up with proj...

Purchasing a welder/generator is a big decision. You want to know you’re getting the best setup for the best deal. When you decide to seal the deal, you want to ensure your welder/generator will la...

Wouldn’t it be great if your workpiece wasn’t covered in metallic baby vomit after you finished welding? Completely preventing spatter has been the Holy Grail of welders and welding equipment compa...

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 point? It’s a serious question. Is walking the cup like a suit tie, a fancy-looking piece of fabric that serves no function other than to embarrassingly attract stains? Is it all just ...

  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 ...

&nbsp The truth is that there’s still millions of welders across the world that don’t even have a basic understanding of plasma cutting and how it works. Even within the last 10 years, plasma c...

The plasma cutting world is not an easy market to compete in. Within the last decade, we’ve seen incredible innovations from brands like Hypertherm, Thermal Dynamics, Lincoln, Miller and more. The ...

Plasma gouging is by far one of the most overlooked processes in welding. Even welders with plasma cutting units often don’t know what plasma gouging is or how to do it. It’s like having a pocket k...

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...

Keeping it clean, it’s difficult. And that’s not even counting our language. But if we had a list of public welding enemies, dirt would be right at the top next to welding naked (sounds fun, it’s n...

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...

“Life on the farm”. For some people, the phrase conjures up images of straw-hatted hillbillies pulling potatoes out of the ground with their bare hands. In reality, modern farms in the US are actua...

Visual learning is the best. You can see exactly what you need and how you need to use it. No guess work here. Frankly, we love welding videos. At least, we love the idea of welding videos. Here’s ...

How’d your Valentine’s gift go over? Wait, you thought your sweetheart was serious when they said they wanted a low-key evening? Well, there’s still time to redeem yourself if your V-Day turned out...

Machine assistance: It’s a trend that’s been happening all around us for decades, and yet we hardly notice it. For instance, you hop into your car and turn the wheel. That’s a machine making your d...

Oxy-acetylene welding, often referred to as oxy-acetylene or gas welding, has been a cornerstone of metalworking for over a century. This process involves the combination of oxygen and acetylene ga...

We’ve never seen a man stabbed with a welding torch, but if we did, it would most likely be over a push-or-pull debate. Out of all the debates within the welding world, it’s been the longest, most ...

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...

If you’re thinking about getting a new welding machine sometime within the next year, there’s a couple deals going on right now you owe it to yourself to check out. All 5 of these welders are staff...

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...

As summer’s coming to a close, the cold weather makes for a good excuse to retreat back into your workshop (assuming you ever left). Now all you need is inspiration, a muse to fuel the madness. To ...

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...

You could write a college dissertation on the interesting trends taking place in welding right now. On one end, there’s a big push for better technology. Less buttons, more screens. Less switches,...

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...

We know what you’re thinking. How can a wave also be a square and still be called a wave. Shouldn’t it be called the Lincoln Paradox TIG 200? Well, my observant reader, here’s why the Square Wave ...

There’s no need to sugarcoat it. We know as far as hobbies go, welding’s quite a bit more dangerous than miniature trains or lawn bowling. But we’re safe, right? We wear our helmets, use gloves an...

Here’s why you might hate welding symbols: They look like an inebriated gang of crop-circling aliens took a shot at recreating the enigma code. Here’s why you should love welding symbols: Once you...

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...

Ah Copper, our old nemesis. Mankind’s struggle to tame this metallic beauty has lasted for thousands of years. In 5000 BC, our caveman started melting down copper, successfully making it the first...