The welder’s handbook
Parameters, consumables, weld defects, standards and calculations — arranged so you find the answer in half a minute instead of scrolling through forums.
Welding calculators
They run in your browser: no sign-up, and nothing is sent to a server.
- Welding current by electrode diameter What current to set for a 2.5, 3.2 or 4 mm electrode, corrected for the welding position, the plate thickness and the coating type.
- Electrode consumption How many kilograms of electrodes a joint needs: groove cross-section, deposited metal, loss factor and the number of sticks.
- Cost per metre of weld What a metre of weld actually costs: deposited metal, wire and gas consumption, electricity, labour hours and the shop rate.
- Preheat temperature Whether to preheat and to what temperature: method B of EN 1011-2 with CET, combined thickness, hydrogen scale and heat input.
- Acceptance limits ISO 5817 Limits for undercut, porosity, excess weld metal and misalignment at quality levels B, C and D for a given wall thickness.
- Qualification range EN ISO 9606 Which thicknesses, diameters and positions the test you passed covers, how long the certificate is valid and when it must be confirmed.
- Wire feed speed Wire feed speed from the current, or current from the feed speed, for solid wire of 0.8 to 1.6 mm, with the deposition rate per hour.
- Duty cycle and fuse size How long the machine may weld before it trips on thermal overload, and what supply fuse or breaker its input current really needs.
- Tungsten electrode selection Which tungsten to use and at what diameter: current range by type and polarity, the colour code and the tip grind angle for the job.
- Shielding gas selection Which shielding gas mixture suits the material and the process: argon, CO2 and their blends for MIG/MAG, TIG and stainless steel.
- Fillet weld: throat and leg Converting throat thickness a into leg length z and back, with the deposited area and the mass of filler metal per metre of fillet.
- Welding unit converter Converts what welders actually meet: kJ/mm and kJ/cm, mm/min and m/min, bar and MPa, inches and millimetres, °C and °F.
- Shielding gas consumption How much gas a given flow rate uses and how long the cylinder lasts: volume from pressure, working time and the cost per weld.
- Steel weight calculator Mass of rolled metal by size: sheet, round and square bar, tube, angle and channel, for carbon steel, stainless and aluminium.
- Carbon equivalent CE Carbon equivalent from the composition on the mill certificate: IIW CE and CET, and what they say about weldability and preheat.
- Shade number DIN Which shade number to set on the helmet for MMA, MIG/MAG, TIG or cutting at a given current, following EN 169 and EN 379.
- Heat input Heat input from current, voltage and travel speed, with the thermal efficiency of the process taken from ISO/TR 18491 and EN 1011-1.
- Welding cable size Which cable cross-section a given current and cable length need, and how much voltage a long run costs you at the arc.
Sections of the handbook
- Calculators Current, electrode and gas consumption, heat input, carbon equivalent — all worked out in the browser, nothing sent to a server. 18
- Welding processes MMA, MIG/MAG, TIG and the rest — how each one works, what it is for, where it stops being the right choice. 3
- Welding parameters Current, voltage, wire feed speed, polarity and welding positions. 1
- Filler metals and gases Electrodes, wires, shielding gases, tungsten electrodes, fluxes. 2
- Materials and weldability Carbon steel, stainless, aluminium, cast iron, copper, titanium — how each behaves and what to weld it with. 4
- Welding equipment Power sources, torches, helmets and accessories — choosing them and keeping them running. 4
- Weld defects and inspection The ISO 6520 catalogue of imperfections: causes, repair, and the test methods that find them. 5
- Drawings and symbols ISO 2553, AWS A2.4 and GOST 2.312 — how to read a welding symbol without guessing. 4
- Standards and qualification WPS, WPQR, EN ISO 9606, EN 1090 — what a welder certificate actually covers. 3
- Welding safety Personal protection, fume extraction, hot work, electrical safety, first aid. 4
- How to weld Practice, step by step: positions, materials, specific jobs. 3
- Troubleshooting Why the weld is porous, why the electrode sticks, why the wire keeps birdnesting. 3
- Reference tables Ready-made tables of parameters, markings and equivalents — made to print and pin up in the shop. 3
- Training and work Courses, certificates, pay, and welding work across the European Union. 5
- Glossary Welding terms in English, Polish, Russian and Ukrainian, side by side. 1
What this site is
This is a non-commercial welding handbook. There are no services, no price lists and no enquiry forms — only the technical information you actually need at the bench: parameters, consumables, weld defects, standards and calculations.
The English version exists because the standards do. EN ISO 9606-1, EN 1011-2, ISO 5817 and ISO 2553 are written in English, procedure specifications on international sites are written in English, and a welder who can read the certificate code can also read what it does and does not cover. Where the American system differs — AWS A2.4 symbols, AWS D1.1 acceptance criteria — the difference is spelled out rather than glossed over.
Every calculator runs in the browser: the values you type are never sent anywhere and never stored.
Frequently asked questions
Why is a welding handbook on a Polish domain?
Because it started as a guide for welders working in Poland. The standards, though, are the European ones: EN ISO 9606-1, EN 1090 and ISO 5817 apply the same way everywhere in the Union, and the metallurgy does not stop at a border at all.
Can I trust the calculators?
As a starting point yes, as a normative value no. Every calculator shows its formula and names the source of its coefficients — EN 1011-2, ISO/TR 18491, ISO 5817 — precisely so that the result can be checked by hand. The final parameters are set by the welding procedure specification.
Does the site sell equipment or courses?
No. There is no shop, no affiliate link and no advertising for training centres. Brand and manufacturer names appear only where the topic cannot be explained without them.
Are the units metric or imperial?
Metric throughout, because the handbook follows EN ISO practice. Where you need to work with an AWS or ASME document, the unit converter handles the conversions that catch people out — cfh, ipm and kJ per inch.