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.
- 146 articles
- 45 calculators
- 9 languages
Welding calculators
They run in your browser: no sign-up, and nothing is sent to a server.
- Welding current by electrode diameter
- Electrode consumption
- Cost per metre of weld
- Preheat temperature
- Acceptance limits ISO 5817
- pWPS generator
- VT report
- Weld schedule
- Bill of materials
- Cutting plan
- WPQR range of qualification
- Qualification range EN ISO 9606
- Wire feed speed
- Duty cycle and fuse size
- Tungsten electrode selection
- Shielding gas selection
- Fillet weld: throat and leg
- Welding unit converter
- Shielding gas consumption
- Steel weight calculator
- Steel beam weight
- Steel channel weight
- Steel angle weight
- Tube and hollow section
- Sheet metal weight
- Aluminium weight
- Aluminium sheet
- Aluminium box section
- Aluminium tube
- Aluminium angle
- Aluminium flat bar
- Aluminium round bar
- Carbon equivalent CE
- Shade number DIN
- Heat input
- Cooling time t8/5
- Hardness: HV, HB, HRC
- Deposited metal and passes
- Groove preparation
- Chromium and nickel equivalents
- Wire length on a spool
- Cable voltage drop
- Generator for a welder
- Welding cable size
- Project calculators
Recently updated
Recently written or revised.
- Welding current by electrode diameter 2.5 mm electrode: 70–100 A; 3.2 mm: 90–140 A; 4 mm: 130–190 A in the flat position. The calculator corrects for position and coating and checks the diameter.
- Electrode consumption A kilo holds about 44 electrodes of 2.5 mm, 30 of 3 mm, 27 of 3.2 mm and 13 of 4 mm. Full table by rod length, worked example and a calculator per metre of weld.
- Shielding gas consumption 40 l at 200 bar = 8,000 l of gas, about 11 h of arc at 12 l/min. Gas per shift, what is left from the gauge, CO₂ by weight, CFH to l/min.
- Steel weight calculator Ø12 round bar — 0.888 kg/m, 40×5 flat bar — 1.57 kg/m, 1 mm sheet — 7.85 kg/m². One calculator for every shape and metal: steel, stainless, aluminium, copper, brass.
- Steel beam weight IPE 200 — 22.4 kg/m, IPE 300 — 42.2, HEB 200 — 61.3, HEA 300 — 88.3. Full EN 10365 and DIN 1025-1 tables and a calculator for length and quantity.
- Steel channel weight UPN 100 — 10.6 kg/m, UPN 120 — 13.4, UPN 160 — 18.8, UPN 200 — 25.3. Weight of 6 m and 12 m bars and of a whole order, and UPN vs UPE explained.
- Steel angle weight L 50×50×5 — 3.77 kg/m, L 100×100×10 — 15.0. Every size to EN 10056-1 with 6 m and 12 m bar weights and a calculator for length and quantity.
- Tube and hollow section 40×40×3 hollow section — 3.30 kg/m, 60×40×3 — 4.25, 42.4×3.2 tube — 3.09 kg/m. Enter size and wall for one piece, a batch or a metre; EN 10219 tables and formulas.
The whole handbook
Every article, grouped by section: the whole thing at a glance, and any page one click away.
Welding processes 7
MMA, MIG/MAG, TIG and the rest — how each one works, what it is for, where it stops being the right choice.
Welding parameters 3
Current, voltage, wire feed speed, polarity and welding positions.
Filler metals and gases 2
Electrodes, wires, shielding gases, tungsten electrodes, fluxes.
Materials and weldability 5
Carbon steel, stainless, aluminium, cast iron, copper, titanium — how each behaves and what to weld it with.
Products and structures 19
What a fabrication shop makes: carports, gates, fences, stairs, garages and halls — how they are built and what varies.
- Carports
- Gates and wickets
- Fences
- Stairs and railings
- Door canopies
- Garages and sheds
- Halls and frames
- Platforms and walkways
- Frames and jigs
- Storage and handling
- Grilles, doors and hatches
- Yard and garden
- Barbecues and stoves
- Furniture and interior
- Brackets and fixings
- Stainless equipment
- Tanks and pipework
- Repairs and rebuilding
- How ordering works
Build it yourself 6
Projects to weld yourself: a cutting-list calculator for your own dimensions, a drawing, the material list and the welding settings.
Welding equipment 4
Power sources, torches, helmets and accessories — choosing them and keeping them running.
Weld defects and inspection 8
The ISO 6520 catalogue of imperfections: causes, repair, and the test methods that find them.
Drawings and symbols 4
ISO 2553, AWS A2.4 and GOST 2.312 — how to read a welding symbol without guessing.
Standards and qualification 7
WPS, WPQR, EN ISO 9606, EN 1090 — what a welder certificate actually covers.
Welding safety 7
Personal protection, fume extraction, hot work, electrical safety, first aid.
How to weld 10
Practice, step by step: positions, materials, specific jobs.
Troubleshooting 4
Why the weld is porous, why the electrode sticks, why the wire keeps birdnesting.
Reference tables 8
Ready-made tables of parameters, markings and equivalents — made to print and pin up in the shop.
Training and work 6
Courses, certificates, pay, and welding work across the European Union.
Glossary 1
Welding terms in English, Polish, Russian and Ukrainian, side by side.
The handbook in other languages
The versions run in parallel rather than word for word: terminology and the notation people expect differ from one language to the next. The switcher in the header keeps you on the same page whenever it exists in the language you pick.
- PL Polski Poradnik spawacza 177 stron
- RU Русский Справочник сварщика 173 страницы
- UK Українська Довідник зварника 173 сторінки
- RO Română Ghidul sudorului 173 de pagini
- EN English The welder’s handbook 172 pages
- ES Español El manual del soldador 173 páginas
- DE Deutsch Das Handbuch für Schweißer 173 Seiten
- PT Português O manual do soldador 172 páginas
- AR العربية دليل اللحّام 172 صفحةً
What this site is
This is an independent welding handbook: the technical information you actually need at the bench — parameters, consumables, weld defects, standards and calculations. Nothing is sold here and no orders are taken. The products section and the article “How ordering works” explain what the price of a carport or a gate is made of and how an order runs through a workshop, but that is background for talking to a fabricator, not an offer or a price list.
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. A calculation you save in “My calculations” stays in your own browser’s storage and nowhere else.
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 and no affiliate link, and the site takes no orders for products either — the products section explains what a price is made of and how an order runs through a workshop, but it is not an offer. The ads on the pages are chosen by Google and are not recommendations from this handbook. 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.