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Calculators

  • 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.

Welding processes

  • MMA — stick welding Manual metal arc welding from the inside: the arc, the coating, polarity, current selection, and where MMA still beats MIG/MAG.
  • MIG/MAG welding How semi-automatic welding works: short arc, globular and spray transfer, gas mixtures, wire choice and typical machine settings.
  • TIG welding Gas tungsten arc welding step by step: polarity, tungsten choice, gas flow, filler wire, and what changes on thin stainless.

Welding parameters

  • Welding positions What PA, PB, PC, PF, PG and the AWS 1G to 6G codes mean, and which positions a qualification test in each one actually covers.

Filler metals and gases

  • Electrode catalogue A working catalogue of stick electrodes: coating type, EN ISO and AWS designation, current, welding position and typical use.
  • Electrode coating types How rutile, basic, cellulosic and acid coatings differ in arc behaviour, hydrogen level and position — and what each one is for.

Materials and weldability

  • Welding stainless steel Which filler and gas to pick for austenitic stainless, how to avoid sensitisation, and what to do about distortion and oxide colour.
  • Welding aluminium Why aluminium behaves differently: the oxide film, heat conduction, AC balance in TIG and the wire feeding problems in MIG.
  • Welding cast iron Why cast iron cracks when welded, when to preheat and when to weld cold, and which electrodes actually hold a repair together.
  • Welding dissimilar steels Joining stainless to carbon steel and other mismatched pairs: filler choice, dilution and the Schaeffler diagram used in practice.

Welding equipment

  • Choosing a welding machine Which parameters matter when buying an inverter: duty cycle, current range, mains supply and cable length — and where cheap models fail.
  • Welding helmet How auto-darkening helmets work, what the four EN 379 numbers mean, and which shade to set for each process and current.
  • MIG/MAG torch consumables Which torch parts wear out and how fast: contact tip, liner, nozzle and gas diffuser, with the symptom each worn part produces.
  • Servicing and typical faults What to clean and how often, plus the faults that come up most: overheating, unstable arc, no arc strike and a tripping supply.

Weld defects and inspection

  • Undercut Why the toe of the weld gets eaten away, what ISO 5817 allows at each quality level, and which change in technique fixes it.
  • Lack of fusion and penetration The difference between the two defects, why they are the most dangerous ones, how inspection finds them and how to avoid them.
  • Weld cracks How hot and cold cracks differ, why hydrogen and restraint cause them, and what preheat and post-weld heat treatment prevent.
  • Weld defect catalogue The main groups of weld imperfections with causes and remedies: cracks, cavities, inclusions, lack of fusion and shape defects.
  • Porosity in welds Why a weld comes out porous: gas flow, draught, damp electrodes, rust and paint — and how to tell the causes apart on the bench.

Drawings and symbols

  • How to read welding symbols The arrow, the reference line, the symbol and the dimensions: reading an ISO 2553 weld symbol without guessing what it means.
  • Welding symbol builder Assemble a weld symbol from the joint type and its dimensions and see exactly how it should look on the drawing.
  • ISO 2553 vs AWS A2.4 The dashed identification line, which side of the joint is which, and the symbol shapes that mean different things in each system.
  • GOST 2.312 vs ISO 2553 How the Soviet and European symbol systems differ, and how to read an old drawing without misreading the weld it asks for.

Standards and qualification

  • WPS, pWPS and WPQR What a WPS contains, how it relates to the pWPS and the WPQR, and why a welder should be able to read one without help.
  • Test to EN ISO 9606 How the qualification test runs: the test piece, the examinations, what the certificate code means and how long it stays valid.
  • Qualifications in Poland Who issues welder certificates in Poland, what a course costs and how long it takes, and how certificates from abroad are recognised.

Welding safety

  • Personal protective equipment Helmet, gloves, jacket, boots and respirator: the standards they must meet, and the mistakes that cause most burns and eye flash.
  • Welding fume and ventilation What welding fume contains, why stainless and galvanised steel are worse, the exposure limits and how to extract at the arc.
  • Hot work and fire safety Why sparks start fires hours later, what a hot work permit covers, and how to leave a site with nothing left smouldering.
  • Electrical safety in welding Why open-circuit voltage matters, where the return clamp belongs, and what makes damp and confined spaces genuinely dangerous.

How to weld

  • Welding thin sheet Settings and technique for 0.8 to 2 mm sheet: stitch welding, backing bars, torch angle, and why the fit-up gap ruins everything.
  • Welding a vertical weld Vertical-up and vertical-down welding: how much to drop the current, which weave to use, and which one belongs on which joint.
  • Welding square tube Welding hollow section: the tacking order that controls distortion, welding the corner, and settings for 1.5 to 3 mm walls.

Troubleshooting

  • The electrode keeps sticking Current too low, damp coating, a poor return connection or the wrong striking technique — how to tell which one you have.
  • Wire feeding problems Why the wire jams, slips or birdnests: the liner, drive roll pressure, the contact tip, the spool brake and how the cable is routed.
  • The welder trips the breaker Inrush current, breaker curve, supply cable cross-section and duty cycle: the reasons a machine trips a domestic supply.

Reference tables

  • Steel grade equivalents A cross-reference of structural and stainless steel grades between EN 10025, GOST, ASTM and the old DIN designations.
  • Current vs electrode diameter Current ranges for 2.0 to 5.0 mm electrodes by position and coating type, in one printable table for the workshop wall.
  • Tungsten electrode colour codes What each tungsten colour band means: oxide content, the EN ISO 6848 designation, polarity, current range and where it is used.

Training and work

  • What welders earn What welders are paid in Poland, Germany and Scandinavia, and which certificates and processes actually raise the hourly rate.
  • Welding course: cost and length How long a course for each process takes, what it costs, what is included in the price and what the certificate you get is worth.
  • How to become a welder From the first course to a paid qualification: which process to start with, how much practice it takes and what employers ask for.
  • Work for foreign welders Recognising certificates from outside the EU, what documents a site asks for, and which qualification is worth retaking first.
  • Welding work in the EU Which countries and sectors hire welders, which certificates travel across borders, and what a posting abroad actually involves.

Glossary

  • Welding glossary Welding terms side by side in four languages with the EN ISO designation — for reading a WPS or a certificate issued abroad.

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