If you need to create deep, narrow welds or weld at high temperatures and speeds, use a plasma cutter. Welding with a plasma cutter involves applying a high voltage between the electrode and workpiece, while the plasma gas is flowing. The gas becomes ionized and conductive, resulting in the generation of a plasma arc. The plasma arc conducts a greater energy density than the arcs created in more typical welding processes, such as metal inert gas (MIG) welding and tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding. As such, you can use plasma cutters to heat metals, while welding, to ultra-high temperatures.
Instructions
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1
Place the two pieces of metal to be welded adjacent to each other. Hold the tungsten electrode, which is located within a copper nozzle with a small opening at the tip, at a 90 degree angle to the joint between the metal pieces to be welded. Initiate an arc current between the tungsten electrode and the joint, boring holes into both pieces of metal.
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2
Feed the core wire, from the push motor of the welding machine, into the metal holes, thus bonding the two sheets of metal.
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3
Turn down the arc current to apply a low plasma current, thus smoothing the surface of the molten metal.