Welding is a form of construction that uses extremely high temperatures to join metal surfaces together. Welding has many uses in construction and industry. Welding equipment is available for hire from most plant hire companies. Different kinds of welding are used for different jobs. Here we have summarised some well known welding techniques to help you find the best for the job at hand.

Gas welding is one of the most widely used forms of welding. This is mainly due to its versatility as gas welding can be used to complete a range of jobs such as welding tubes and piping as well as other general maintenance and repair work.

One of the most well known forms of gas welding is oxyacetylene welding. During this form of welding acetylene is heated to temperatures in excess of 3000°c to produce a controlled flame. Oxyacetylene welding has an advantage over other forms of welding as the flame produced allows the weld to cool gradually. As the weld cools more gradually it has more opportunity to strengthen leaving less chance for abnormalities to appear.

Alternative methods of gas welding deliver similar results with different gases used to produce a flame. These include air acetylene and pressure gas welding.

Spot welding is a form of resistance welding which is used to seal overlapping sheets of metal. Resistance welding is conducted by passing heat at high temperatures through metal surfaces. This produces deposits of molten metal which can be use to join surfaces together.

Spot welding is popular as it is an efficient solution which gives off few pollutants into the local area. Spot welding also takes up little space in a working environment and can be easily adapted to carry out on a large scale. Spot welding uses little energy consumption and also doesn't require any additional metals to be used as filler.

This makes it a popular choice for a variety of situations where durability isn't paramount such as light repairs. Spot welding can be carried out in many locations providing there is room for the equipment.

Unlike most conventional forms of welding solid state welding does not rely on high temperatures to join metal surfaces together. Methods of solid state welding include explosion welding, diffusion welding and ultrasonic welding.

Ultrasonic welding can be used to join thin metal surfaces, wiring and other low density materials. This is achieved by sending vibrations through the material whilst exerting pressure to join the two materials. Equipment used is similar to that used in resistance welding methods such as spot welding but the electric current is replaced by vibrations to provide the energy.

Depending on the material to be welded the vibrations are applied vertically or horizontally. When welding metals the pressure is applied horizontally and when welding thinner materials such as plastics the pressure is applied vertically.