Commercial welders know well that when they perform plasma arc welding they have better control over the welding process in general. The so called plasma arc welding process uses Plasma Cutter Consumables and has been first used in the welding industry in 1964 as a method to bring good control to the arc welding process when it is done in lower current ranges. Nowadays, the plasma arc welding keeps its original advantages and further offers an even better level of control and accuracy when the commercial welders are producing welds of high quality. This is so no matter if it is done on precision applications or on miniatures.

The result is longer electrode life for the high production at different amperage levels. Commercial welders perform plasma welding as it is suitable to both automatic and manual applications. The process of plasma arc welding uses Plasma Cutter Consumables and Plasma Cutting Equipment and is applied on different joining operations that could range from seam welding to welding of miniatures to different high volume production welding, etc.

So, how does the plasma arc welding work? The plasma is a kind of gas which is heated to a very high temperature and is then ionized to become electrically conductive. The process is similar to the TIG welding as it uses the plasma to transfer the electric arc to the piece of work.

The metal that has to be welded is melted by the intense arc heat and they fuse together. The Tungsten electrode is positioned in the plasma welding torch, within the copper nozzle and has a small opening at the tip. Then a pilot arc is initiated between the nozzle tip and the torch electrode.

Then this arc is transferred to the metal that is about to be welded. The torch forces the arc and the plasma gas through a constricted area and gets high concentration of heat to a very particular zone. When the commercial welder uses welding equipment of a high performance, the plasma process gets high quality welds. In general, the plasma gases are argon and sometimes a second gas is also used that could be helium, hydrogen or argon to shield the molten weld puddle and to minimize the weld oxidation.