Art, obsession, and identity
The Middle Ages saw advances made in forge welding, a solid-state welding process that joins two pieces of metal by heating them to a high temperature and then hammering them together. It's a technique still employed by blacksmiths today.
Italian metallurgist Vannoccio Biringuccio's De la pirotechnia, one of the first printed manuals on metallurgy, was published in 1540.
Written in Italian and illustrated throughout with woodcuts depicting the more technical aspects of metalworking, parts of De la pirotechnia were later translated into Latin, English, and Spanish. It was arguably the most authoritative publication on the subject in its day.
In 1800, Humphry Davy discovered the short-pulse electrical arc, essentially the first practical electric light. A stable arc discharge had many applications, one being melting metals. Edmund Davy, a cousin of Sir Humphry, would later discover acetylene.
The American Welding Society was founded in 1919 as a non-profit organization. The society is instrumental in advancing the science, technology, and application of welding and allied joining and cutting processes worldwide. It's still active today.
In 1802, Russian scientist Vasily Petrov created the continuous electric arc. His compatriot, Nikolai Benardos, and Polish inventor Stanisław Olszewski went on to create the first electric arc welding method known as carbon arc welding, effectively modernizing the arc welding process. The engraving depicts arc welding using the apparatus developed by Bernardos an Olszewski.
Nearer the ground, this young woman is pictured in 1930 on the roof of a property in Paris, France, welding together a scaffold.
The advent of the First World War prompted a major surge in the use of welding, particularly in the manufacture of armaments. There was an urgent necessity for tanks, submarines, battleships, planes, and small arms—hardware that required a lot of welding. With millions of men deployed abroad, women filled manufacturing and agricultural positions on the home front. Here, a female factory worker uses an acetylene torch on a cylinder water jacket in 1918.
In fact, the Great War saw women take many jobs traditionally associated with men. Welding was one of those professions. Here, women are pictured armed with oxygen-acetylene torches working in an extremely hazardous environment, a gunpowder factory.
One outstanding example of a structure built using the arc welding process can still be admired today, the Maurzyce Bridge. Completed in 1928 and located in Poland, this is the first welded road bridge in the world.
In fact, shipbuilding profited greatly from a major expansion of arc welding during the 1930s. In 1930, the first all-welded merchant vessel, MS Carolinian, was launched. She's pictured nearing completion in Charleston, South Carolina.
Arc welding was employed to produce the world's first fully welded seagoing ship, MS Fullagar. She was launched on February 5, 1920, in Birkenhead, England.
A major development announced in 1932 was the invention of submerged arc welding. Soviet engineer Konstantin Khrenov implemented the first underwater electric arc welding process.
In 1969, the crew of Soyuz 6—Georgy Shonin and Valery Kubasov—carried out the first-ever experiments in space welding. They tested three methods: using an electron beam, a low-pressure plasma arc, and a consumable electrode. The weld quality was said to be in no way inferior to that of Earth-based welds.
The 1930s witnessed the development of stud welding—more correctly termed drawn arc stud welding—an electric arc process that rapidly joins a fastener to a base metal or substrate. Evolving out of the New York Navy Yard, the process soon became popular in shipbuilding and construction worldwide.
The US construction industry would not have reached the height it did in the 1930s were it not for arc welding. The building of New York's iconic skyscrapers, for example, relied on the welding together of numerous steel girders to create a steel frame—an essential step in the building of a tower block. In this image, the Chrysler Building can be seen in the background.
As with the conflict of 1914–18, the Second World War saw small armies of welders deployed in factories on the home front and in the field. In this 1944 photograph, an American welder repairs a vital fuel pipeline in Normandy shortly after the D-Day landings. A group of curious youngsters look on.
During the Second World War, the United States again called on the female workforce to help in the war effort. Here, National Youth Administration students attend a welding class at Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1943.
The 1950s witnessed several breakthroughs in welding technology including, in 1957, the flux-cored arc welding process. This uses the heat generated by a DC electric arc to fuse metal in a joint area.
This 1959 image captures a team of welders stationed in a workshop at LaGuardia Airport in New York. The aircraft industry, like shipbuilding and construction, relies heavily on the skills of experienced welders.
Pipeline construction is equally dependent on qualified welders. The caption to this 1961 photograph reads: "It takes more than three hours to fill each joint between pipe ends with arc-molten metal. The welding operation goes on day and night."
Laser welders produce a beam of high intensity light, which, when focused into a single spot, provide a concentrated heat source—creating narrow deep welds and fast welding speeds. Here, a machine's laser beam is welding hairpins onto an electrical motor component.
The early years of motor vehicle manufacture often saw autoworkers manually wielding an acetylene torch as part of the production line process. Today, highly advanced computer programmed robotic or automated welding does the job for them.
A Los Angeles welder employed under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program puts the finishing touches to scores of huge ship ventilators destined for the US Liberty Ship fleet. Welding played its part in the construction of the SS Robert E. Peary, which gained fame during the Second World War for being built in a shorter time than any other such vessel: she was launched on November 12, 1942, just four days, 15 hours, and 26 minutes after the keel was laid down.
Laser beams are also used in precision metalwork production. The job entails a steady hand and years of experience.
The invention of welding also provided artists specializing in sculptor with a new tool. In this image, the late American artist Ruth Vodicka is seen working on a piece in 1950. Always practical, she would often repair items with her welder's torch in order to afford more art supplies. Today, sculptors all over the world use a welding torch rather than a hammer and chisel.
In his exhaustive 5th-century BCE work 'The Histories,' Greek historian Herodotus states that Glaucus of Chios "was the man who single-handedly invented iron welding." In fact, Glaucus is often distinguished as the inventor of the art of soldering metals. A bronze statue of Herodotus stands in the main reading room of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
A crude form of welding was used in the construction of the iron pillar of Delhi, erected in Delhi, India, about 310 CE.
The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain and by 1840 had swept across Europe and the United States, saw new manufacturing processes invented through technological innovation.
In the late 19th century, a Russian, Nikolai Slavyanov, and an American, C. L. Coffin, further refined the arc welding process with the invention of metal electrodes (an electrode coating allows the welder to control the current and voltage, making it easier to adjust the voltage output when increasing or decreasing work thickness).
From the late 1920s onwards, welding facilitated repair work on an industrial scale. Railroads such as this line in Los Angeles could be maintained swiftly by using electric arc welding equipment.
According to the American Welding Society, a welder is one of the highest paying jobs in the United States. In fact, the welding industry constitutes more than 57% of the country's total GDP, and for good reason. Buildings, machinery, automobiles, ships, aircraft, and bridges—they all at some point require the welder's hand in their construction. It's a highly skilled profession and much sought after. But when exactly was this unique fabrication process invented, and who are those responsible for its development?
Click through and find out how welding transformed industry.
How welding transformed industry
The welding industry constitutes more than 57% of the country's total GDP
LIFESTYLE History
According to the American Welding Society, a welder is one of the highest paying jobs in the United States. Buildings, machinery, automobiles, ships, aircraft, and bridges—they all at some point require the welder's hand in their construction. It's a highly skilled profession and much sought after. But when exactly was this unique fabrication process invented, and who are those responsible for its development?
Click through and find out how welding transformed industry.