statistics

[ronjhet]

hello guys,
one of our trainers in stick welding post us this challenge on why we are taking up basic stick welding, " Can any of you provide me hard evidence that welding would still be around in the next 50 or 100 years.., not hearsays but facts :D.!?"

tried to research on the topic but came up short, please help me answer our trainer's challenge to us.

thanks to you all :),
ron

[enlpck]

Versatility. Almost any material, almost any where (key word: almost), with low cost equipment and, for many steels in particular, excellent metallurgy, even with less than ideal base metal.

[Broccoli1]

Unless you have a Time Machine it is all "hearsay" as to what will be around in 50-100 years:)

[miweldmi]

I am by no means an expert. I just wanted to give my observations.

Welding will be around as long as it is the most economical choice. A simple case study with car frames: It is obviously not cheaper to cast and entire car frame(the ones that still have frames and aren't uni-body) from one piece of metal than it is to weld. If it were they would do it. They have found that creating it in pieces is easier for transport and storage, this therefore requires them to weld it together when needed. 99.9% of the time this is done by robots, so is the question 'Will welding be around?' or 'Will weldors be around?'

I would think both will be around, at least until they can create robots that can climb skyscrapers and weld in all positions in the tiniest of spaces.

I agree with Broccoli1 though. Sounds like a trick question, NO ONE can say with fact what will or won't be in 5, let alone 50 or 100 years. Nuclear bombs, asteroids, global warming, **** we might not BE here in 100 years. A factual position either way is just BS.

[dda52]

We hear this from time to time...some teacher trying to discourage stick welding since wire will make it obsolete. Well, they are idiots. Stick isn't going anywhere. Talk with Lincoln Electric and see where the bulk of their consumable income comes from. My money would be on stick. It is just far too versatile and flexible to become obsolete in the next 100 years. If they want evidence, tell them to prove it won't. I'd bet they come up with the same evidence. Nada.

[vicegrip]

I think pigeon-hole, paid-for the message trainers,
will soon be obsolete !!
Hope so anyway.

vg

[Broccoli1]

Ron,

Is your Instructor claiming that Stick welding will not be needed in the future?

Or is this a research assignment to prove that it will indeed be around for some time to come?

[Broccoli1]

From 2000-

LOL.

Read the first line of the Conclusion:D

http://www.aws.org/research/future.html

"Conclusion
Since time machines still exist only in the stories of H. G. Wells and other works of science fiction, no one can tell us exactly how welding will fare in the 21st century. However, the people who responded to the Welding Journal survey represent a cross section of fabricators of welded products and producers of welding equipment and related products. Together they offer a wide range of experience and knowledge. Answering the questions separately, in their respective cities, they still formed a concensus. They agree the future looks promising for welding. It remains and will continue to be a productive, cost-effective manufacturing method. However, steps must be taken to bring more skilled personnel into the industry, or changes must be made to accommodate for the lack of skilled personnel (e.g., welding automation). They also indicated the welding industry must embrace all of the modern-day technological tools to keep pace with the rest of the world. "

[weldckr]

Welding still boils down to a basic fundamental word. ART A= Arc length R= Rod angle and T= Travel speed. Stick welding enables you to master all of these to go on to other processes. I dont think stick welding is going anywhere soon.

[JimDon]

Broc,
The link certainly is the best piece I've seen in regard to anything coming close to answer the question posted by ronjhet. One of the things they teach you in school, and especially in regard to test taking, is if you cannot answer the specific question that is posed, do your best to answer as close to it as possible -- or if you studied for something different, answer the question you're prepared to answer. If ronjhet is an enterprising young man, and I'll assume he is at this point, he could easily site the website you've given him and write a pretty cogent answer dealing with the future of welding based upon the various responses and info given by that site. That means, however, that you (ronjhet) list the reference and quote from it. Don't lift it and present it as your own. No matter what, it has much more credence with citations from the authorities who responded and will be a stronger answer that way. Good luck with your assignment, and make sure you thank Broc for helping you out with your research.
Jim Don

[Steve Crum]

Myself I don't see stick going away anytime soon. I've read and followed metallurgy for some 35 years now and stick still reigns supreme in most heavy duty operations. Thermal (laser and cryogenic) and even bacterial manipulation of metal grain structures will force evolution of the weld processes, but on occasion one can still see 100+ year old forge and hammer welds still in service. Stick is a light year or two ahead of that.
The future holds that the manipulation of electric current will play a significant role in stick process and it has in MIG and TIG.
I'm sure we will see more and more exotic alloys that will not be conducive to stick as we know it but for the time being anyway I cannot see making repairs on a 966 bucket with a test tube.
GrandPa stated on more than a few occasions that if you have a marketable skill, keep it sharp until you die, if the skill dies when you do, who's problem is it then?

[wnkt]

One thought came to me about this... SHIPS!
They are always building ships of one sort or another, just watch the History channel or Discovery.....they have shows every now and then that has something to do with ships. Either cutting them up for scrap , building new ones....or stories on how they are going to build them bigger in the future.
Shipping is still one of the ways the world gets or sends its goods over seas. Tankers and container ships......not to mention war ships arent going anywhere soon.

[DrIQ]

30+ years ago some were predicting the end to stick welding as the flux cored wires started to gain in the welding market. Stick is still around and the annual sales have been stable. So the logical conclusion is stick will be around as long as the other arc welding processes.

[7mag_Jake]

Well if we can get ol boogley boogley from blowing up every house and buisness welding wil be around, How are they going to build buildings.:confused: Look at any thing that is welded, will that be here 50-100 yrs from now. Honestly no one knows what will happen tommorrow.

[thingy]

They have been trying,hard, but they ain't come up with a better way yet for many things,,and they won't,at least for many years to come,,sure mig has taken a bite,fluxcore too,,but,,,,,stick,mig,tig,,learn that and your set,,thingy