Welding Terms

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I always thought that Straight or Reverse polarity was just too confusing to many people. I prefer DCEN or DCEP.  Can anyone tell me why we use Straight or Reverse Polarity?  Along those lines....Why do we have GTAW and TIG? or SMAW and Stick? Or GMAW and MIG? At least SAW or Submerged Arc Welding hasn't taken on another name, as far as I know, but if I made one up I would call it: Sandbox welding....Well, that's what it looks like to me....a hopper filled with sand and a sandbox underneath catching the excess shielding. I think I officially used as many smileys as I ever have.Lincoln Power Mig 210MP MIGLincoln Power Mig 350MP - MIG and Push-PullLincoln TIG 300-300Lincoln Hobby-Weld 110v  Thanks JLAMESCK TIG TORCH, gas diffuser, pyrex cupThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 101My brain
Reply:Reverse and straight are archaic terms common thirty plus years ago.   TIG and MIG are commercial/advertising terms and technically not correct.  It is similar to the terms Crescent wrench and adjustable wrench.
Reply:Current flows from negative to positive, thats why DCEN is called straight. The reverse of that would be positive to negative, hence reverse polarity DCEPTiG = Tungsten Inert Gas Mig = Metal Inert Gasboth terms describing the type of welding processes
Reply:Slag....you are cracking me up.Yeah, I know what the terms mean. I am not asking for a definition. I was asking why we use those terms when they are so easily misunderstood.Lincoln Power Mig 210MP MIGLincoln Power Mig 350MP - MIG and Push-PullLincoln TIG 300-300Lincoln Hobby-Weld 110v  Thanks JLAMESCK TIG TORCH, gas diffuser, pyrex cupThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 101My brain
Reply:lotech, So I could be proficient in TIG and not necessarily Heliarc? heheheLincoln Power Mig 210MP MIGLincoln Power Mig 350MP - MIG and Push-PullLincoln TIG 300-300Lincoln Hobby-Weld 110v  Thanks JLAMESCK TIG TORCH, gas diffuser, pyrex cupThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 101My brain
Reply:GTAW, GMAW are more correct terms for more processes.  TIG and MIG are still correct some of the time, in fact most of the time for TIG.  Most GMAW these days (on steel) is MAG, not MIG.Heck, some cheap companies call their flux-core-only machines a "gasless MIG."  Now THAT's taking it too far...DCSP and DCRP are very correct and easily understood by anyone with just a little electrical knowledge and easy to teach to the next generation.  The new prevelence of DCEN and DCEP is part of the same dummying down of technological terminology as replacing "weldor" with "welder."Crescent is a brand name of an adjustable wrench (and many other types of tools).  Not quite an accurate analogy.  We also say "Kleins" when referring to linemans pliers, and "Q-Tips" when referring to cotton swabs.  Xerox, Kleenex, myriad others.
Reply:Thanks for clearing that up.
Reply:Originally Posted by slag7018Current flows from negative to positive, thats why DCEN is called straight. The reverse of that would be positive to negative, hence reverse polarity DCEP
Reply:Back in the days of bare wire arc welding (no gas, no flux on the rod, usually no flux on the joint just wire), it was found that you could get a weld running electrode negative, but not electrode positive. On EP, the rod would melt back and spatter too much, on EN, the base metal would melt and the arc could be maintained to get metal transfer (similar to why we run DC TIG EN)Reverse polarity is, literally, what you get when you reverse the leads in the machine, you know, like you do if you wrap the bare rod in wet newspaper to smooth out the arc.
Reply:SAW does have a slang term.  It was called "squirt" welding when it first started being used.  I think that it the term for the hand held feeders.
Reply:enlpck,Wow, there's something worth hearing more about. It interests me to hear how things were done long ago. To see how far we have progressed.Lincoln Power Mig 210MP MIGLincoln Power Mig 350MP - MIG and Push-PullLincoln TIG 300-300Lincoln Hobby-Weld 110v  Thanks JLAMESCK TIG TORCH, gas diffuser, pyrex cupThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 101My brain
Reply:Somewhere at work, I'v got an old, old Lincoln welding hndbook, with pictures, descriptions, etc. Either that one or the Machinery's welding guide of the same vintage has a comment to the effect that some opeple are finding that it helps if a coating is applied to the rod before use, and mentions blue clay (marl, maybe?, which would make it a calcium carbonate active coating), rutile (titanium dioxide base),  and newspaper as options.
Reply:Welder is the British spelling, plus Australia and New Zealand and most former British countries, don't know about Canada tho'.
Reply:i thought welder was the machine and weldor was the person doing the welding63' Lincoln SA200 2008 miller trailblazer 302fibre-metal pipelinermiller camo BWEand all the guns and ammo a growin boy needs
Reply:USMCGremlin is correct, except that the dummying-down of technology has caused "welder" to also be not only accepted, but preferred now for both.It USED to be that a person was an -or, and a machine was an -er, both of which did the same thing.  But they'd rather pass out condoms in schools, and teach the real meaning of Shakespeare (and I like Shakespeare...), so we had to make some sacrifices with the English language.I remember when AT&T first started competing against 1-800-COLLECT.  They choose 1-800-OPERATOR.  Then another company made a fortune by using AT&T's advertising, but buying the number 1-800-OPERATER, which isn't even a word.  But millions called it, thinking they were getting AT&T.  Idiots.
Reply:Lincoln called sub arc "squirt welding, but it was first called "union melt" by the inventor, union carbide (linde). i think lincoln has always been into sub arc & stick welding more than ANY other  processes . They like SELLING consumables ! Especially  fluxes -for sub arc & covered electrodes[SIZE="5"Yardbird"
Reply:Lincoln likes selling AMPS. DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:DCSP and DCRP are about as technically correct in modern times as "crank 'er over" or "fire it up".. I like old terminology, it adds color and is still somewhat applicable in many cases. But I'm not sure modernizing ones terminology can be considered dumbing down in all cases.
Reply:Originally Posted by SandyDCSP and DCRP are about as technically correct in modern times as "crank 'er over" or "fire it up".. I like old terminology, it adds color and is still somewhat applicable in many cases...
Reply:Originally Posted by MAC702I remember when AT&T first started competing against 1-800-COLLECT.  They choose 1-800-OPERATOR.  Then another company made a fortune by using AT&T's advertising, but buying the number 1-800-OPERATER, which isn't even a word.
Reply:Originally Posted by ChamferTrodeActually, because the "r's" are 'silent' (a phone number is 7 digits) operate is a word and operato isn't, at least in English, but is in Latin:... Latin expression meaning literally "from the work having been worked" ... and with the specific meaning "by the very fact of the action's being performed."... ... this is why weldor is the person, and welder is the machine.
Reply:Originally Posted by ChamferTrodeActually, because the "r's" are 'silent' (a phone number is 7 digits) operate is a word and operato isn't, ...
Reply:English language has such archaic complex rules, and regional variations that, we must be tolerant of perceived misuse.It certainly is wrong to draw any perception about a person based on language skills.Was there ever a paintor, bakor, drivor, or lawyor, sweepor...? Well, why should there be an operator?I'll give you a pacific example; What logical reason is there to not have a "U" in forty?Your hair will turn grey, I mean gray, trying to keep it all straight!
Reply:Originally Posted by denrepYour hair will turn grey, I mean gray...
Reply:Re: PolarityWhile Straight and Reverse may be better descriptions of the process, DCEN and DCEP are more easily understood for the application of the process.Just my $.005 worth.John-----------------------------------|Craftsman 230/140 amp AC/DC BuzzboxSynchrowave 250Thanks John. That was exactly my point.Lincoln Power Mig 210MP MIGLincoln Power Mig 350MP - MIG and Push-PullLincoln TIG 300-300Lincoln Hobby-Weld 110v  Thanks JLAMESCK TIG TORCH, gas diffuser, pyrex cupThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 101My brain
Reply:The English language is not exclusively from Latin.  It is really a pidgin language that has arrived as a world language, derived primarily from Latin, Greek, and German, as well as several others.  It is a complex language with more synonyms than any other because of its many roots.  It is almost impossible to discuss the variances in the English language between its words without including (and coordinating) the root language for each of those words.It is also constantly being "simplified", to be more politically correct (gag).
Reply:You guys need to put your stinger down and go to the movies and spray some Windex on the subject. You see it is all comes from the Greek word Weldos which translated mean Weldor.
Reply:That was a good movie!But, for mine own part, it was Greek to me...
Reply:I like DCEN and DCEP.   They describe exactly what is going on with no confusion (unless one is unclear as to which is the electrode...).Hmmm...  I'm thinkin bout calling GMAW, MIG, MAG, flux-core, etc. all simply "wire welding".  MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:It would be interesting to see a table of DCEN(EP) versus DCSP(RP) preference in one column and age (or years welding) in another.  I think we'd see a correlation, esp. if we factor in where we learned the trade.