The Bible mentions Tubal Cain," forged all types of tools from bronze and iron." He may have been one of the first to join metals with the forging process. His flame was an open hearth into which he placed the metals to be heated to the forging temperature. (Of interest, in forge welding the material does not melt. It becomes very soft at temperatures several hundred degrees lower. The most recent innovative joining process, Friction Stir Welding also does not melt the base metal-it just becomes soft and plastic!)

In 1892 Morehead and Wilson accidentally discovered how to make acetylene. It was found that combining acetylene with oxygen produced the hottest flame temperature--5720 degrees F. Since this is well above the melting point of most metals the oxyacetylene welding process soon developed.

In 1881 a Russian inventor, Benardos demonstrated the carbon electrode welding process. An arc was formed between essentially a moderately consumable carbon electrode and the work. A rod was added to provide needed extra metal. 

In 1885, Nikolai Benardos and Stanislav Olszewski were granted a patent for an electric arc welder with a carbon electrode called the Electrogefest. Nikolai Benardos (Russia) and Stanislav Olszewski (Poland) are considered the inventors of modern welding apparatus.

In 1904 Oscar Kjellberg in Sweden, who started ESAB, invented and patented the covered electrode. This electric welding process made excellent quality, strong welds very fast.

A significant invention was defined in a patent by Alexander, filed in December 1924 (Patent Number 1,746,207) for what came to be known as the Atomic Hydrogen Welding Process. It looks like MIG welding but hydrogen is used as the shielding gas which also provides extra heat as it burns with the surround the arc.

A major innovation was described in a patent (US Patent number 2,043,960) that defines the Submerged Arc Process invented by Jones, Kennedy and Rothermund. This patent was filed in October 1935 and assigned to Union Carbide Corporation. The Specification states, Page 4, Column 2, Lines 4 through 7 that the application was in part a continuation of applications Serial Numbers 657,836 and 705,893 filed in February 1933 and January 1934. The following was excerpted from an article written by Bob Irving in The Welding Journal; “The importance of welding was emphasized early in the war when President Roosevelt sent a letter to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who is said to have read it aloud to the members of Britain's House of Commons. The letter read in part, "Here there has been developed a welding technique (referring to Submerged Arc Welding) which enables us to construct standard merchant ships with a speed unequaled in the history of merchant shipping."

Russell Meredith working at Northrop Aircraft Company in 1939-1941 invented the TIG process. This new process was called "Heliarc" as it used an electric arc to melt the base material and helium to shield the molten puddle. Mr. Jack Northrop's dream was to build a magnesium airframe for a lighter, faster warplanes and his welding group invented the process and developed the first TIG torches. The patents were sold to the Linde Division of Union Carbide who developed a number of torches for different applications and sold them under the brand name Heliarc. Linde also developed procedures for using Argon which was more readily available and less expensive than Helium.

In a January 1990 Welding Journal article Gus Manz interviewed one of the key inventors of the MIG process (US Patent Number 2,504868- January 1949), Glen Gibson. Mr. Gibson indicated he had observed the demonstration of a manual submerged arc process by Lincoln Electric and had the vision to define the process using and inert gas shield. He had been working on TIG welding in the Development Lab at Airco at the time. He indicates although he went on to be the owner of a very successful business; "..the greatest single day in his life was the day Steve (Steve Sullivan worked with Glen at the Lab) and I cranked up the first (MIG) welding gun."

On July 26, 1955 Robert Gage (my old boss) filed US Patent Number 2,806,124 for Plasma, entitled "Arc Torch and Process." This was the first Plasma Torch and Process patent. It had 29 claims.  Although usable for welding it has gained wide acceptance as the process of choice for thermal cutting. 

Bob Gage was a brilliant Physicist and a great boss. Although tough, he always made you think, often with a critical statement such as; "Your solving a problem not know to exist using a method known not to work!" Bob managed the Welding R&D for the Linde Division of Union Carbide (in all US facilities) for many years.