5 Very Important Persons in Welding - Did You Know?

Welding has been around in our life and for thousands of years. Welding artifacts from the Bronze Age and Iron Age are displayed at many museums and undeniably, welders from all ages and backgrounds have contributed to welding and helped make it the way it is today. Still, there are people whose accomplishments make them most significant figures in welding.

1. Baron Auguste de Méritens

As a French electrical engineer living in 1800s, Baron August de Méritens  was the first person to find out how to use the heat generated by arc to weld the lead plates onto manufacture storage batteries. In 1881, he got the French patent for the first arc welding process. Not all, he developed welding equipment with enclosed hood and fume extraction pipe to control hazardous lead oxide fumes from hot lead. This was the beginning of the carbon arc welding technique that are commonly used today, though it was Nikolay Benardos  - Baron’s student – that went on to acquire a patent for creating the first electrode holder.

2. Nikolay Benardos

A Soviet postage stamp solely dedicated to N - the father of arc welding

Nikolay Benardos was a down-to-earth Russian inventor of 18th century. He was credited with 200 inventions in the electrical engineering realm. Benardos not just invented and marketed electric welding but produced a special electric welding battery to supply needed current for electric welding jobs. His welding inventions can be named as welding with indirect arc, welding in a gas stream, arc cutting on land and underwater as well, carbon arc welding. Carbon arc welding become especially popular in 1890s and early 1900s as it allowed individuals to weld iron and lead.

The patent for arc welding method named Elektrogefest granted to Benardos and his sponsor Stanisław Olszewski in 1887

3. Nikolay Slavyanov

Nikolay Slavyanov was another notable inventor from Russia who lived just about the same time as Nikolay Benardos. He introduced shielded arc welding 8 years or so after Benardos had invented carbon arc welding. Shielded arc welding is now one of most popular welding techniques in the world and is often used for maintenance and repair, construction of heavy steel structures and industrial fabrication. It works well in iron, aluminum, different types of steel, nickel and copper alloys.

4. Julio Gonzalez

Born in Barcelona, Spain in late 1800s, Julio Gonzalez was a remarkable sculptor and painter. Indeed, he wasn’t the first artist to create metallic sculptures using welding. What made him stand out is not only that he was a master at artistic welding but also that he strongly influenced other famous sculptors who were interested in this field. Julio Gonzalez worked extensively with Pablo Picasso – one of greatest and most influential artists of 20th century.  Gonzalez gave Picasso welder training and collaborated with him in creating many sculptures, among them is “La Tete Painte en Fer.” Julio Gonzalez is recognized as a top-notch artist from his time period. Over one hundred of his sculptures are now displayed in Museum of Modern Art (Valencia, Spain).

5. David Smith

David Smith is perhaps best known for the Cubis, which were among the last pieces he accomplished before his death. The sculptures in this series are made of stainless steel with a hand-brushed finish reminiscent of gestural strokes of Abstract Expressionist painting. The Cubi works consists of arrangements of geometric shapes, which shed light on his interest in balance and the contrast between positive and negative space.

Borned in early 1990s, David Smith was an abstract expressionist American sculptor and painter. He is famous for using various styles of welding to create sculptures. His earlier works were created using oxyacetylene torch, but later he mastered his welding art with electric arc welder. He utilized various techniques for visual effects that looked like paintings, and made his sculptures using steel, cast bronze and other metals. Also, he was an accomplished welder who worked at an auto-manufacturing factory and in locomotive construction at different points in his life.

The list is unfinished…

Welding has an ever-long and fascinating history, and unsurprisingly, famous welders have been influenced by those that had gone before them. Even so, this famous welder list isn’t finished. Let’s await other amazing people entering the list; and who knows, one or some of them may be welders from your company. These days, welders around the world are working to master the art of welding by creating new techniques, improving quality and consistency and creating new works of art.

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