What is TIG Welding?

What is TIG welding? TIG stands for  tungsten inert gas welding the American  Welding Society calls this process gas  tungsten arc welding or gtaw you might  also hear it called heliarc welding. 

TIG welding uses a tungsten electrode  tungsten has an extremely high melting  point when you TIG weld the electrode  gets hot but it doesn't melt we say that  it's a non consumable electrode it  doesn't mean it lasts forever it just  means that it doesn't melt and become  part of the weld you see in a lot of  other welding processes the electrode  melts and becomes filler metal those are  consumable electrode processes .

So here's  the tungsten electrode being held in a  TIG towards the electrode slips into a  collet and the collet tightens up  against the collet body you can adjust  the length that the electrode sticks out  of the holder by loosening up the end  cap when you tighten the end cap

The collet clamps down on the electrode TIG  works by melting the base metal and that  is the metal that makes up the two  pieces that are to be joined the heat is  generated by an electric arc that forms  between the base metal and the tungsten  electrode