CONTROLLED SOLID LIQUEFACTION
My entire approach to life design might appear too simple to believe. But, honestly, I select what fascinates me, master it, and get paid for it. TIG welding is no exception.
From early childhood, I was captivated by the sudden transformation of metal using electricity. A material seemingly indestructible, yet here they are, 2 pieces now just a puddle of liquid, quickly fused into something that’s always been that way. How cool is that?! Remember the shape-shifter in Terminator 2? And I get paid to do that? Yes, please!
Back when the USSR was still around — and my “intellectual” Swiss parents at work in Moscow weren’t watching — the “unsophisticated” local mechanics taught me stick welding before I even started painting serious landscapes. That distinct smell I once associated with metalwork? Turns out it was the proletariat’s alcohol fumes, not the ozone-rich air I might breathe today. I quit drinking in 2003, but I never quit welding.
WHY TIG?
I’ve learned MIG welding much later, already back in Europe, when I co-founded Idelekka, a custom cinema fabrication company to build my own one-of-a-kind rigs for my first feature film in 2011. Yet, TIG remains my favorite process.
- Elegance, Precision and No sparks: Unlike MIG, which prioritizes speed, TIG welding is about ultimate control. A properly executed stack-of-dimes bead is both structurally superior, visually flawless, and can be placed without all the spatter of SMAW / MIG.
- Quality: Paired with a 3-phase water-cooled system, TIG welding offers unmatched penetration, purity, and strength. Fail tests confirm acid cuts of this concave, maximal fusion weld technology. Pieces break at the surrounding metal, not at the welded joint.
- Versatility: AC/DC capability allows me to work on everything from plain vanilla steel, to various stainless steels to aerospace aluminum to titanium. Did you know that Soviet titanium submarines were welded in huge argon-filled hangars where workers wore personal air tanks? Next level in-the-box thinking.
Meditative Flow: I won’t lie — laying down diamond beads on a perfectly fitted, pellet-sanded metal structure, foot pedal finely regulating as I turn around a corner, 360° swiveling CK torch in hand — it’s trance-like. There’s something deeply relaxing and immediately solid about it that film production or even photography can’t offer.
TECHNICAL MASTERY: THE NERD SIDE
Ideally, welding is more than following “best practices” or activating some “smart program” of the “smart” transformer — it’s about understanding the fundamental science behind plasma and electron flow. A Soviet STEM-heavy education helps me understand and thus optimally control the essential variables that many fail to comprehend:
- Oxide Barriers: Why and how do we break it first before welding? Why the energy required to break the ionic bond of Al₂O₃ is 5 times higher than that required to join a new metallic lattice?
- Plasma Cone Physics: How does tungsten tip shape influence arc geometry?
- Heat Affected Zone (HAZ): Why managing it properly prevents warping and microfractures?
- Pulse Frequency Tuning: Fine adjustments to heat input and bead profile for aerospace-grade welding.
Laser welding is probably the only process that matches TIG on the nerd scale. Very impressive on thin material.
MANUFACTURING INTEGRATION: WELDING WITH DESIGN IN MIND
Being a product designer and manufacturing engineer, I don’t just follow a blueprint like a “regular” welder — I think ahead:
- Designing for Accessibility: Ensuring parts can be welded efficiently by accounting for reach, angles, and fixturing. After all, it might be me struggling with a tricky inverted corner — the reason I prototype from A to Z.
- Optimizing Technical Drawings: Annotating key areas with welding considerations — heat dissipation, distortion control, and multi-pass strategies.
- Custom Fixturing & Rotating Rigs: Engineering high-precision jigs to cut setup time and improve repeatability.
INDUSTRY NETWORK & BUSINESS ACUMEN
My direct relationships with welding machine manufacturers saves time and money:
- Machines & Consumables: I maintain a network of contacts directly at Lincoln Electric, Miller, ESAB, Fronius, Kemppi, GYS and the various accessories manufacturers like Furick and CK — no middlemen.
- Gas Supply Logistics:
- In the US? Super easy.
- France? Quasi-impossible unless you’re a corporate client “in the know” of annual contracts and accompanying legalese.
- Switzerland? Yet another completely different game.
I maintain supplier relationships with Air Products, Air Liquide, Linde, and Messer to cut through red tape and secure materials at the best prices.
My ESCP Europe business school education helps to add a broad, bottom-line view of the seemingly specialized profession.
SAFETY & TEAM MANAGEMENT
I take PPE seriously — because I’ve learned the hard way:
- Custom-sized welding jackets, bibs, and gloves: not a luxury, a necessity for long workdays. I still have the scars from testing short-sleeved TIG gloves while my muscle memory expected full sleeves. The HAZ is not where you want to rest your bare forearm. Ouch.
- Auto-darkening helmets: I standardize on ultra-wide field of view, curved 3M Speedglas, but if someone on my team prefers an Optrel, I don’t argue — welding comfort matters.
- Automation: If quantity justifies it, robotic arms can take over. As a robotics engineer, I can program them myself.
FINAL ARC
So, what do you call someone who meditates while TIG welding and invoices accordingly? A Welding Engineer? A TIG Specialist? I don’t care about titles. I care about results.
High-end welds. Swiss precision. Send me a WhatsApp and let’s join our efforts — I mean, our metals.
NEXT : ANATOLY IVANOV / SERVICES / HVAC ENGINEER