WeldTube's first try at laser welding takes off a week after it went up
Experienced welders, new to the laser, ask whether a handheld machine could stand in for MIG, TIG and Stick, and the comments answer with safety tips and shop questions.
WeldTubeStory of Why this story? The video is running at 21,190 views a day, 30 times its usual pace (709).
Will Laser Welding Replace MIG, TIG & Stick? | xTool MetalFab Test
"Will Laser Welding Replace MIG, TIG & Stick? | xTool MetalFab Test" is WeldTube's long-form look at a handheld machine its maker bills as three tools in one: it welds, cuts and cleans metal. The hook, as the description tells it, is that the people holding the torch are experienced welders who had never laser welded before. So the video tests two things at once: how the welds come out, and how fast a seasoned hand can learn something new.
The description lays out the plan. They try welding, then cutting, and look for where the laser shines and where it falls short next to the three traditional processes. MIG feeds wire through a gun, TIG uses a tungsten electrode and a separate filler rod, and Stick burns a flux-coated rod. All three are skills welders spend years on.
The video went up on September 25 and had a quiet first week. Then, in a single day, it drew more than twice what it had gathered before and passed 30,000 views. The channel had built up to it with shorts: one on September 18 asking whether laser welding is actually good, and another on September 28 announcing the first try. A short of a 6010 root pass, the classic electrode for the first bead on pipe, passed 100,000 views the same week, and the channel's whole day ran well ahead of usual.
The comment section reads like a shop break room. One viewer who has owned a 3-in-1 laser welder for a couple of years leads with a reminder to wear a respirator. Another argues the laser will never replace the big three but is quickly becoming a fifth main process. Others want to know about power use, and whether it can lay down several passes on fillet welds in thick plate.
Published on Trari
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What viewers say
It will never replace them but it’s quickly becoming the 5th main process
@bluelagooonSee it on YouTubeI've had a 3-1 laser welder for about two and a half years, and my advice to anyone considering one is to make sure you wear a respirator. I use a Miller LPR-100 Half Mask Respirator. Happy lasering, nice looking welds.
@CraigHollabaughSee it on YouTube
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- Channel
- WeldTube
- Subscribers
- 714,000
- Channel views, pace per day
- 267,697 (on a normal day: 175,446)
- Video published
- September 25, 2026
- Video views so far
- 30,155 (8 days online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 21,190 (on a normal day: 709)
The numbers
An eight-day-old video that suddenly found a second wind, on a day when the whole channel ran ahead of its usual pace.
💡 Test your knowledge
In MIG welding, what does the "I" stand for?
MIG stands for Metal Inert Gas, after the inert shielding gas, such as argon, that protects the weld.
