Weld Creations provides aerospace welding in Southern California, backed by AWS D17.1 certification, the American Welding Society’s specification for aerospace fusion welding. We TIG weld titanium, nickel alloys, aluminum and stainless steel for aerospace components, tooling and fixtures, ground support equipment, test hardware and prototypes, from our shop in Glendora, within reach of the region’s aerospace manufacturers.
AWS D17.1: what it means for your parts
AWS D17.1 governs how aerospace welds are made and judged. It sets requirements for:
- Welding procedures. Documented parameters for the material, joint and process.
- Welder qualification. Welders demonstrate their skill on the materials and joints they’ll weld.
- Inspection. Visual inspection, plus the additional methods called for by the weld class and your specification.
- Acceptance criteria. Limits on porosity, undercut, cracks, discoloration, reinforcement and other features, set by weld class.
Welds are assigned a class based on criticality. Class A is the most critical, with the strictest criteria, followed by Class B and Class C. Your drawing or engineering specification defines the class. We weld and inspect to it.
Certification also says something beyond compliance. The same discipline D17.1 demands carries into everything we weld: controlled heat input, clean joints, full shielding and honest inspection.
Materials
Aerospace work concentrates in materials that punish sloppy welding:
- Titanium. CP grades and Ti-6Al-4V. Requires complete inert-gas shielding until the weld cools, since contamination shows up as discoloration and embrittlement.
- Nickel alloys. Inconel 625 and 718, plus Hastelloy X for high-temperature service, welded with matched fillers and low heat input.
- Aluminum. 6061, 2219 and 5xxx-series alloys, welded on AC with careful oxide cleaning and filler selection.
- Stainless steel. Austenitic and precipitation-hardening grades for brackets, ducting and fittings.
Aerospace work we’re built for
We’re a precision welding and fabrication shop, and we’re most useful to aerospace customers in these areas:
Components and assemblies
- Brackets, mounts, housings and weldments
- Tube and duct assemblies
- Machined-and-welded components where distortion control matters
Tooling, fixtures and ground support equipment
- Weld and assembly fixtures, check fixtures and tooling
- Ground support equipment (GSE): stands, carts, frames and handling equipment
- Test rigs, test stands and hardware for qualification testing
Prototype and R&D hardware
- First articles and development parts for new programs
- Short-run builds while designs are still changing
- Design-for-welding input before a part goes to production
Supplier requirements
Aerospace programs vary widely in what they require of suppliers. Some need specific quality-system registrations or special-process approvals. Others, especially R&D, tooling, test hardware and ground support equipment, need a skilled, certified welder who can deliver on schedule.
Tell us your program’s requirements up front, including flow-down clauses, documentation, inspection and any required approvals. We’ll tell you honestly whether we’re a fit before you spend time on a full quote. Where additional inspection or NDT is required, we arrange it through our partner network.
How we control quality
- Clean joints. Degreasing and oxide removal immediately before welding, with dedicated tools for titanium, nickel alloys and aluminum.
- Full shielding. Back purging and trailing shields for reactive and oxidation-sensitive materials.
- Distortion control. Fixturing, weld sequencing and heat management that protect machined features.
- Documentation. Material certifications with traceability, weld records and inspection photos, agreed at quote time.
- First-article approval. For repeat parts, nothing runs until you approve the first article. See production welding.
What to send for an aerospace quote
A complete request gets a faster, more accurate quote:
- Drawing and specification. Including weld symbols, weld class and the applicable welding specification.
- Material and condition. Alloy, temper or heat-treat condition, and whether you supply the material.
- Inspection requirements. Visual only, or additional methods such as penetrant or radiographic inspection.
- Documentation. Certifications, traceability and any report format your quality system requires.
- Quantity and schedule. Prototype, first article, or production quantity and delivery dates.
Why Weld Creations
Our core process is precision TIG welding, the process of choice for thin-wall and exotic aerospace materials. Mark May is a third-generation welder certified to AWS D17.1. We’re a focused shop where the person you talk to is the person responsible for the weld, and where the partner network covers machining, finishing and inspection, so you get one point of contact.
For a summary to share with your supplier-quality team, see our capabilities.
Request an aerospace welding quote
Send the drawing, material, weld class and specification, quantity, documentation requirements and timeline. We reply within one business day.