When people are talking about the electric welder they are referring to welding with an open arc. Arc welding uses a power supply which thus creates an electric arc between an electrode and the base material used for the project. This in turn melts the metals at the welding point of contact. In this process the welder can use either direct current or alternating current. The electrodes used can be consumable or non-comsumable. The very process of arc welding is widely popular because of low operating costs involved.