Enhancing Production Speed and Quality with nexAir’s LightWELD and Hercules Systems

Welding technology keeps getting better, and the newest systems let you take on work that used to be impractical or too time-consuming. LightWELD and Hercules represent two different approaches to making welding faster and more versatile. One gives you mobility and precision for detailed work. The other gives you power for heavy fabrication. Both can transform what your shop is capable of producing.

LightWELD Brings Laser Welding Anywhere You Need It

LightWELD is a handheld laser welding system that weighs about as much as a power drill. You can carry it to overhead joints, into tight corners, or anywhere else you need a weld without dragging heavy equipment behind you. The portability opens up jobs that used to require awkward positioning or creative rigging just to get a torch in place.

The laser beam is precise and concentrated, which creates clean welds with minimal heat spread. You get less warping on thin materials and smaller heat-affected zones overall. The finishing work goes faster because there’s less spatter and cleanup. Shops working on repairs, small components, or complex assemblies have seen dramatic time savings on the right applications. 

Hercules Handles Heavy Fabrication With Serious Power

Welding thick steel means laying down a lot of material, and standard equipment requires multiple passes with each pass adding time. The Hercules system deposits more weld metal per pass because it runs at higher heat with stable arc control. This allows you to cover more ground in less time, finishing faster.

Fabricators working with structural steel or heavy equipment know how punishing the work can be on welding equipment. Hercules is built to handle that kind of demand day after day. The system runs through long production shifts without the overheating issues that slow down lesser equipment. You get consistent arc performance even when you’re pushing high amperages hour after hour, which means the quality stays steady from the first weld of the day to the last.

Choose Based on What You’re Building

LightWELD and Hercules aren’t competing tools, they’re complementary ones. LightWELD shines when you need to move around the shop freely or work on thinner materials where precision matters most. Hercules takes over when you’re depositing heavy weld metal on structural work or thick plate. The shops getting the most value often have both systems because their work varies enough to need different capabilities depending on the job.

Think about what rolls through your bay doors most often. A shop building precision aerospace components might find LightWELD handling the majority of their welding while traditional equipment covers the rest. A heavy fabricator building mining equipment probably runs Hercules hard all day and keeps LightWELD around for the occasional detail work. There’s no universal answer because every shop has a different production mix.

These systems expand what you can take on and how quickly you can turn work around. We help our clients Forge Forward with equipment that fits what they’re building, backed by our KnowHow™ from years of installing these systems across different industries. Let’s talk about your current setup and figure out whether LightWELD, Hercules, or both would make a real difference in your operation.