All worksheets / Welding
Edition 2026Active Merit Badge
Welding
Official Requirements & Fillable Workbook · 2026 Edition
Welding uses electric arcs or gas torches to fuse structural metal at thousands of degrees. Safety with eye shields, leathers, and ventilation is paramount. Requirement 5 and 6 require setting up oxyacetylene, SMAW, or GMAW equipment and laying sound butt, lap, and tee joint weld beads on steel plates under experienced supervision.
Key Requirements Covered:
- Welding Safety, Eye Shields & Ventilation
- SMAW, GMAW & Oxyacetylene Equipment Setup
- Laying Beads: Butt, Lap & Tee Joints
- Weld Inspection, Metallurgy & AWS Careers
5Printable Pages
7Requirements
2012Reqs Revised
What is on the worksheet: Welding Requirements
Every requirement for the Welding merit badge, word for word as published, with room to write under each one on the printed worksheet.
1Hazards and First Aid
Do the following:
- a Explain to your counselor the hazards you are most likely to encounter while welding, and what you should do to anticipate, help prevent, mitigate, or lessen these hazards.
- b Show that you know first aid for, and the prevention of, injuries or illnesses that could occur while welding, including electrical shock, eye injuries, burns, fume inhalation, dizziness, skin irritation, and exposure to hazardous chemicals, including filler metals and welding gases.
2Safety Gear and Equipment Care
Do the following:
- a With your counselor, discuss general safety precautions and safety data sheets (SDS) related to welding. Explain the importance of the SDS.
- b Describe the appropriate safety gear and clothing that must be worn when welding. Then, present yourself properly dressed for welding—in protective equipment, clothing, and footwear.
- c Explain and demonstrate the proper care and storage of welding equipment, tools, and protective clothing and footwear.
3Welding Terms and the Welding Process
Explain the terms welding, electrode, slag, and oxidation. Describe the welding process, how heat is generated, what kind of filler metal is added (if any), and what protects the molten metal from the atmosphere.
4Cutting Methods
Name the different mechanical and thermal cutting methods. Choose one method and describe how to use the process. Discuss one advantage and one limitation of this process.
5Compare and Set Up a Welding Process
Do the following:
- a Select two welding processes, and make a list of the different components of the equipment required for each process. Discuss one advantage and one limitation for each process.
- b Choose one welding process. Set up the process you have chosen, including gas regulators, work clamps, cables, filler materials, and equipment settings. Have your counselor inspect and approve the area for the welding process you have chosen.
6Practice Welds and Joints
After successfully completing requirements 1 through 5, use the equipment you prepared for the welding process in 5(b) to do the following:
- a Using a metal scribe or soapstone, sketch your initial onto a metal plate, and weld a bead on the plate following the pattern of your initial.
- b Cover a small plate (approximately 3" x 3" x 1/4") with weld beads side by side.
- c Tack two plates together in a square groove butt joint.
- d Weld the two plates together from 6(c) on both sides.
- e Tack two plates together in a T joint, have your counselor inspect it, then weld a T joint with fillet weld on both sides.
- f Tack two plates together in a lap joint, have your counselor inspect it, then weld a lap joint with fillet weld on both sides.
7Careers and the American Welding Society
Do the following:
- a Find out about three career opportunities in the welding industry. Pick one and find out the education, training, and experience required for this profession. Discuss this with your counselor, and explain why the profession might interest you.
- b Discuss the role of the American Welding Society in the welding profession.
Two dates, two different things
Requirements Revision vs. Worksheet Date
Scouting America last revised the Welding requirements in 2012. That is the badge, not this sheet — an older year does not mean the worksheet is out of date.
Verbatim Fidelity & Verification
This worksheet was checked against https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/welding/ in Aug 2026 and reproduces the requirements word for word. Both dates are printed on the sheet, so a copy in a binder can always be placed in time.
Requirement text is © Scouting America, reproduced verbatim. The worksheet layout and design are original to this project.
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