Can I weld Cor-Ten (Corten) material without damaging it alot?

Question:

I am going to use the material Corten to make a sculpture. It is going to for a four wall sculpture. My concern is that if I weld it down the line to connect the sheets, will it damage the finish it has?
Should I think about making some kind of a folding hinge to hold the corners at the top and bottom instead?
 

Anwser:

Corten should be fine to weld but it may require a different welding technique to ensure the welds weather at the same rate as the Corten. be careful to allow drainage from surfaces as Corten is still susceptible to rust. ill go into some specifics: Corten can be welded both manually and mechanically, provided the general rules of welding practices are observed. A prerequisite for obtaining identical mechanical properties in the weld and in the base material is the application of suitable welding consumables and the choice of appropriate welding conditions. To consider are EN 10025-5 - Technical delivery conditions for structural steels with improved atmospheric corrosion resistance.

Recommendations for welding of metallic materials-.
Lime basic electrodes, inert-gas welding wire, and wire/power combinations equivalent to the tensile strength of S355 steel are used as welding consumables.
For unprotected use care must be taken that the welded joint is also weather resistant. This is possible by using welding consumables matching the base material.
If due to design or building specification stress relieving is required, it should be performed in the range temperature from about 530°C to 580°C.

So basically you can't use Mig welding, stick welding allows the use of Corten welding rods which is essential as otherwise the joint will rapidly corrode the surrounding Corten