Techniques for welding thermoplastic tubes

In a method of welding two thermoplastic tubes which are mounted in a holding device in parallel relation, the tubes are then severed to create four cut ends, the tubes are then shifted to align a cut end of one tube with a cut end of the other tube, the aligned cut ends are pressed into contact with each other while in a heated state to become welded together, the improvement being in that the tubes are generally of round cross section in a dry condition without fluid in the tubes, during the severing step and welding step the cut ends are not flattened so that the cut ends remain in an open condition, the aligned cut ends are heated by a hot wafer prior to the welding step, the tubes are severed by a severing wafer of lower temperature than the hot wafer, the hot wafer is at a temperature in the range of 500-1200.degree. F. for melting and sterilizing the aligned cut ends, and the severing wafer is a warm wafer at about 350.degree. F.