In 1887, at the Perm cannon factory, he opened a power plant that worked with dynamo machines and arc lamps.

In connection with this process, he chosen not to call his method "welding" but rather "electric casting of metals" (Russian: "электрическая отливка металлов").

To demonstrate the capabilities of the welding machine, Nikolay Gavrilovich, having shaped a glass, welded seven non-melting metals and alloys: bell bronze, tombac, nickel, steel, cast iron, copper, nickel silver, and bronze ("Slavyanov's glass", Russian: "Славяновский стакан").

For this innovative contribution to engineering, he received a gold medal at the world electrotechnical exhibition in 1893 in Chicago, with the citation: "For producing a technical revolution."

Slavyanov proposed a "vanishing method": in order to eliminate the leakage of molten base and electrode metal, the workpiece consisted of coke or quartz moulding.

To protect against the harmful effects of the atmosphere, he proposed closing the welding site with slag, the thickness of which would not prevent the passage of electric current.

Slavyanov proposed an automatic regulator of the length of the welding arc, which he called an "electric smelting device," which enabled the use of a dynamo car in place of a storage battery.