The extensive application of heat-resisting steels is delayed by their poor weldability. Optimum technology has been developed for manual arc welding and heat treatment of structures of type 12KhM steels resulting in high cracking resistance. Trials were conducted to evaluate the efficiency of removing the structural stresses in tempering the structures. On the basis of the experimental results, it may be assumed that the toughness properties of the welded joints produced by manual arc welding can be improved by optimizing the alloying system of the weld metal, with the parent metal treated in the optimum heat treatment conditions. The aim of subsequent investigations was to assess the properties of the weld metal made with vanadium-free electrodes. It was found that the impact toughness increased two to three times; the mean hardness and the maximum hardness were both less than 220. The reduction in hardness and increase of the toughness properties of the metal are caused by the lower degree of hardening of the bulk of the grain and, consequently, by the lower concentration of plastic strain at the grain boundaries.