Her first project

[EddieWalker]

My girlfriend saw me working on a project and said she wanted to learn to weld. She's never worked with metal or built anything from scratch.

I have a few pieces of metal lying about with nothing planned for them.

I explained the basics of an arc welder and what to expect. I only have the one helmet, so I wasn't able to demonstrate to her what will happen.

She was scared at first, but didn't let it stop her. After about ten minutes she was running a decent bead across the flat stock.

 

[EddieWalker]

Now that she's got some confidence with the the welder and can handle the stick, it's time to move on.

I gave her my magnet and told her to put two pieces of metal together to form an "L" shape. Next she added two more pieces until she had the walls of a box.

Here she is welding to her hearts content.

 

[btolle]

Darn you Walker! I almost got my eyes burned looking at the second picture. I had no idea a picture on the Internet could be that intense.

I'm going to come up there one of these days and see just what all is going on. Bulldozers, ladies welding schools, who knows whats next??? /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Bill Tolle

 

[EddieWalker]

She spent about two hours getting the four pieces together, but they are solid. The welding was more fun then she expected it to be, but that was nothing compared to grinding.

She absolutely loved the four inch grinder!!! She spent over an hour working on the four outside corners of her square.

She's pretty exited about creating her first project. She was asking some questions about adding rebar to it and different ideas of creating legs for it, but she hasn't decided on what she's making yet.

Next weekend she'll spend some more time on it.

 

[Henro]

Eddie,

Great to see someone picking up a new skill.

Might be a good idea for her to cover her arms completely though if she is going to be welding much... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

No experience with it myself, but I heard that one can get a pretty bad "sunburn" from the UV, and that it just hurts and does not turn into a tan afterwards...

By the way, just yesterday my daughter was asking me about learning to weld. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[40Kchicks]

Maybe her first project should be a nice welding table. Working on the ground isn't the most comfortable.

I'm impressed. My wife doesn't like things that can burn you and make sparks so metal working is out. When I got my plasma cutter my wife wanted to give it a try. I told her what to do and she started cutting. I hadn’t noticed that she was wearing shorts and she got sprayed with thousands of tiny sparks. She is pretty afraid of that plasma cutter since.

Eric

 

[EddieWalker]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Darn you Walker! I almost got my eyes burned looking at the second picture. I had no idea a picture on the Internet could be that intense. )</font>

Bill,

It took five pictures of her welding with the camera over my shoulder and me facing the oposite direction, I was aiming by luck. Getting it on my fifth try was better then I'd hoped for!!!

 

[EddieWalker]

Henro,

Your right about the burns you can get from arc welding. I used to get some really bad ones in high school welding in a tank top. But that's nothing, I also used to wear flip flops while welding!!!!

I'll have her wear one of my old sweatshirts next time.

Thanks.

 

[txdon]

Wow, she is ahead of me. After three weeks of classes (the first week just transferring to the right class) all I can do decent is weld "T"s. After seeing all the little burned holes in my long sleeve welding shirt you might want to give her one of yours to wear. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

edit: Oops we were both thinking the same thing, you just type faster.

 

[RedRocker]

I've got a fence project in my future, bring her up to Bowie and I'll put her to work. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Scozz]

How pissed was she when she woke the next day with sun burnt arms? Better get her long sleeves! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif .. Scozz

 

[johnday]

Eddie; have you given her any 7024 rod to try yet? I used some on a horizontal lap weld last night at class .2nd try and I had the best weld I've done so far. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[frank_f15]

I'll 2nd the motion for long sleevs and a welding table!

 

[EddieWalker]

I gotta be honest with you guys. I took welding class in high school, and I've been winging it ever since. My welding rod is what I come across here and there, along with some freebies I've been given.

I don't know my rod numbers, sizes or types. When you say 7024, you're speaking a foreign language. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I grab a piece of metal, look at how thick it is to choose a rod and adjust the amount of power it takes to flow without melting through.

 

[johnday]

Eddie; 70 means 70000# tensile strenghth, the 2 means horizontal welding position, and the 4 relates to the type of flux, low hydrogen in this case I believe. Just learning welding myself. The more I talk with the welders I know, I'm finding I'm learning more scientific stuff than I need. I still find it interesting tho. The 7024 rod almost welds for you, but the penetration isn't as good as some other rod. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[EddieWalker]

She was back at it yesterday. She's been talking about her project all week and couldn't wait for the weekend!

The scraps she's using are all 1 1/2 inches wide and 5 1/2 inches long. To build the bottom, she needed four pieces.

This was my idea, since it gives her more practice welding.

 

[EddieWalker]

The more hours of experience she gets in, the better she becomes. I check on her on occasion, and it's amazing the speed she's picking it up.

All of a sudden, she said she got it. It all came together and what I'd been explaining to her made sence.

You can tell by these latest welds thats she's telling the truth.

 

[EddieWalker]

Here's an action welding shot.

 

[ronjhall]

Wow! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
Get a look at the outfit. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
She sure knows how to dress for the occasion. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
No more burns. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Kub0ta]

Dude shes hot! haha