Teaching welding.

[Shield Arc]

what is your thinking on making him weld with one hand??I don't see any benefit there.

Well, I think you'll agree. Sooner or later he is going to be standing on the top step of a 12-foot step ladder reaching out as far as he can welding over head. Or leaning back in a safety belt 200-feet in the air reaching as far as he can. Not everything is welded on a bench. If the kid can't hack it in my shop, he's not going to hack it on a construction site.

 

[rsewill]

That is one expensive bridge! And good for him!!

 

[Shield Arc]

Ever seen a cheap bridge? This section of bridge cost $6.281 billion.

FAQs | Bay Bridge Info

 

[CJONE]

Having worked as a certified welder and instructor....what is your thinking on making him weld with one hand??I don't see any benefit there.
Steady hands and young eyes are a great benefit.I started at about 20 years old and learned on the job.Served me well for 39 years at the trade.

I can honestly say the only time I ever use 2 hands is when 1 is too tired to hold the stinger. I have always told everybody who I have helped to learn to use 1 hand at a time but they must learn with the left and right hand. That has helped me more times than I can count. CJ

 

[CJONE]

I just can't weld overhead ... whats the trick?

The correct rod and set up to start. Practice, practice, ect ect. I once asked the guy who showed me how to weld pipe, how I could make the bottom passes of the weld look like the top? He told me to screw up the top! Not what I was looking for. After about 4 weeks straight of running pipe welds I finially got close, not perfect but close. CJ

 

[CJONE]

Very good friend of mine called last week, and asked if I would teach his wife's nephew the proper way to use a torch. Friday will be this 22 year old kid's first day in his apprenticeship. Which he will be starting on a $4.65 billion bridge. My buddy will be one of the many craft superintendents on this project.
Saturday the kid came over, and I showed him how to set up, and break down a torch. How to cut with acetylene, and propane. I could tell this kid had a really steady hand. Mind you, he has never been around anything like this in his short life! Monday he came back, and I started him on some 6010, welding flat, I wouldn't allow him to use two hands. I was shocked at how well he held the correct arc length, and rod angle. Then I had him run some 7018. He caught right onto this, so I started him on some vertical up welding, just to bring him back down a peg or two. This will take some time for him to master, but this kid is a very quick learner! He came back this morning and worked on his vertical up with 7018, made some good improvement. So I started him on some over head welding with 7018. Remember he is welding with only one hand!
Here is his first ever over head welding! Don't know about you, but I'm impressed!

WSDOT - SR 520 Program - Costs, Funding and Tolling

He was running 7018 verts and overhead the first day?? Yea thats impressive. I was happy if I could get somebody to quit sticking the rod the first day!! Good for you to teach him also, I hate to say it but skilled stick welding is getting to be a lost art. I would love to meet you sometime. CJ

 

[Mark Page]

Wow !! He must have had a good instructor. That looks like a weld anyone would be proud to call their own.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Good instruction goes a long way in learning to weld, but natural talent is required to get good. I started my career welding and got good by having a hands on guy show me how to weld pipe on a 100% xray steam line. I was kind of self taught and was a fair structural welder but with just a few minutes of instruction from a professional pipe welder had me passing the xray quality welding on pipe. Of course I had the steady hand like ShieldArc's student back then and could weld with either hand equally well which was a big plus when TIG welding. I have subsequently passed along my knowledge and taught welding in community college courses and company welding schools. NOTHING beats natural talent. Some students will pick it up quickly and be able to pass a pipe welding test in 6 weeks of 6 hours per week of class while others couldnt pass a structural test if they practiced 10 years. You either have the ability or you dont. If you dont, you may be able to cobble two pieces of steel together with a welding rod but you wont ever make the "perfect" welds that makes everyone stand around and admire. Shieldy, It looks like you may have started the next champion welder on the right path. I was pretty good at picking up on the technique fast when I started, but no where near that fast.

This young man will show some old guys up in no time with a little practice and continued good advice. I am glad that he has taken an interest in construction. It seems most young folks now days want to work at a computer station or other white collar job and we are really hurting for skilled young workers to fill all of us old farts positions as we fade away.

 

[Shield Arc]

I don't think this younger generation wants to work this hard. I told this kid if he hasn't been digging ditches by hand, he has never worked like he is about to. I also told him come Tuesday morning when he wakes up, he is going to be cursing my buddy for doing this to him.:laughing:
Can't wait to hear what he thinks about building bridges.

 

[jake98]

I don't think this younger generation wants to work this hard. I told this kid if he hasn't been digging ditches by hand, he has never worked like he is about to. I also told him come Tuesday morning when he wakes up, he is going to be cursing my buddy for doing this to him.:laughing:
Can't wait to hear what he thinks about building bridges.

Well, at least he'll be on a site where they still speak english. Every other place I work anymore I feel like I'm in a foreign country.

It must be interesting, the differences in doing bridge work, you can't just set stuff over on the side for when you need it.. must be a whole education in itself.