(This could probably be posted in metal working but I thought it was more of a general-interest note)
A young friend who cares for and trains our horses enrolled in an adult welding course in early January. Her only previous experience with welding was a class in high school.
It turns out she is good at it too and was picked yesterday for a competition involving welding overhead. The competition is in less than a week so to let her get in some extra practice she built a free-standing stand this afternoon in my little welding shop. The test samples will be tacked high on the post for welding.
I had an old truck brake drum for the base, some 1x3 rectangular tubing for the post, and cut some angle iron for bracing inside the brake drum. The thing is sturdy! (the little flat piece of scrap welded in the middle of the post is simply a place to attach the ground clamp.)
The test pieces have to be stick welded so we moved the MIG and TIG welders out and the Hobart AC/DC stick welder in. Fortunately I have about 4 tons of steel in my steel storage shed so all the materials were on hand!
olivia-welding-1.jpg olivia-welding-2.jpg
I am thrilled when a young person takes a genuine interest in such things! It’s really nice to have the facilities and everything on hand.
BTW, I have three people on the list to come for welding lessons and all of them are women - and oddly, all are evolved with raising and caring for animals. (What is it with young guys today - too busy with computers and sports?)
JKJ