Like sewing with fire!

One of my first welds. (Photo by Kenneth Obregon)

My two welding classes were Oxy-Fuel Joining Processes with Charlie Cooper on Mondays and Wednesday evenings, and Basic Shielded Metal Arc with Geoff Lautzenheizer on Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons. These classes were almost three hours long, and held in the Rattling Jack building at the south end of campus. Two of the students in both of my welding classes were my teammates, Ben and Kenneth. I felt extremely fortunate to have them in class for extra support. I made other new friends in the classes as well.

One end of the shop is set up like a classroom with metal tables and the other end has welding booths with black curtains so others don’t get blinded by the arc. Since students are literally working with fire and electricity, it’s crucial to wear protective gear, i.e., a welding hat, hood, welding coat, glasses, welding gloves, work pants and welding boots. I was issued most of that stuff from the classroom, although my dad bought me other things like the pants, bag, bucket, and boots with electrical hazard protection and steel toes. There were also some non-safety related items issued to me by the college like a wire brush, chipping hammer, striker, dark glasses for Oxyfuels, and of course, the steel, filler metal for oxy-fuel and welding rods for arc. Also, I had another pair of white work gloves specifically for oxyfuels. My first week at welding class was basically just lectures to introduce the class to the welding equipment and how it works. These lectures basically took up the whole class time, but somehow I managed to make it through the almost five hours of lecturing that first week.

The following week we started to actually weld in the booths. During oxy-fuel class, we got to do some test welds with the torch only on a thin piece of metal. Charlie went over how to turn on the torch. First, there are these gauges mounted to the wall with knobs underneath in which you’re supposed to turn until the gauge points to a certain area. You turn the acetylene knob then you take a striker and strike it next to the torch, which produces a flame. Then you turn the other knob which is the oxygen until the flame is like a pencil tip. Sometimes, the torch tends to make a popping noise followed by a high pitched noise. If it does, you have to close all knobs or else it could result in an explosion if not dealt with quickly.

Geoff’s class on the other hand involved high-voltage electricity. You turn on the welding machine by flipping a switch on the back. Then, you hook a ground clamp to the welding table which makes anything metal on it charged and able to be welded. Next, there is a stinger that you can stick a rod in. The rods were stored in an electrode oven near the metal tables back in the other room. There are many different angles that the rod can be positioned in the holder depending on which angle you are welding at. Once the rod is in the holder, you’re good to go. All that’s left to do is flick your head down, which drops the helmet shield over your face. Then, lightly strike the metal with the arc like you’re striking a match. This will spark the rod which starts the weld. To stop, just simply lift the rod from the metal. This can take a few tries to get it right.

When I first started stick welding, I struggled with striking the arc. Sometimes the rod would get stuck to the metal. This could happen while I’m striking the ark or once I got the weld going. Arc welding felt like I had more power in my hands than oxy-fuel, and I felt like this was a more serious welding process.

I liked welding from the beginning. It was exciting to be learning how to do something new. When I am welding, I must focus deeply on the task. If I made even one minor screw-up, it could cost me my cross-country season, and maybe even my life. When I am focusing, I usually think about how good I expect the weld to turn out, and in general how I use my brain to make good welds. I realized that doing well in this class was a key to being successful in college, and that welding would be a skill I could use to make money later in my life.

Charlie was easy-going and Geoff was a little more hardcore and serious. Later on, I found a video on YouTube about introducing CMC faculty members, and one of them was my professor, Geoff, saying something I found amusing: “Hi, I’m Geoff Lautzenheizer. Welding — it’s like sewing with fire!” I liked playing that part of the video on repeat because I thought it was a cool saying.

Of course, There were some hiccups during my time in class. There was one time I was goofing off and drawing letters on the metal with the welding stick, leaving a raised letter. Geoff noticed this and took me outside to show me welds on his truck. He told me that the equipment was not to be treated as a toy, and was to be used more seriously. He said that in order to make perfect welds like the ones on his truck, I would have to step up and use the welding equipment appropriately.

Also, one day in class I made a mistake that posed a major safety hazard. I had apparently dipped my gloves in a dip tank right outside of the welding room, then went right to my booth with wet gloves and then connected the electrode to the holder. Geoff rushed immediately over to my station before I got shocked, and maybe even electrocuted. Unfortunately, he had no choice but to write another Care Report.

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