Miller introduced some new helmets the other day:

APPLETON, Wis., May 16, 2007—Miller Electric Mfg. Co. recently introduced two new designs — Motorsports™ and Fire Storm™ to its new Performance Series™ line of auto-darkening welding helmets.

“The Motorsports helmet captures the essence of speed,”explained Miller product manager Tom Sommers. “NASCAR, boat racing, motocross, you name it—if it involves an engine and going fast, that’s what we had in mind when designing this helmet.”

READ THE FULL PRESS RELEASE FROM MILLER HERE.

Now more than ever you can choose from a variety of highly-engineered cool looking, comfortable and affordable welding helmets. With a wide selection of graphics and styles every fabricator can find the helmet that’s just his or her style — of course I prefer the Classic Black — it never goes out of style, and you can add your favorite product stickers or custom graphics for that personal look.

Arc-Zone.com’s Classic Black Welding helmet, made my Jackson, the NexGen HSL100 EQC features improved autodarkening technology, and a classic look that can be customized with your own decals, or the hot Arc-Zone.com Decal set that includes the dual flame logos (left and right side).

Meet Gary Fisher – he Created the Mountain Bike – the Mountain Bike Industry, in fact – and has contributed to creating a culture of mountain biking enthusiasts, me being one of them.

On Sunday, my buddies, Long Chain John, Surfer John, Dr. Eye and me met at our usual spot next to I-15 north of San Diego on the banks of Lake Hodges we ended up parking on a portion of the ladies mountain bike skill training track they set up– It was so cool @8.00 am they were meeting to do an off road riding clinic – One of the ladies came over and told us to move! (we did)

We got suited up and rode over to the Trek/Gary Fisher demo compound. I noticed this dude that had a cool look and I could tell the way he was talking to the bike mechanics that he knew what he was talking about. I told my riding buddies I thought that was Gary Fisher.

I went over and asked a question about the pedal he chose, and he looked up and said “Hey man I’m Gary Fisher what’s your name!”

We talked about suspension and frame geometry – I was impressed with how passionate and technical he is. One of my friends asked him a question about his GF Cake bike that suffers from chain suck (that’s technical way of saying the chain comes off). Gary was very informative and had some great tips for his issue, and for general bike set up and maintenance.

When I asked him if he was a fabricator – at first he snapped back, “No. I wanted to build a big company. I wanted to build and sell great bikes. I didn’t want to be the one man shop.”
Later, however, he did admit that you do get a great feeling of release when you’re fabricating a nice part, “but I wanted to do something big so we sent all the production work out to established shops,” he said.

We talked about Arc-Zone and soon began talking about precision TIG/GTAW Welding and before long we were talking about TIG welding Titanium.

Gary said then when they started with titanium, it was like black magic, very few people had the expertise to weld it — and in fact, developed the technique and then taught Sandvik Metals how to do production TIG welding of titanium.

We went on to talk about the industry, and the component suppliers - it was great because he shares many of the same views I do about product quality and how the consolidation of the industry, and shifting production has had a negative effect on most products.

Bicycle manufacturers experienced the same thing we’re experiencing now in the Welding industry — too many reverse engineering companies too few innovators. . .

Gary demonstrated the differences between manufacturers by comparing the front forks on the four bikes that me and my friends rode. I had the one he liked best, a Trek Fuel 9 Pro I Series with its fork manufactured by Fox– the best engineering, manufacturing, technical support and best repair facilities — the whole package. (by the way, that’s what we strive for at Arc-Zone!)

I asked about the new 29″ wheel full suspension bikes or 29er’s – about the performance advantages.

“When you ride there is a pecking order, some people are much faster and they are always out front, with this bike you can be out front,” he said.

With it’s 29″ wheels you roll over the bumps better, corner better and climb better with less wheel spin (11.5% more tire contact patch)

After our 16 mile (25.75km) ride we stopped at the compound where there were a couple of VW Touregs with large trailers filled with bikes – but no 29ers! We should have demoed one first thing in the morning!

It’s not like me, but I went back later with my daughter Siena to get a picture of Gary Fisher so I could write this blog post.

I didn’t see him at first and was ready to leave when I saw him in a chair under the ladies demo trailer canopy. I was nervous and Siena said “Daddy I want to meet Gary Fisher.”

In the photo above, that’s Siena wearing her favorite Race Girl T-Shirt signed by open wheel racing champ and soon to be Nascar star AJ Alimendinger

Siena’s already seen her share of top performers in many fields, we are blessed.

As you know, Arc-Zone.com(tm) carries the welding industry’s most complete line up of tungsten electrode sharpeners on the market, from inexpensive hand-held tungsten grinders like the Sharpie(tm) to more robust, precision grinders like the DGP. We also carry a mid-range of grinders like the Pirahna II. You’ve probably seen this grinder other places. In fact, we regularly see this grinder advertised in all the trade publications, and recently noticed a little inconsistency.

In the April 2007 edition of the American Welding Society Product Review section of the magazine, the Piranha II ad says:

“Perfect for nearly all welding applications this portable unit (under 7 lbs) is comapct and durable with no vibration. Grinds .040″ (1.0mm) through 1/8″ (3.2mm) tungsten at any angle from 15 to 45 degrees.”

Now we have nothing against the Piranha II. It’s a good, solid machine. We sell a lot of them. However, the Piranha II does not prepare 1/8″ (3.2mm) tungsten. It used to be manufactured to accommodate the 1/8″ diameter electrode, until it was discovered that the motor was not robust enough to handle that larger diameter– at least not for anything more than occasional use.

So, if you’re looking for a robust tungsten grinder that can handle 1/8″ diameter tungsten, check out the Piranha III, the Neutrix, or the Neutra Liquid Tungsten Grinder….

One of our favorite radio programs on NPR is Marketplace. We usually catch it on the ride home… If you haven’t listened to it before, one of the best segments is called Conversations from the Corner Office:

Marketplace goes one-on-one with CEOs and corporate leaders

CEOs, company founders, head honchos. . . . Whatever you call them, the men and women who hang out in the corner office are just like the rest of us in some ways. But in other ways, they’re very different. After all, you don’t create a successful business or make it to the top of a major company unless you have extraordinary drive, energy, ambition and passion. Not to mention intelligence and strong opinions

Some of the featured CEOs include Joseph Gallo (Gallo Winery), Howard Schultz (Starbucks), John Mackey (Whole Foods) and Bill Marriott (Marriott Intl) …and more… and cover topics range from growing as an entrepreneur to managing a family run business and staying competitive through challenging times.

And the best part is you can listen to Conversations from the Corner Office online…

Sometimes it’s the tried and true, like cleaning products from Bradford Derustit Corp that work the best. For 40 years they’ve been providing metal cleaners and pickling products.

Derustit SS-3 is a powerful, ready-to use cleaning solution formulated specifically for stainless steel. Use it to remove slag, scale, and tarnish on large surface areas. Derustit SS-3 is especially effective in the cleaning of light or heavy heat scale and tarnish that forms on and around weld beads.

Do you have a favorite cleaning solution?

If you’re using HPR® plasma cutting system models 130Amp, 200Amp and 260Amp you may benefit from this new innovation in Plasma Arc Cutting tips from Thermacut.

Traditionally Plasma cutting tips are precision machined from tellurium copper - great for electrical conductivity and heat transfer, but, not so durable when exposed to the plasma jet — that’s why they call them consumables!

Now Thermacut, Inc. has launched a new TungstenEX-® nozzle as a direct replacement for HPR® plasma cutting systems in 130Amp, 200Amp and 260Amp operations. These patented “nozzles,” “constricting tips” or “cutting tips” incorporate a tungsten insert within the nozzle orifice to better handle extreme heat generated by the Plasma jet.

Tungsten is extremely hard and durable and has the highest melting point of all the non-alloyed metals. Additional benefits may be achieved when used with the New SilverEX-® pure-silver high-performance electrodes– consumable life is extended up to four times longer compared to standard copper nozzles and electrodes.

Thermacut, Inc. based in Claremont, NH is a worldwide provider of advanced cutting and welding consumables, accessories and torches.

That’s what I know– take a minute and leave a comment with your thoughts or experience– thanks in advance!