I’ve been working at Arc-Zone.com for almost a month now and every day I have the opportunity to learn something new regarding the welding industry. Prior to joining the Arc-Zone.com team I had no idea how broad and expansive the welding and fabrication industry truly is…people use welding applications for almost everything! Read about this group of Michigan teens who are leading America’s innovative youth movement.

DPS “innovators” second in car-creation competition Jason Carmel Davis, Press & Guide Newspapers, 11/30/2008

DEARBORN- A group of 10 Dearborn Public School District (DPS) students-seven current and three recent graduates-worked seven days a week for 15 months to create something most teens dream about producing.

The team of students built a car.

The finished product can seat two people. It has a seat from a 2001 Ford Escape and neon green flames that start on the hood and make their way around both sides. The drive system on the car combined an 18:1 limited ship differential and axles from an electric golf cart, with a custom 36V, high-speed golf cart motor. The combination of the two provides excellent torque, traction and limited off-road capability, according to the team’s Web site, ivd.dearbornschools.org. CONTINUE READING ONLINE –>

I came across an article today that was published back in my home state of North Carolina, and it immediately sparked my interest.  Growing up in North Carolina teaches you the importance of manners, having a sense of community, and helping out your neighbors whenever possible.  The following article recognizes a group of welding students in Eastern North Carolina and how they used their classroom experience to help transform their community and give new meaning to “Southern Hospitality”!

Welding students gain course credit for town project             Nikie Mayo, Sun Journal, 12/3/2008

RIVER BEND- Sparks flew Wednesday as James Lovick took one of his final exams for Craven Community College.

The sparks were caused by more than Lovick’s concentrating, though he did plenty of that as he welded steps in place on a caboose in River Bend.  CONTINUE READING –>                              

We asked Arc-Zone’s Tim Drover to guest post here about the revamped Trailing Shield section on the Arc-Zone.com website. He’s taken the lead in making sure we offer all the high tech trail shields and gas purging cups for TIG and Plasma Arc Welding applications.

Trailing in the Fourth Quarter

When a sports team is trailing in the fourth quarter, they put they best players in to bring it home. Welding is no different. When welders need the absolute best weld and gas coverage, they go to their best equipment. And for the best purge gas coverage, welders utilize high-tech trailing shields and purging cups.

Many TIG and Plasma Arc Welding applications require specific gas coverage and Arc-Zone.com understands the importance of the strength of the weld and how poor gas coverage can lead to poor weld quality. To correct the helm, Arc-Zone.com redesigned an entire section dedicated to gas Purging Cups, Standard and Extra-Long Straight Trailing Shields and Multi-Diameter Curved Shields.

In addition to maximizing shield gas coverage, these high-tech trailing shields lower gas usage and ensure weld strength. Designed for the most popular TIG (GTAW) and Plasma (PAW) torches, the cups and trail shields come ready to install on your torch.

Arc-Zone also offers a full line of welding accessories to adapt the trailing shields and cups to multiple tungsten sizes to help keep your equipment efficient. So now when you need 4+ inches of trailing shield gas for your 17 series TIG torch or cylindrical coverage for your 3 inch pipe with your 22 series mounted TIG torch… and you need to triumph over the competition by having the best weld, you know who’s got you covered.

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you need more info on any of these trailing shields, give Tim a call. He’s up to speed on these highly engineered accessories and will make sure you get the right equipment for your team.

For years– maybe since 1992 when Al Gore “invented” the internet by sponsoring the Information Infrastructure and Technology Act which allowed commercial traffic on the internet– Weldcraft’s website has been pretty much the same.

We’ve heard rumors. There have been rumblings. Whispers in the hallway. I’ll be honest, we made jokes about the old Weldcraft website. But all that has changed…

Weldcraft has launched a new website, and we here at JoeWelder.com are the first to break the news (pictured right)…. And we’re sharing it with you.

We’re actually very excited to see the direction they are going. For years we’ve been hesitant to direct any of our customers to the Weldcraft website, even though at Arc-Zone.com we proudly sell the Weldcraft line of TIG Torches. The graphics on their new site are nice and clean, the product looks great, and I see a link to a Help Me Choose A TIG Torch page that we’re hoping is a great interactive tool for TIG welders. Perhaps akin to the Miller Electric SmartSelector™.

You can read the official press release here….

Do you think Weldcraft is heading in the right direction? What information would you like to see about TIG Torches that you haven’t been able to find elsewhere?

We’ll be publishing a series of posts about different metals to provide readers with information regarding the properties of each metal and offer some general tips on how to weld with each metal successfully. First up in the series…TITANIUM!

Titanium is the ninth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust and the fourth most commonly used structural metal. The lightweight metal has a high strength-to-density ratio and it’s as strong as steel but less than half its weight. Titanium is a very corrosion resistant metal that is able to withstand extreme temperatures. In fact, Titanium’s melting point is 3,135 degrees F°; approximately 400 F° above the melting point of steel and 2000 F° above that of aluminum.

These qualities make titanium a popular choice for applications in the aerospace and defense industries (think Navy ships, for example), however, titanium’s extraordinary corrosion resistance makes it a reliable, cost-effective material for use in many other applications as well. It looks nice, but, can have a reputation for being difficult to weld because of its high sensitivity to oxygen, moisture, grease, and other metals, leading to brittle welds. With the proper equipment from Arc-Zone.com and the following guidelines, you’ll have what you need to weld titanium successfully!

PREPARING YOUR WELDING ENVIRONMENT

Titanium is a highly sensitive metal and its fabrication demands attention to cleanliness not only of the base metal, but of the shop as well. We suggest setting aside a separate area of your shop to be used strictly for titanium. Make sure the area is free of drafts, moisture, dust, grease and other contaminants. Ideally, a low dew point should be maintained as well.
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My co-worker sent me this article about a graduate student who could not afford the high-cost associated with the custom archtop bass guitar that he wanted. Instead of giving up on his dream, he took matters into his own hands– Jim Normancy, CEO of Normandy Guitars, took his dream and welded it into reality:

Manufacturing is a High Note for Aluminum Guitar Maker


Bass electric-guitar player Jim Normandy once shopped around for an archtop guitar–an acoustic guitar with a full body and distinctive arched top.

But the $3,000 price stopped him short. “Manufacturers were making custom guitars from solid billeted aluminum. I was still in graduate school and couldn’t afford such instruments. So I decided to make a competitively priced guitar. Instead of wood or plastic, I opted to use 0.080-in. aircraft-grade aluminum sheet metal because of its quality and durability,” says the then-future CEO of Normandy Guitars, Salem, Oreg. CONTINUE READING ONLINE AT MachineDesign.com–>

Are you or anyone you know currently working on an interesting welding application or project? If so, feel free to let us know and…SHOW ME THE METAL™!