Tuscaloosa News / Robert Sutton

They say when you find a job you love, you will never have to work another day of your life. Although few of us discover that kind of workplace nirvana, Robert “Bob” Jones has. From when he grew up working on the farm until now, work has been his way of life and he even says he doesn’t want to retire because he enjoys work so much. Jones’ daughter, Anita Channell, looks up to him as a role model. She admires his honesty, industriousness, and strong sense of responsibility.

Welder, 77, loves work too much to retire

By Amelia Webber Special to The Tuscaloosa News
Published: Sunday, July 12, 2009 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, July 11, 2009 at 10:14 p.m.

TUSCALOOSA | At an age when most children are just getting the hang of tying their shoes, Robert “Bob” Jones was strapping a harness on a mule and heading for the fields at daybreak.

That was more than 70 years ago, and Jones hasn’t stopped working since. Now 77, Jones is a welder at Southern Heat Exchanger Corp. — where he has worked for more than 42 years — and he has no plans to stop anytime soon.

“The company has been good to me so I like to be good to them,” he said at work Friday. “I’m planning on staying as long as they’ll let me, and I hope that will be ’til I get ready to leave.”

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Practical Welding Today has introduced Practical Welding Television, an online video channel. Video topics  include general welding safety as wells as tips on improving SMAW and GMAW skills.

Want more informative welding videos? Arc Zone features free educational welding videos on a variety of topics, from comparing TIG torch cable materials to connecting an air cooled TIG torch.

Savannah Tech has launched welding classes at Temcor, making the classes more accessible to Effingham residents by sparing them to long drive to Savannah. This new program stimulates economic recovery by giving Effington residents opportunities to fill thousands of welding job openings, including high paying positions. An article in the 2006 Wall Street Journal stated that there will be 100,000 unfilled welding jobs by 2010. Although robots have helped, they have not replaced the human touch of a skilled welder.

Welding a future together

Temcor providing space for STC’s Effingham welding classes

By Patrick Donahue

As the auto plants in Michigan began to shut down, Mary Ellington knew she needed to learn how to do something else.

Now a machinist at Temcor in Rincon, she’s also learning how to be a welder through Savannah Technical College — without having to leave her current place of employment.

“I decided to take a welding class when I found out it was offered out here to Effingham to expand my career and goals here at Temcor,” she said. “If it wasn’t for Savannah Tech being in Effingham, I probably wouldn’t be doing the welding course, because that’s a long drive.”

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Everyone has their own needs when it comes to remote amperage controls for TIG welding. Mario, from TSR Fabrication (and expert TIG welding guest on Jesse James’s Monster Garage TV show) stopped by to pick up a Arc-Zone Hot Foot™ remote control and we discussed what he likes in a foot pedal. He uses his pedal for a variety of precision TIG welding applications- from high end custom fabricated header systems and turbo intercoolers each one welded by hand and on a turntable. Depending upon the job, he either uses the fine incremental control of the pedal or sets his power source on “RMT” and uses the pedal to start and stop the machine. Mario chooses the Arc-Zone Hot Foot™ brand high-performance foot control “they are durable, comfortable foot pedals with a nice foot bed and extra long cord”.

This foot pedal has a 1/2″ (12.7mm) high heel stop and a low-profile design for precise small current adjustments. Designed for the pro, these high-performance industrial workhorses feature a slim top traction area, non-slip 3M® traction pad, comfortable at-rest and operating foot positions as well as a 27′ (8.2m) cable and high-quality connectors. They contain a patented design which improves low-current welding, while providing precision arc control. These sleek, all steel pedals are available in classic black.

What Customers Have Been Saying

Plugged right into my machine and works great. I love the design with the heal stop. Thanks for taking my old pedal for trade in credit.
Date Added: 05/14/2009 by Roger Wilcox

This PEDAL ROCKS. The extra long design is great for my size 12 boot. Offers better control. Thanks for the M&Ms!
Date Added: 05/05/2009 by John Crane

Check out Arc-Zone’s store– From foot controls to hand controls for TIG Welding, Arc-Zone.com has the industry’s most complete line of controls for Lincoln®, ESAB®, Hobart®, Airco®, Linde®, Miller® and Thermal Arc®. These high-quality controls are engineered for precise amperage control, easy hook-up and comfortable operation.

What applications do you use your foot pedal for?

And, if you have a favorite pedal style or make, let us know so we can make it available to the welding community.

You’ve always been told that fire and water don’t mix. But what they didn’t tell you is that it can also produce a great weld. Diver welders dance with danger as they weld as deep as 10,000 feet underwater. Some jobs even require diver welders to go to extreme depths and stay in those environments for several days. Excellent precision and concentration are a must as distractions are abundant, from inquisitive sea creatures to strong ocean currents. Using cutting edge technology, underwater welding can produce excellent welds even with those seemingly adverse conditions.

It is for you, me, and Josh Smith, a Harpersville teen with ambition bigger than the adversity he overcame. Not only did he nearly drop out of school but he also married young and has a 6 week old baby. Despite his situation, last month, he went on to win the prestigious gold medal in welding at the National Skills USA Championship in Kansas City, Mo. Winning the competition actually increased his earning potential and he also won about $17,000 in welding equipment, $500 in cash and a full-tuition scholarship to Tulsa Welding School, which has campuses in Tulsa and Jacksonville, Fla. This compelling story really illustrates how having the right attitude can elevate you above your circumstances, no matter how daunting they may seem.

Harpersville teen wins top welding award

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) – By all rights, Josh Smith ought to be little more than another statistic.

He struggled in school, nearly dropped out, married young and has a 6-week-old baby.

He stuck it out, though, and became the first in his family to graduate from high school. And now he’s a champion, having won the gold medal in welding last month at the National Skills USA Championship in Kansas City, Mo.

Suddenly, the 19-year-old Harpersville resident is facing a future much brighter than he could have imagined.

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A rather interesting trend has been sweeping across the lawns of Bell County in Texas. Residents have begun expressing themselves through a colorful array of metal yard art. Each creation portrays a unique story and conveys a sense of hospitality. One resident artist, Chris Lesinski, actually taught herself to weld over the last four years and continues to perfect her craft day by day. What a great way to enrich your community!

What’s that?: Yard art defines the home
by Tomie Lunsford | LifeStyles Writer
Published: June 28, 2009

From flamingos to toilets, all sorts of things decorate the lawns of Bell County.

The six-foot metal daisy, the gnome and mermaid statue: It could be homemade, store bought or a reminder of years gone by.

Each has a different story about why it came to be.

But they all have one thing in common: They make a place a home for their owner.

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James Oleson is an amazing metal artist. One of his recent projects just happens to be a 37 foot tall statue of a horse; he’s shooting for the title of “tallest freestanding steel horse sculpture ever created”.  I hope he wins…

And check outhis other metallic creations at his website.  Or, for more information about this innovative artist, you can read this article:

Riverview Artist Welds Castoffs Into Career

By D’ANN LAWRENCE WHITE

RIVERVIEW – There is nothing particularly attractive about artist James Oleson’s medium.

His studio is little more than an open shed surrounded by wood fencing, tucked behind Winthrop Town Centre off Bloomingdale Avenue in Riverview. Piled haphazardly around the shed are worn lawn mower blades, greasy machinery gears, discarded steel doors, beat-up car door panels and other junkyard finds he’s found worth salvaging.

The cast-offs once destined for landfills inspire Oleson’s works of art. From ugliness Oleson creates beauty. From near-worthless bits of debris Oleson creates sculptures that command thousands of dollars and are displayed across the country.

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If you or anyone one you know aspires to be an innovative welder in this, or any other field, please contact us.  We would love to feature you on our blog.

The Fabtech International and AWS Welding Show is one of the largest trade shows in the welding, metal fabrication, and metal forming industries.  Held on November 15-18 in McCormick Place , North America’s premiere convention facility, the show will feature previews of cutting edge technology from 1,000 exhibiting companies, exciting new business opportunities, equipment showcases, educational programs and networking opportunities. Two free keynote presentations and expert-led sessions, covering a diverse range of hot topics, are also included.

Don’t miss it! Register online.

I am so impressed with what these guys are doing in North Carolina.  It’s not every day that a company  is willing to reach out and hire someone who’s been in, or is in, prison.  But Rickey McCoy and Danny Conaway are doing just that with their metal fabrication business, and it’s fulfilling for them and their employees in ways that none of them could have ever imagined.

 NW Greensboro firm helps employees build new lives
Rickey McCoy (left) and Danny Conaway have built a successful business employing people most companies are afraid to hire.
by Alicia Cosgrove

­­NW GUILFORD COUNTY – In March 2003, Rickey McCoy and Summerfield resident Danny Conaway started their metal fabrication business with a handful of portable tools, two office chairs and a cell phone.

They really didn’t have much choice. They had been talking about starting their own business but were only in the planning stages when their employer found out and fired them both.

Money was tight, and the pressure was high; both men had to put their homes on the line to finance their endeavor. It took a healthy dose of determination to make the business, and their lives, work during that first year.

Then they found a way to help build their business by reaching out to other men who also were determined to make their lives work: convicts who had learned from their mistakes and wanted to change their lives.

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