Isn’t it time you started getting involved? That’s what these students thought!
I met them recently at one of our local AWS (American Welding Society) section meetings. Daren Hitchman and Fred Paregoy (3rd from left in top and bottom rows) are the member recruiter and publicity chairman of their AWS student chapter, respectively.
I spent some time talking with them and I couldn’t help but take a picture of their workbooks. Unfortunatly, I did not capture the notes and diagrams on the inside; they were very detailed and technical — I was impressed with the level of training that these new students go throught to get certified.
Though they both are currently going to welding school at ECC in San Diego, they make the time to get involved in the local welding community by coming to events like this one.
Through attending meetings and events sponsored by local welding supply companies, professional organizations etc., these students are getting a better idea of the jobs that are available to them once they leave school.
Who knows? They might even meet a future boss, or learn about an opportunity to open their own shop just by hanging around and learning about the latest welding equipment!
Today is the start of the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, California. This weekend, Jim Watson, aka Joe Welder, will be joining more than 40,000 other hot rod aficionados for a weekend of cars, cars, and more cars!
But Jim has a bit more on his mind — he just learned that one Glen Dennee has bought his Uncle Ben’s old racing car and is working on restoring it!
He’ll get a chance to meet up with Glen during the show and and discuss how best to go about restoring Farmer Ben’s V8 60 Midget!
The Grand National Roadster Show
January 29 – 31, 2010
GNRS Supports Haiti Relief
Come to the 2010 Kragen O’Reilly Grand National Roadster Show this weekend and support the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund! We are donating proceeds from the sales of GNRS programs to this fund, and as this year’s theme is “Mardi Gras,” we’ll be having a good time handing out Mardi Gras beads to showgoers in exchange for small donations. Make a difference – come on out and join 40,000 other hot rodders for Haiti!
If you don’t live in Southern California or can’t make it on this particular weekend, you can head over to Ron’s website and check out a complete list of his workshops in the upcoming year.
Who knows – he just might be coming to your neck of the woods soon!
My first motorcycle was a Mini Bike – a Taco 44 kit that my neighbor and his dad decided was too much of a hassle to build. I traded my electric guitar for it.
My dad and I worked together to collect all the parts needed to build it.
Centrifigal chain drive clutches were popular then but a bit unreliable and noisy, so we engineered a belt drive system with a double pulley jackshaft, and chain drive to the rear sproket.
It was connected to a variable speed clutch, which was installed on a polished and chromed out, performance tuned Briggs & Stratton 5HP engine complete with a Tecumseh down draft carburator and straight pipe exhaust!
We turned the flywheel all the way down to the magnets, milled the head and made our own copper head gasket, as the OEM one was a thick layered sandwich design.
My dad organized a trip to Tijuana Mexico to have our 1969 Dodge Dart reupolstered. I invited two of my grade school buddies, Steve Maxwell and Eddie Fagg from Vista de Valle Elementry School in Claremont CA. Each of us brought our mini bike seats to have them reskined with custom material, button-tucked and finished off with some nice edge piping. The last thing we did before painting the frame gloss black was to redesigned the friction rear brake and custom foot pegs, which we had heliarc welded at Foothill Welding in Claremont, California.
When we picked up the parts from the shop, I was intrigued by the heliarc welds the guy had laid down, so I asked him a couple of questions, and he showed me how to make a few myself!
My friends thought it was all so cool – the bike – the welding. Before long, they had started calling me “Joe Welder”, and I guess it stuck !
I had a lot of fun on that old bike – it was the first time I really learned about engine modifications.
One night my Dad came home and saw me doing a trophy run down the alley behind the workshop. He said there was a long white flame streaming from the exhaust and it smelled like it was burning up.
When I explained how I had added some nitro to the high-octane AvGas, he knew I was ready to move up to a real motorcyle.
I’ve never been one to play video games, but then watching this YouTube video it occurred to me that welding with your helmet on is kind of like a video game. Crazy….
Oh, and in case you forgot, we’ve got some awesome welding helmets over at Arc-Zone.com…. including the totally radical Hoodlum Hoods– no reason why you can’t have fun at work!
It was a blissful (and action-packed) week for me and my family as we vacationed on the beautiful island of Maui.
Even though it was a vacation, I couldn’t resist taking some time to get to know some of the people in the welding industry who live and work right here on this island!
The first stop on our tour was the South Maui Choppers. They had some cool Arlen Ness choppers available for rent, but they were a bit too bright and shiny for my taste.
After that we cruised on over to Cycle City to look at some of the new Harley-Davidsons. My wife decided that I should get the new Deluxe Model - scarlet red and black with silver trim.
The next day I decided to go check out the Maui Motor Speedway. They had MX races on Saturday night and practice on Wednesday.
I was hoping someone would have a rental available for some track time (I have been eying the new 2010 YZ25), but unfortunately, they didn’t have one available.
I was surprised to learn from the owners that there is not much mountain biking on Maui – it seems that the majority of the land is private property! They do rent out the bikes, but you have to ride them on the road.
You can’t really call that “mountain” biking, now can you?
To top it off, this is the unbelievable view that we got to wake up to every morning – the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean, with, if you can believe it – the world famous Molokini crater right there in the background.
And although we all had a fantastic time soakin’ up the sun and the aloha spirit, it was just as awesome to get back into the swing of things and see how smooth things are running here at Arc-Zone!
Lots to be thankful for as we start the holiday season.
ArcTime™ Brand Hybrid, One Tungsten Blend For All Materials
The Sky’s The Limit With The NEW ArcTime™ Hybrid Tungsten Electrodes!
State-of-the-Art, Non-Radioactive Tungsten Electrode Formula: For all metals, compatible with all welding machines.
Fabricators from around the world are using ArcTime™ Hybrid to improve weld-quality, lower tungsten inventory costs and minimize weld defects. What started as “cult product” with a few specialty manufacturers of yatch towers, aerospace parts, mountain bikes and race cars has grown into our most poular tungsten electorde product.
Professional fabricators choose ArcTime™ because of its excellent ignition properties, low burn off rate and Tip longevity. As an added bonus, ArcTime™ hybrid tungsten electrodes work well with all power sources and all metals from mild steel to titanium. The material is clearly differentiated by it’s Sky Blue™ color code.
The NEW ArcTime™ offers all that, at a price even a hobbyist or small weld shop can afford.
We are so certain that you will benefit from the new ArcTime™ Hybrid, we are offering a Unconditional Money Back Guarantee backed by our industry-leading No-Hassle Return Policy.
“You’ll notice a difference just by striking the first arc– no finer electrode exists anywhere,” says Jim Watson, president and founder of Arc-Zone.com, Inc.
ArcTime™ Hybrid Performance Tungsten Electrodes™ pass Arc-Zone.com’s 5-Point Inspection Program and are delivered complete with Arc-Zone’s popular Guide to Tungsten (pdf), and Material Safety Data Sheet (pdf) .
ArcTime™ Brand Hybrid, One Tungsten Blend For All Materials
State-of-the-Art, Non-Radioactive Tungsten Electrode Formula: For all metals, compatible with all welding machines.
Professional fabricators choose ArcTime™ because of its excellent ignition properties, low burn off rate and tip longevity. In other words, this stuff lasts!
As an added bonus, ArcTime™ hybrid tungsten electrodes work well with all power sources and all metals from mild steel to titanium. The material is clearly differentiated by it’s Sky Blue™ color code.
The NEW ArcTime™ offers all that, at a price even a hobbyist or small weld shop can afford.
We are so certain that you will benefit from the new ArcTime™ Hybrid, we are offering a Unconditional Money Back Guarantee backed by our industry-leading No-Hassle Return Policy.
“You’ll notice a difference just by striking the first arc– no finer electrode exists anywhere,” says Jim Watson, president and founder of Arc-Zone.com, Inc.
Amazing TUNGSTEN. I never have to switch it out when I weld something new and the arc always strikes perfectly. I am on this for the rest of my welding days!!
Date Added: 05/14/2009 by Roger Wilcox
Some of the best large tungsten I have ever used. I am a definite believer from now on. And they set me up with a Net account in a couple of minutes. A wonderful experience.
Date Added: 05/25/2009 by Duncan Moore
We started using the ArcTime after we had some major quality issues with our tungsten supply. One of the challenges of being a government entity is the material is supplied for a variety of reasons, and most times quality is not one of them! We were using the 1.5% and 2% Lanthanated material, and it varied in performance and each supplier had a box with a different label on it which did not sit well with our welding shop instructor. We tested the ArcTime material and were very pleased with the look of the material, the supporting documentation and most importantly the performance. We do maintenance welds on Aluminum ship hulls – the ArcTime hybrid tungsten out performs all other materials, and saves us a lot of headaches. Now we can focus on welding!
HT2 Hull Technician Pacific Fleet (sent via email)
Date Added: 06/25/2008 by Arc-Zone Admin
Check out what our very own Roxy Fuel has to say about ArcTime™:
I took my family to the opening night of the 64th Annual Del Mar National Horse Show at the world famous Del Mar Fairgrounds, in Del Mar, Calif. This event signals the start of the horse show season in this historic, beach-side arena.
As we approached the Del Mar Arena, I was surprised to see that a brand new roof had been installed on the open air stadium; the last time I had seen the venue had been at a Vintage Flat Track & TT motorcycle race not too long ago.
If you watched the video, you saw that this massive project featured tons of structural steel and miles of welding, cutting, fitting and joining.
The majority of the project was Stick (SMAW) and MIG welded, but a lot of the utility “high-pressure” piping, etc. was TIG welded. This is yet another example of how the welding and metal fabrication market is involved in nearly everything that we do. It’s just another reason why I love this industry!
So don’t let yourself be fooled into thinking that the industry is in decline — hardly! In fact, if you look around, you’ll find that there are plenty of opportunities to build some really neat stuff — now more than ever before!
I was excited to be back at the races again watching the bikes line up on the front straight-away for the rider introductions in front of an overflow crowd.
The pits were jammed with bikes in a variety of classes from the AMA Grand National Pro, including 2009 Champion Jared Mees on the #21 XR 750 Harley-Davidson, West Coast Experts, Amateurs, and Vintage.
I walked the pits and visited with some old friends and met some new ones too.
I love flat track racing because the bikes are custom built for one thing — speed, whereas in motocross racing, you buy a factory-built bike and slightly modify the engine and suspension before you are ready to ride.
Flat track bikes are purpose-built from the ground up with hand-made TIG welded chromoly frames, custom-built exhaust pipes, CNC machined wheels, and hand-laid fiberglass tanks and rear fenders.
Each bike is made with the rider’s personal wants and needs in mind, from the handle bars down to the tires. A perfect example is Jimmy Wood’s #37 BMW powered machine.
This is a beautiful motorcycle and it looks even better in person! Made me think about breaking out my old skid shoe!
One of the coolest bikes I saw there was a Grand National Replica street bike. I had a similar flat track styled bike that I put together — it was based on a Harley-Davidson 883 Sportster, but I ended up selling it to one of our reps…
Check out the July issue of Practical Welding Today for an article written by our very own Jennifer Simpson, Arc-Zone.com’s director of marketing and new media! And the cover photo is Joe Welder laying down some awesome TIG welds, shot in studio C by our talented Graphics guy, Matt Munz. Good job team!
Know your TIG torch
Advice and maintenance practices to ensure quality
By Jennifer Simpson
July 1, 2009
Even though money is tight, saving it by purchasing less reputable GTAW torches or skimping on maintenance practices can cause more harm than good in the long run.
Photos courtesy of Matt Munz, Arc-Zone.com Inc., Carlsbad, Calif.
When times are tough our initial instinct is to save money and buy cheap. That’s not always the best strategy, especially when you’re looking at a new gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) torch.
One of the biggest differences between a low-quality and high-quality torch is the materials used in manufacturing it, as well as the production process. Quality torches last longer, run cooler, provide a stable arc, and offer overall improved weld quality.
I took my family to the opening night of the 64th Annual 
I was excited to be back at the races again watching the bikes line up on the front straight-away for the rider introductions in front of an overflow crowd.
And when you’re ready to buy a quality TIG Torch, check out Arc-Zone.com. 
