It happens every year, heat wave after heat wave hitting nearly every region in the country at some point. At this writing heat warnings have been issued for the central U.S. and with another month (at least!) left of summer, no doubt more are on the way.

One new weapon in the welder’s arsenal against heat fatigue is Miller’s new Arc Armor™ Heat Stress Protection products:  The CoolBand™ and the CoolBelt™.

The CoolBand™ is an integrated system that works with most Miller Arc Armor helmets to reduce under-the-hood temperature by up to 8 degrees (Farenheit).  You’ll get up to six hours of continuous cooling from one battery charge!

“Improved productivity, work quality and overall well-being of the employees are all benefits our customers are realizing through the utilization of these products by their welders.”  -Bill Gardner, product manager, Miller Electric Mfg. Co.

For an even more robust solution to heat stress, check out the CoolBelt™ system. The lightweight, belt mounting system can lower temperatures under the hood up to 17 degrees!  The CoolBelt offers multiple air speeds and directional air controls to keep air moving over the users face and head.

Especially when working in the field, it may be impossible to avoid the heat, so if you do work in extreme heat environments, consider an investment in your health with these great products from Miller.

Also, be sure to check out  the Centers for Disease Control’s tips for maintaining personal safety in the heat, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Guide to Protecting Workers from the Effects of Heat (.pdf) and the OSHA Fact Sheet on Working Outdoors in Warm Climates (.pdf).  And always keep your cool!

And for even more information, check out the Heat Stress Webinar hosted by the folks over at Miller–  an hour long discussion with Product Manager Bill Gardner and industrial hygiene and safety experts.  You can register and listen for free.

You’ve probably seen the clear Pyrex (R) nozzles you can put on your TIG Torch.  To be honest when we first saw them, we thought they were nothing more than a cool party trick….

These nozzles come with a gas lens collet set up to provide optimal coverage, coherent gas flow, and minimal turbulance–  great for welding metals like titanium or stainless steel where oxygen contamination in your weld zone can ruin your weld.  And the clear nozzle offer great visibility.  It’s way more than a party trick.

These nozzles are the brainchild of the folks over at CK Worldwide, well-respected TIG torch  engineers who got their start in the aerospace industry.  And these nozzles will not only work on CK TIG Torches, but on all major brands of TIG torches  (Weldcraft, Weldtec, TecTorch, Radnor, BestWelds, Master TIG, Profax, etc.)

At Arc-Zone, we’ve assembled  PRO Kits from the Deluxe Gas Saver Pro Kit that has everything you need for your 9/20/CS3210 series TIG Torch, to the Standard Diameter Gas Saver Pro Kits for your 17/18/and 26 series TIG Torch. These kits come with everything you need to Weld Like A PRO(tm)!

Not only do you get a box full of accessories for a variety of TIG  welding applications, you get a TIG Welding calculator you take with you on the job as well as several of our popular articles like  ”Joe Welders Guide to Optimizing your TIG Torch.”

As many TIG welders know, thoriated (red) tungsten has in the past, been a preferred tungsten electrode blend.  But that’s old skool thinking– there’s better options out there… more on that later.

If you’re like me, you enjoy learning about all kinds of things especially as it relates to welding and metal fabrication.  I recently stumbled across this column over at Salon.com, Blogging the Periodic Table.  It’s a fascinating look at each of the elements in the periodic table–  and each one has a story.  You can read all about Thorium. Though this column doesn’t include information on welding, there some interesting and fun facts sprinkled throughout.

Now if you’ve been TIG welding for a while, you’re all too familiar with the RED tungsten electrodes.  This thoriated blend of tungsten electrode is popular because it is a good general purpose electrode (good for all metals and all machines) has excellent arc behavior and lasts long….  because of the nature of thorium, however, there are some health concerns due to vapors and grinding dust. At Arc-Zone we recommend you only use it if you are contractually required to, especially as there are better alternatives out there.

For more detailed information on health and safety concerns regarding the use of thoriated tungsten electrodes, check out the AWS Safety and Health Fact Sheet: Thoriated Tungsten Electrodes.

We almost always recommend our ArcTime Hybrid Tungsten… it is truly a state-of-the-art improvement over the old thoriated electrodes with excellent ignition properties, low burn off rate and it lasts a long time! I’ll let our spokes model tell you more about it:

To explore other options, check out Arc-Zone.com’s Guide to Selecting Tungsten Electrodes.

We get quite a few fabricators stoppin by the Zone, but imagine our surprise when Skateboarder Josh Kalis walked into the Arc-Zone.com headquarters to pick up a welding helmet….  DC Shoes is just down the street from Arc-Zone…

He rolled up in a cool blacked out Porsche 911 GT2RS and he was getting ready to star a new skating video.  The production company wanted him to skate over a roll-off dumpster, and he told them they needed to put a lid on that thing;  to do that right, they’d need some welding gear.  Josh offered to get it himself and weld it so they could add that to the video.

Josh googled and found Arc-Zone.  ”Sure glad I found you guys,” he told me.

We hooked him up with some stylin’ new Revco flamed out black Stallion gloves and a nice Miller Digital Elite welding helmet.

I  spread out the goods in our styled out conference room– helmets all the colors and graphic options, and told him the the flat black is my fave– you can decal it as you like.   Josh agreed and that was that.

Next the ladies in our Customer Care Department put together the rest of his order and  charged his Amex card.  He even gave up his email address:  ”Put me on the list!” he said.  (Arc-Zone’s monthly email is pretty informative and a fun read)

Josh said, “Man you guys got all the good stuff! When I walked in the lobby I was thinking you only sold online, but I’m blown away!”  He said he’d be buying more from us for his Automotive restoration shop in Michigan — http://www.allspeedperformance.com/

Unfortunately he wasn’t driving this tricked out custom DC Camaro but you can check it out here:

And let us know if you want to stop by! Its great to meet our customers and hear about the projects they’re working on…. We’ll even have you’re order ready to go!

And sign up for our email list to get news of new products, as well as tips and tricks so you can Weld Like A PRO!

Finally catching up on my newsletter reading and came across this awesome article from Lincoln…

Two years ago, Ridler Award winner (and from the looks of this car, a master fabricator) Dan Webb set out to honor this iconic creation by building a low-sloping hotrod variation of the original, the iconic 1917 Golden Submarine Racecar.

The project, powered by Lincoln, is showcased over on the Lincoln website… check it out–>

And if you’re looking to create the kind of TIG welds Webb did, check out Arc-Zone.com’s line up of  TIG Torches. We feature  CK Worldwide and Weldcraft, two fine manufacturers of TIG Torches and replacement parts.

And, did you know Arc-Zone.com  now has CK TIG Torch replacement parts online?  You’ll find the replacement parts listed along side the torches we offer.

This looks like an awesome opportunity to learn– if you’re in Minnesota!

FROM FINANCE & COMMERCE news….

Anoka Technical College establishes one of North America’s largest sheet metal training facilities

by Brian Johnson Staff Writer

Anoka Technical College is heavily into metal.

Walking through the cavernous new sheet metal training facility at the school, a visitor can see row after row of machines and gadgets used for bending and shaping metal into everything from auto parts to picture frames.

In another room, students move images around on a computer screen in an effort to create the perfect design for their sheet metal fabrication project.

It’s all part of Anoka Tech’s plan to establish itself as the region’s go-to place for training in precision sheet metal fabrication. The college describes the training center — paid for mostly by private donations — as the “only facility of its kind in Minnesota and one of the largest in North America.”

It’s heady stuff for Nick Graff, the school’s manager of Business Education and Solutions, who talks excitedly about the opportunities that such training affords. It’s almost reminiscent of that famous scene from “The Graduate,” except that the operative word in this case is “metal,” not “plastics.”

CONTINUE READING ONLINE–>

And remember if you’re heading back to school– Arc-Zone.com offers a discount for welding students! (click on the Schools tab and find out more)

AND we have some awesome line up of safety gear, including Miller’s full range of safety apparel, helmets and more!

Dario Franchitti

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that I have a background in racing.  When I moved from racing to manufacturing, many of my friends and colleagues stayed in the racing industry:  The winning team Target Chip Ganassi, Team Penske, KV Racing Technology and many part suppliers like Howerton Racing Products, Reid Washbon Racing Exhaust, SS Tube Technology, and more. Not only do I count these folks among my friends, some of them have become customers of Arc-Zone.

In other words, I have strong ties to the industry.  And so in the spirit of celebrating those ties, and starting a new tradition for Arc-Zone, for this year’s Indy 500 Race we started  our own version of an office pool.  (for the record, no gambling was involved)

Our Operations Manager Scott Reiman came up with this plan, and to make sure no one (like me) with extensive knowledge of the racing teams would have an unfair advantage, we each  drew names and the person who’s driver came in First would get $25, Second  place driver qualified for $20, and so on.  And to make sure everyone got in on the fun, we even awarded prize money for First Crash, Driver who leads the most laps, Driver leading at the half, Last Finisher and even the Arc-Zone Employee  winning the fewest categories qualified for a $10 award.  I’m not sure everyone actually watched the race– not everyone is as into racing as I am, but it did give us something fun to talk about after the holiday weekend!

Arc-Zone is not the only company with strong ties in the racing industry–  Lincoln Electric is the exclusive provider of welding equipment to winning driver Dario Franchitti (pictured above) and his  Target Chip Ganassi Racing Team.  In fact, Lincoln Electric is the “Official Welder” of the Indy Racing League (IRL).  You can read all about it at the Lincoln website–>.

It was a fun night for me at the monthly American Welding Society — San Diego Section meeting. This night’s topic? Induction heating with a system unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.

Gone are the days of waiting hours and hours for your length of pipe to warm up to the right temperature –

Miller has just released the new ProHeat 35 Induction Heating System, which works by inducing heat electromagnetically, rather than via a conductor, thus saving the operator incredible amounts of time and energy.

Simply wrap the induction coils around whatever piece of metal you’re working on, and in just a few minutes, you’re ready to go!

This picture was taken looking inside the length of pipe that was being heated up by the ProHeat 35 — you can’t see it here, but that tube was glowing red hot on the inside!

And even better, when I tried touching the coils wrapped around it?
Cold as ice! This product is simply amazing!

But perhaps the best part about this whole new system is that you don’t even have to buy it! Red-D-Arc will rent out one of their machines to you for as long as you need!

Are you free the 20th or 21st of February?

Come join Jim Watson, aka Joe Welder, and Ron Covell of Covell Creative Metalworking at Hot Rods & Custom Stuff in Escondido, CA for Covell’s Beginning and Advanced Steel Workshops!

Ron is one of the preeminent fabricators in the custom automotive industry and has been a good friend to us here at Arc-Zone.com!

You can head over to our webstore to check out a few of his welding DVDs.

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!

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!