I spent the last weekend in Vegas and I’m not a gambler. I know that sounds weird as any entrepreneur is by nature a risk taker, but sitting at a slot machine pulling a silver handle (or these days, pressing a button) is not for me.

But Vegas is great! If you have not been there lately you should check it out. In addition to the gambling, they have shows, shopping and even some nearby recreation areas like Lake Mead, Las Vegas Motor Speedway… and Las Vegas is alive with construction projects. I was impressed by the scope of some of these projects, and best of all there is a lot of metal.

When we got in our room we were not happy with our view. We wanted to overlook the pool, so we asked for a different room. And when we got to our new digs, the bonus was that we could see the construction on the property next door. It was awesome, the project is the New City Center on the strip.

You could see all the action from the crane operators to the banks of welding machines, to the actual welders working from Sky Lift’s while they Stick welded the structural steel frame and architectural details. Of course there was a lot more welding going on inside the building as the entire core of the building requires a huge amount of welding and fabricating, from high-pressure pipe, HVAC, and on and on. I was thinking for young people this would be a great opportunity to travel, learn a valuable skill and make great money as a construction welder. It sure looked like fun to me!

EDITOR’S NOTE/ QUESTION: Is Joe Welder the only person who would be thrilled to have a room overlooking a massive construction project??

David from Peoria (Arizona!) wrote in and asked:

….about “spray arc transfer MIG.” I tried it with my Miller 8VS and Syncrowave 200 (on CC mode). It sounded like TIG, but I ruined a tip & nozzle. Is this type recommended “at home,” or do you need a bigger multi-processor power source, and what are the advantages?

I quickly replied:
(more…)

You may or may not know about Tesla, the swankiest 100% electric car on the market. They started up production a couple of months ago:

San Carlos, Calif. – (March 17, 2008) — Regular production of the 2008 Tesla Roadster commenced today, marking an historical milestone for Tesla Motors and a watershed in the development of clean, zero-emissions vehicles.

First unveiled as a prototype on July 19th, 2006, the revolutionary Tesla Roadster generated an extraordinary response from people everywhere who were inspired by the vision that beautiful, high performance cars could generate zero-emissions and burn no oil.

Here, Tesla’s engineer explains to Inside Line how the much anticipated electric roadster works:

And now they’ve opened their first store in Los Angeles a couple weeks ago. I can only wonder how long it is before our own Joe Welder trades in his Prius (and his house) for a Tesla– it even comes in Arc-Zone Orange!

Tom OLeary, General Manager of the new Tesla store writes on his blog:

The Tesla Roadster is a revolutionary car and our Tesla Stores will be no less revolutionary as an automotive retail experience….. continue reading at Tesla Motors–>

(more…)

I’ve said it before but I love this industry and feel blessed that I’m able to meet so many interesting people and learn about what they are doing with metal fabrication.

I got a call from a Greg — he was in need of some technical info — specifically why his TIG hoses popped, and what he can do to keep it from happening. The power cable burst just outside of the handle. “I repaired it with some tubing, heat shrink etcetera, and it just popped again and started leaking,” he said.

His local supplier’s suggestion was to buy a whole new torch package — which he did– but that did not solve the problem. I talked him through the details of his TIG set up, specifically his connections to and from the power supply and the water cooler. I concluded that his coolant pump needed to be replaced.

We always have PROCON® pumps on hand and all the mounting hardware to connect directly to the welding industries most popular water coolers (from manufacturers like Bernard, Dynaflux and ITW). We also offer a nice refurbished coolant pump. It is much simpler, efficient and cost effective than trying to repair a pump yourself. Buy a refurbished pump, with all the fittings and mounting hardware and when you return your old pump core, we give you a 25.00 core credit!

Greg was relieved that we found the problem and I said we can ship your pump to you and you’ll have it tomorrow. “I need it today I got a job to do,” he said, then added, “and I want to come up and check you guys out!”

Turns out Greg is Greg Deering President of Deering Banjo Company located in Spring Valley, California about 40 miles from us.

We had a nice visit comparing notes about our early days as a start up company and how, due to the web we have connected with so many interesting people!

Deering Banjos “The Great American Banjo Company” is the premier manufacturer of banjos. These finely crafted instruments are played by some the best musicians worldwide. Obviously there is a lot of woodwork involved and apparently some of the brasswork is TIG welded! Check out the factory here:

A lot of times companies don’t add new vendors to their line up because there’s a lot of work involved in getting set up to do business. The vendor requires paperwork, the customer requires paperwork, sales staff needs to be trained… and of course in the case of Arc-Zone.com® we need to add products to our website. Then there’s the “getting to know you” period when the vendor and the customer adapt to each other’s way of doing business.

Arc-Zone.com® just hooked up with Revco Industries to carry their line of high-quality safety apparel. From quality leather safety apparel and BSX Xteme protective wear with style and welding gloves galore, we’re adding to our webstore daily.

One of the most exciting lines is the Women’s Welding Wear, offering protective gear that is tailored for a woman’s body.

In addition to offering great quality welding safety products, and information about Leather Quality and finding your Glove size, Revco is easy to do business with!

When we placed our first order, within minutes we received a confirmation indicating availability and ship date. And the best part is, they delivered!

We hope our customers are as excited as we are about this new line of welding safety gear. Not only will you stay protected, you’ll look good.

$10 million bounty for super-efficient cars
Insurance company provides the purse for Automotive X Prize
By Alan Boyle, Science editor MSNBC

A $10 million contest to develop super-efficient — and salable — automobiles is getting its official kickoff on Thursday, with Progressive Insurance providing the purse.

The Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize, modeled after earlier prizes for spaceflight and genetic research, is aimed at promoting the creation of cars that get the equivalent of 100 miles per gallon, while at the same time hitting targets for low greenhouse-gas emissions, safety and affordability.
READ THE ARTICLE ONLINE–>

There hasn’t been a lot of innovation in the automotive industry, though I have been following the development of the Tesla — named after Nicola Tesla, and electrical genius. Tesla Motors was established by the founder of PayPal and some other Silicon Valley success stories who are putting their fortunes to work to improve our quality of life and provide jobs.

The Automotive X prize is reminiscent of the Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight recently awarded to Burt Rutan another innovator in the aircraft industry (flew around the world without stopping) He beat out all the competition to claim the prize for first in space. His company Scaled Composites, Inc. develops research aircraft and currently employs 130 people at the Mojave, California airport. My mom went to high school with Burt and he was in my Dad’s model airplane club! I met him myself back in the late ’80s and he toured me around his shop in the desert. I’ll tell you about that in another post.

Let’s hope the Automotive X Prize sparks some terrific innovation– and some opportunities– for some of the auto companies.

We here at JoeWelder.com wanted to take a minute to make note of the passing of a pioneer in the So Cal hot rod lifestyle, Boyd Coddington. I first heard about Boyd when my good friend Randy Haberman was building his ‘32 Ford 3 window coupe… that was back in the ’70s. Before T.V. when Boyd had more of a cult following, based on his ‘32 track roadsters. He and L’il John would come out to the races where they’d watch master sheet metal fabricator Steve Davis’ beautiful CRA Sprint Car run at Ascot Park.

Boyd Coddington was at the forefront of the whole “SoCal lifestyle” of fabricating and customizing hot rods, and he will be missed in the hot rod and metalworking communities.

Anaheim, CA (PRWEB) February 28, 2008 — Boyd Coddington, the creative visionary who took hot rodding to an art form and custom wheels to a new level dies at 63. Coddington who was a long-time diabetic died from complications that were brought on from a recent surgery. It was Coddington’s ever forward-looking view at the design of the hot rod and his unconditional desire to create the finest quality cars that became the “Boyd Look”.

“It is a major loss for the automotive enthusiasts and hot rod aficionados around the world. Boyd Coddington did so much more than create automotive trends, he also built the finest hot rods. He was entertaining on his TV Show (TLC’s- American Hot Rod) and an ambassador who educated,” said Harry Hibler, former publisher of Hot Rod Magazine.

(more…)

I got a call the other day from a prospect who was researching the benefits of using a tungsten grinder verses a wheel grinder. He came across our site, read our tech articles and then called.

He said “We’re a couple of farmers that have been trying to do TIG welding for a couple years and have never gotten good at it.”

A friend told them about Arc-Zone.com and the Sharpie Tungsten Grinder.

He told me they had a little fabshop and a small dirt track in southern Indiana.

“What’s the name of the track?” I asked.

“You probably never heard of it– TriState Speedway,” he said.

(more…)

We have evolved from the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age and we are nearing the end of the Age of Oil. When historians look back at our time, that is how they will refer to us, to our time on this planet. It is in everything we do and use.

Last night My Wife and I were invited to the Del Mar Country Club for a presentation, a “fireside chat” with T. Boone Pickens it was very interesting and gave me some insight as to the future of energy, and the world energy markets.

Pickens advocates we pursue all forms of alternative fuels and move towards reducing our dependency on imported oil. He believes we won’t ever eliminate oil, and we shouldn’t as he believes we need to maintain relationships with the oil suppliers.

There were some 270 people there and the discussion was moderated by Sandra Maas from KUSI News. I had the chance to speak with Boone after the event and he was very informative and funny! He is currently developing natural gas for transportation, a giant wind farm for power generation and a water company. more info on his site. . .

So HOW does this relate to the Welding industry?
Consider the opportunities for each one of those forms of energy, and natural resources.

They all need to be manufactured and delivered — this takes infrastructure, storage tanks, pipelines, transportation vehicles, distribution hubs, terminals, and dispensers. All of these items are heavily fabricated metal products which require engineering, raw material production, welding, finishing and assembly. Work that can’t be done overseas.

It is going to take thousands of skilled welders, pipe fitters, welding and manufacturing engineers, and others to build the needed infrastructure. Additionally we will need welding equipment, safety equipment and much more.

No matter what your political affiliations are, the opportunity to pursue these energy resources in a creative and thoughtful way will pay huge dividends, provide thousands of good paying jobs, and supply the needed energy to power us well beyond the next several generations.

These are exciting times!

(Grangemouth Oil Refiner courtesy of Bryan Burke)

JESSE JAMES TO DEBUT NEW CREATION AT LEGEND OF THE MOTORCYCLE

Jesse James has announced that his newest creation, a glistening aluminum-clad motorcycle and sidecar combo for client Airstream will make its first public debut at the Legend of the Motorcycle Concours on May 3rd.

As reported recently in Forbes* magazine, “James and his welders machined, riveted and hammered 18-gauge steel and razor-thin aluminum into a space-age-looking vehicle, applying some of the same construction methods Airstream uses in its shiny luxury trailers.” The result is “One of the most elaborate masterpieces James’ shop has ever produced.”

This is not the first time the West Coast Choppers founder, Monster Garage host, and Baja 1000 competitor has chosen to unveil a bike at Legend of the Motorcycle. At the inaugural Concours in 2006, James debuted his Radial Hell aero bike powered by a 7-cylinder Rotec radial aircraft engine (photo attached). The response from attendees was awe.

Other legendary custom builders displaying bikes at this year’s Legend of the Motorcycle include Japanese minimalist master Shinya Kimura, Choppers Inc. founder Billy Lane, and Brooklyn’s Paul Cox. Last year Cox and partner Keino, in addition to displaying two bikes by late friend, business partner and legend Indian Larry, debuted When Push Comes to Shove - a bike the pair built for client Brad Pitt - whose intricate and painstakingly detailed metal engraving was something typically only seen on handmade European shotguns. All three builders plan to unveil
something new at the May event as well.

The third annual Legend of the Motorcycle, including the Bonhams & Butterfields auction of motorcycles from the Mike Corbin Collection, takes place the first weekend in May, Saturday the 3rd, on the lawns of the ocean-side Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, California, just south of San Francisco. Tickets can be purchased, and additional information can be found, on the official website: LegendoftheMotorcycle.com

###

Joe Welder willl be there! will you?