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.

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My competition origins are an important part of Arc-Zone.com’s history because the business of racing, amateur and professional, is a demanding and exacting one. Success in racing is forged from hard work and dedication. Racing does not tolerate the imprecise nor does it reward those who place style ahead of function. Innovation, thorough preparation and attention to detail are the foundations of a successful racing team.

The work ethic of racing is woven into everything we do at Arc-Zone.com. It’s not enough for a part to look good; it must also work well, and serve a useful function. We apply a “racing quality standard” to every product and service we sell. Whether it’s MIG, TIG, Plasma Arc Welding or cutting, Oxy fuel, parts or related welding and metal fabricating accessories — you can be sure you’re getting the best product available at a fair price.

I got into racing thanks to my Dad, Jim Watson Sr. who was raised in the rich farm lands of the central valley in California my Dad was introduced to Midget racing by my great Uncle Ben Humke. Known across the country as “Farmer Ben.” As a car owner In the 1950’s and early sixties he was a multi time URA champion, and winner in USAC, AAA and BCRA and other sanctioned events.

Farmer Ben was a modest cotton/dairy farmer with a keen sense of numbers. He had a policy “if the race car didn’t pay for itself we don’t race.”

He had many famous hot shoes that drove for him– Billy Garrett (pictured above), Marty Mazman, were the most noteable champions. They primarily raced Midgets in the central valley at tracks like Visalia Speedway, Hanford Speedway, Lemoore Jetbowl, Contra Costa Fairgrounds, Clovis Speedway, Tulare Speedway, Watsonville Speedway, and many more.

Midget racing was big then, and each car was hand built and car owners used a variety of power plants, from the high-end “Offy” or Offenhauser engine and the Ford V8 60 to Ferguson tractor and marine engines. The Solar Midget (now Solar Turbines) even used a Drake which was a highly modified Harley-Davidson VTwin.

A true innovator, Farmer Ben solved the overheating problem common with Ford V8 60 racing engines. Ben engineered a remote water-cooling system that was run by a custom fabricated water pump, he reworked the engine block with a series of baffles and diverters in the cooling passages.

He did all the work in his barn in Tulare Ca. I loved that place, a big barn with a little Midget race car and all the tools it takes to build one inside! I still have my Uncle Ben’s 1929 Atlas lathe (photo coming soon) and the chucks and tools that he used to make his own pistons and other engine parts.

I hope you enjoy these stories as much as I did while they happened and now looking back. I know there are many people that have similar interests and hopefully these stories will put a smile on your face.

Please feel free to comment (Click on the “Leave A Comment” link at the bottom of this post)

My first “real” motorcycle was a Yamaha 80, I got from a girlfriend – her Dad backed over it with his wagon.

My Dad and I straightened the frame, hand cut then “bobbed” the rear fender, took the emblems off, painted it orange and went racing.

I will never forget that Tuesday night — a school night. We went to Trojan Speedway in South Gate CA, a sticky little clay oval next to the LA river, behind the rock quarry, east of downtown LA.

My Dad stopped at Kmart to get a helmet. For $14.95. I remember thinking, “is that all my head’s worth?” Dad checked the specs and said “It’s Snell approved.” It was a cool looking orange metal flake Grant helmet.

Off to the races! “I got so excited I let the clutch out early and jumped the start.”

That race was an eye opener — the other bikes were fast and highly modified so we bought Floyd Clymer’s book “How To Tune A Two Stroke Engine.” I learned early on to research what others have done, it’s your quickest way to the top.

We first went to work on the engine, a rotary valve design which was easy to hop up, new valve, over-bored 7 port barrel, single-ring cut-skirt piston, machined radial head and total loss ignition system. Finished it off with a tuned exhaust custom fabricated and artfully oxy acetylene welded by Dick Haycock. A beautifully rolled and formed expansion chamber complete with a 7” X 1/2” stinger tip – that thing screamed!

My first motorcycle was a Mini Bike, a Taco 44 kit that my neighbor and his dad couldn’t figure out/or didn’t want to hassle with building. I traded my electric guitar for it.

My Dad and I collected all the needed parts, centrifigal chain drive clutches were popular but, unreliable, so we engineered a bitchen belt drive system with a double pulley jackshaft connected to a variable speed clutch installed on a polished and chromed Briggs & Stratton 5HP engine complete with a Tecumseh down draft carburator and a straight pipe exhaust! We designed a friction rear brake and custom foot pegs, which we had HeliArc welded at Foothill Welding in Claremont California. We dropped the parts off to be welded along with the drawings, and when we picked them up a few days later, I was turned on by the cool looking Heliarc welds the dude laid down—I asked a couple of questions and he showed me how it worked. My friends thought it was so cool– and before long they started calling me “Joe Welder.” I had a lot of fun on that bike and that’s were I learned about engine modifications. We turned the flywheel all the way down to the magnets, milled the head and made our own copper gasket as the OE one was a thick layered sandwich design. One night my Dad came home and I was 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 told him I added some nitro to high-octane av gas, he knew I was ready to move up to a motorcyle.

This blog offers a fresh and brutally honest perspective on welding industry news, reviews of innovative companies and products, and profiles of those who are making an impact in the metal fabrication industry.

What we hope you’ll find: tips, tidbits, perspectives you won’t find elsewhere, as well as insights, original interviews and more that should be of interest to the metal fabrication market worldwide. We promise to keep the content fresh, and interesting.

This Blog is primarily written by Jim Watson (aka Joe Welder), a master fabricator, welding equipment designer, industry professional, online distributor, and owner of Arc-Zone.com, Inc.

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