We are so excited about the new website and hope you are too. From the the official press release:

The new store opened for business August 25, 2008.

“The revamped website is the first created in-house to our exact specifications and style,” says company founder and President Jim Watson. Other new features include a rotating gallery of featured products on the home page, and video. “Our ‘Welcome to Arc-Zone’ video will show visitors first-hand what differentiates Arc-Zone from our competitors while our Weld Like A Pro™ series of How-To videos will showcase our technical expertise and the added value of buying from Arc-Zone.com.”

The remodeled web store will also allow customers to write reviews of products they have purchased. This is a great tool for other buyers to assess which product is right for them.

The new store will continue to feature secure checkout, easy sign-in, real time actual UPS shipping quotes and Live Chat support with customer service and technical representatives.

Founded in June 1998, Arc-Zone delivers proprietary, brand name and OEM replacement parts and accessories for GMAW, GTAW and Plasma Arc Welding and Cutting applications to customers worldwide. For more information, visit the Arc-Zone.com web site at www.arc-zone.com, call (800) 944-2243 or email sales@arc-zone.com.

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Check it out and let us know what you think.

If you’re going to be in Ontario, Canada, you may want to check out Canadian Manufacturing Week September 23-25, 2008. The event will feature Weld Expo Canada and the Metal Finishing & Coatings Pavilion– all in one location.

Canadian Manufacturing Week (CMW) is Canada’s definitive showcase for design engineering, maintenance products and industrial support services. Only Canadian Manufacturing Week delivers the latest ideas and methods for designing new products, maintaining your operations and staying ahead of the competition. If you’re an OEM involved with overall product design, fluid power, motion-control, electronics or materials, this is your event! With hands-on demonstrations and expert-led conference sessions, you can reduce equipment downtime, optimize your MRO operations, cut costs and get more out of your machines.

Weld Expo Canada CMW’s co-located event is Canada’s leading event for welding and finishing. Weld Expo features leading companies displaying the latest in productive welding equipment, machinery, products and services. You’ll discover new ways to increase productivity, cut costs and stay ahead of the competition. Click here for a full list of Weld Expo Canada Exhibitors.

Conveniently located within Weld Expo is the Metal Finishing & Coatings Pavilion - Canada’s only forum for displaying and demonstrating finishing and coating systems. Investigate cutting-edge equipment, products, supplies and services to make your operations more efficient and environmentally friendly.

For more details, to register, view a list of exhibitors and the schedule of events, check out the website.

Our marketing guru just shot me a link to the new Miller video — Advances in MIG/GMAW Pipe Welding Techniques (and five other videos) for me to review and comment.

Miller says “You can take your pipe welding to a whole new level, and discover advances in MIG/GMAW pipe welding along with the benefits of the patented RMD Pro™ and Pro-Pulse™ weld processes”.

Pipe welding is very technical and the process is “growing” as we ramp up more refining of various fuels, chemicals, gases and water! I didn’t see anything new here, and they are definitely pushing their new power supply features as the way to improve your pipe welding. A couple of things did catch my eye — on one of the videos they used a very basic technique for measuring the root gap — using 1/8″ welding wire. I would strongly suggest if you are engaged in fabricating pipe you need to invest in some high-quality pipe clamps. That way you can set the gap, align the pipe and lock it into position ensuring a consistent weld every time.

Another thing of interest was the New Bernard Centerfire MIG gun parts. Now that is a real innovation and I can’t wait till we start selling those parts in our new MIG gun parts section under development. It’s nice to see a well designed and very useful product featured in the video!

I think the videos are helpful and gives fabricators a good look at what it takes to do quality pipe welding, the only question I have is, is this the only technology, or do Lincoln, ESAB, Thermal Arc and other welding power supply manufacturers have a similar process? Let me know what your experience is with some of the machines listed, and if you know of others — let us know so we can get that info out in the workplace!

If you’re looking for a fixed shade welding helmet that looks good, Hobart has introduced some slick new helmets you may want to check out.

New Fixed-Shade Welding Helmets Feature Edgy Graphics at an Affordable Price

• Two new styles: U.S. Flag and Tribal Flame designs
• MSRP $35; most affordable graphic welding helmets on the market
• Hobart durability; meets ANSI, CSA and CE standards

APPLETON, Wis., June 9, 2008—Hobart Welding Products introduces the most affordable graphic welding helmets on the market with the debut of the U.S. Flag and Tribal Flame designs. Both styles are a part of Hobart’s Fixed-Shade Non-Auto Darkening helmet line, which features a #10 fixed-shade lens measuring 4.5- x 5.25-in. This large window is ideal for hobbyists, farmers and home mechanics who occasionally Stick, MIG, Flux Cored and TIG weld.

…..Continue reading online–>

The Lincoln Electric® Welding School — an industry leader in welding education– offers courses on the various types of arc welding methods to educate and train students in arc welding safety, processes, techniques and Lincoln® products as well as qualification and certification programs.

Courses cover basics in: plate and sheet metal, pipe welding, plasma, TIG, MIG and Flux Cored Arc Welding…. and advanced courses are offered as well. Check out the full line up of welding classes at the Lincoln Electric website.

They even offer a special Motorsports Welding School, a five day technical program focusing on basic motorsports materials (aluminum and stainless steel) and applications (GMAW, GTAW, Oxy fuel, and plasma cutting). A basic and an advanced course is offered.

The newest addition to the welding school is a welding and safety maintenance course for repair welding applications.

Designed to instruct welders in the automotive repair, construction and maintenance fields, the course demonstrates and instructs students in various welding processes including stick (SMAW), MIG (GMAW) and TIG (GTAW) welding, as well as oxyfuel cutting.
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If you can swing a trip to Europe this Fall, you may want to check out the world’s leading technology exhibition for sheet metal working.

A little late in Fall to catch Oktoberfest (September 20th through October 5th) the exhibit will be held this year from 21-25 October 2008 in Hanover, Germany. Five months ahead of the show, 1,350 exhibitors from 37 Countries have already booked their stand space. This time, exhibiting companies will present their products and systems for the different technology sectors of sheet metal working in eight exhibition halls, on a net area of 85,000 m2. This means that EuroBLECH 2008 has grown by some 10,000 m2 against the previous event in 2006 and will be the biggest show ever.

“In particular, the areas of separation technology, flexible sheet metal working technology, joining technology and tool technology have expanded considerably“, says Nicola Hamann, Exhibition Director, on behalf of the organisers, Mack Brooks Exhibitions. “But we can also report a growth in the other technology sectors of EuroBLECH. Overall, this reflects the situation of this industry sector which, after years of prosperity, is still on the upswing.”

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