Looking to go back to school for welding? Where better to learn the tricks of the trade than from good ol’ Lincoln Electric?

The Lincoln Electric Welding School Announces Its 2010 Schedule

Cleveland – The Lincoln Electric Welding School, which has instructed more than 120,000 students since its inception in 1917, announces its 2010 schedule.

The Lincoln Electric Welding School is the oldest and one of the most respected arc welding schools in the United States. Classes are taught by the school’s seven full-time instructors who have more than 100 years of combined industry experience. Courses are designed to teach the arc welding skills that employers need. Lincoln-trained students are in high demand by welding fabricators at pay levels that tend to exceed the industry average.

Classes range from a six-week basic course to an advanced 15-week comprehensive course, as well as one-week classes on specific welding processes, certification and customized programs. Students spend 80 percent of their time in the booth learning to weld. Additionally, Lincoln limits class sizes to 15 students per class in order to maximize learning and guarantee one-on-one instruction time.

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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!

Find a chapter of AWS near you and get involved!

But by and large, the spirit of DIY is actually dwindling amongst Americans nowadays. We don’t often build, we don’t do repairs, and I think, really, we just don’t want to work at it much anymore.

Do you still tinker?

If you build it, you’re unusual; survey finds more in U.S. avoid hands-on projects or repairs

By Rick Barrett
December 17, 2009
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MILWAUKEE — The United States has become a nation of “non-tinkerers,” a new survey shows, and it has harmed the way we live and work.

In a poll of 1,000 U.S. adults, nearly six in 10 said they had never made or built a toy.

Twenty-seven percent had not made or built even one item from a list of eight common projects, including furniture and a flower box.

Sixty percent avoided doing major household repairs themselves, noted the survey from The Foundation of the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association, based in Rockford, Ill.

It’s worrisome because the “hands off” policy around the house has kept people from learning valuable skills — including ones associated with productive careers, according to the association, which has more than 2,300 members in the metal fabrication industry.

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Interested in learning about restoring classic cars? Well, you’ve come to the right place!

The folks over at Second Chance Garage have given us a step-by-step guide to choosing the right welder for the job:

Selecting the Right Welder for Classic Car Restoration Projects

What Welder To Use?

The most common welders used in auto restoration, therefore, are MIG (metal arc welders, gas or flux-cored), TIG (tungsten arc welders using shielding gas) and Arc Welders (the traditional “stick” electrode).

To choose the most appropriate one for your needs, you have to consider the following parameters:

* What is the maximum and minimum thickness of metal to be welded? Fortunately, automobiles use metals that fall into a relatively narrow range.

* What is the metal type? Again, automobiles generally are made of steel and, rarely, aluminum.

* What is the normal position the welding “head” will be put in? Do you need to do a lot of welding overhead? The answer is usually no here.

* How much current is available in your shop and do you have 220 volts? Check your circuits.

Let’s be frank. Our overwhelming favorite type of welder is the MIG. We’ll explain why shortly, but first we’ll give an overview of the other contenders. Here we go!

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Once you’ve chosen a welder, come on over to Arc-Zone.com where you’ll find MIG guns, TIG Torches, Oxy-Fuel Torches, Plasma Arc Cutting Torches…  not to mention some really trick accessories like Trailing Shields, and everything you need to Weld Like a Pro!

Want some free Miller welding equipment???

This month, Miller Electric is giving away over $2,000 worth of welding supplies to one lucky grand prize winner!

To enter for a chance to win, just sign up for one of Miller’s eNewsletters to keep in touch with industry news and the latest how-to advice!

Complete Grand Prize Package:

• Choice of Millermatic® 211 Auto-Set™ MIG welder, Diversion™ 165 TIG welder, OR Spectrum® 375 X-TREME plasma cutter
• ArcStation™ welding workbench
• Performance Series™ auto-darkening welding helmet
• Arc Armor combo welding jacket
• Pair of MIG, TIG, and Metalworker gloves
• iPod touch

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!

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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!

San Diegans are proud of their local Plumbers and Pipefitters union which has taken on the task of securing jobs for marines being discharged from the base in Camp Pendleton — nearly 750 leave each month.

They are currently offering free accelerated classes in welding to 16 marines at a time, in the hopes that this will provide them with a lasting career upon leaving.

Local Union Hoping To Spark Welding Careers For Former Marines
BY KATIE ORR
December 11, 2009

A local union is offering men and woman leaving the Marine Corps a chance to learn how to become welders.

Organizers are hoping the program might spark some careers.

San Diego’s Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 230 is already into the fourth class of its Veterans in Piping program.

The union is offering Camp Pendleton Marines who are about to be discharged the chance to take part in a free accelerated welding program.

Union Organizer Gary Sallis said many Marines don’t know what they’re going to do when they leave the military.

“Right now 750 Marines a month are leaving the Marines at Camp Pendleton,” Sallis said.

“We’re taking 16 of them every month as we can to try to train them to be welders. And this way, when they get all done, they have a career when they leave the military.”

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It’s midnight at a community college in Oregon. The classroom is brightly lit, and the students are up and about and… welding?

Thanks to a new series of “graveyard” welding classes, this has become a regular feature of several area colleges.

In the Midnight Hour

By David Moltz
December 9, 2009

Midnight classes, once a quirky scheduling option available at only a few institutions, are gaining currency at a growing number of community colleges as student demand for specific courses increases and available classroom space for those courses decreases.

Photo: Carl Graham / Clackamas Community College

Though it is unclear which institutions pioneered the idea, Clackamas Community College, in Oregon, began offering what became known as “graveyard welding classes,” lasting from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., two nights a week last spring.

The classes were so popular that the college expanded them to four nights a week this fall, and students can now take five different welding courses during the “graveyard shift,” ranging from an introductory section to those focusing on specialized projects.

John Phelps, one of two adjunct welding instructors who lead the late-night courses, said the college’s experiment with these sections was a matter of necessity.

Even with some welding sections available on the weekends, he said, the college reached its capacity for these courses last fall and was forced to turn away a number of students.

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DID YOU KNOW….. Arc-Zone.com offers a SCHOOL DISCOUNT?  Give us a call at 800.944.2243 and we’ll get you set up!

Arc-Zone also has some great welding apparel, including helmets…   look good, stay stylish and Weld Like A Pro ™.

Our PRO Gear packages have everything you need to get started.