At Arc-Zone.com we offer a free, downloadable PDF on the correct way to grind tungsten in our Welding Library, but here’s some quick tips from the Weldcraft® catalog to get you started:

• Grind your tungsten electrode Longitudinally, not radially
• Prepare a tip flat
• Use a dedicated wheel for grinding tungsten

We also recommend a dedicated tungsten grinder for TIG / GTAW welding and Plasma Arc Welding (PAW) applications.  Arc-Zone carries a full line from the handy, inexpensive Sharpie(TM) hand-held tungsten sharpening tool to the more rugged, precise DGP with a fully integrated vacuum system.

The American Welding Society (AWS) announced today that The Lincoln Electric Company will donate 300K to the AWS Foundation. This money is earmarked for AWS programs to promote welding careers and will include a welding career video.

Read the AWS press release here–>

As you know here on the CarmenElectrode.com site we’re profiling women welders.  Over on JoeWelder.com we’ll soon begin to profile businesses that utilize welding or metal fabrication.  These projects are designed to showcase the many opportunities for highly skilled welders out there.

One other initiative that I know about is the Dream It Do It Campaign over at the National Association of Manufacturers.  And also at NAM, the Cool Stuff Being Made videos are a lot of fun to watch.

Drop me a line if you know of other programs out there to encourage people to train in the welding and metal fabrication industry…..

When cleaning contaminated tungsten, do NOT break off the end of the tungsten.

Breaking tungsten can cause splinter fractures, resulting in erratic arc. Use a cutoff wheel or the edge of a grinding wheel.

At Arc-Zone we would add the recommendation that you use a dedicated diamond wheel for grinding to avoid contaminating your tungsten.

Download your free guide to Selecting Tungsten Electrodes (.pdf) and Grinding Tungsten Electrodes (.pdf) — available in the Arc-Zone Welding Library.

Stefi Beck doesn’t look like a welder– at least not when she’s doing a show at a local coffee house in Toronto. A singer, songwriter and guitar player, Beck is coming into her own as an artist, but for the time being she earns her living as a Steamfitter Apprentice.

“I got into welding because I wanted a job with flexible hours that would allow me to travel. I am a musician and am very keen about playing music and I needed a job that I could physically do, and [would] allow me to have a musician’s lifestyle,” Beck says.

Beck is part of the plumbers and steamfitters union and works for a large company. Welding is part of the steamfitter apprenticeship.

The most common welding process for steamfitters is stick welding, or SMAW although Beck (shown at the right) is cutting pipe with an oxy acetylene torch for a school assignment.

Beck started her training at George Brown College night school. “Once I figured out I really liked welding, I did a four month course at Babcock and Wilcox, a big welding company in Cambridge.”

Beck landed an apprenticeship with the steamfitters union soon after that. “I lucked out big time!” she says.

(more…)

In response to the skilled welder shortage reported on recently, the American Welding Society  announces improvements to their online school locator:

Miami, FL, April 3, 2008 – The American Welding Society (AWS), the world’s largest organization dedicated to advancing the science, technology and application of welding, announced today that it has launched a new online welding school locator. This tool is designed to boost recruitment industry-wide and help relieve an intense shortage of welders. With nearly half of the North American welder workforce due to retire soon, the U.S.  faces a potential shortage of more than 200,000 skilled welders by 2010….CONTINUE READING ONLINE ->

Visit the American Welding Society’s website to find a welding school online. 

Anyone have any recommendations?  Where did you learn to weld?

Arc-Zone.com is adding safety apparel to its ecommerce store. Online, you’ll now find a full line of TIG Welding gloves, including the Firefly TIG Glove which is part of Revco’s AngelFire Gear® Designed Exclusively for Woman.

And speaking of women…   Arc-Zone has also added a Category for Women’s Welding Wear.