It has been predicted that U.S. overall energy consumption will increase by 20% in the next twenty years.  Meeting this demand is going to require putting a lot of our focus back onto nuclear power.  And to make the plants run, we will need titanium.

Lots and lots of titanium…  and folks that know how to weld titanium.  If you don’t know about welding titanium, check out this article from The Fabricator, Titanium, You Can Weld It!

Titanium trends: Energy demand, titanium demand grow hand-in-hand

March 9, 2009

Although titanium was discovered in the late 18th century, it wasn’t until 1940 that a metallurgist, Dr. William Kroll, first devised a commercially viable process for extracting the metal fromits raw ore. In the 1950s titanium was recognized for its high strength and light weight, making it the new wonder metal in the aerospace industry. Furthermore,its corrosion resistance led to its widespread use in power plant condensers and chemical applications.

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And when you’re ready to start welding that titanium, be sure to check out some of the high performance shield gas accessories for your TIG / GTAW torch at Arc-Zone.com (and of course the ArcTime(TM) Hybrid tungsten) that will make your titanium welding job easier…..

The OSHA has just released a new hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) standard and Welding Magazine has kindly decided to help you find out how best to comply with the new regulations.

HexChrome and You

by CHRISTOPHER J. COLE, MS, CIH, CSP Welding Health and Safety Coordinator, The Lincoln Electric Com | Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM

Learn what you need to know, and to do, to make your welding operation compliant with the new hexavalent chromium standard

Employers are under pressure to comply with the new hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) standard as it applies to the welding industry. Christopher J. Cole, MS, CIH, CSP and the Welding Health and Safety Coordinator at The Lincoln Electric Company, notes that the key to determining the level of effort needed to comply with the new standard is to understand how OSHA has intentionally structured the standard.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Does the new standard apply to my welding operations? Are you welding on stainless or alloy steel, or hard-facing alloys, that contain chromium? Is there any surface coating or plating that contains chromium? Do the consumables you are using contain chromium? If the answer is yes to any of these questions then the standard applies to you.

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If you live near Providence, are between the ages of 14 and 18, and are interested in creative metal fabrication (who isn’t), then you’re in luck. 

Camp Metalhead

Interested in art?  Want to learn how to make things out of metal?  Come to the Steel Yard!  Camp Metalhead is a FREE two-week long intensive introduction to creative metal fabrication from July 20th to 31st, 2009.  You will learn about the history and profession of metalworking in Providence and beyond.  Each morning, you get a behind-the-scenes experience at a local manufacturing business or artist’s studio.  The rest of the day is spent learning how to weld!  You will learn the basics of shop safety and various metal fabrication techniques including MIG welding and oxyacetylene torch cutting.  At the end of the program, you will design and fabricate a piece of functional public art to be installed in the community.

To attend Camp Metalhead, you must be between the ages of 14 and 18.  You can be male or female, and you do not have to be currently in school. Enrollment is limited. Preference is given to those living in Providence and from local public schools.  You do not need to have any related experience!

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You know we here at CarmenElectrode.com love to see girls being encouraged to learn about metal fabrication, and welding in particular… These girls at at a Michigan high school are learning valuable skills and rules like “measure twice– cut once” at their after-school welding class.  With donations of money and time from various community members, the girls are able to use the skils they’ve learned to weld together their own mirror frames, plant holders, coat racks, and the like.

Will they move on to welding as a career?  Only time will tell on that count.

Girls learn to weld

Monday, May 04, 2009
DEBORAH BROWN
THE SAGINAW NEWS

An after-school welding class has sparked interest among a group of girls at Freeland High School.

Sparks fly as the students smooth spot welds with hand grinders and cut lengths of steel with a chop saw. Carly Vinson signed up when her male classmates said ”girls can’t do it.”

”It’s kind of fun proving them wrong,” said Vinson, 15, a freshman and the daughter of Mark and Mary Vinson of Freeland.

She was preparing to weld the framework for a mirror that featured a double frame interlaced with scroll work.

The idea for the all-female class came from Guidance Counselor Heather Essex and Industrial Arts Teacher Matt Forsberg. They learned of the concept at a career conference in Detroit.

Essex, 35, said the students applied for spots in the class by explaining why they were interested.

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Claudia Walsh is a fourth generation crafter who creates beautiful jewelry using found stones and processes like hard solder fabrication, forging and fusing, and ”lost wax casting”, to name a few.  If you live in the Chicago area, you may have seen some of her work at the St. Charles Fine Art Show this Memorial Day weekend.

Elginite crafts new art with inspiration, materials from past

May 18, 2009
By ROMI HERRON For The Courier-News

ST. CHARLES — Claudia Walsh of Elgin considers herself a Renaissance artist. She also happens to be a fourth-generation metal smith whose jewelry studio, Dry Creek Trappings, holds a collection of stones she and her husband Hugh have “rock-hounded” from various regions of the United States.

Walsh’s jewelry has been selected for the 11th Annual St. Charles Fine Art Show, set for Memorial Day weekend, Saturday and Sunday in downtown St. Charles. Nearly 100 artists from the greater Chicago area and throughout the country will present their work for exhibit and sale in the juried show.

Last year, the event — which is hosted by the Downtown St. Charles Partnership — drew close to 8,000 visitors.

“I’ve always been interested in art … photography, sewing, drawing, etching,” said Walsh, who creates rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, pins and money clips from natural metals and stones.

Her process includes “lost wax casting,” hard solder fabrication, forging and fusing. None of her pieces is plated metal; and stones include sapphires from North Carolina, and opals from New Mexico. Her pieces carry price tags ranging from $50 to $2,000.

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Since the 1940′s, the Meadow Gold sign along the famous Route 66 has been a source of pride for residents of Tulsa and harkens back to the days when Meadow Gold had a formidable market presence .  In 2004, the sign was taken apart and put in storage when the building upon which it stood was demolished.  5 years later, its restoration has begun, thanks to private donations and a team a master fabricators:

Famous Route 66 Landmark Returns

BY CHARLES CANTRELL
Associate Editor
Sunday, April 19, 2009

Recently randomly stacked around the shop floor of Claude Neon Federal Signs (CNF Signs), among the shiny painted metal boxes holding high-tech, state-of-the-art, computer driven electronic message center signs, were numerous very old, very large, handmade metal and porcelain letters in various stages of deterioration. Arranged correctly they spell “Meadow Gold” and they represent a Tulsa historic treasure.

Tulsans can celebrate, as the sign has been restored and now stands proudly on 11th Street just east of Peoria Avenue, and one mile west of the original location at 11th Street and Lewis Avenue.

The Meadow Gold brand was once the property of Beatrice Food Company. Through a complex series of corporate mergers, acquisitions, sell-offs and bankruptcies, the brand that was once a popular provider of milk and ice cream for the midwestern consumer market slipped into obscurity.

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Not exactly welding or metal fabrication related, but what a great program! It’s important to encourage girls to work in all industries!

Project IT Girl is a three year program for high schools girls in Texas in which they learn important skills related to the field of Information Technology. 

Make your mark on your future and your world.

Project IT Girl is an exclusive program for 60 high school girls throughout Austin to learn how to change the world through the use of Information Technology! Program participants apply technology to a global topic they are passionate about to educate and persuade their peers.

The Project IT Girl program increases competency and confidence in science, technology, engineering, and math. IT Girls also earn college scholarships, enhance their college applications, and get paid summer internships!

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British apprentices are learning the latest in “plating, welding, pipe fitting, and mechanical engineering” in one of England’s oldest shipyards.  They will fill a much needed gap in the industry and bring some prestige back to this “Cammell Laird” shipyard.

From Young Apprentices Begin Working At Cammell Laird Shipyard:

Apprentices at Cammell Laird shipyard learn traditional ship building skills at the company’s training centre on December 5, 2008, in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England.  The world famous shipyard has taken on 20 apprentices to fill a skills gap in it’s work force and to fullfil it’s commercial obligations.  The youngsters will become experts in key skills such as plating, welding, pipe fitting, and mechanical engineering.  The scheme also includes 17-year-old Lacie Cudden who is training to be a mechanical engineer.  The new skills base is going against a government report indicating that modern apprenticeships will suffer in the economic downturn.  In November the firm’s management team relaunched the shipyard as ‘Cammell Laird’, bringing the world famous name ‘back home’ to Merseyside.

SEE THE FULL ARTICLE AND SLIDESHOW HERE ->