There are a lot of misconceptions about welding such as what kind of work it is and what kind of people weld.

When Jennifer Simpson first came to Arc-Zone.com she knew little about the industry.  ”I didn’t even know much about welding– except maybe what I’d seen in movies. Flashdance comes to mind, of course,”  she said.

The longer Jennifer worked at Arc-Zone, however, the more fascinated she became.  ”It’s not the actual work, per se, but rather what people do with metal that is amazing,” she said. As she learned more, she also became interested in the stories behind the people in the industry, and particularly the women in the industry, of which there are few. As of 2006 only 6% of welders were women according to Bureau of Labor Statistics, in spite of a projected shortage of welders, and the fact that there are good paying jobs out there.

With a hat tip to Rosie the Riveter, the iconic World War II factory worker, Jennifer developed a regular feature on the CarmenElectrode.com blog called “The New Rosies.” (http://www.carmenelectrode.com/category/the-new-rosie/)

Through this column she has profiled women who weld in a variety of industries, chipping away at some of the lingering stereotypes about women who weld and some of the misconceptions about what kind of work welding is. With the JoeWelder.com blog, Jennifer initiated a feature called “Show Me The Metal” (http://joewelder.com/category/show-me-the-metal/) to profile all kinds of interesting welders and a variety of welding applications.

Both of these endeavors have showcased the incredible people in our industry to well over 130,000 web views world wide in the past year alone.

What does this have to do with What Welding Looks like?

Well Jennifer has been honored with the Image of Welding award from the American Welding Society.

There is an official ceremony planned for the FabTech Welding Show in Chicago (November 15-18).  Jennifer is unable to attend, but said, “I am honored to receive the award, especially since writing the columns and meeting welders is one of the best parts of my job!”

For More Information

• If you are interesting in welding, click on the link to access a list of welding disciplines, career opportunities and welding schools throughout the U.S. •Click on the link to access awelding school in your area. • Jennifer Simpson, the creator of the carmenelectrod.com, a welder’s Web site, gives some tips for women in the welding industry. Click on the link to read her suggestions. •Click on the link to get some information on where to buywelding clothes for women.

Check out this shout-out Carmen Electrode got on News 8 Austin!
This sidebar is taken directly from Channel News 8’s page on this article about women welders:

Welding industry could use a feminine touch

8/6/2009 11:58 AM

By: Bonnie Gonzalez

The welding industry could use a woman’s touch.

If you think welding is a man’s job, think again.

Carissa Love is a top welding student at Texas State Technical College in Waco. She’s on an equal playing field, if not higher with the rest of the crowd, according to welding instructor Ryan Rummel.

“She’s one of the best welders that we have here. Considering that she is the only girl out of 250 guys, she does a good job,” Rummel said.

CONTINUE READING ONLINE ->

Not only are Carmen and our own Jennifer Simpson mentioned, but so is her article on Tips for Women in the Welding Industry and below it, Arc-Zone.com’s welding gear for women!

Thanks so much for featuring us Bonnie Gonzalez and News 8 Austin!

Editor’s Note: Yes, we know that carmenelectrod.com is not the actual name of this website, but the link itself is correct!
(It’s www.carmenelectrode.com, but you already knew that)

Scott Solar, manufacturer of solar panels, is opening their super slick manufacturing facility at the Mesa Del Sol development in Albuquerque. More than 300 new jobs for Albuquerque…. and more coming:

There is an Arc-Zone connection– we sent them a nice little package last month. Where else would they get the high performance welding accessories they need for their new high-end manufacturing facility?

News from Lincoln Electric:

I hate to admit it but I don’t know how to weld. Sure, I know a lot about welding, the various processes, the equipment you need–  especially the high performance TIG welding accessories at Arc-Zone.com.  I even know a bit about plasma arc welding and cutting. But ’til now it’s all been book learnin’ and talking to a lot of knowledgeable people.

Finally I got a short one-on-one lesson in TIG Welding from Arc-Zone’s own Joe Welder (aka my boss, Jim Watson).  Wow. What an eye opener that was! 

 And fun.

First off, let me assure you, that contrary to popular belief, Welding is NOT for dummies.  You have to keep a lot of things in mind. And if you want to be any good, you’ll have to understand about electricity, metallurgy, a little geometry, joint fit up, and then there’s the hand-eye coordination that takes practice. And more practice.

Safety First.

Even though with TIG welding you don’t see sparks flying, you still need eye protection. We did not have one of the super slick fancy electronic welding helmets in stock so I had to go old skool and flip my lid up and down.  

At least the helmet looked good– the orange flames matched my long-sleeved  cotton t-shirt perfectly.

And check out these gloves. They’re the Firefly TIG Gloves made for women who weld, which means the sizing is smaller.  I was suprised at how well I could maneuver the TIG Torch and the filler rod.

Here’s Jim showing me the proper way to hold the TIG torch.  It’s heavier than it looks,  and this was a WP-20 water cooled TIG torch.  Though the torch body  itself only weighs 3 oz. you’ve got to take into consideration the weight of the cables and hoses which makes it a little awkward and it feels heavier than it really is.  Because this is delicate work, you’re using all those tiny muscles in your hand, wrist and forearm.  Of course I’m a bit of a wimp, I’ll admit it.

I let Jim set up the machine.  This is a basic Miller Machine upgraded with a Cool Kit so we can use the water cooled TIG Torch.  

First he opened up the Argon bottle-  slowly so as not to “shock” the flow meter.  

Next he plugged in the water cooler. It was a little noisy, but not too bad.  Kinda comforting to hear the hum and gurgle since the welding machine itself was so quiet.

Then he checked that the work cable was grounded to the work bench…  

Jim got me a coupon to practice on, 308L Stainless Steel, and some 1/16″ diameter  308L Stainless steel rod.  We cleaned the material with EZ Wipes to make sure there was nothing to contaminate the weld and mess it up (I figured I could do that all by myself without any help from dirt).  

Jim turned the machine to Electrode negative 150 amps, and I was ready to roll!

NEXT POST:  See the results…..

You may have dropped by the Arc-Zone.com eBay store and seen this message:

We’re revamping our entire eBay store.  We’ll be taking advantage of new tools offered by eBay and hope to be up and running before the end of next week.

In the meantime, don’t forget, you can purchase top quality welding accessories from our super secure Arc-Zone.com webstore.  In fact, we’re adding more and more items each day… from CK TIG Torches to MIG replacement parts and even posters, Weld Like a PRO (TM) decals and stylish welding apparel…  if you haven’t scoped out our online welding webstore lately, you’re missing out!

It’s been a long time coming…  a new Weldcraft Website.  What I especially like is the crisp clean graphics and the Help me choose a TIG Torch tool:

Appleton, Wis. December 15, 2008—Weldcraft unveiled its completely new Web site this week, featuring convenient product selection information, easy site navigation, valuable educational resources, and in-depth parts and accessories information.

An intuitive home page interface allows site visitors to quickly and easily learn more about which of Weldcraft’s two main product lines, the Crafter Series and the WP Series, best meets their TIG welding needs. The Crafter and WP Series’ pages let users further define their search based on product category: hand-held air-cooled, hand-held water-cooled, machine held and hand-held specialty (the last two categories are for the WP series only). Site visitors can determine exactly which TIG torch is right for their application based on detailed product descriptions. Downloadable product spec sheets with complete torch and replacement part information are also available.

READ the official Weldcraft press release–>

And don’t forget, if you want to buy a Weldcraft TIG Torch, Arc-Zone.com carries the most complete line of torches and accessories IN STOCK and ready ship.

In my last post, I neglected to mention that Arc-Zone.com is on YouTube with some great how-to welding videos.

Our most popular video so far, is How To Build A Water Cooled TIG Torch.  Arc-Zone.com founder Jim Watson will take you through the steps to putting your torch together…  and you’ll get a sneak peek at Rachel, our own Roxy Fuel (welding posters and calendars coming soon).

I’m not so naive to think that big companies go green for purely altruistic reasons…. but I’m sure happy when I see changes. At Arc-Zone we do what we can to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle (check out the video about it over at JoeWelder.com)

And now, Lincoln’s new packaging is green:

Cleveland – The Lincoln Electric Company has introduced newly redesigned, eco-friendly packaging for its consumable products, resulting in added benefits to the customer and the environment.

Beginning in late 2008, all cardboard packaging will be made out of non-bleached bio-degradable cardboard. The new packaging drastically reduces the amount of harmful chemicals used in the production process, while providing a package that is 100-percent recyclable.

In addition, the labeling used on packages has been revamped. New labels are designed to be easier to identify at first glance and from greater distances. Brand, type and diameter information is now more readable and accessible.

“We wanted to make the product easier for everyone to read, from the welder, to distributors and forklift operators,” said Lisa Byall, consumable portfolio manager, Lincoln Electric. “The increased overall productivity combined with the reduced environmental impact of the new packaging offers our customers an added value to what are already the best performing consumables available.”

The Lincoln Electric Company, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is the world leader in the design, development, and manufacture of arc welding products, robotic arc-welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment and has a leading global position in the brazing and soldering alloys market. For more information, visit www.lincolnelectric.com.

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I was invited to guest blog over on the Miller Viewpoints blog…  while I appreciated the opportunity, and am truly honored that they asked, I have to say it was a little different blogging through a corporate machine.  First off, they wanted 250 words.  Two hundred-fifty words?  Are you kidding me?  that just gets me started! “The 250 words is just a rough guide,” they assured me.

So, I turned in my 876 word piece, Weld Like A Girl: Tips for Women in the Welding Industry. And waited.

Five days later, word came back. “Because it’s longer than we typically use for a single post, we’re going to make it into a series…” said my Miller contact.

Sounded fine with me.  I was proud of what I wrote, and three posts is better than one!

And so I waited some more as the edits, the approvals, and the blog post itself wended its way up the corporate chain of command. Word finally came back a week and a half later, “….they would only approve uploading the first topic, covering ‘Knowledge is Queen’”

[sigh]
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