Lincoln Electric Introduces the Chip Foose-Designed
Vista(R) Hemisfear(TM) Auto-Darkening Welding Helmet
Legendary Car Designer Models Helmet After His 500-HP Hemisfear(TM) Hot Rod

Cleveland – Lincoln Electric has teamed up with Chip Foose – award-winning custom car designer and die-hard Lincoln Electric enthusiast – to introduce Vista(R) Hemisfear(TM), an auto-darkening welding helmet inspired by Foose’s 500-HP Hemisfear hot rod.

The latest edition to Lincoln’s Vista(R) series of welding helmets, the Hemisfear welding helmet captures the essence of Foose’s limited production hot rod, a classic car that gave Foose one of his initial claims to fame in 2006. The helmet features the hot rod’s three distinct colors: neon green, black and orange with a custom silver stripe on the side. Other embellishments to the helmet include Chip Foose’s signature and the Foose Design(TM) logo.

The Vista Hemisfear is the company’s first using a new lightweight shell design, bringing the total helmet weight to 20 oz. or less depending on configuration. All Vista helmets feature:

•  Solar powered auto-darkening, eliminating operator error and alkaline corrosion
•  Grind and TIG modes, as well as variable delay settings for greater operator control
•  Four independent arc sensors to ensure reliability
•  Different view sizes for user preferences, including the 3000 series, with one of the largest views in the industry

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POWER MIG^® 140C
POWER MIG^® 180C

Perfect for around the house or
around the shop, POWER MIG®
welders feature Diamond Core
Technology™ and a professional
grade drive roll system.

Precision TIG^® 225

The experts’ choice, with the
widest operating range in its class
and patented Micro-Start™ II
technology.

Ranger^® 10,000 Plus
Kohler^® or
Subaru Robin^®

Perform a variety of AC or DC welding
jobs, with plenty of AC generator
power for lights, tools,
and more. Perfect for construction,
maintenance and the farm.

Ranger^® 225 GXT

All the advantages of the Ranger®
10,000 with an enclosed case!
Perform a variety of AC or DC
welding jobs, with plenty of AC generator
power for lights, tools, and
more. Perfect for construction,
maintenance and the farm.

Check out the Lincoln website for more information about the RULES and REWARDS.

The Skills USA Championship is a well-known competition for high school and college students pursuing careers in trade, technical and skilled trade professions.

With various categories for participants to compete in, Sara Bingham seemed like an average participant at the Skills USA Utah State Championship. However, when she was announced as the first place winner in welding, Bingham stood out among her competitors.

“They called my name and everyone in the audience kept looking around to be sure they really heard a girl’s name. When I stood up, everyone’s mouths fell open in shock,” Bingham said.

Bingham welded for the first time as sophomore in high school at her father’s metal recycling business where she worked since she was 8. But, it was not until she took an advanced welding course at her high school that she began taking an interest.

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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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Cleveland – The James F. Lincoln Arc Welding Foundation’s newest book, Arc Welded Projects, Volume IV, features step-by-step directions for fun projects targeted at the home hobbyist and do-it-yourself welder. Projects range from a gas-fired cooker trailer, to a stainless steel pickup sander, to a Dutch miser wood stove – and all were created by welding students as entries for the foundation’s annual awards programs.

Arc Welded Projects, Volume IV is divided into five categories, including:

– Agriculture – featuring projects such as hydraulic trench digger, chisel plow and hay bale    squeezer

– Trailers – featuring projects such as 24-foot gooseneck trailer, single axle van trailer and off-road monster grill-bbq

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With a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Dayton, Erin Justice was a good catch– for Lincoln Electric’s technical sales team. “I was recruited….right out of college,” she says.

As a native of the Cleveland area, Erin was familiar with the reputation of Lincoln Electric, a leading manufacturer of welding equipment. It was the people at Lincoln that clinched the deal. “Lincoln is a big company with a small company feel,” she says. “Everyone is very personable.” The combination of technical expertise and a pleasant work environment seemed to be the perfect fit.

Erin’s official bio states that although she had some experience welding during a stick welding lab in college, it wasn’t until she went through 16 weeks of welding classes at Lincoln’s renown welding school that she learned the special skills needed to excel as a technical sales representative in the Detroit District office.

As an engineer, it’s not surprising that Erin finds the challenge of welding to be a big part of the draw. “Welding is an art that requires a lot of practice. There is a lot of science and technology behind that art,” she says.

She is familiar with SMAW, GMAW, FCAW and SAW but counts GTAW as her favorite. “It takes a lot of time and skill to get good at. The skilled TIG welders I’ve met always have the best tips and tricks and it’s amazing to watch them work.”

Discrimination has not been a problem for Erin. “As a woman I don’t think people expect you to know a lot about welding. Once you show that you know what you’re talking about, it doesn’t matter what gender you are,” she says.

As proof, after a year and half, Erin was able to parlay her experience and skills to a move back to Cleveland where she is now a corporate trainer along with three other technical trainers at Lincoln’s headquarters. The school trains customers, distributors and Lincoln employees by providing general product knowledge, background for sales knowledge and best practices on maximizing productivity.

Growing up, Erin’s parents encouraged her development in math and sciences while her grandfather—an engineer—encouraged her to pursue her education in engineering. Had she known then what an integral part of her career welding would be, she probably would have advised her fifteen-year-old self to take a class or get involved with a welding club.

As for young women interested in welding as a career? Erin would encourage them to consider a career in welding even though women are still a minority. “There are a lot of great career opportunities available…. If you think about it, there aren’t too many things that you use on a daily basis that haven’t in some way been touched by welding.”

Since 1917, the Lincoln Electric Welding School has instructed over 100,000 men and women in the various methods and techniques of safety and arc welding processes. These Lincoln-trained students are in high demand by a variety of welding fabricators, at pay levels that exceed industry average. In addition, the school is listed by the Ohio State Board of School and College Registration, under certificate number 71-02-0059T. The Lincoln Electric Welding School is the oldest and one of the most respected arc welding schools in the United States.

Why do boys get to have all the fun?

This just in from Lincoln Electric’s iWeld newsletter (if you’re not signed up yet, go do it now! they send lots of great articles and my favorite, the How I Did It section showcasing different projects submitted by real life welders.)

Project Go Cart was submitted by Martin Ziskind and his son and built in 9 days…. would have been a great mother/daughter project too!

For some great how-to pics to stimulate your imagination, visit the Lincoln Electric site.

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…..

As any skilled professional can tell you, it’s important to constantly improve your knowledge if you’re to become an expert. Welding requires skill and knowledge of metallurgy, geometry, electrical, design, and more.

There are a lot of great resources out there, many of them I have referenced before on this blog:  The Fabricator Magazine, Lincoln Electric’s website, Miller’s website, ESAB’s website,   Hobart’s website, Arc-Zone.com’s Welding Library, The American Welding Society, and Edison Welding Institute to name a few.

Of course you can buy welding books (Arc-Zone.com carries a nice selection!)  You should also consider signing up for manufacturers’ newsletters. Although they are obviously plugging their own products, they offer a wealth of information that you can download or print out for your own welding library. Here’s a few to get you started:

• Miller’s Power Click e-News (Welding Newsletter via email)
  
• Lincoln’s iWeld Welding Newsletter via email
• Arc-Zone’s Weld Like A Pro(tm) E-Zine

I was perusing the Lincoln Electric website, and although they don’t have a lot of the sizzle and pizzazz that the Miller Electric site has, they do have some good solid information online, from Stick to MIG to TIG Welding Tips, How Tos, Projects, Equipment Selection and Safety Tips.

Here’s a few I found that I liked:

TIG Welding a mini stainless steel biplane. Instructions include pictorial description of step-by-step process, complete supply list, and even downloadable PDF instructions.

On TIG Welding Aluminum

Although many metals are TIG welded, the metal most frequently associated with the process is aluminum, especially with metals of a smaller thickness. Many other processes, of course, can join aluminum, but in the lighter gauges the most applicable process is TIG. The popularity of aluminum in automotive applications has brought TIG welding to a new golden age. Mechanically strong and visually appealing, TIG welding is the number one process chosen by professional welders for professional racing teams, and the avid auto enthusiast or hobbyist.

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