If you need to improve your TIG welding skills, take a look at the newest of the Ron Covell’s videos, Advanced TIG Welding with Ron Covell.

Jim Watson (my boss) over at Arc-Zone tells me that he learned a trick or two from Ron Covell, and Jim himself is a master fabricator!

And for women welders, it’s even more important to stay on top of your game.  The advice I’ve gotten most often from women on how to fit in or get along on a job site or in a weld shop is to make sure you’re always improving your skill set. (actually that’s true in any career!)  And make sure you know what you’re doing.

Go ahead and take a look at the list of Tips for Women in the Welding Industry, and be sure to let me know what YOU think…

What advice would you give a woman starting out?

How do you work on improving your welding and metal fabrication skills?

Looks like the safety experts at Miller got right with this line: WeldX, high performance flame resistant, spatter resistant welding safety apparel.

WeldX fabric offers the protection of leather, but it won’t weigh you down.

Now if only they had a women’s line!

Of course the apron, sleeves and bib are One Size fits all…

but it may be a bit more challenging to find the right fit on the Jacket and the Cape Sleeves…  but here’s a couple of sizing charts to help you out.

It was a fun night for me at the monthly American Welding Society — San Diego Section meeting.  This night’s topic?  Induction heating with a system unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.

Gone are the days of waiting hours and hours for your length of pipe to warm up to the right temperature –

Miller has just released the new ProHeat 35 Induction Heating System, which works by inducing heat electromagnetically, rather than via a conductor, thus saving the operator incredible amounts of time and energy.

Simply wrap the induction coils around whatever piece of metal you’re working on, and in just a few minutes, you’re ready to go!

This picture was taken looking inside the length of pipe that was being heated up by the ProHeat 35 — you can’t see it here, but that tube was glowing red hot on the inside!

And even better, when I tried touching the coils wrapped around it?
Cold as ice! This product is simply amazing!

But perhaps the best part about this whole new system is that you don’t even have to buy it! Red-D-Arc will rent out one of their machines to you for as long as you need!

I never thought I’d see the day. Let me repeat that – NEVER.

But the day has indeed arrived, from whence forward, a newbie welder will be able to practice welding, not the old-fashioned way, with torch and electrode, but via virtual reality.

You can thank Lincoln Electric for this new advancement in welding technology — they are the producers of the new VRTEX 360 which enables the wearer to weld via a virtual welding gun and a helmet that is equipped with monitors on the inside.

You can “virtually” weld in a welding booth, on a construction site — even on a base in the desert!

And, it has to be said, this is the greenest welding machine on the market, and it will enable students to learn faster than ever before.

Who knows — this newest welding “video game” could become so popular that instructors will have to pry the virtual torch right out of their students’ unwilling hands.

One can only hope.

I got this forwarded to me in an email and immediately knew that we had to post this here on Carmen!

Ron Patrick’s Street-Legal Jet Powered Volkswagen Beetle

This is my street-legal jet car on full afterburner.

The car has two engines: the production gasoline engine in the front driving the front wheels and the jet engine in the back.

The idea is that you drive around legally on the gasoline engine and when you want to have some fun, you spin up the jet and get on the burner (you can start the jet while driving along on the gasoline engine).

The car was built because I wanted the wildest street-legal ride possible.

With this project, I was able to use some stuff I learned while getting my fancy engineering degree (I have a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University) to design a street-legal jet car without the distraction of how other people have done it in the past – because no one has.

I don’t know how fast the car will go and probably never will. The car was built to thrill me, not kill me. That doesn’t stop me from the occasional blast on the highway though.

CONTINUE READING ONLINE ->

It appears that wood and plain-old steel just aren’t cutting it any more.  No, for furniture with built-in character, try making it out of your old rusted-out cars!

Furniture from Old Car Parts? Yep.

By Jaime Derringer
Dec 8th 2009

Joel Hester’s love affair with old and vintage metals began two years ago.

A client brought him a small metal beer sign that he wanted to use as a top for a coffee table. Joel, who lives in Dallas, Texas, knew a little something about making furniture from unexpected materials; he was already welding steel into custom bed frames.

So he made the coffee table — and then got an idea. Why not start a business? He’s since developed a passion for making custom furniture out of old cars. He calls it The Weld House.

But why cars? Well, when he received the client’s beer sign, he wondered how he could make it work since the sign wasn’t large enough to wrap the top of the table for a smooth, seamless surface.

So, after over a month of struggling with the process, Joel ended up wandering through a junk yard looking for scrap metal that might work with the beer sign.

“I turned a corner and saw an old Cadillac,” he says. “Its large trunk was the coolest mixture of color and patterns. I knew I could skin the metal off the structure of the trunk and use it to wrap the top of the table.”

Joel instantly forgot about the beer sign and called his client proposing a new, different idea of how to create the table: an old car!

CONTINUE READING ONLINE ->

New from Miller:

Safeguard your senses with the new Powered Air Purifying Respirator, or PAPR.  Don’t be fooled by the acronym though; this product does much more than a mere piece of PAP[E]R ever could.

Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR)

Your solution to a cleaner breathing zone. The lightweight design, innovative shoulder straps and dual air speeds provide protection and maximum comfort.

Lightweight blower design (3.25 lb) provides all day comfort and reduces fatigue. Over 1 lb lighter than the leading brand!

Comfortable shoulder straps reduce fatigue over long shifts and distribute weight to provide a comfortable and secure fit for a wide variety of users.

Dual air speeds allow users to adjust the volume of air to maximize comfort in varied work conditions.

(more…)

Lincoln Electric has just released the UltraCore® 70C, its newest gas-shielded, flux-cored wire.  It’s guaranteed to meet the highest standards for the “structural fabrication, heavy equipment and ship building industries with low fume generation rates, excellent bead stacking and high deposition rates“.

Lincoln Electric Offers New UltraCore® 70C Gas-Shielded Flux-Cored Wire

- Low-fume generation rates for increased cleanliness and visibility

- Excellent bead stacking and slag removal

- H8 diffusible hydrogen levels

Cleveland — Lincoln Electric now offers the new UltraCore® 70C (E70T-1 H8, E70T-9H8) wire in its portfolio of premium gas-shielded, flux-cored (FCAW-G) consumables. This new product is designed to meet the requirements of the structural fabrication, heavy equipment and ship building industries with low fume generation rates, excellent bead stacking and high deposition rates.

Low-Fume Generation Rate and Diffusible Hydrogen

The low fume generation rates of UltraCore 70C increase cleanliness and visibility while welding, as well as improved ability to control welding fume. Diffusible hydrogen levels are controlled at an H8 AWS classification to provide resistance to hydrogen induced cracking.

Excellent Bead Stacking and High Deposition Rates

UltraCore 70C features excellent bead stacking and slag removal to reduce clean-up time for fast multiple-pass welding. High deposition rates further increase productivity by allowing for fewer passes to complete a joint.

To request a copy of Lincoln’s UltraCore 70C product literature, call (888) 355-3213 or visit www.lincolnelectric.com to obtain Bulletin C3.12.2.

What do you get when you combine an Overhaulin’ star and a Hemisfear car?  A brand new, top of the line welding helmet from Lincoln Electric, of course.