A common thread among many women welders is that they were first introduced to welding by a man in their lives. Laura Knight is no exception. “I started welding copper water lines with a plumber and then married an air conditioning technician who welds steel…. and I learned wire feed welding from him,” she says.

Rather than welding as a trade, Laura moved into a more creative endeavor with her new found skill, working with metal to create “paintings” and sculptures. With a painter for a father and a mother who works in jewelry, it was a natural move. “Artistic welding is my career now,” she says, and with over 300 paintings sold has chosen her career well.

She first tried to learn welding when she was in her twenties but found the process frustrating and the helmets uncomfortable. She couldn’t do the designs that she wanted and soon gave up. “I had to wait until the technology caught up with me,” she says, referring to the auto-darkening helmets.

Ideas come to Laura as full-scale, full-color, three-dimensional pictures in her head. She then draws her idea, “Then it’s out to my outdoors-under-the-awning-workshop to put it all together.”

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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.

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I first “met” Debra on MySpace. Her MySpace handle is SteelWitch, which is a bit of a misnomer. She should be called Copper Witch. Not because she is a witch, but rather because she has an affinity for copper.

She and her husband have a custom fab shop up in the Sierras not too far from Sequoia National Park. The Metal Shoppe does some incredible work, specializing in custom copper range hoods, kitchen countertops. When I put out the call to interview women welders, Debra volunteered right away.

When did you start welding?

Started school in May 2000

What made you want to pick up a torch and start melting metal?

Started out learning a little bit from an ex-boyfriend who had a little Miller 110 welder he used for working on a hot rod he was building.

Was there someone in particular who introduced you to welding as a career option?

I started out going to auto body shop to learn more about body work and part of that class was basic welding. I started to entertain thoughts of a career change at that point -

How did you train? How long have you been welding?

Two years in Fresno City College welding program. [I've been welding] since starting school in May 2000. Was fortunate to pick up an entry level job in a fabrication shop by June 2000 and have migrated from shop to shop working my way up.

I see your specialty is in copper, can you tell me a little bit about what draws you to copper, and how you work with it? How is it different than other metals?

I started working in copper when my husband and I opened our own shop in 2004. It all started with one copper kitchen hood. That is how I found Archive Designs’ website and saw the repousse work they do there. Went to a class to learn it and have discovered other things to make with copper along the way.

I like copper because it is easy to work with. You can heat it, anneal it, hand form it, weld it and do all kinds of different colorations with patina processes and heat. Because it is a softer metal – it can be easier to work with in some ways than steel. It obviously depends on the application. And again, there are a variety of colors and textures you can apply that do not work the same way with steel – I guess you could say it is more versatile that way. For exterior use – it doesn’t rust like steel.

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There’s been a lot of talk lately about the welder shortage:

• “Solving The Welder Shortage: he nation is starving for welders. Here’s how you can make a difference.” by Jim Horvath
• “Solving the Welder Shortage One Tinkerer at a Time,” Miller Viewpoints
• “Where Have all the Welders Gone…” by Ilan Brat, Wall Street Journal

And there’s been a lot of talk about why women don’t become welders (too tough a job, too dirty, etc)

The fact is there are a lot of misconceptions about what kind of work welding is, and what kind of women weld… and I’d like to do my part to change that.

I’m initiating a new regular feature for this site, Women in Welding, and plan to feature women welders.

If you know a woman who welds, or if you are a woman who welds and would like to be featured, contact me directly: carmenelectrode –at– arc-zone.com. (or you can use the Contact Carmen Electrode form). I’m looking for all kinds of women to showcase the variety of opportunities there are for women whether its your hobby or profession I want to hear from you!