In Standwood, Washington, they’ve got it a little backwards — here, the students have become the teachers.  The teens are teaching the adults how to weld!!

Stanwood students teach adults welding
By GALE FIEGE
THE DAILY HERALD

STANWOOD, Wash. — When a group of high school welding students decided to offer a class for the community, they never imagined having to turn people away.

“It was amazing to us. We had 25 people on a waiting list right off the bat,” said teacher Darryl Main, adviser for Stanwood High School’s Agricultural Mechanics Club. “The community welding course has been so well-received, we might have to run another one this spring.”

For $60, adult students get 12 hours of instruction focusing on shielded metal and gas metal arc welding. Proceeds from the class help fund the club’s field trips and contest travel expenses.

On a recent Thursday, the garage doors to Stanwood’s ag shop were flung wide open. Twenty adults in protective helmets, coveralls and heavy gloves huddled over metal pieces, torches in hand and sparks flying, while teenagers coached them one-on-one through the welding process.

“It’s great to watch the kids teaching, and the adults enjoying learning from them,” Main said. “There’s no better way to learn than to teach. You can just see the self-esteem of the kids go up. They feel empowered and that’s pretty dang cool.”

Nearly half of the adult students in the class are women.

CONTINUE READING ONLINE ->

Meet Naomi Buechman

Naomi is a new Facebook Friend (you can never have too many Facebook Friends!), and when we put out a call for women welders, she was one of the first to answer. Here’s what she has to say about welding, working as a woman welder, and life:

My name is Naomi Buechman. I am 24 years old and live in Ontario, Canada. I currently weld part time, looking for full time work, but am also a photographer.

For fun I enjoy concerts, drive ins, carnivals, reading, writing, photographing, and driving my truck on road trips… And of course, welding!

I have been welding for a little over a year now, and am C.W.B. Certified (in the GTAW and GMAW processes).

I was always interested in welding growing up even though I hated fire, because I used to watch TV shows of shipbuilders and auto-body guys slugging away on cars… I also thought the helmets looked very astronaut-like, which I loved!

I trained at a local college and took their “welding techniques” program, which actually focused around a lot of the ‘other’ stuff involved with welding- fitting, autocad, blueprint reading, technical math, welding theory and metallurgy, to name a few. It was my first year of ever stepping foot into a shop and it was definitely intimidating at first, but I quickly moved past that and went into ‘the zone’.

Currently I am using the SMAW and GTAW processes the most, but am proficient at using all forms, as we were taught all of them in the shop. I thoroughly enjoy TIG welding the most, even though I like laying a fast bead with say, GMAW, but I like that you can control your heat and bead with your foot …providing you use a foot petal

I have done some production welding, and am currently doing some projects for a military base for a local shop. I have never worked in a fab shop, but spend a lot of time in one alongside some of the greatest people in my life… amongst making some funky art pieces in the shop. I have done a few art pieces, nothing major- but have sold both that I made. It keeps my skills sharp when there’s a lull in the economy, which is a bonus!

I have done welding jobs from local little shops, to working plant shutdowns, 60 feet up crawling through 14 inch spaces to weld in a confined space. Burning rod with four inches of concrete all around- your face completely brown, hair like straw and concrete dust falling out of your pants. (Clarifying shampoo will be your friend ladies!)

Non-welding related I have done everything from slinging drinks, to pouring coffee, photographer to selling pantyhose to truckers. (Don’t ask!)

My biggest career challenge to date has been the economy, because when I graduated is when the recession hit its worst.

Being a woman in some towns is still a challenge too, but I always go prepared with helmet over shoulder to prove that I can weld just as good, or better than any guy on their shop floor. It pays to let employers know that you are not there to pave the road for women’s rights, but you genuinely love what you do, which is what I always let them know.

I have come across several situations where employers have said “oh sorry, we don’t have a woman’s washroom”, or “it’s a dirty job”, and I handled it by saying “there are always ways around that” or “It’s a job that needs to be done!” (After coming out of a chute, eight hours later covered with inches of concrete dust, I think proving tenacity and determination is key)

I would tell any young women that are interested in welding as a career to be strong, don’t undermine yourself and work hard. It’s very easy to get intimidated and discouraged because the reality is, the welding world can and will be tough, but so can a lot of other sectors in life, but you can’t let that get you down. If it’s something you really love at the end of the day, you will know.

If it’s not meant to be, then that’s okay too. Life is about finding your passion, which mine happens to be welding. I love the smell of burning rod, the smell of the leathers, and the accomplishment at the end of the day. It’s as simple as welding patches inside concrete chutes and making it fun, thinking of it as leaving your imprint.

I also want to encourage women to discover welding related careers that stem from welding, such as fitting, iron worker, welding inspector, or even an instructor. There are many opportunities to advance, and I believe that being smart is also an asset (but not necessarily a necessity) with being a welder too. Knowing distortion control, grain structure of metals used in tools and why, or different currents used and why really helped me progress as a good welder. Knowing how to weld is cool, but knowing how to take apart your nozzle and put it back together is where it’s at for me. I believe you should know how and why your machine works, not just that it works.

Right now because of the recession, there are a lot of qualified men/women without work, which does suck, but you just have to keep with it and get out there and pound the pavement when an opportunity arises. I think the best path for success in the industry is listen to those who know, those who have been there. Try it out.

I foresee green projects popping up like crazy, so the demand will be there and always for maintenance of plants and structural jobs from across the country.

If art is your forte, get out to every local craft shop and get your name out there, don’t be afraid!

My ultimate goal as a welder is to end up working for an auto-body shop, customizing rods, or to start mingling with some cool alloys, such as TIG welding titanium or TIG welding parts for the aerospace industry.

As Tomater from Cars would say, eat my rust!

Thanks Naomi! You know we all want to know, however, WHY were you selling pantyhose to truckers?

Yes, we’re a little in posting this…. but a belated CONGRATS to Carissa!

I thought you all might find this interesting — what were the original Rosies recommended to wear to work?  Well, now you know!

College isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  In fact, if you’re looking for a career in welding, a technical school might just be the place to go.

Technical schools give students a leg up on a career

By FARAH TAMIZUDDIN/VOICE CORRESPONDENT
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER
Posted Jan 25, 2010 @ 11:00 PM

Seventeen-year-old Konner Fenwick doesn’t want to go to college.

She isn’t taking any more history or English classes.

The Springfield High School senior doesn’t want to get a job after she graduates in June, either.

Her plan? Attend a technical school.

“School’s never really been my thing,” Konner said. “I think I’ll enjoy this a lot.”

More than half of the country’s high school seniors each year head to college right after graduation, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

However, 30 to 40 percent of seniors find their footing elsewhere.

CONTINUE READING ONLINE ->

Through the wonderful social medium that is Facebook, we have been fortunate enough to meet a variety of dedicated and uniquely talented women welders who are working their way through life with a torch in hand. Here’s what Karine Maynard says about welding, and life:

My name is Karine Maynard, and I live in central Kentucky. I work as a blacksmith who helps to make ornamental & architectural ironwork, mostly custom jobs, like railings and balconies; sometimes we get smaller commissions for tables, fire screens, etc.

Growing up on a tree farm in Wisconsin, my father also had an auto parts store and I’d probably still be there and running the place now, except that when it came time for him to retire he said it was “no business for a girl,” so I went to college and one of the things I studied was art.

I got my introductions to working in metal in jewelry-making classes, and I studied everything including political science, foreign languages and history – but really my early years in the country surrounded by auto shops & farming gave me the taste for things “hands on”. I also traveled a lot internationally in college and that really expanded my ideas as well as introduced me to other cultures and interesting people.

(more…)

In one of the most original, sad, and, therefore, daunting tasks I’ve ever heard of, Natascha Whitehurst is using her talent for welding to fabricate her own parents’ tombstones.

Instead of the usual headstones, Natascha is crafting two oak stumps (made from a water heater tank), connected by a root (made from an exhaust pipe), bearing their names and dates etched in the metal.

Welder honors her Mother & Father

By Laura Gutschke
Posted January 2, 2010

TUSCOLA — Rusted metal scrap objects long past their original function are finding new life as art at the hands of Natascha Whitehurst.

One of her current projects also is her most personal. She is crafting out of a discarded water heater’s inner steel tank a double tombstone for her parents. The tombstone looks like two oak stumps connected by a root, to be made out of a vehicle exhaust pipe.

“Instead of buying new, I like using what is already out there,” Whitehurst said.

Rows of small welding beads will run down the side of the tank to resemble bark. On top of the 18-inch tree stump for her mother, Janice Sadler, who died on Jan. 1, 2009, will be a watering can to symbolize her nurturing of the family.

A rifle will be leaning against the stump for her father, Harley Sadler, who continues to work as a truck driver today, to represent his providing for the family and his love of hunting.

CONTINUE READING ONLINE ->

I’d like to thank Craig Swanson for the following cartoon, which has to be one of the best ones on welding I’ve yet to find:

All I can say is, it’s about time!

It’s about time somebody put up a statue in honor of the working women of WWII, and it’s high time I find out about it (it’s only been nearly a decade)!

Now, if we could just get some of the other states to follow suit…

Tinker statue commemorates working women

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City)
Apr 3, 2000 by Bill May The Journal Record

When Elizabeth Ward decided to apply for a job at Tinker Air Force Base, it was no precedent-shattering event.

“I just walked in and got my job,” she said. “It was because of women like her, that it was that way.”

The “her” she referred to was Frankie Collier, 73, who went to work for the Douglas Aircraft Plant, now building 3001 at Tinker, the day she turned 18 in August 1944.

As an inspection clerk, Collier didn’t handle the wrenches, tools and rivet guns that gave the name “Rosie the Riveter” to a whole generation of women who took over defense manufacturing jobs to free a equal number of men to fight World War II.

“I worked there until the end of the war, then they just let us go,” she said. “There was nothing done about it, nothing said. They just told us to go home, the war was over.”

In the 55 ensuring years, Collier — like so many of her generation — got married, raised a family and continued with a teaching career.

One thing was missing, though. There was no memorial, no statue, nothing to commemorate the tough work these women tackled during the nation’s dark days.

CONTINUE READING ONLINE ->

Did you know what you wanted to do for a career when you were a freshman in high school?  I didn’t!  I don’t really know anyone who did — isn’t that what college is for?

Lyndsi Tingle did.  She wanted to be a welder, and she and her teachers agree — she’s on the right track to succeed.

Frankfort Face: She makes sparks fly

By Katheran Wasson

Lyndsi Tingle wore men’s welding gloves for three years before she realized they made smaller pairs for women.

The 17-year-old Western Hills High School senior welds, cuts and bends metal alongside the boys at Franklin County Career and Technical Center.

She spends four hours a day in tan Carhartt overalls and a T-shirt, safety goggles propped on her blonde head.

“Most of the guys kind of look at me as mama,” she said, sitting in the workshop before winter break.

“If something needs to be done, they know that I’m going to be on them to do it.”

Lyndsi has known since freshman year that she wanted to make a career out of welding.

After graduation, she and five of her classmates will head to Tulsa Welding School in Jacksonville, Fla., to study the craft.

She hopes to eventually become an inspector, checking the welds on bridges, power plants and pipes to make sure they are secure.

CONTINUE READING ONLINE ->