the more you know, the more you know you don't know!
now i have to start all over learning welding...concentrating on metallurgical knowledge demonstrated here...you guys make me worry about every weld i've done before!
i started out as a d.o.t. certified train car repair welder, then worked a short time in a police car muffler plant (i made them wrong on purpose!!), steam power r&d, and finally , my last welding job before going indie....highly decorative welding of structural pieces..staircase railings, spiral staircases, bridges, etc....
with that work EVERY weld is ground to remove all traces of welding...
goal is to make every piece look like it was sculpted; especially in pieces that were of organic motif. (see my wine cellar pieces)
i always worried about the scientific facts regarding such welds...always used whatever the man provided and remained ignorant about such things as we are discussing here.
now that i am starting over, along with new shop with new tig/stick machine and the new skills to be acquired, the liability is mine.
i want the other edge of the liability sword; that of the good reputation for great artistic work.
you guys make me want to go ahead and start in first day welding classes, but i always find it a crap shoot for who's would teach...i always got lucky and paid to learn instead
of paying.
well now i'm paying anyway....electricity is higher here in hawaii than anywhere else, and argon was $130 to fill bottle!! (they have to send bottles over to oahu to fill)
that gives me impetus to gain master proficiency on stick! i'd only ever been proficient in mig and o/a welding before. never saw a tig machine until i bought one last month.
well all this makes forging all the more important to me...so much cheaper to do here than welding with electricity.
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