Friday - Spring 17 Welding - Week 1
It's welding time again! We met our new team and created some group agreements to ensure a safe and fun space for everyone to learn the art of melting two pieces of steel into one!
First things first, we needed to protect our shoes from flying sparks...
Next Amanda showed us the welder, masks and other welding tools, and told us how electricity functions in welding.
Once heated over 3,800 degrees fahrenheit, steel takes a long time to cool down. We learned to assume all metal is hot even if its doesn't look "red hot." By waving our hands several inches over the piece of steel we could safely feel if it was still to hot to touch.
For our first trial run, Amanda helped guide us as we created a "bead" (the line of the weld). We learned to go really slow to reduce splatter and create a uniform bead.
Weld on!
We each tried our hand at creating a bead. Afterwards we talked about what worked and didn't so we could all learn from each other. The art of welding is all about learning from our "mistakes" and we had LOTS of opportunity for learning.
Looking forward to next week when we'll start to attach multiple pieces together!