Ronoldy's Welding progression

  When I started the hybrid part of the school year in 2021, I had started to use the welding tools in my Advanced Engineering class with Mr. Grosinger. My first lesson during the class was to learn the safety process during the welding process. Mr. Grosinger had instructed me to always put on a thick jacket that were stored in the class, so I would not catch fire from the hot sparks that fly around when welding. He also instructed me to use gloves to keep my hands safe, as well as wear a welding helmet to keep the strong UV rays from the welding to keep me from becoming blind. 

The next thing I was taught was about the stick welder I was going to use and how to use the machine without catching fire. I was taught how to replace the sick rod that is used to weld the metal together and what technic to use during welding to had a clean and even weld. 

    The metal was thick so Mr. Grosinger turned the voltage up to get the stick to weld better. The welder used a power source that was plugged in to the wall and was clamp to a table to have a ground.

    Mr. Grosinger also told me about the exhaust fan due to the smoke and heat the welding creates. I was told to turn this fan on so that I don't breath in the toxic smoke from the welder. 

After getting prepared to weld, I used an automated saw that I was able to cut off from a metal bar and then grind to make a better weld. Mr. Grosinger taught me how to use the saw and I was able to make pieces for my welding.

After cutting out some pieces, I started to grind the edges of the pieces by using a table grinder and creating a stronger weld since of the grind. He also told us to wear a face mask to protect our eyes from the sparks that fly from the grinder.

    After grinding down the edge, I put the piece in a vice and clampt them close together to the point where they are not lose, I started to weld through the line made and made a strong weld. I used almost a whole stick to weld the piece together and then cleaned the welds to make it shine with a wire brush. 

    After finishing the weld and cleaning it up with the brush, I was told to fit the piece with a hammer and test how strong my welds were. After having some experience with the stick welder, I was taught how to use the other welder, the mig welder that feeds the weld and melt wire onto the weld. 

    The mig welder had the same safety precautions as the stick welder but worked differently. Mr. Grosinger taught me how to use this tool and I was also instructed how to fix the welding handle if I get to close to the welding and build up residue on the tip. He showed me a tool that was made for the welding tool that has every ficture that you will need to fix the welding tool if you build up residue, release to much of the wire, or just to clean out the tip.

After spending some days on both welding tools, Mr. Grosinger instructed me to fix a stool that a previous student was fixing. I found some parts for the chair and got ready to fix the part I found by sawing off a part of the new piece that was torn and useless and replacing it with another piece that I would weld together and have a better piece for the chair.

While welding the replacement on the new piece, the welder was very strong and burnt through the metal fast so I lowed the voltage and tested the weld to check if it will melt through. The best voltage was the lowest and Mr. Grosinger taught me about welding for a small amount of time and waiting for it to cool down and then welding again, he called it spot welding to get a better weld.

I'll continue to weld on the days I go to school and gain better experience welding to have a great skill for future needs and for a probable career.