This has to be my favorite topic post ever from the Miller Discussion Boards. It started three years ago, and amazingly, continues up until, probably whenever you’re reading this! There’ve been over five hundred responses, and since we couldn’t list them all for you, I picked out twenty of my favorites – see if you recognize any!

You Might Be a Welder If…

Got any more YMBAWI quotes?  Let’s start another marathon thread here!

Not especially welding related…  but here at CarmenElectrode.com we do like to feature women that are pursuing their dreams and working in fields that historically have been pursued less often by women:  construction, engineering, WELDING, etc.

This California senior is sure to find her way in the architecture world.  Holli Tripp, who will graduate this year from an Auburn high school, has already designed a house, specifically, the house that she and her family will some day live in.

Placer senior has designs on architecture
Holli Tripp earned straight As plus multiple cash scholarships
By Deric Rothe Journal Editor

Holli Tripp, a Placer High senior who graduates  Saturday, had a 4.0 grade point average her senior year and earned six scholarships. She plans a career in architectural engineering. She is shown holding two of 16 architectural renderings she drew of her family’s future home for her senior project.

Placer High senior Holli Tripp says she is just a country girl who loves fishing and construction.

While that’s true, what’s also true is that Tripp is a young woman who is determined to make the most of her life after she walks across the field at LeFebvre Stadium Saturday and accepts her high school diploma.

Tripp spent her four years at Placer High working hard. The straight-A student earned a half-dozen cash scholarships that attest to her success.

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If you’ve ever seen the show Stomp, then you’ll immediately understand what this new group ScrapArtsMusic is all about.  In the Stomp show, performers use anything from brooms to garbage cans to… themselves to make music.

ScrapArtsMusic has kicked it up a notch by using- you guessed it – scrap metal.  All of their musical instruments are made of recycled scrap metal and other materials, welded and refashioned into new and sometimes odder-looking instruments.  Take a look at this youtube video to get a glimpse of their astounding performance skills:

Northland Pioneer College in Arizona had a problem – a good problem.  More students were enrolling in their practical welding classes than ever before, but that also meant a greater output of welding fumes than the school’s homemade ventilation system could put up with.  More kids?  Ditch the fumes please!

Fumes + Weld students = Bad news

Vocational school cleans up air for thriving weld program
March 14, 2009

A welding program in northeastern Arizona, looking to improve the air quality in its welding lab, replaced its fume extraction equipment.

Located in the mountains of northeastern Arizona, Northland Pioneer College provides real-life experiences to high school juniors and seniors in 11 area school districts through its dual enrollment program. In conjunction with Northern Arizona Vocational Institute of Technology (NAVIT), a partner institution, NPC/NAVIT offers courses ranging from cosmetology to welding.

One of the most popular classes at NPC/NAVIT is the welding applications program, which provides students with the skills necessary to become National Center for Construction Education and Research- (NCCER) and American Welding Society- (AWS) certified welders. Led by weld instructor Curtis Casey, NPC/NAVIT’s weld program has taken off, expanding to facilities in Holbrook and St. Johns, and attracting high school, charter school, home-schooled, and college students, as well as tradesmen and hobbyist welders.

“We were the first and are still the only AWS-endorsed educational and testing facility in northeastern Arizona,” Casey said.

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I love how-to articles.  They’re easy to read, informative, and I you can learn to improve your welds.  I’m a fan.  So, speaking of how-to articles, how about we learn about some shielding gases for GTAW:

A shielding gas primer for GTAW

Gas selection and optimization

By W.F. Garth Stapon
January 27, 2009

With so many blends of shielding gas available, it can be a difficult task to determine which gas or gas blend best suits a particular GTAW application. To simplify that task, you must first understand the distinct properties that each gas or gas mixture brings to the table and how best to optimize the mixture once it’s been determined.

Selecting the most economical shielding gas or blend for gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) must be based on your knowledge of the gases available, volume requirements, applications, and the overall effect the gas has on the welding process.

The primary gases used for GTAW are argon, helium, hydrogen, and sometimes nitrogen. The composition and purity of the gas or gas mixture should be tailored to meet your process, material, and application requirements. Shielding gases are used in either pure form or in blends of varying components. Therefore, selecting a gas or gas mixture can become quite complex because of the many combinations available.

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Got anymore tips for us that this article didn’t mention?  We want to know!  Share the wealth and leave a comment below.  And if you have a favorite article you’ve referenced to improve your welds–  let us know!