One of our best customers, a highly successful midwest manufacturer recently called. They needed an expedited shipment of our ArcTime™ Brand Hybrid Formula, “Multi-Use” Non-radioactive Tungsten Electrodes. (They have tested all available materials from a variety of suppliers/manufacturers and found ArcTime™ works best for their welding application but that’s another post)

We were sold out — It was late in the day and we did not have the raw tungsten material packaged and ready for sale (in our trademarked plastic tubes with product info hang tag and moisture-absorbing wood stick). Our sales manager Tim said, no problem. The customer puts the tungsten in a vending machine.

I was sure that Tim was mistaken. That he had gotten a crank call…. why would you put tungsten electrodes in a vending machine?

Turns out our customer uses a CribMaster Vending Machine. This innovative solution to inventory control allows the manufacturing engineer to track which TIG welders use which tungsten and how much they use. It is becoming a highly effective management, quality control and cost saving tool.

Someone still has to place the orders, however, which may bode well for the tool crib manager. Otherwise, I can just imagine him (or her) down at the local bar telling his buddies how his job was outsourced by a vending machine….

We asked Arc-Zone’s Sales guy Tim to guest post here about the revamped Trailing Shield section on the Arc-Zone.com website. He’s taken the lead in making sure we offer all the high tech trail shields and gas purging cups for TIG and Plasma Arc Welding applications.

Trailing in the Fourth Quarter

When a sports team is trailing in the fourth quarter, they put they best players in to bring it home. Welding is no different. When welders need the absolute best weld and gas coverage, they go to their best equipment. And for the best purge gas coverage, welders utilize high-tech trailing shields and purging cups.

Many TIG and Plasma Arc Welding applications require specific gas coverage and Arc-Zone.com understands the importance of the strength of the weld and how poor gas coverage can lead to poor weld quality. To correct the helm, Arc-Zone.com redesigned an entire section dedicated to gas Purging Cups, Standard and Extra-Long Straight Trailing Shields and Multi-Diameter Curved Shields.

In addition to maximizing shield gas coverage, these high-tech trailing shields lower gas usage and ensure weld strength. Designed for the most popular TIG (GTAW) and Plasma (PAW) torches, the cups and trail shields come ready to install on your torch.

Arc-Zone also offers a full line of welding accessories to adapt the trailing shields and cups to multiple tungsten sizes to help keep your equipment efficient. So now when you need 4+ inches of trailing shield gas for your 17 series TIG torch or cylindrical coverage for your 3 inch pipe with your 22 series mounted TIG torch… and you need to triumph over the competition by having the best weld, you know who’s got you covered.

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you need more info on any of these trailing shields, give our sales team  a call. They’re  up to speed on these highly engineered accessories and will make sure you get the right equipment for your team.

The FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show is North America’s largest metal forming, fabricating, and welding exposition and conference. The event exists to bring buyers and sellers of metal forming and fabricating technologies together in an environment that facilitates and accelerates business relationships.

The 2008 show will be held October 6 – 8, 2008 at Las Vegas Convention Center– in Las Vegas, Nevada.

One don’t miss event, keynote speaker and Joe Welder’s favorite fabricator / innovator, Dean Kamen. “Inspiring Future Generations to Lead the World in Innovation” on Tuesday October 7.

As an inventor and entrepreneur, Dean Kamen believes in the power of innovation. Innovation is the key to keeping U.S. manufacturing competitive in a global economy, but it depends on a well-educated and skilled workforce. During this high-impact presentation, Dean Kamen will discuss the importance of getting our Nation’s youth excited about careers in science, technology and engineering and cultivating an environment that encourages creativity and risk-taking. Drawing on his own extraordinary experiences and successes, he’ll provide insights on what business leaders and society can do today to increase our capacity to innovate and ensure a strong manufacturing future for years to come.

In case you don’t know who Dean Kamen is… he is the inventor of the Segway…. and with gas prices as high as they are now, the Segway is looking like a really good alternative to a car!

For a complete list of the events at the FABTECH / AWS Welding Show, check out the association website.

Joe Welder, aka Jim Watson will be at The Show. If you’d like to join him, and need a ticket, let us know. We’ll hook you up!

David from Peoria (Arizona!) wrote in and asked:

….about “spray arc transfer MIG.” I tried it with my Miller 8VS and Syncrowave 200 (on CC mode). It sounded like TIG, but I ruined a tip & nozzle. Is this type recommended “at home,” or do you need a bigger multi-processor power source, and what are the advantages?

I quickly replied:
(more…)

You may or may not know about Tesla, the swankiest 100% electric car on the market. They started up production a couple of months ago:

San Carlos, Calif. – (March 17, 2008) — Regular production of the 2008 Tesla Roadster commenced today, marking an historical milestone for Tesla Motors and a watershed in the development of clean, zero-emissions vehicles.

First unveiled as a prototype on July 19th, 2006, the revolutionary Tesla Roadster generated an extraordinary response from people everywhere who were inspired by the vision that beautiful, high performance cars could generate zero-emissions and burn no oil.

Here, Tesla’s engineer explains to Inside Line how the much anticipated electric roadster works:

And now they’ve opened their first store in Los Angeles a couple weeks ago. I can only wonder how long it is before our own Joe Welder trades in his Prius (and his house) for a Tesla– it even comes in Arc-Zone Orange!

Tom OLeary, General Manager of the new Tesla store writes on his blog:

The Tesla Roadster is a revolutionary car and our Tesla Stores will be no less revolutionary as an automotive retail experience….. continue reading at Tesla Motors–>

(more…)

A lot of times companies don’t add new vendors to their line up because there’s a lot of work involved in getting set up to do business. The vendor requires paperwork, the customer requires paperwork, sales staff needs to be trained… and of course in the case of Arc-Zone.com® we need to add products to our website. Then there’s the “getting to know you” period when the vendor and the customer adapt to each other’s way of doing business.

Arc-Zone.com® just hooked up with Revco Industries to carry their line of high-quality safety apparel. From quality leather safety apparel and BSX Xteme protective wear with style and welding gloves galore, we’re adding to our webstore daily.

One of the most exciting lines is the Women’s Welding Wear, offering protective gear that is tailored for a woman’s body.

In addition to offering great quality welding safety products, and information about Leather Quality and finding your Glove size, Revco is easy to do business with!

When we placed our first order, within minutes we received a confirmation indicating availability and ship date. And the best part is, they delivered!

We hope our customers are as excited as we are about this new line of welding safety gear. Not only will you stay protected, you’ll look good.

$10 million bounty for super-efficient cars
Insurance company provides the purse for Automotive X Prize
By Alan Boyle, Science editor MSNBC

A $10 million contest to develop super-efficient — and salable — automobiles is getting its official kickoff on Thursday, with Progressive Insurance providing the purse.

The Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize, modeled after earlier prizes for spaceflight and genetic research, is aimed at promoting the creation of cars that get the equivalent of 100 miles per gallon, while at the same time hitting targets for low greenhouse-gas emissions, safety and affordability.
READ THE ARTICLE ONLINE–>

There hasn’t been a lot of innovation in the automotive industry, though I have been following the development of the Tesla — named after Nicola Tesla, and electrical genius. Tesla Motors was established by the founder of PayPal and some other Silicon Valley success stories who are putting their fortunes to work to improve our quality of life and provide jobs.

The Automotive X prize is reminiscent of the Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight recently awarded to Burt Rutan another innovator in the aircraft industry (flew around the world without stopping) He beat out all the competition to claim the prize for first in space. His company Scaled Composites, Inc. develops research aircraft and currently employs 130 people at the Mojave, California airport. My mom went to high school with Burt and he was in my Dad’s model airplane club! I met him myself back in the late ’80s and he toured me around his shop in the desert. I’ll tell you about that in another post.

Let’s hope the Automotive X Prize sparks some terrific innovation– and some opportunities– for some of the auto companies.

We have evolved from the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age and we are nearing the end of the Age of Oil. When historians look back at our time, that is how they will refer to us, to our time on this planet. It is in everything we do and use.

Last night My Wife and I were invited to the Del Mar Country Club for a presentation, a “fireside chat” with T. Boone Pickens it was very interesting and gave me some insight as to the future of energy, and the world energy markets.

Pickens advocates we pursue all forms of alternative fuels and move towards reducing our dependency on imported oil. He believes we won’t ever eliminate oil, and we shouldn’t as he believes we need to maintain relationships with the oil suppliers.

There were some 270 people there and the discussion was moderated by Sandra Maas from KUSI News. I had the chance to speak with Boone after the event and he was very informative and funny! He is currently developing natural gas for transportation, a giant wind farm for power generation and a water company. more info on his site. . .

So HOW does this relate to the Welding industry?
Consider the opportunities for each one of those forms of energy, and natural resources.

They all need to be manufactured and delivered — this takes infrastructure, storage tanks, pipelines, transportation vehicles, distribution hubs, terminals, and dispensers. All of these items are heavily fabricated metal products which require engineering, raw material production, welding, finishing and assembly. Work that can’t be done overseas.

It is going to take thousands of skilled welders, pipe fitters, welding and manufacturing engineers, and others to build the needed infrastructure. Additionally we will need welding equipment, safety equipment and much more.

No matter what your political affiliations are, the opportunity to pursue these energy resources in a creative and thoughtful way will pay huge dividends, provide thousands of good paying jobs, and supply the needed energy to power us well beyond the next several generations.

These are exciting times!

(Grangemouth Oil Refiner courtesy of Bryan Burke)

JESSE JAMES TO DEBUT NEW CREATION AT LEGEND OF THE MOTORCYCLE

Jesse James has announced that his newest creation, a glistening aluminum-clad motorcycle and sidecar combo for client Airstream will make its first public debut at the Legend of the Motorcycle Concours on May 3rd.

As reported recently in Forbes* magazine, “James and his welders machined, riveted and hammered 18-gauge steel and razor-thin aluminum into a space-age-looking vehicle, applying some of the same construction methods Airstream uses in its shiny luxury trailers.” The result is “One of the most elaborate masterpieces James’ shop has ever produced.”

This is not the first time the West Coast Choppers founder, Monster Garage host, and Baja 1000 competitor has chosen to unveil a bike at Legend of the Motorcycle. At the inaugural Concours in 2006, James debuted his Radial Hell aero bike powered by a 7-cylinder Rotec radial aircraft engine (photo attached). The response from attendees was awe.

Other legendary custom builders displaying bikes at this year’s Legend of the Motorcycle include Japanese minimalist master Shinya Kimura, Choppers Inc. founder Billy Lane, and Brooklyn’s Paul Cox. Last year Cox and partner Keino, in addition to displaying two bikes by late friend, business partner and legend Indian Larry, debuted When Push Comes to Shove – a bike the pair built for client Brad Pitt – whose intricate and painstakingly detailed metal engraving was something typically only seen on handmade European shotguns. All three builders plan to unveil
something new at the May event as well.

The third annual Legend of the Motorcycle, including the Bonhams & Butterfields auction of motorcycles from the Mike Corbin Collection, takes place the first weekend in May, Saturday the 3rd, on the lawns of the ocean-side Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, California, just south of San Francisco. Tickets can be purchased, and additional information can be found, on the official website: LegendoftheMotorcycle.com

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Joe Welder willl be there! will you?

We get asked all the time “what is the proper stick-out for the tungsten electrode on a TIG / GTAW / HeliArc torch?”

That’s a tough question because there are many variables based on the type of front-end parts being used on the torch — and — the welding application. As we all know high-quality, consistently good looking and strong TIG welds are a combination of art and science.

With this new tungsten electrode stick-out tool you can reduce some of the variables by accurately measuring the tungsten stick-out by 1/16″ (1.6mm) increments up to 1″ (25.4mm).

It’s constructed of CNC machined brass with knurled locking sleeve and includes a key ring holder with nylon strap and spring type aluminum hook loop… and is available online at Arc-Zone.com!