Hi Gang! Today I wanted to write about what I have done and still do for a living. Welding! That is the art of joining two or more metals together to form one,solid piece. Welding like many industrial arts is relatevely new. Or is it?

It seems at the turn of the century (1900 that is, not 2000) many industries were first coming into being. Welding goes back to the dawn of time. In the old days, if you wanted two pieces of metal joined you would build a big fire and BEAT the metal together with hammers. This was known as forging or blacksmithing. Later on in the late 1800's, it was found that with contained gases, you could run fire through a set of torches and weld that way. This was known as Gas or Oxygen/Actylene welding/cutting. Still later, in the 1930's, the WWII was getting underway and they needed to find a better and faster way to make ships. Riveting was just too slow. Lincoln discovered that he could short out electricity over a rod and melt a filler material in a joint and make it fasten. Thus the arc welding was born. Today, almost 80 years later, there are over two hundred types of welding rods and many different techniques to Arc Weld. Some are manual "stick Welding " others are semi and automatic "wire feeds". These types of arc welders have a spool of wire connected to a motor and are controlled by a gun. By pushing the trigger and shorting out to your work piece, the wire comes out of the cable and is melted into your joint. Pretty cool huh? Or- I should say- HOT!!!O.K. gang- Now then one more rule about welding. Always,Always,Always wear EYE PROTECTION! wether grinding,cutting or welding. And please remember,there is NO PLACE AT ALL for drugs or alcohol in welding. Period. Good Luck and God Bless! Mikey Daniels