The Welding Program from a Student's Perspective
by Cora B. - Second Year Welding Student
I took Welding because it seemed interesting to learn. When I
first joined Welding, I had no idea what it was. But now I know all
about it and I've become very good at it. It teaches very good work
ethics and also has a lot of work and many projects to do. Since I
have been it it for two years, I know a lot about Welding so it
will help me out for when I look for a future job involving
Welding.
I got my idea to make the candle holder because last year I made a
lot of smaller candle holders and this year I wanted to make
something bigger and more complex. I first started by figuring out
how I wanted it to look and the design. I got the bottom design
from a book, but the design in the book was a potholder. So I
figured out some designs on how I could make the top a candle
holder and I came up with using three holders.
First, I had to figure out how tall I wanted my holder to be and
then by figuring that out, I could figure out how big to make each
part. I took the picture in the book and scaled the parts using 1"
= 6" in real life. After getting all of the measurements down, I
cut out all 13 pieces using a shear. After that, I grinded each
piece using a grinder. Then I used the scroll bender and rolled all
of the 13 pieces on each side.
After I got all my designs rolled, I had to make the actual candle
holders. So I figured out how big I wanted each one to be. The top
one was the biggest and it was 3 1/2" and the two others were 3".
To make those, I first had to find the right size circle to use on
the pattern burner. After finding the right sizes, I cut out the
circles. Then to make the sides, I got material and measured them
out, then cut them using the shear cutter. To make the pieces into
a circle, I used a roller. To make the center piece, I used two
hammered pieces and then welded them together. After I got all my
pieces down, I laid out my design and mig welded everything
together, starting with the base and finished with the top
pieces.
