Technical Skills

In this section we learned how to weld with gas. We learned about the tanks and how to set them for the right mixture of oxygen and acetylene.

Next we learned how to weld with wire feed. We started by looking at how the welder worked. We practiced with a few welds and finished with this one.

When we were building the dust pan we learned how to draw and measure and bend the metal to create it.

Rubric Link

This was our final test for stick welding which we have been practicing for a while now. This is for 6010 and 7018 which are the different rods we have been working on.

We used all the skills we have been learning so far like welding and drafting our design. A new skill we learned in this project was wiring up the lamp was something new. We had to build the light socket and then pull the wire up through to the socket.

We used a lot of different skill in making this hammer. We first stared out with a round piece of steel for the top piece. We used the lathe to make the chipping part. To make the chisel side we heated the steel with the torch and hammered it down until it was where we wanted it.

Making this coat hanger we used some very recent new learning that had to do with the computers and not so much the tools in the shop. We have been learning how to use AutoCAD and this is how we cut it out on the plasma table. We traced what design we wanted in AutoCAD and then uploaded onto the machine so we could cut it out. After we cut it out we bent hooks which we have learned to do in the past and welded them onto the main part of the rack. Finally we grinded all the rough edges and spray painted it.

We started learning about the TIG welding. The first thing we did was go over the TIG torch which has a few different parts. On the inside there is a tungsten rod that is where the electron flow through. Depending on what material you are welding with the tungsten will be a little different each time. The front cap is made out of ceramic just like a coffee cup. Then the back cap holds the tungsten rod in place. Sometimes you grind down the tip of the tungsten so that the electrons are focused in more and sometimes you want the tip blunt it depends on what you are welding.

We have recently been learning TIG which has been pretty fun. Its basically a whole new skill but it is a lot like gas welding in a way where you have to walk the puddle down what you are welding. We have been just welding two test pieces together and practicing how to weld it. We started a new project using TIG to build our latest project which is a sconce that we could either build to mount on the wall or sit on the table. I am in the process of building mine for the wall.

Lately we have been building chairs. There is a lot that goes along with this because there are a lot of parts. First we have been cutting the pieces of 1 inch square and bending it to what we need for the chair. This was a new skill because we have not used the bender yet. We have learned how to use the bender and how all the pieces work. It is pretty cool how it all works and how after its bent you can put something together that you actually can use and that looks good. Sometimes the bender is annoying and we have to bend the steel more or bring it back to be perfect and make everything line up perfect for the finished project.

During this project we had to learn how to wire three different circuits including a 3 way, series and parallel circuit. This went pretty well for me overall. We used the 3 way circuit to switch the same light with two different switch locations which can be used in a hallway for example in a house where the light needs to be switched at two or more locations. We then used a series circuit where we wired it so if one lights bulb was bad the other wouldn't work kind of like a fuse which this could be used in a situation on a boiler where we would want it to shut off if something went bad.

The mount on this plow was rusted out on the left side of the plow and the holes were pulling out so the pin was very loose and it was going to keep wearing out and eventually hold the plow to the truck. To fix it we cut the part of the mount off that was rusted and worn out and made four new sides to put the back on the plow. Then we cut out the slot at the end of the tube for the pin to slide into that mounts the plow to the truck. We welded it all up and then painted it up and put the plow mounts back on.