Passing it on

[wroughtnharv]

Last night was my first time to attempt to pass on some of the tips and tricks I've learned to high school students. The teacher scheduled the class in the evening for students that was interested. That eliminated the students that were taking welding and had no interest in welding.

I took along some hammered tubing from King that I had from a job a long time ago, two twenty foot lengths of three quarter inch square and one length of one inch. We made up two square tubing benders. I had them help me bend up a gate frame, anyone can weld up a square cornered gate, right?

The next class is Thursday it's going to be about coping or notching pipe. So I left the hammered tubing along with the benders. The students have today and tomorrow to finish the walk gate. I told them that I didn't want to see any straight lines, just curves. After all, anyone can do straight lines in a gate, right?

I'll take pictures Thursday evening and post them Friday.

If your local high school has a welding class you might want to check on passing it on if you have something you'd like to share with the students. I'm getting paid for it. It isn't as much as my usual rate but then the work is a lot more fun and, well, welding things up is my passion. Sharing that with the next generation is very rewarding for me.

[garybdavis]

I don't know what's more cool - Harv teaching or the fact that there is still a welding class in high school. I hope your students are better behaved than you were.

[wroughtnharv]

I don't know what's more cool - Harv teaching or the fact that there is still a welding class in high school. I hope your students are better behaved than you were.

Gary, anyone here would love to have access to the equipment these kids have at our Wylie High School in my home town, Wylie, Texas. They have a plasma CNC, migs, tigs, stick welding machines, oxy acetylene, a Scotchman punch press, etc and so on. They build smokers plus other projects and all it costs them is for the materials. It's a great program.

Attached is a couple of pictures of the gate. They're supposed to finish it and then I'll go back and get some more photos.

[wroughtnharv]

I gave them my trusty old square tubing bender. All we had to do was install it on a welding table and they're bending square tubing without collapseing it.

check it out.

[wroughtnharv]

Here's the finished piece a little closer. This particular bender has worked on sixteen, fourteen, and eleven gauge tubing from 1/2 to 1 1/4 inch in size.

[garybdavis]

Pretty cool to know they have a good welding program.

I used to buy all my steel from Wylie Steel when I lived in that neck of the woods. Good folks there. Wylie sure has grown in the past 15 years.