Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Welding class

My friend, Lisa, and I see each other each week in our adult art class that I have talked about before. We all share ideas, things we like and things we would like to learn to do one day. Recently, Lisa and I were talking about some really cool iron crosses that we had seen. We discussed that we wanted that to be a summer project for us to find a class to take so we could learn how to weld  a cross of our very own... A few days later, she calls me to say that she found a place that teaches welding, and when she called to ask about it, she was told that they were having a class that  next night. They had a few places left so we decided to go ahead ahead sign up.

We met and headed over to Frontera, with much excitement about our big night. We found out that if we came with an idea, they were very open to let us design and try it out, instead of doing a "class" project. We watched the two guys show us how to cut, sand and then weld. Lots of sparks going everywhere, and if you didn`t pay attention, it would catch you off guard and make you jump back!
We spent the first half of that lesson, trying to decide what we wanted to do. They pointed out lots of boxes with all sorts of scraps in them...... that was where the imagination and fun began.




After pulling out pieces that we liked and trying to fit them together, we were ready to try our hands at the actual "welding"... We had masks on, and when you turned the welding gun on, it went dark in front of you except for the sparks flying all around.. You have to develop quite the eye to be able to do it by feel, when it gets dark. After the welding, you get to grind the rough edges... then it was time to pack up and head out, and wait for our next lesson.




Last night, we headed back over to Frontera for our next class. We moved a bit faster this time than we did the first class.  We felt like we knew what we were doing to some degree, at least that was our thoughts! The teachers might not have agreed!! We pulled our pieces out, mostly the frame, and gathered our embellishments and stated welding it together. It was really fun to see when we were finished, how it all stayed together!
We grinded some more, dipped it in water and sprayed something on it that makes it look rusted.
It was a fun class and we hope to go back again for another project!



Have a blesssed day!

1 comment:

  1. Love it! Two friends welding together! I'd do it in a heart beat. Can't wait to see your next creations!

    ReplyDelete