Posts Tagged ‘Welding’

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Go for it, Christophers!

April 24th, 2013
By: Vicki Bell

Last week’s “Welding Wire” e-newsletter featured the blog post “Backbone of America deserves a round of beer,” which focused on comments from Christopher W., a young welding student, about welding formerly being on a worst jobs list. He couldn’t understand how that could happen.

We shared Christopher’s comments and asked WW readers how they felt about their welding careers. We heard from welders, both in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Leon from Trinidad & Tobago encouraged all the Christophers out there to “go for it” and pursue that welding career. He wrote: (more...)

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New manganese exposure guidance

February 15th, 2013
By: Dan Davis

Metal fabricating companies that seek to provide the safest work environments for their employees might be interested to know that the job might get a little harder in the welding department. The leading industrial health and safety organization that regularly issues guidance for certain toxic compounds is recommending a dramatic reduction in manganese fume exposure.

The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) has recommended a 10-fold reduction in the time weighted average (over eight hours) threshold limit value for respirable manganese particulate. The association reduced the TLV-TWA limit of 0.2 mg/m3 to 0.02 mg/m3. In other words, a person should not breathe in more than 0.02 mg/m3 of manganese over an eight-hour work period. (more...)

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At FABTECH 2012: Two people manufacturing will need

November 12th, 2012
By: Tim Heston

What a crowd in Las Vegas. Official attendance numbers, which are audited, aren't released yet, but early estimates are that today may have been one of FABTECH's most well-attended opening days.

Vendors I spoke with were happy with the crowds, and attendees said their shops were busy. Some have seen a little softening of late. Some are very worried about what will happen in Washington. But for the most part, people say business is good.

Admittedly, show attendees may not be the best representative sample of the industry. Businesses in dire situations probably don't bother attending the show at all. Regardless, the metal forming and fabricating niche remains a bright spot in manufacturing and the economy overall.

Today, two booths, coincidentally adjacent to one another, really showed what manufacturing may look like a generation from now.

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A call from 'Chet'

September 27th, 2012
By: Vicki Bell

Had an interesting phone call this week. A welder who’s been plying his trade for 18 years called to talk about some job-related health concerns he has. He called me because of an article I wrote eight years ago: “Welding fume health hazards.” Since the article was written, various class-action lawsuits against consumable manufacturers have wound their way through the courts, most of which have been resolved in favor of the defendants. Also since then, several welders, like the one who called this week, have shared their concerns with me. In each case, I have told the welders that I am not a doctor, and they should schedule appointments with their physicians to discuss their concerns. Each time, I have listened to their concerns and worried about them long after the call ended.

This call was a little different than the others. Where others simply had described various ailments they felt might be attributed to their occupation, Chet (not his real name) mentioned something none of the others described. (more...)

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Thank you, welders

September 12th, 2012
By: Vicki Bell

Tuesday was the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The September "Fabricating Update" e-newsletter that went out that day described the safety elements that went into the design of the new One World Trade Center building. It also made special note of the welding aspect of the structure—how the welders are undoubtedly mindful of the serious nature of their work and are doing their best to ensure that the welds are sound, just as they do on bridges and other critical structures—every day. (more...)

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Metal fabrication, floods, and family

September 11th, 2012
By: Tim Heston

Today at 8:46 a.m. Eastern Time I was writing an article on laser cutting when it dawned on me: 11 years ago, at that very moment, I was writing a case history on the subject. Like most people on Sept. 11, 2001, I stopped what I was doing. The magazine art director scurried into my office to relay the news. Was it a recreational flier, some careless soul? A few minutes later the truth set in, as did the fear. I didn’t accomplish much the rest of the day. Optimizing laser cut setups (the article’s topic) wasn’t on the top of my mind.

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Fabricators scream for the skilled worker

August 21st, 2012
By: Tim Heston

Last week I called a manager of a heavy fabrication operation. We chatted briefly, but after a few minutes he had to go. He told me six of his operators hadn’t shown up that morning, so shop managers were scrambling.

Then I saw a headline on the front page of the Sunday New York Times: “Skilled work, without the worker: New wave of deft robots is changing global industry.”

Industry leaders continue to scream for good people, those with good attitudes, work ethic, and (ideally) technical aptitude. Sometimes, managers are just looking for people who actually show up. Meanwhile, mass media conveys the idea that robots are taking over the modern factory. No wonder manufacturing has trouble attracting enough people.

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Where there are fumes, there's no fire for welding companies

June 15th, 2012
By: Dan Davis

In a day when class action lawsuits centering on such things as asbestos, concussion injuries, or tobacco seem to be in the news quite often, don't expect to be reading about suits targeting welding rod manufacturers. Attorneys targeting those welding consumable manufacturers appear to have given up.

That point of view comes from Michael Degan, who works with the Gas and Welding Distributors Association and is a partner with the law firm of Husch Blackwell LLP. "… [R]umors have been floating that the steering committee for plaintiffs [in these suits against welding companies] has been negotiating a proposal to terminate all currently pending welding fume cases. Such an agreement would effectively end welding fume litigation as a mass tort," Degan wrote. You can read the synopsis here. (more...)

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It's a career, not a job

June 1st, 2012
By: Dan Davis

If you didn't see the story about the Boy Scouts now offering a welding merit badge, you can learn more about it here. The story's author ties it into the overall need for a new generation of welders, which sort of makes sense. Frankly, I was amazed the Boy Scouts didn't already offer such a merit badge; I guess they are always prepared when it comes to wooden soap box racers—not metal ones.

I'm not going to jump on my soapbox and spread the news about manufacturing's need for welders. The American Welding Society says that the average age of this country's 450,000 welders is 55 and fewer than 20 percent are under 35 years old. That about sums up the challenge that lies ahead.

No. I'd rather talk about the changing definition of a welder. For many in the metal fabricating world, welder means a production welder. I'll let the quote from one teenager highlighted in the MSNBC story sum up that job: "Welding would be a great side job. But it gets real boring, real fast." He left out the part about working in extremely hot conditions with bulky clothing, but he nailed it. (more...)

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Revisiting ghosts of Artist's Galleries past

May 30th, 2012
By: amandac

Which comes first, the artist or the welder? That’s one of the many topics I get to explore during conversations with metal artists for Artist’s Gallery each issue.

Sometimes I like to go back and reread old Artist’s Gallery articles just because of what was said and how it’s stayed with me over the years. Each story is as unique and memorable as the person it is about, but a few have managed to stand out in my mind. The one thing is clear, at least in the nearly six years I’ve been writing these stories: Metal artists are either artists who progress to working with metal, or welders who, for whatever reason, decide to take a leap of faith and try their hand at art. (more...)

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