Certainly Certifiable

I found out Thursday night that one of my instructors will be flying to Atlanta for a conference on metal fabrication this week, from Tuesday through Friday.

This is both the instructor I need to help me with my learning how to TIG weld Aluminum and Stainless Steel AND the guy who turned down my idea of taking a break from learning TIG Alumimnum and Stainless so that I can get my FCAW and GMAW Certifications before the end of the quarter, and then coming back to TIG.

When the cat is away, the mice will play.

My other instructor likes the idea of me getting my certs and then trying for an A grade in TIG, so we are conspiring to make the best of the other’s absence.

Monday will be a regular day for me. Tuesday, the school is closed for Veteran’s Day. Wednesday through Friday will be spent burning some 0.052 diameter E71T-1M wire into 3/4-inch thick plate steel in preparation to do the same again into some one-inch thick plate for a certification in Flux Core Arc Welding (FCAW).

It is largely similar to the TIG cert test I took. Vertical (3G) and Direct Overhead (4G) plates with a backing strap, only the plates are one-inch thick instead of 3/8-inch. The test coupons are cut thinner and are bent sideways instead of front-to-back and back-to-front. The atmospheric gas is C-25 (75% Argon and 25% Carbon Dioxide) run at around 30-40psi instead of 100% Argon run at 20psi. Also, it is a wire feed process, so even a one-inch thick plate can be completed in less than 30 minutes.

Sadly for me, it is also a filthy process. The last span of time time I spent in a FCAW booth, I came out every day looking like I had been down in a mine. I’ll have to dig out my respirator for this. I’ll try to get some good pics for y’all and post them up as I move along.