Cool, JD. I’m glad you decided to SiBr the job rather than making 2 new feet on your miling machine, otherwise the video wouldn’t have been so helpful. (And if it breaks in future, you could always make new ones on the miller?) You got some of the closest arc shots I’ve ever seen. It looked as if the SiBr flowed a bit better after you ground/wire-brushed the first set of deposits; did it seem like that to you? Once you’d wetted the cast iron, the build up seemed quite straightforward. And now you’ve got a very useful machine - worth its weight in silicon bronze!

Thanks, JD.

Martin

“Don’t let the fear of failure stop you from trying.” What an excellent thought to end on. I look forwards to recycling that thought in future. Thanks, Sam.

Great to see real-world jobs: it helps put things into perspective when we hit the same thing, whilst thinking, “I bet none of the WelderSkills instructors would have this problem.” That old braze material was horrible in the extreme. Thanks, Roy. Great tip about using the standard cup to save ruining the FUPA.

Sorry I missed the live session, JD: I only found out it was on the following morning when I woke up. Got caught out thinking the previous night’s live session with Sam was the Wednesday one brought forwards. The upside is I just watched you and Jody at the 2X speed setting, so I can now go and watch another WelderSkills video with the time I saved, especially one on SiBronze: both you and Sam were talking about it, and it’s something I want to get familiar with. See you next time , live.

By the way, that worktable with the flip out stool… was that Fein, the German company? They make beautiful tools.

That’s a nice-looking milling machine; I was expecting to see a 150-year-old clapped-out piece of junk.

Martin

Many thanks. I enjoyed the live session. The personal stories really add the spice to these conversations. I’m going to go and rewatch the video with MIG deposition of SiBronze.

Sam That’s why WelderSkills is worth every penny/cent: the rest of us can learn and hopefully avoid the same mistakes the experts made as they climbed up their learning curves. Thanks, Sam.

👍👍👍. Thanks, Sam.

Martin

When Andrew was telling the story of the CWI struggling with the self-shielded flux-core setup, it was fairly obvious where it was heading; nevertheless, it was a hoot to hear him tell it. And so it struck a chord hearing the 2 of you distinguishing between the different approaches of training students to pass the exam (learning to jump through hoops), and the Lincoln approach of drilling the student with deep and wide fundamental knowledge, with the end-of-course exam being little more than a formality. Learning to jump through hoops was something, I thought, only we in the UK did, so it’s a bit of a disappointment to know that standards in the USA are hardly any better; it merely serves to degrade qualifications, making the piece of paper worthless.

Let’s hope there’ll always be professionals like Jody and Andrew fighting to preserve standards.

What a brilliant conversation. Thanks, Jody and thanks, Andrew.

1. What was the name of the fellow near Manchester, UK, wih the surname you thought might be a “handle”? I was hoping to catch it again. I’m also in Manchester, UK, and I was interested to dig a bit deeper on this fellow, even track him down.

2. I listened live to this Zoom call knowing I was not going to become a CWI - I live in the UK for starters. But, listening to the fascinating conversation, I’m interested in gaining the underlying knowledge. You said you’d include links to the various sources of information, but I can’t see any links right now. I‘d really appreciate some details of where I might obtain the relevant study materials without it costing me a couple of thousand dollars, because I wouldn’t be enrolling for the qualification. Can I get the material without having to enrol?

I’d urge everyone to watch it. Look forward to more such conversations with Andrew.

Martin

I love this, Matt. I think I asked you last year for a video on Hot Start (and Arc Force), so, thanks for this. Now, I’d love to see one on Arc Force. I was trying 6011 (on AC, of course) with my inverter welder. The Hot Start wasn’t immediately obvious, but I’m going to go back and have another go, based on what I’ve seen on your video.

Could you please now do the same for Arc Force, and could you also include a 6010, or 6011 as well as 7018? I’m particularly keen to explore the settings usually described as “ harsh” and “buttery” for Arc Force with inverter welders. My understanding is that Arc Force is a (poor) attempt, with inverter machines, to mimic the ability to alter the slope of the whole Volts-Amps curve with traditional welders, but with the inverter, it only kicks in at a specific, low-arc voltage, whereas with a traditional welder, the whole slope angle is altered throughout the Volts-Amps range.

Thanks, Matt

Martin