Pushing the puddle....

I've done just about everything there is to do in bike repair. Everything except actually pick up a torch. I've decided to change that by taking a welding class at the local community college and then hooking up with a framebuilder to go over the finer points.

The first night was spent learning about how not to blow each other up, burn down the building, and generally not cause mass destruction. At the end of the class we were given a list of materials we'd need for the rest of the semester. The instructor went down the list naming off what was needed for the next session. Someone noted he skipped over gloves and asked if they'd be needed for our first night of actual welding. The instructor gruffly snapped back "You don't need gloves! You'll burn yourself, rinse off, and get back to work! Burning is learning." Immediately I thought of that line from the film Dodgeball: "If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball!" Oh yeah, this is going to be loads o' fun.

Last night was our first official welding session. We were using oxy-acetylene torches and goal was to simply lay down and nice tidy bead with adequate penetration on strips of 1/16" steel plate. The idea was that we were to simply push the puddle from one end of the metal to the other. We quickly realized this is much easier said than done. A couple of hours - and many strips later - I was able to lay down a semi-tidy bead only to find out I wasn't getting good penetration. I quickly learned that just because a weld LOOKS neat doesn't mean it's a good quality weld. Something to think about when people say Brand X bikes are better because the welds look nicer. I also developed a whole new respect for guys who can weld thinwall steel, especially TIG welding. I had a tricky time getting adequate penetration without getting too much penetration. Can't imagine how hard this is with some of the super thin tubesets like True Temper S-3.

Overall, the oxy-acetylene tool is hands-down the coolest tool you can get your hands on without joining the military! Even more fun than the tablesaw I bought last year!