September 4th: Metalworking with my Nephew...

Candy's family is in town for her Mother's big surprise birthday party. My nephew hung out in the garage today and learned how to use the plasma cutter. Below are pics of him wire-brushing the metal with the die grinder getting it ready for tomorrow's lesson in welding. He didn't have long sleeves or pants, so he's wearing one of my shirts, my tall tube socks and an improvised towel apron. I really need to get some leather aprons for myself and guests...

I REALLY need a tall welding table..

I purposely wanted to do this "overhead" weld to see how it came out. I know I should have flipped the material over...

We used the drill press to add two mounting holes.

Ta Da!

I loved the HAZ (heat affected zone) discoloration on the insides of the letters, makes a really cool effect.

Overall, not bad, probably 3 hours start to finish, with lots of explanation and practicing without actually cutting or welding. He did GREAT for his first time, and some of my welds looked better too - practice helps!