I love learning, all kinds of learning. After watching Craig make stands for our fused glass Irises I decided to take a class in welding. So this month, I took an Artisan welding class, with my good friend Lela from General Air here in Colorado Springs. First I want to give a compliment to our instructor Mike and his daughter/assistant Jennifer, they were both very knowledgeable and helpful. In addition, our fellow students were amazing artists in metal, stained glass, and wood. The other very cool thing is all of the students are Air Force Veterans, 4 of us were retired. BTW I wore my old combat boots to my welding class. It was great wearing them again.
Anyway, the class was an introduction to different welding machines including MIG (metal inert gas), torch cutting & bending, and plasma cutting. I found it very interesting. I wish it was a project class, but I enjoyed learning the different machines. Below are pictures of Lela and me all dressed up.
The MIG welding was just practice, it’s harder than you think, I had to focus on crescent shape top and bottom, count 1/2, push the BB down the row, don’t rest your arm, keep it steady, etc but it was fun.
These next two are of me torch cutting we used oxygen and propylene. The torch cutting was also fun but it was difficult to get a smooth edge.
We also used the torch to heat and bend steel rods. I heated the rod and then bending it in a vice. I hate that I look so mad when I focus on something. I was actually having fun!
This one is me heating the rod then twisting it. It kind of takes 2 people so Mike is helping.
I liked that and made 2 pieces that I could easily use with my fused glass.
Last but not least was the plasma cutting. I really liked this, the cutting was so easy and a lot of fun. I cut out 2 hearts but one was a bit rough.
Overall I really enjoyed the class. Obviously this is not something I can do in my house, but I did enjoy it and it gave me more of an appreciation of welding. I’d love to take a project class or open studio type class where I’m just doing MIG or bending or cutting for projects to enhance my glass.
More than anything I really enjoyed having Lela with me.
If you would like to see more of my fused glass work please refer to my website Elegant Fused Glass by Karen. If you get a chance, check out all my sites, Fused Glass by Karen, My Etsy store, my Art fire Store, my Pinterest, and Elegant Fused Glass by Karen youtube. If you would like to stay abreast of what I’m up-to and learn a little more about jewelry, check out our newsletter. It is published the last day of each month.
Keeping my Kiln warm,
Karen
