Joseph Power’s BLOG ENTRIES-

1st BLOG Entry-  – Hello there my name is Joseph G. Power. For my first blog entry I’ll discuss what I’ve currently learned out here at AWC. Welding courses have made up a majority of the courses I’ve already completed. Oxy-Acetylene was the first welding course I took to begin my welding career.  I had then taken a ‘Math for Welder’s’ after that. Before I knew I was taking MiG welding, TiG welding, flux-core welding, and even robotic welding. These classes as well as the professors and classmates have inspiried me to till this day. Since my start of schooling here at AWC I’ve have changed my majors to include 5 separate degrees which include: welding occupational certification, AAS in Welding Tech., AAS in Industrial Tech., STEM Emphasis Degree in Welding Technologies, STEM Emphasis Degree in Industrial Technologies. As of right now I would say I’m half-way through completing each degree. My hopes are to complete all 5 within the next 2 years, if not sooner.

2nd. BLOG Entry- Hello there! This is Joseph G. Power- I wanted to talked about how welding in general plays a huge part in all our daily lives whether we believe it or not. From cars we drive to the lamp posts that light up the streets at night, welds can be seen everywhere as well as in many places that most of us may never receive to the chance to see. For example: Did you know that welding at a nuclear power plant facility requires not only a highly skilled and qualified individual to make the welds but a second person highly skilled and qualified to watch each and every weld taking place to certify and test that it has been done properly? This is a fact. The welds taken place in the vehicles we drive actually help hold together and strengthen the vehicle to help ensure it doesn’t fall apart going down the roadway. The street lamps that help us drive at night are mostly held together by large and very strong welds. This not only helps to keep the light posts from falling down while were driving during the day or night, but it helps to hold the light posts in place while the nuclear power plants are providing energy to each of the light bulbs. Welding is important and the quality of the welds are even more so, especially in a nuclear power plant.

3rd BLOG Entry- Hello there! This is Joseph G. Power- Today I wanted to discuss underwater welding. Underwater welding has been known to be a very dangerous job as well as one of the most potentially hazardous jobs one can find. Underwater welding can be defined as two separate type of welding: wet welding or dry welding. Dry underwater wleding usually takes places in a hyperbaric chamber that is air pressure control which is then lowered to the desires depth into the water. Wet welding on the other hand is welding underwater while wearing a full wet suit and a team to help ensure safety and proper air supply to the underwater welder. Both of these types of underwater welding have one thing in common: pressure on the whole body. This can potentially cause breathing issues in the future for the diver. It can also lead to nitrogen narcosis, which is a build up of nitrogen bubbles in the blood due to the change of atmospheric pressures on the bodyduring welding.  As long as the diver and his team can take proper precautions and be safe during every operation, it can become of the best and most well paying jobs of their career. 

4th BLOG Entry- Hello! This is Joseph G. Power. Today I wanted to talk about my personal favorite form of welding, GTAW or more commonly known as TiG welding. Gas Tungsten Arc Welding, or ‘GTAW’, is a form of welding that requires great skill and precision. There are numerous forms of metal that can be potentially TiG welded. There is also fully automated forms of tig welding as well as semi-automated. Most cars that the automotive manufacturers produce today go through a fully auto-mated TiG welding process. A semi-automated TiG welding process is a welding process in which there is an operator helping to assist the TiG welding machine along the process. Of all the GTAW processes, the basic form of TiG welding is my favorite. For me it has become a form of art for me to be able to express myself. It had definitely taken me hundreds of hours to simply get used to the process. When I’m able to make a fine looking TiG weld I’m overwhelmed with a feeling of satisfaction knowing putting hard work into TiG welding has paid off in the form of what I’m able to see as a well done piece of art. I would recommend TiG welding to anyone willing to take on the challenge. My best recommendation would be to be safe as possible and always take proper precautions as well as ALWAYS wearing proper personal protective equipment.

5th BLOG Entry- This is Joseph G. Power. Today I’ll be discussing how many folks may perceive welding as being dangerous. From what I gather folks who know someone or have personally been involved in a serious welding accident are more likely to consider welding as an unsafe practice flat out. I can see how they may perceive this to be. However, that is still opinion, in my humble opinion. From what I have experienced personally from welding is that any of the few cases of mild burns or tiny shocks could have all be prevented on my behalf. I’ve made adjustments accordingly and I’ve yet to receive any electrical shock or burns since. Now I’m not saying that it takes a small shock or a hot embers falling into your work boot to learn from your mistakes in welding, but what I’m saying is that fortunately there are folks like me to share my safety stories with other’s and encourage safety first above all so that the next person doesn’t make the same mistakes I did. So yes! Welding CAN be a fun and SAFE practice, in my humble opinion, and always wear proper PPE! Personal Protective Equipment! If anyone reading has had a similar experience be sure to share them with others so that they may to have a safe future in welding as well as any other thing they want to accomplish in life as well. 

6th BLOG Entry- This is Joseph Power! Today I would like to talk about future technology in manual GTAW or TiG welding. TiG welding happened to be my favorite form of welding. I get a sense of control in what it is that I’m doing and it always me to look back to see what I did right and what I did wrong so that I may make future adjustments. One day I would like to help invent/create my own form of TiG welding machine from the power source down to the tip of the TiG torch itself. There is always studies going on about new metals/ alloys that are being created all the time. I believe discovering these new metals can potentially help redesign how computer boards are made, which are used in most modern TiG welding machines. I believe this can help to make faster, smarter, and lighter TiG welding machines. It may increase price per unit, but I believe better, faster, smarter , and most definitely stronger TiG machines will help to eliminate the necessity in having to have them maintainenced. An overall better machine would help allow the individual to make more accurate welds. This can potentially allow for the individual to be able to grow as an even more competent welder that can feel as though they are able to rely on their equipment just that much more. It could potentially help increase safer welding, faster welding, stronger more sound welds, which in the end may could create a boom in the welding industry allow faster larger growth in the industry on a global scale. The sky may not even be the limit for us welders.

7th BLOG Entry- This is Joseph G. Power! Today I would like to discuss my confidence in my ability to weld and how it’s continually being shaped every day that goes by. In the beginning of my welding career I honestly didn’t think I could ever learn how to weld or weld properly for that matter. My confidence came from learning from all the small things. When I’m talking about small things I literally mean the small things. This includes my concentration levels, my energy levels, etc. These seemingly indirect relations of welding were key in learning how to be in tune with the results I was seeing from each weld. Days that I wasn’t so energetic it showed in all my welds that day. Days that I was overexcited to start welding I saw signs of what can be considered a ‘rushed weld’ with indications that the travel rate at which I was welding at was too fast or my electricity on my machine was turned too high. Whatever I was able to see in my weld was almost a reflection of myself at that time. If I didn’t know of the proper dipping technique with the metal it showed in my welds. If I had lack of knowledge on the proper degree of angle at which I was to present the filler metal to the weld pool it was shown in the weld. Time after time after time and again, frustration was on the fore fronts of my mind, but it was my perseverance to make myself proud and my family proud and my professors proud that kept me going. When I started to seen even the slightest evidence of a proper weld I would write down was I did to achieve the type of weld I had seen in my own work. It took hours upon hours or hard work and dedication but in the end, when I’m able to see a sound weld, I felt an overwhelming of blissfulness. I found something in life that I can do and look back on that I can be proud of and say hey, I did that.

8th BLOG Entry- This is Joseph G. Power! Today I’ll be discussing about teamwork in welding. One thing that I’ve noticed in welding is that when you’re learning how to weld in a course while going to school is that great teamwork is key to success. For example: The Welding Thunder team that I had the privilege to be a part of recently placed 1st place at a competitive event. Great teamwork was the key to the success. Have proper communication between your teammates allows you to better understand where you are. It helps to know what needs to be done. Talking with your teammates in a respectable manner helps to earn their respect. I’ve noticed that when I’m talked to in a disrespectful manner I’m left feeling deflated. Being disrespected and feeling deflated can instantly remove that feeling of belong or ‘Part of the Team’. However, when there’s times that there is respectful communication going on for either party it only helps encourage better attitude and willingness to be the best teammate you can be. For me, when I feel my time and skills are appreciated my welding turns out much better. When I weld it reflects how I’m feeling inside and what I’m thinking. If I’m in a bad raunchy mood my welds are most likely going to turn out looking bad and raunchy themselves. So back to my original point, treat your teammates with respect.

9th BLOG Entry- Hey there! This is Joseph G. Power! Today I’ll be talking about welding pipe. When welding small diameter pipe, such as a 1 ½” – 2” pipe, it can be very challenging. For Example: MiG welding 2” steel tubing in a fixed position the welder is required to not only weld, but weld 360 degrees all the way around the pipe. This makes for a difficult welding in regards of the heat transfer in multiple directions requiring the welding to change the torch angle at which the welding presents the filler wire at the tip of the weld gun/torch tip. With ideal machine settings as well as adjusting the torch tip angle as needed there should be a nice weld to see as the end result. There are ways to have the pipe rotate as you weld larger diameters, which allows for easier welding. TiG welding steel tubing with the same smaller diameters can also present it’s own particular challenges. TiG welding small diameter tubing requires the welder to present the filler metal by hand as compared to the simpler MiG welding process. While TiG welding smaller diameter tubing heat can quickly build up and create an orifice through the tubing itself. TiG welding the hottest form of welding and requires the welder to move at constant pace so as to not allow any heat buildup and/or distortion of the tubing you’re working on.

10th BLOG Entry- This is Joseph G. Power! Today I’ll be discussing how writing on welding how me to see areas of knowledge in welding I’ve remembered as well as areas that I can certainly work on. Being able to put out into text my thoughts and feelings on the subject matter of welding has allowed me to develop a little bit more of confidence if I were the be asked in person questions on welding and welding in the Industry. I definitely encourage anyone trying to get into any field of work to text or write out any thoughts and feelings they have on the subject matter. This will allow you to see for yourself where you may stand in your area of study. Being able to see how you go about discussing the matter at hand will allow you to see what you might change in how you come across expressing your thoughts and feelings. This can also help reveal for yourself what kind of grammar you use, possibly allowing you to get an extra glimpse as to different word choice as to speak/write/text. It might help change your mind as to the career path you may want to follow.

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