Powering a 1HP BLDC Lathe in a Van

With all the money that I would have used to buy a van, gas, motel room, and tuition, I could afford to pay a highly skilled, local welder to come to my garage and look over my shoulder and give me tips.

I was almost certainly never going to get a job in the welding industry, so I don’t need the diploma. UPS takes great care of my family and I will work there 11 more years until I retire at age 65. I was just going to the school to develop skills, so I will just have to do this without that school.

I really hope that one can develop a high level of welding & machining skill by spending a large amount of time on the machines, even with little formal education.

So there is some failure in this story, but I will try to glean whatever lessons there are to be learned from this attempt at a formal welding education and try to make the most of working at home.
 
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Hi Erik,

With all that's going on right now it has become super obvious how important the work you do is, thank you for keeping us supplied during this crisis....

That said I'm fairly sure your time and money will be better spent staying close to your family and developing your skills independently. Since you're not looking to change careers the certificate can wait until you are ready, and yes you could probably pay a tutor for less than travel expenses and tuition. This hobby is like any other and what you get out of it is largely dependent on what you put in, I'm sure what schooling you got from Hobart was helpful in learning the basics so you can go forward from there. You're probably already on WeldingWeb.com but if not that is where I would go to try and find a mentor.

One of the things I really enjoy about this place is the ability to kick around ideas without having to actually lay out the money to see if they will work. With so many people who have lifetimes of experience to share almost any plan can be evaluated quickly and flaws/opportunities exposed. I'm sure you could have made this idea work but it seems like more of a retirement project for when you don't have to worry about schedules or be in a specific location.

I have good friends in Santa Rosa who I will be visiting as soon as we get the all clear and would love to meet you in person.


Cheers,

John
 
Here are two good sites if you ever have any spare time. I wish YouTube and computers had been around when I was young, or maybe not as I probably wouldn't have done a lot! One can lean a lot from watching someone good do something, after all that is how we start in an apprenticeship before having a go ourselves.
Given that you already have the basics and a feel for welding plus hopefully some sound theory as well,(Manufacturers websites are great resources),I agree with matthewsx , the certificate can wait.
www.youtube.com

weldingtipsandtricks

Clear Arc Shots and Plain Talk to help you Pass a Test, Fix Stuff, Build Stuff, Get a Raise, Build a Better Life. Disclaimer: These videos are intended for e...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com

Weld.com

We teach the art and science behind welding and fabrication. "Behind the hood" arc shots get you up close and personal with the weld. In addition to showing ...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

Other resources such as: Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine are where you can find good books.
Although modern welders make life easy in some ways they also complicate things with a vast array of setting choices but at the end of the day the basics never change.
We are 1 day into a 4 week lockdown here and already some people are going stir-crazy because they have no hobbies!
 
Erik, something you may want to consider. Many roads have a well defined crown. If it were me i would give a thought to this when setting up your weight load. The driver side is the high side. If all your big weight was on the low side and you had a blowout well that wouldn't be pretty . (Dont ask me how i know that).
 
So I still wanted a formal welding education AND the ability to work on a machine on evenings & weekends during the 9-19 months of classes so my wife & bought one of the most junky houses you’ve ever seen a full 26 minutes drive from The Hobart Institute.

The house was $9,500 and most of the value is in the lot. I will bring my oxyacetylene cart & one of my welding machines so that I can have some proper entertainment on evenings & weekends.

This house is so junky that nobody would hesitate to use a torch or welder in it. I’m sure I will be a real hit with the neighbors, but I am used to that where I live now.
 
So at this point the thread has completely changed course, but it may be instructive to anybody who has a desire to be able to do shop work while away at school.

I will need to see about the opportunity for a 220V outlet. I have a 40A breaker in my shop now & I have never tripped that.

I will also have to develop great ventilation and fireproofing, as well as protect onlookers from the arc.

The house is right across the street from a church in a town that is so small that it only has about 5 streets.
 
Congratulations Erik:eagerness:

I figured you might end up doing this. Good luck with the new place and make sure to hit up the church a few times while you are there, and the local watering hole....

They might look at you a little funny with California plates and all but once they figure out you're not from "that part" of CA it'll be okay. Never know you might even make some friends and anything you do to fix up a junker house will be appreciated by the neighbors.

Cheers,

John
 
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