ASAP starts tomarrow

[chris madden]

I love my carhartt's !

[fun4now]

congrats on the new work dud's.
you mom is 100% correct here, you need to get good work clothes or they will fall apart in no time.
I'm lucky my wife makes mine out of thick winter carharrt fabric with a soft inner liner (same fabric we were making covers out of). i'm so spoiled. but the heavier stuff will pay you back in lasting longer. depending on what you are doing you could look at wally world for there work stuff. i cant remember its nam but it looks like they do have some good stuff.i got a pair of full body overalls 4 winter there (Blizzard is the brand) several years ago and they are still in good shape.
funny thing about starting work. when you first start spending your own $$ on stuff you think " man i worked hard for that i don't want to have to spend a hole weeks worth of pay on one pair of over-all's " but after a wile you learn and it's " i would rather spend a weeks pay now and have them all year instead of spending 1/2 a weeks pay every month to replace the cheep stuff ". its the same way with work tool's. you use them hard and rely on them, a lil extra $$ up front can save you a bunch in the long run. its getting harder and harder to find good solid long lasting stuff now as the world moves into its throw and go stage, but if you are willing to spend a bit more you can still find it.
congrats on the program. sounds like you are off to a great start.

[youngwelder_154]

New things

Today for the first time my mother and I went out and actually got along. I needed to go find some new cloths and such, I wanted to go to Walmart but my mom said they dont supply good coveralls, so after talking it over we ended up going to Marks Work Wearhouse. I went there before and found there stuff a bit pricey so I didnt want my mom to go ans spend alot on me but she wanted to, Thank god for there $10 off cards I ended up getting myself a new pair of pants along with a pair of coverallsI forget the brand but I like them. So in the end today was a good day for me and my welding equipment What sort of stuff do you guys wear for coveralls(brands etc)

[youngwelder_154]

Well I am 17 years old going to be 18 febuary second. Today I got the youth apprenticeship coordinator in to get the papers signed, She will have to get my parents to sign before I get my book But I was working with a big drill press today it wasn't to bad. I hope to start welding in the next few couple times i'm there.

[fun4now]

my guess would be the extream danger involved in it.
he may well want to see how focused you are or if you fallow directions well, or it could be there insurance wont let you use the equipment. how old are you again ? metal lathes can sereously mess you up with a small mistake. i would put in some time befor asking him and then i would do it after you are done cleaning , maybee even on your way home, just ask him as you are leaving if he thinks he will be teaching you that part of the shop ? do it nice and dont sound like you are pushing for it but more like you are wondering if its some thing you will get to lern.

[youngwelder_154]

Well today was looking very good but there is one Boss there that wont let me help them for 5 minutes, I want to go there to watch and learn and see how everything works because tomarrow I get my log book. But all he does is say go clean this go clean that. Mind you I dont want to whine about it so I obviously go do it, The michenest there is very nice I helped him after I finished cleaning the area he told me to clean. I enjoyed working with him, But why is it all I do is clean, Is this how everyone starts? I wont be getting any experience cleaning up shards of metal. Explain please!

[fun4now]

as you weld the metal heats and expands then contracts as it cools, this is how you get bow's or warpage in a pice you weld. after you have worked with it for a wile you will start to understand how it worps and how to controle or allow for it. all metals do it just some more than otheres.

[youngwelder_154]

Today I was holding some Aluminum for one of the guys tig welding today, I never noticed thise while holding metal being welded that it started to move a bit with force against my hand trying move against me? I dont knwo if thats notmal or not but after a bit it became more easy to hold liek not having to apply pressure? why is this (if you guys even understand why I mean)

[youngwelder_154]

Well im taking carpentry right now, so Im learning my measuring all over again It might not be welding but hey it beats sitting in a classroom all day. :P I find it in every welding I talk to most of them smoke pot, I dont agree with that anymore but I dont think its right to do that working.

[fun4now]

drafting is good to have it will help, but you will defenetly have to mesher to be a welder/fabricator.
Its all good Im going to be smart about these things.
glad to here it

[youngwelder_154]

Oh no worries about me skipping classes anymore. I enjoy trig( if its what I think it is) I do have trouble with the quadratic equations(please tell me welding wont require that) I tried drafting but last year I had trouble with measuring, I did do drugs last yar also. But im clean as can be now, Im happy with the things I decided to quit. But about my grilfriend I see her after wrk everyday she goes to my school I told her I cant miss anymore classes for math so I ahve to go. Its all good Im going to be smart about these things.

[fun4now]

2 things,
first is you doint want them to pull you out of the aprentisship program so better not be skipping class, tell the girl frend she can come over and play after school.
second, with the start to trig you are going to have real problems keeping up if you miss any classes, especily if you have truble keeping up now.
math was probly my faveret class, once you get into algebra and trig its always changing and chalenging unlike english..yuck. a strong mathe background will help you out in welding, macheaning, and drafting, all needed to be a great fabricator. i know in school we always say we will never use any of this stuff they are teaching us but math will get used for the rest of your life almost reguardless of what you decide to do or be. you may well never need to know what the capital of egept is but knowing what pie (3.14)is and how to use it will be verry helpfull (even if you spell it wrong )

ok enough playing daddy
as for the day at work. it sounds like this place you are working at holds the possibility to teach you a great deal. machining can be verry helpfull to a fabricator, lots of us wish we had metal laths and many of the other tools you will find in ther in our shops at home but they are pretty high $$ stuff. knowing how to use them will not only be fun but usefull down the road. it looks like there is a lot to be lerned there and they seem to be willing to get you involved in most all of the shop activitys, its a great opertunity i wish i had at your age. dont be too pushy to get your hands on them though, many of them have potential to be verry dangerous and you should be shore to lern all the safty meshers first as well as what to do in the event of some thing going wrong. find the kill switches first. you will be amazed at what some of that stuff can do as well as what you can do with that stuff. stay focused and keep this job it has more to offer than most schools. you can lern in that shop what it would take you several classes and many years to get taught in a collage. i'm verry happy for the opertunity you have been given and hope you can see what is realy being offerd to you.IF YOU STAY FOCUSED

[youngwelder_154]

Day 6

Well today was very good. I really enjoyed workign there. I did some cleaning of the mechinest part of the shop, but they also got me doing some mechinest like work. Very interesting to say the least. I kind of want to go a little deeper into what they do and what sort of skills you will need to get to be one, it seems lieka good trade to have under your belt. So yesterday I skipped a math class stupid me, My girlfriend didnt want to go to one of ehr classes so i skipped it with her. My mom got a call today form my teacher and shes concerned with my productiveness. So i got ym wake up call, I started to work more in calss and at home, mind you it is a real p*** off but hey i need this math for welding, We will be starting trig next week I hope so Im really lookign forward to that. But im goign to put myself ina higher gear to get my mark up again! I dont want to fail math i really do enjoy it until it gets over myhead, mind you that happens everyday but afteryou give it a chance its not so bad. So thats my life lession stop slacking off in school.

[fun4now]

it takes a long time to get a good shop outfitted, many of us on here have been collecting tools for years, but you will never get there till ya start. one tool at a time, buy good ones and they will be there for many years to help the shop grow.

[youngwelder_154]

ha ha that would be a dream come true Im goignt o be getting my helmet. and save for my welder. I woudlent mind getting a head start on my shop though. It would be a dream come true.