Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello all. My name is Drew and I'm a high school welding instructor. I've been trying to get rid of extra clutter around the house and have decided to recently get rid of some stuff that I never use. So last night I posted some welding rods to the classified section on this site without ever making any prior posts or introduction. As it was brought to my attention, I saw how bad it actually looked. I would NOT buy something from someone who did the same on a forum that I visited frequently, that's for sure. So I wanted to make an official introduction and let everyone read a little information about the dumbass who made that stupid decision. Like I said before, I am a welding instructor and I teach mainly high schoolers from 11th to 12th grade. I have been welding a little over ten years so I am by no means too good to learn something new. I've worked for the same job for all of those ten years, slowly working my way up into an instructor position. The first position I held there I made $10/hr. I feel lucky to have the position I do, being able to help kids come out of high school and have other options than mcdonalds and college. A lot of the students graduate high school and get their first job out of high school making $30/hr. I find it very rewarding being able to pass on a trade that has allowed me to live a pretty good life. Im not rich by any means of course, but I never go without and my family wear smiles on their faces MOST of the time, haha. Having a website like this is also a great teaching tool, as many of my students read and learn from different experienced people who have shared what they know. If you ask me, that's what its all about, simply passing down quality information into the hands of the future and cross our fingers in hope that they continue learning and can some day do the same. When I graduated high school, I went straight to LSU and didn't last long. Within a year, I had flunked out and had to find something to do. I read about a summer welding school in the summer, signed up, and the rest is history. It's nice to see a website that puts out solid information for people who are eager to learn, and also for us welders to continue to learn. I hope to chime in on forum posts when I feel I may have some useful information and will continue to try to make up for my stupid first unofficial introduction! Thanks again and looking forward to meeting some of you.

Welcome!

And, breathe...

All we needed to know was that you weren't some fly-by-night selling some surplus crap.

You'll find tons of students, and several fellow instructors here, as well as every imaginable trade, craft, or art interest in between.

Steve S

It seamed like a good idea when I thought it up! I often wonder this after I do something. Welcome.

Welcome to the forum Drew.

Drew,
Don't be so hard on yourself, I did beat you over the head, but I used a soft hammer. I'm glad to see you took the time to respond without taking offense, because none was intended. Steve's right, we get folks who just want to use this as a place to sell there stuff and that's not what we're about. The best values here are free for the asking. Each time someone asks or answers a question here the value goes up.

Welcome to the forum. Glad to have you along.

Len

Thanks alot for the kind words. It was simply me acting while not thinking, haha. But I have found this site very useful in the past, and I'm sure many people can say the same. There is so much good information to be found when people from all over chime in on different topics, its definitely a great resource.

Thanks again.

Drew

Welcome, Drew! I am an instructor myself, at a college in Indiana. There is so much you can learn out here! Ask what you want, there is always someone who knows a heck of a lot about it and who can answer your question.