Day 3: Fork Lifts, Plasma Welds, and Band Saws

Today I officially began my internship at Arcmatic. When I arrived, Bill my boss briefly explained to me what was going on the in steel/welding industry and how Arcmatic's work was related. Basically he deals with improving the current welding methods in the industry, which apparently is not so efficient. The dual carriage and the boom manipulator gantry can speed up the welding process tremendously. Traditionally it takes 3 hours to weld a 20 ft steel column by hand but with Arcmatic's welding equipment it can be done in less than half an hour! I will be familiarized with how these machines operate as my internship goes on, which I will try to explain when I get to that point. So what I did today was basically learn how to use a plasma welding tool, which is pictured above. The plasma welding process is really neat because you can contain the heat relatively well while still achieving precise welds. I used the plasma method to cut through quarter inch steel plates to make circular lids that were needed or some containers. I also learned how to drive a forklift! Forklifts are fairly easy, its basically like driving a go-cart except you have two super long forks sticking out that you gotta be careful with. The band saw was very interesting to work with. Its a huge saw machine that cuts through heavy steel and other solid materials. The band saw is tricky because you have to remember to let the liquid run first before you start the blade. Basically because it cuts heavy duty materials there is a continuous stream of liquid lubrication that drips over the saw during the sawing process, so before you start cutting you have to make sure the stream of lubrication starts running first.