🤠 Rodeo Roundup 2018 Week #15

🔌 Welding Class #10

After last weeks frustration with my lack of progress MIG welding, I was determined to do better. And I did! This time I didn't get blinded as much. And my movements were more fluid.

Perhaps it helped that I started out on the 1/8" steel. This thicker material requires bigger welds and less precise movement. My first filler weld wasn't great though. I tried to fuse the pieces together with a stringer bead and invariably ended up on either piece, never fully fusing both. It wasn't until I switched to a weave —at the advice of our teacher, that I started producing quality filler welds.

Once I had honed my skills on the 1/18" steel I was able to produce nice welds on the thinner 18 gauge steel too! At the end of the evening, I submitted them for grading and received an A- on both. I'm happy with those grades. And I know I can get better, which the grades perfectly reflect.

🚜 On the Farm

Little progress on the farm this week. We received a long-awaited load of 3 cubic yards of drainage rock on Fri. I had stopped working on the retaining wall when I ran out of drainage rock. Yet I didn't do much work on the retaining wall after the load arrived. Next weekend!

I did restain an Ikea bench that didn't fare so well outside this winter.