Welding & Racing & Cooking

Frank tells me I'm behind on my blogging. This is true. I've been spending my writing time working on a website. It's not published yet, but I'll let you know when it is. I'll be open to feedback.

For all you Chicago folks (and anyone else), who wonders if I miss the big city: not really. I miss WAD (West African Dance) and Ethiopian Diamond and friends...but overall, no. Check out this view I drive by once or twice a day:

Peoria is a beautiful little city or big town that's retained a lot of natural prettiness. I like that.

Overall, life has been good. I've been welding! At first, I really did not like it. But, as I have started to understand how I needed to adjust my technique in order to improve a weld, it has become a lot more fun. I enjoy focused work and learning new skills that require hand-eye coordination, and a different, deeper understanding of our environment--how electricity and metals behave--very interesting! The guys in my classes are fun, and very supportive of me (being a girl) learning to weld. I feel it is appropriate for me to learn how to weld in Peoria; so much industry and manufacturing in this town!

Below is a weld I did last night. It is an Vertical Upward weld on steel. Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) also known as MIG or MAG welding. The piece of metal is in a vertical position when I'm welding on it, and I'm moving up (not down) as I weld. This is one of the more difficult welding positions, because the melted steel is 2800+ degrees F and wants to pool and succumb to gravity, so I'm rather proud of it being (relatively) pretty. One of my classmates told me to "take it home and frame it." I thought I'd post it on a blog instead. This is a butt joint and a lap joint.

Below is a 3-layer pad in the Vertical Downward position with GMAW. Not so difficult, really. 3-layer pads are what they sound and look like: a pad of overlapping stinger beads, then a second layer of stringer beads in a perpendicular direction, and a third in the original direction. You want to get it as smooth as possible.

This (below) is a 3-layer pad with a Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW or ARC or stick welder) in a flat position with an E-6013 rod that I did on Monday. Stick welding has a lot more spatter because the rod is covered with a flux. Instead of the shielding gas (such as Argon) in GMAW, the weld pool is shielded from the harmful gases in the atmosphere by the gas given off by the burning flux. The flux turns to gas and to slag, which is sort of a cocoon for the weld bead. Slag protects the weld and slows down the cooling process, making the metal less prone to cracking and shrinking. But, slag is really annoying because you have to hammer and wire brush it off after ever weld, and any slag left behind will make any future welds done on top of it ugly and weak from impurities. Stick welding is more time consuming than GMAW welding, and doesn't make as pretty of welds. I do enjoy learning it though, because it is a much more difficult to do well.

*****

We went racing last weekend. I had a great time--I rode with Frank 5 of 10 times! Frank was frustrated by the poor handling of the mustang. I think that the chassis is floppy, but what do I really know?

Here is Frank buckling up for a test drive a couple days beforehand (I think he's so cute!):

Sig wanted to go too, but I pulled rank:

On the way there we stopped and visited with an old friend of mine in C-U. That was nice.

I tried to upload some video footage...but it was taking way too long. Anyhow, we raced.

*****

In other news, I tricked Frank into eating tofu again...by putting it in lasagna. Looks like cheese, right?

The sauce is my homemade sauce! plus Boca crumbles for the lasagna. I think we've just about nailed a recipe. Next time I made the sauce, I'll post it.

The lasagna put together:

Eric's old college recipe for lasagna. Yum!

And I've decided to start baking bread. I started some Sourdough starter today. I'm excited about this!

First the warm water, yeast, and sugar:

And 10 minutes later...yay, they're alive! (Yeast really take great pictures, don't they?)

Then mixing in the flour, to let it sit for 2-3 days.

My sister is going to be visiting her bf in Iowa City (from Boston), and I'm thinking of popping over to see her on Sunday. Maybe I'll have a fresh sourdough loaf for her, if all turns out well!

Frank and I are planning a trip to the Carolinas in a couple weeks to check out Greensboro, Charlotte, and Greenville. Frank is planning on graduating in May and we're exploring our options...more on that later.