Met up with my son's welding teacher ...

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Not sure if it fits in the thread, but whatever.  My son is working on a degree in welding & machining.  I never met his welding teacher, who is about to retire this month.  So I finally made time to talk with him.  We (mostly he) chatted for 3 hours and 45 minutes!  To say he is a talker is an understatement of major proportions.    But it was great talking about the school and different students, his long career & whatnot.  Said my kid impressed him the most, but teachers probably say that to everyone, LOL.  Or not ...The guy is old-school and was tired of the BS at the college. Worked various jobs (often two at a time) for 47 years or so and just had enough.  This is the kind of guy who would threaten a kid with a hammer or a piece of pipe if he walked away from an O/A rig that was popping or the hoses swelled.  You will shut that thing down!I hope his successors don't screw things up and have the program dry up and blow away."USMCPOP" First-born son: KIA  Iraq 1/26/05Syncrowave 250 w/ Coolmate 3Dialarc 250, Idealarc 250SP-175 +Firepower TIG 160S (gave the TA 161 STL to the son)Lincwelder AC180C (1952)Victor & Smith O/A torchesMiller spot welder
Reply:My welding instructor was a no BS kind of guy. The first morning he through four guys out for talking after he told everybody to quiet down.  Don’t pay any attention to meI’m just a hobbyist!CarlDynasty 300V350-Pro w/pulseSG Spool gun1937 IdealArc-300PowerArc 200ST3 SA-200sVantage 400
Reply:It is often a sad reality that the good ones are usually replaced by less than desireables. Goes for neighbors, teachers, town cops, etc. On the bright side my uncle just good a welding instructor job at the local tech school after doing production welding for 20 yearsMillermatic 252millermatic 175miller 300 Thunderboltlincoln ranger 250smith torcheslots of bfh'sIf it dont fit get a bigger hammer
Reply:Ditto on farmshops quote. You get a guy who is there for a job. Or its a stepping stone. Some of my best teachers and instructors were definitely like John Wayne toilet paper.Arcon Workhorse 300MSPowcon 400SMTPowcon SM400 x 2Powcon SM3001968 SA200 Redface1978 SA250 DieselMiller Super 32P FeederPre 1927 American 14" High Duty LatheK&T Milwaukee 2H Horizontal MillBryan
Reply:I can only pray my instructor is a hardcore roughneckSent from my Nexus 4 using TapatalkUsing Tapatalk
Reply:I think this guy got sucked into the teaching job as a temp/night school gig on top of a regular job.  The old fellow went titz-up and someone had to do the job.  The manufacturing company he worked for about 17 years vacated the area, so I don't blame him for finding a new career. A man has to work."USMCPOP" First-born son: KIA  Iraq 1/26/05Syncrowave 250 w/ Coolmate 3Dialarc 250, Idealarc 250SP-175 +Firepower TIG 160S (gave the TA 161 STL to the son)Lincwelder AC180C (1952)Victor & Smith O/A torchesMiller spot welder
Reply:Sounds like my autobody instructor.  He grew up in the trade and blacksmith shops, served as a Marine DI and had worked for about every major shop in the area before he opened his own shop which he and his son still operated while they both taught Vo-tech programs (different school systems).  Louie would bounce a kid so fast for screwing off in class.  He would just as quickly council a student that just did not have an aptitude for the trade to look into some other line of work.  He was gruff at times but he cared that his students knew what they were doing and all of us spent at least some time in the trade before moving on to other aspirations.  In engineering school, I only had one instructor that had any real world experience and he had tons of it.  He had retired and his wife bounced him out of the house after 6 months.  Told him to take up golf, fishing, gambling, or something, but he wasn't going to spend all day, everyday trying to take over HER house which she had run successfully for 45 years without his direct input.  The rest of the "Professors" (PHD engineers) had only gone to school and then taught school and had no concept of the real world.  Forrest, taught me a lot, became my "Professional Mentor" and is still to this day a friend, associate, and inspiration.  He was known to send the kids away from class for the day if they showed up dressed in a less than acceptable manner (part of the training is learning the corporate culture.  I could get away with blue jeans but it had to be a button down shirt).So many schools today seem to be all too interested in entertaining the students more than educating them.RogerOld, Tired, and GRUMPYSalesman will call, Batteries not included, Assembly is required, and FREE ADVICE IS WORTH EXACTLY WHAT YOU PAY FOR IT!Dial Arc 250HFThunderbolt 225 AC/DCAssorted A/O torches
Reply:Originally Posted by Rog02He had retired and his wife bounced him out of the house after 6 months.  Told him to take up golf, fishing, gambling, or something, but he wasn't going to spend all day, everyday trying to take over HER house which she had run successfully for 45 years without his direct input.
Reply:My 17 year old son has a real dandy for a high school welding instructor............I won't say on here my honest opinion of the guy.  I brought my boy to Africa with me all last summer and he learned more in 3 months than he has in 3 years of high school welding class.  He got to learn ALOT the old fashioned way.................about 30 days on a 9 inch grinder, then about 30 days of air arcing..........then the rest of the summer he was burning around 60 pounds a day of .068 NR 232.  He always has wanted to be a welder..........now he has signed up for the USMC DEP.............I don't think that after he seen what the REAL welding world is really like that he aspires to be a "welder" anymore!6 Miller Big Blue 600 Air Paks2 Miller 400D6 Lincoln LN-25's4 Miller Xtreme 12VS2 Miller Dimension 812 4 Climax BW-3000Z bore welders Hypertherm 65 and 85Bug-O Track BugPair of Welpers
Reply:Originally Posted by ExpatWelder...now he has signed up for the USMC DEP...
Reply:Originally Posted by ExpatWelder........I don't think that after he seen what the REAL welding world is really like that he aspires to be a "welder" anymore!
Reply:Sounds like a decent guy and most likely a great teacher.  I had a great welding teacher back in the day (1974) who was thorough but strict.  No BS in the shop, that was for later at the bar!  He was a big guy, about 6' 6" and reminded you of Fred Gwynn, but was great at teaching welding.  If you were a smart a$$, he would ride you terribly though, do stuff like drop a piece of steel right next to you in the middle of burning a stick.  Everyone respected him, that was key!
Reply:the welding instructor at tech schoolwas a mold maker. He could tig coke cans no problem. it was a bunch of plumbers who had never welded. I had done very basic welding.the first day of class he had me burn a rod, some wire and some tig. He taped my hands together like I was being arrested.  then he told me to TIG . "use your hands like windshield wipers where one goes the other follows. " keep your rod in the gas envelope dummy.