Question 1

What class should I begin with? What class would be a good gift for a beginner?

Accepted Answer

We ask that all clients begin with MIG, which is also called Gas Metal Arc Welding, (GMAW), wire feed, or Flux Core Arc Welding (FCAW) when self shielding electrodes are used.

Until you have spent several hours, at least, looking at high intensity electrical discharge, (an arc) your brain cannot process the signal well. Mig is relatively easy to do and so a beginner can get satisfying, useful results in short order. Mig can also be explained quickly and the core concepts are not complex.

This is absolutely not the case with Tungsten Inert Gas, (TIG or GTAW) which requires very fine manipulation of the arc, which is basically impossible when your brain has no idea what it is seeing.

Additionally, Tig is more complex and requires much more explanation and requires significant time and effort before useful results can be produced.

If Mig is like riding a bicycle, Tig is like operating a helicopter.  It is far, far better to learn how to ride a bike before attempting to pilot an aircraft.

Despite this incontrovertible fact, based on two decades of teaching 30-50 beginners per week, clients will sometimes insist on taking TIG first.

Although we strongly advise against clients starting with TIG, we will teach it to anyone at any time for any reason.

Just because it is a bad idea, does not mean we will try to stop you. That's not what we do.

About one client in ten will refuse to accept our reasoning and, after decades of arguing against our own economic best-interest, for the sake of providing the best service to our clients, we give up.

Clearly our attempt to limit access to high quality frustration and suffering is misguided, and no one reads our website anyway.

We polish souls.

Stick welding, aka Shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) or buzz box welding, is not terribly difficult, but it is still better to start with MIG as it requires less patience and helps beginners learn to see the arc and get a feel for the process before having to deal with the more complex movements and concepts required by Stick and TIG welding.

Question 2

Do I need to bring anything? What do you supply?

Accepted Answer

We supply everything. We ask clients to wear shop-appropriate clothing. Hoodies and jeans and boots (almost anything other than sneakers) are ideal. We supply all the gear that is required required, gloves, helmets, consumables, materials.

Sneakers typically have nylon "uppers" nylon does not offer any protection to heat, and behaves badly when heated. Any footgear with leather, or cotton uppers will be fine.

You may wish to bring a knit cap, or hat, esp if you have a pretty small head. You may wish to bring snacks or something to drink.

Question 3

What is your reschedule policy?

Accepted Answer

We do not reschedule. Reschedules are a huge problem for us. We are a very small business.  We lose time and money on every reschedule. There are rare and very limited instances where a re-schedule is legitimate, but we reserve the right to deny any reschedule and/or refund tickets at our sole discretion.

Question 4

What are the minimum age requirements?

Accepted Answer

Clients 16 and up may attend solo, if a parent or Guardian is on hand to sign a waiver.

Clients that are younger than 16 can attend a kids class, or schedule private instruction with a parent.

Question 5

Do you teach TIG? (GTAW)

Accepted Answer

We do teach TIG,  (also called Gas Tungsten Arc Welding or GTAW).

We have been teaching TIG for over twelve years. TIG is a complex subject and it requires refined motor skills and a grasp of fairly technical information.

TIG requires a serious time commitment to learn. We can teach TIG for welding carbon steel, stainless and aluminum.

If MIG is like learning to drive a car, then TIG is like learning to pilot a fighter jet.

We offer intensives that will get you pointed in the right direction and producing results, so that you can practice and continue to learn. We advise that you plan on taking several TIG sessions, bear in mind commercial TIG classes last for months.

We teach TIG in private instruction and on the weekends

We have Lincoln 200 tig w pulse unit. ac/dc the perfect mid range TIG machine. 
3 Everlast 255, water cooled fully featured 220v cc machines. 
Miller Diversion 180, comically simple ac/dc unit. 
Esab with somewhat strange Tig torch

Question 6

How do I schedule a gift certificate?

Accepted Answer

Your gift certificate has a purchase value. You can apply it to any class, of equal or greater value. If there is a difference, we can account for the difference in price in person, using cash, square or venmo.

Find the class you wish to take under "current classes" click the "more info" button to find the date of the class you wish to take. We only teach on the dates listed.  Use the button marked "Gift Cert Res" to reserve your space in class. This is essentially a free ticket we use to account for your spot in class.

If you are reserving a space for private instruction, just look through the available times and dates, we offer a morning session 10am-2pm and an afternoon session, 2pm-6pm.

Let us know the date and time you are interested in and we will reserve that for you!

Question 7

Is Welding Dangerous?

Accepted Answer

Welding is safer than being in a car on the highway.

Welding has a reputation for being dangerous because it is typically carried out in construction and industrial environments where there are many types of heavy equipment in operation simultaneously.

The process however is safe so long as reasonable precautions are taken.

As with anything, context is important. We teach welding in a controlled environment. By way of analogy,  welding in our studio is like swimming in a pool with a lifeguard present, welding professionally is like swimming in the ocean.

Most people believe that the welding arc is capable of producing light that can instantly damage eyesight. This is absolutely not the case. The arc produces a substantial amount of UV, and it does so in close proximity to the operator. The arc generates enough UV to create a sunburn. If you were to stare at the arc, you would potentially get a sunburn on your retina.

This rarely happens because staring at an arc is like staring into the sun. We don't do it because it is unpleasant and stupid, much like Trump.  You would have to stare at the arc without any protection for about ten seconds in order to get a sunburn on your retina. Since you can blink, or look away in fractions of a second, you would have to make a deliberate decision to stare at the painfully bright arc,  in order to expose your eyes to enough UV to have any effect. If you are determined, you can get a sunburn on your retina. It is unpleasant, and temporary, that is all.

The misconceptions around the electrical hazards of welding are even worse. Welding does not put the operator at any appreciable risk of electrical shock.  Quite simply, most welding equipment operates well  below 30 volts output.  Most of our equipment operates at about 22 volts max output. 30 volts is not capable of penetrating human skin. This is independent of whether the  voltage is a/c or d/c and whether a potentially conductive surface is dry or wet.

This is a subject we discuss in detail in class.

We will happily answer all safety related questions in class. At present, we enjoy a perfect safety record and we intend to preserve it.

See you soon!

Question 8

What do you teach?

Accepted Answer

We provide technical instruction in MIG, TIG and SMAW to clients, we also offer team-building exercises.

We teach every type of conventional welding and a variety of related subjects relating to metal work and industrial art.

Please review our list of classes for details.

We are a very small flexible company and we readily respond to client requests, these have included birthday parties, photo and video shoots and private events.

We have worked with HTC on a cell phone ad, and Amazon web services for an ad and presentation. Rusty has film credits with the Discovery Channel and in the film industry. Most of our classes and instruction include all required materials and consumables.

We will happily teach to any subject we feel capable of instructing. If you do not see a subject offered, please ask.

Question 9

What can I make?

Accepted Answer

We generally have kits that can be purchased to weld up in a class. If you wish to work on a project that we did not design or offer, this can only be done in private instruction. We do not have any other option for project work at this time. If you wish to get help with a project, let us know. This option is not intended as a way for clients to get fabrication work accomplished. In other words, this is for sculptural and project work as opposed to using private instruction to bang out commercial work, I mention it becasue we offer private instruction at a rate that is lower than commercial fabrication would typically charge.

Question 10

What equipment do you have in the Studio?

Accepted Answer

The teaching studio has 13 Mig welding machines, (FCAW, GMAW) ranging from 90 to 350 amp output, single and three phase. We also keep five tig welders (GTAW) , the largest having a 250 amp output. We have three oxy-fuel set ups, five stick welders (SMAW) several forges, four drill presses and two abrasive saws, two horizontal  band saw, two lever and one step shear, a hand held and cnc plasma cutter, a foundry, 130 watt laser cutter, sand mulling machine, a HAAS vf-3, a metal lathe, many grinders, several vises and 500 square feet of work surface.

We have tools and stuff. Lots of stuff.

Question 11

Do you offer certification?

Accepted Answer

We can help clients prepare for certification tests, we do not offer certification.

If you are considering a career in welding, we can offer you a very rapid orientation to the field.

We teach more beginners than any other business on the West Coast.

Question 12

Is this a Makerspace?

Accepted Answer

Hazardfactory is an industrial arts studio which provides high quality focused instruction in welding metalwork and related topics. We are not a member owned, member driven environment. We are a small, responsive business.
 
We are significantly different from most makerspaces in that we provide access to expensive industrial grade equipment that can be used to make or modify virtually anything, most of the work happens without a keyboard, and we are still in business.
 
There are few if any Makerspaces that provide access to welding equipment. The few that do are subsidized heavily in ways we specifically are not, and are not designed to be a conventional business, but are in fact long term investments based on real estate tax sheltering mechanisms.
 
This offering is a way for us to better serve our community, and help people learn and develop new skills while making awesome!
 
It is worth remembering that the chief object of a makerspace is to provide cheap access to tools for members so that beginners can get hold of and subsequently destroy very expensive tools. This type of business model fails frequently.

Techshop was built as a long term financial "put" for a much larger company that needed to lose money on paper. At present, there are few if any, truly viable economic models for makerspaces.  Rusty met with Jim Newton and can tell you the whole story.

Faq

Frequently Asked Questions