What does it mean to be a welder?
Brad, the foreman at Dessureau Machine off Granite Street in Barre, said, “Making something from nothing, being able to go through different steps and coming out with an end piece that has a purpose and can fulfill that purpose.”
Just a few weeks ago, Dessureau Machines finished an ice cream separator for Ben and Jerry’s Factory, which, according to Brad, “was two big cones welded together funneling into one cylinder allowing two flavors of ice cream to go into one.”
This separator, which stands about 5 feet tall and will be used in their plant in Waterbury, took three full weeks to complete, with skilled welders working on it 40-50 hours each week.
Although the job is challenging and confusing at times for Brad, being the Foreman of 18 people running 18 different machines, making 18 different things on any given day, he says most days he enjoys it and is able to manage the challenges that come with it.
The three most commonly used welders at Dessureau Machines are tig welding, heliarc welding, and mig welding. They use these forms of welding because they are the fastest, cleanest, and strongest types of welding to get whatever they need done in a timely fashion.
To Josh Carbo, a former student at U32 who is also interested in welding and fabricating, welding means to be able to design and fab something out of metal that most people can’t. Josh recently built a heavy-duty plate steel bumper for his 4runner. He got a piece of plate steel and made a design that, when it’s cut out, he will weld together and mount it to the front of the truck.
Carbo said he plans to go to the University of Montana Community College and get a degree in the field. Josh doesn’t work anywhere now, but he did get a lot of experience at an internship that sadly ended for Josh at the end of last semester.
Welding is a form of fabrication that joins two pieces of metal together to make one uniform piece. It is one of a few ways to permanently join two pieces of metal together.
You may not know it but welding is everywhere, From your cars to buildings, and even the metal legs on chairs and tables.
Welders are a huge part of many different industries including agriculture, construction and machinery, even a big part of the granite industry.
Most commonly used types of welding down at Dessureau Machine are:
(SMAW) or Shielded Metal Arc Welding, also known as “stick welding,” uses a small rod as the filler, when touching the rod to the surface of metal it creates an arc filling in the melting metal making a weld.
(GTAW) Gas Tungsten Arc welding or tig welding, has a tungsten in one hand and a filler rod in the other. the tungsten starts the weld pool as you slowly add filler rod from the other hand, making a clean and very neat weld.
(GMAW) Also known as “mig welding,” is a type of welding that uses a small hand held nozzle that has wire feeding through it. Once the wire touches the surface of the metal it creates an arc and begins melting the metal with the wire adding to the weld pool weld.
