Too many three letter acronyms for you?
Well I’ll expand it out, Rising Sun Workshop in Newtown Sydney is a communal home for motorcycle lovers, it gives RSW members a garage to work on their own bikes with the tools to do so both physically and metaphoricaly.
You see its not only the tools to do the job but its the mentor-ship to see you through no matter how big the project is.
I spoke with Faidon a little while ago about chipping in and shedding some light on a passion of mine, TIG welding.
My plan was to make the most of my east coast adventure up to The Day in the Dirt by stopping into RSW and demonstrating a group of members through the basics of TIG welding.
With the plan coming together I needed some assistance in the form of machinery, I spoke to Travis from SWS Welding and we (well mostly him) came up with a plan to supply 3 of the ultra capable 200 SWS Alumtig welders, that combined with mine would make 4 and together we would be able to run 4 groups of two through the complete night giving them a bunch of torch time.
I was a little nervous as I made my way to the Rising Sun Workshop, I just wanted to get this space setup and double check that we had everything covered, I also wanted to get the theory down so I could explain the proper terminology and put the theory ontop of the practice. I know what makes a good weld but I needed to know why and how to make that relatable to 8 newcomers.
But after meeting everyone and getting through a few of the fundementals I was just excited to see these guys sticking metal together.
Because I remember when I started TIG welding, I had no idea what I was doing and if I had a chance to do something like this with a machine as good as Travs SWS Alumtig then my progression would have been years ahead of what it was.
I was lucky that Trav could make his way up to Sydney and help me out, together we worked one on one and watched the progression unfold in front of us.
We all worked together and welded three different materials, mild steel, stainless steel and aluminium.
It’s safe to say that the grinder got a good workout with tungsten sharpening.
But an hour into the three hour session guys were rapidly making progress, the longer it went on the less teaching we had to do, Trav and I would adjust the machines amperage and give some tips on arc angle and the rest was smooth sailing.
I want to thank all the guys and girls who came along and made the night as good as what it was, TIG welding isn’t easy but I feel that with some patiance and practice it’s a skill that’s invaluable and opens up an amazing amount of opportunities.
Thanks to Rising Sun Workshop and Faidon for making this happen, thank you to Brad and Paros for capturing the night, if you want to spend some time on the torch then RSW have their very own SWS 200 Aluimtig ready to go, grab a membership, book some workshop time and get that bike build happening.
Also a big thank you to Trav, I think the guys on the night were treated by having Trav from SWS there to share his intimate knowledge of this very machine and what makes it tick.
If you think this is something your community would like to do then get some people together and swing me an email, I would be happy to continue these nights.