This week I spent some time getting used to cutting sheet metal with a torch.
When I first learned to get the flame burning properly, I had someone there to tell me which knobs to adjust, and how much in order to get the mixture of oxygen and fuel just right. I started by trying to recall as much as I could from my previous experience, but I just couldn’t get it to cut through the sheet metal at all.
After a few failed attempts, I finally got this result:
When I first learned to get the flame burning properly, I had someone there to tell me which knobs to adjust, and how much in order to get the mixture of oxygen and fuel just right. I started by trying to recall as much as I could from my previous experience, but I just couldn’t get it to cut through the sheet metal at all.
After a few failed attempts, I finally got this result:
It cut! But as you can see in this photo, it was pretty jagged and there was all kinds of slag (the rough bumpy spots all over).
I remembered my dad telling me some tips on making the torch cut a little nicer, things like cleaning the tip, varying the height of the torch above the metal, and the speed at which it moves. After a lot of practice cuts, I was able to come up with something I was relatively pleased with:
Just like we read this week in HPL, I won't be reaching the level of expert welder anytime soon, and time is the biggest obstacle there. I don't intend to get to the point where I consider myself a master of this craft, and I'd be willing to bet no one else in the class is attempting to do the same with their own learning adventures, there simply isn't any way for me to put that many hours into learning. I feel like I can, however, reach the same point that I am with a number of different things. That's the point of being a little better than average at a lot of things, instead of being an expert in a few.