Tried Something New Today

I cut steel.  Sparks went flying all over.  Good thing I didn't put a lot of hairspray in my hair today.  I love using dangerous equipment.

I welded metal with a tig welder.  First I welded two steel plates together.  You have to touch the metal to get the gas going and then keep it close enough to keep the heat on.  Pulling it away turns it off and you have to touch it lightly again to get it going. If you touch the metal too long it sticks to the welder.  So a steady hand is necessary to touch it lightly and to pull it away but not too far away.  Practice helps.  Having two metals that melt at the same temperature also helps.  So welding the two plates together was easier than welding the legs on.  And no, I did not tip the helmet down by jerking my head forward.  I think the whole helmet would have fallen to the floor if I did that.

My table top sort of looks like an owl head.

My table has three legs and one foot of stone.  I drilled a hole in limestone to make room for one leg.

This class to make a nightstand was my birthday gift!  I loved it. The seven hour class included a lunch of pizza and wine.  The instructor was very laid back considering 7 students were drilling into stone, butting steel, welding, polishing steel with a bench grinder and polishing steel with an angle grinder.  We started out by watching a youtube video of an infant waking up.  Then we named our night stands. My table is named "Unanimous."   We choose the title of our table by randomly putting our finger on a word in the dictionary.  I love my nightstand!