Metal Shop Manager Ron Chandler and Poldi Angioli work on a railing : Photo : Jeffrey Kunzelman

The Metal Shop is in integral part of the ongoing construction here at Arcosanti. It is also part of the educational commitment we have to the students that come to participate in our workshop programs. From a brief overview and the safety requirements of the Metal Shop work environment given to each workshop group once a month (Picture of workshop in Metal Shop Here), to full time hands-on work on current projects (Picture of welding project Here), the Metal Shop staff is committed to providing a quality educational experience for those who wish to learn the basics of welding metal together.

In addition to the Metal Shop’s own construction project commitments, it provides support for most of the other departments. Whether manufacturing tools for the garden staff to use or welding the pre-cast panels in place for the Construction Department. The Metal Shop staff and assistants are more than willing to lend a hand to fill the needs of the other departments when needed.

Metal Shop Training

The Metal Shop has a wide variety of welders and welding equipment. TIG, MIG, stick, and gas welding are all available for our staff and students to use. The only requirement to use the Metal Shop equipment is to demonstrate your ability to use the equipment safely. Never welded before, that’s not a problem. We can teach you the basics of welding after work if you like.

During each workshop the Metal Shop Coordinator takes on a new assistant. More often than not they start out with little or no welding experience. Training a new assistant can take up to 3 days. The first day is spent learning to stick weld. More than 6 hours is spent learning to strike and hold the arc. The scrap metal used by the students to practice on has become quite the artwork and is the combined work of more than a dozen students

The next phase of training is on our wire fed welders starting with the big MIG. The big MIG is a gas shielded welder. Unlike the stick welder where the gas shield is created by the coating on the outside of the welding rod. The MIG welder uses CO2 gas to create a protective shield around the weld. Various kinds of gases are used depending on the types of metal to be joined.

Once a student reaches this stage of their training the scrap bits of metal they work with become much smaller. New works of art are created which the students can take home with them if they like. In the beginning the student is aloud to turn the work about so they can obtain the optimum welding angle. After a time the work is clamped to the table and the student must learn to weld out of position as he/she welds the bits of scrap metal to each other

The last phase of training is on the little MIG. The little MIG’s gas shield is provided by a flux core inside the wire and like the stick welder is considered a gasless welder. Learning with the little MIG resembles most of the work the Metal Shop actually does around the site.

Each phase of training prepares the student for the next phase of training. Learning to stick welding forces you to learn good welding habits that carry over into MIG welding. Learning proper welding techniques is necessary to create good welds that can stand up to the stress that will be applied to them.