the wife tried the tig

I was telling my wife that she should come out to the shop and try welding, (she's always saying I live out there) So she sat down at my tig table (all

115lbs of her) and I set her up with two .125" pcs of steel (butt joint) and explained how to get the puddle form between the two pieces while adding some filler rod with the other hand, then move the puddle to the left while adding the filler rod and feathering the foot pedal. Sounded like i was telling her a bunch of directives but she actually ran a nice looking bead and didn't stick the tungsten to the puddle or the rod once! I think i should get her out there daily so i can just cut stuff and she can do all the welding! I just hope i dont have to start cooking dinner now.

walt

Reply to
wallster
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Reply to
RoyJ

I did the same thing with my girlfriend's 16 year old daughter.... Cheerleader, softball... etc.. I added Gas cutting, TIG, and Mig as well as working on my dragster and prostock eliminator. I don't know too many snobby chicks that can sling a torch. But that and putting blower motors back together in the shop let me leave the shotgun in the corner when the boys came around.... It all starts with family, I guess if we introduce them to something positive it makes less time for a negative thing to happen and she got to see her welds and engine work make 7 second passes and take credit for it when she brought all her friends to the dragstrip. I thought I was sort of alone but all the work paid off, she got my SD180 to tinker with and I got to buy a new Aerowave with all the goodies and Didn't even have to argue about it with the little lady who was happy to see us work together!!!! now the neighbors in a suburb of Chicago did not really always enjoy us firing up an engine before stuffing the cars in the trailer - The first thing the cops saw was the girl dropping down my idle speed on the injector and we had quite a cool conversation after that and all was good.... I still can't clean my tools or parts in the dishwasher however. I guess there are limits women will not bend on...

weld on,

Rob

Reply to
RDF

It has been long forgotten by the testosterone brigade that when WW2 broke out, women went into the shipyards and did the welding jobs men had formerly dominated.

Welding is a lot of hard dirty heavy work to get two pieces of whatever together and READY to weld. Then, it is like an artist........... making little zig zag lines and circles and loops ............ over and over and OVER AND OVER ....................

Women have lots of patience to do this, like quilting stitching, cake decorating, lots of things that show off their ability to make purty little lines over and over.

Welding is all touch.

I am right handed, and at times when I was out of position welding, as in pipe, I could lay a better prettier bead with my left hand because something in my brain made me slow down a little and have a little lighter touch. The feel of that was indescribable, and the sense of touch seemed magnified in my off hand.

When one is relaxed welding, one does a better job. When one isn't hanging on, balancing against something, pushing on something to keep from falling off something, hanging off a basket or a scaffold, but totally supported and totally at rest ............. that is when it just flows.

I think women are like that more of the time than men.

Just MHO, and I could be wrong.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

Yup, this is a serious issue.;) As much as I hate to admit it, my wife can shoot circles around me with most any gun. It's bad enough that she out-shoots me with her guns, but she can out-shoot me with my guns as well!

One of my greatest fears in life, is that some race weekend she will ask to take a few laps around the track in my race car.... I think I'd just off myself if she turned lower lap times then mine.

Wayne

Reply to
wrace

I hear you, The only blessing on this is I'm 6'6" and she is 5'3" and the chassis on both cars are all tube custom built for my size and she sort of freaks a bit about the entire thing since I went full tilt. Back when I had a prostreet running low 9's she was screaming the entire way down the track in the passenger seat at a test-and-tune and when I popped the chutes she did not really enjoy the quick change in the positive to negative G-forces when the laundry opens up on dual Deist's It hits really hard on a heavy car. After one blower explosion and fire she wanted me to get rid of the rear engine dragster and the only thing that kept her head on was "Would you rather have the engine explode in front of me?" It's part of the game, it's going to happen it's just a matter of when one lets go, looks cool on tape and worse on the budget but hey, it's cheaper than a therapist to keep a relationship together. A gun in her hand is a no way option. She is too hot headed and I'm an easy target. I'll just hide in the shop!

Reply to
RDF

Yeah, be careful. My wife is a really good shot, but just does not like the blast from the big bore cartridges.

On the track, well that is another deal. The only way I can keep ahead in road races is due to my slightly better ability to slide through turns.

Those guys in C4 Corvettes just hate it when my wife passes them in our

93 Saturn.
Reply to
frank

I had a similar experience with my sister in my woodshop. She is an accomplished seamstress and sews clothes, quilts, and anything else with perfect stitching on everything. For some reason, she feels she has to point out the mistakes on the quilts she makes for family members, not that anyone can see them with the naked eye, but that's another story. I had been saving scrap wood for her in the shop and she came over one day to pick it up. Some of the pieces were too large for her to give to her grandkids and she asked me if she could cut them down. She also thought some of them looked like they would make good wooden roadways for the toy cars. My macho side could just see my sister cutting her fingers off in the bandsaw because every guy knows women can't use big power tools without getting hurt. She started the saw with me by her side ready to bandage up the stumps, and took off cutting like she had been doing it all her life. Zip... zing...aarrrrouuunnndd the curve, perfect cutting, never bound the blade, never looking up until she was finished. I stood there, slack jawed, and finally asked her if she was nervous using the saw. She harrumpped, then spat out, "it's easier than using a sewing machine, and I don't have any trouble with that".

Another assumption blasted all to hell.

Jamie Norwood

wallster wrote:

Reply to
user

In what class does a sanctioning body put a Corvette and a '93 Saturn on track at the same time? Is this a combined showroom stock (isn't '93 too old for SS?) or IT field? I hate it when I had to race with cars of widely differing speeds. With some drivers it was always a crap shoot trying to pick a side on which to pass.

My wife won her SCCA driver's school race... in the rain... in a RWD IT car... with a dry weather set up (stiff bars and low tread tires)... The woman has no fear.

Peter

Reply to
Peter Grey

As often as we can manage it we run with TracQuest.

Although there is not an actual race, there are real race cars on real race tracks. Think of it as full-on racing without attitude.

The grouping goes by skill -- what a thought!

Sometimes I run my '64 Malibu -- all two tons of it. But I have been known to run down and pass C4 Corvettes and the occasional turbo 911. Cars are so good now it is 90% skill and 10% car.

Reply to
frank

Rob,

A personal question if you don't mind, but where does the girlfriends daughter play softball? My 13 yo daughter plays fastpitch softball also, just wondering if we might be close. We live in the SE Tennessee area, play all over the South East area.

Regards, Jim

Reply to
Jim C Roberts

Burbank Il.

Just a park district league. BTW Bristol is one of the best tracks I have ever raced at. The folks over there are a lot of fun in the pits too. I had five guy's I didn't even know help me on an engine swap so I didn't miss an elimination round. Talk about hospitality! After the races they were just as cool to put down brews with at the trailers. I'm there a few times a year. You near the area?

Rob

Reply to
RDF

Frank,

Which tracks do you run on? What type of lap times are you running?

And I have to say, with all good humor, that track days are not like full-on racing. ;) Unless you have six guys who qualified on the same second fighting for position in the same corner, then you ain't racing! That doesn't mean you have to hit each other, but the risk of it is one of the things that makes it fun and challenging.

Anyhow, I bet running your ancient Malibu (and I say that with respect - I had a '64 when I was a kid) is good for grins! I understand about surprising guys in snooty cars. My daily driver is a Volvo wagon with a

347ci Ford V8 and Tremec 5 speed. It goes around corners quite nicely, too. I live for embarrassing guys in Porsches and 'Vettes.

Peter

Reply to
Peter Grey

Rob,

I am about as far South of Bristol as I could be and still be in Tennessee, but I have been to 1 NASCAR race at the "bull ring" up there. We could see the strip from our seats, but didn't get to go over there. My boss just got back from the Bristol drag strip this past weekend, but I haven't had time to ask how it went, had alot of family health problems the last couple of weeks. Best of luck with your racing and to the daughters ball playing.

Jim

Reply to
Jim C Roberts

We run Willow Springs, Buttonwillow, Sears Point, Thunderhill and a few others.

Times? Who cares. It is mostly about the skill and fun of it all. But there are VERY serious folks out there having fun. Like 180 mph on the straight at Willow Springs.

With no real rule book, people are free to add as much downforce as they want.

Reply to
frank

I guess my take is that the lap times tell you how much skill one is exhibiting (pluys I'm interested to know how fast you got your Malibu going)! But I'm guessing that that is the "attitude" of which you spoke. ;)

Maybe I'll run into you (not literally) out at the track sometime.

Peter

Reply to
Peter Grey

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