Skills-USA Ceremony

  Two TL Faulkner Welding students pass AWS SMAW Certification test. This is the first time in school history this has been done. Kamron Thomas a senior from Blount HS and George McAlman a junior from Williamson HS. Under the instruction of Tim DeVargas the Welding instructor at TL Faulkner CTC, where they learned to weld were able to pass the qualification test. The testing is conducted at an AWS certified test facility at Wesco Welding Supply in Prichard, AL by the facilitator Ron Phillips and his team.

  The test consisted of welding with 7018 welding electrode used in Shielded Metal Arc Welding. This is the first process to learn and one of the most difficult to master.  V-Grove is two pieces of 3/8"or 1/2" steel approximately 6" long. Cutting the edges at a 60* angle, with a 1/8" gap between the pieces. These are welded together using the 7018 welding rod with multiple passes. This is a difficult weld because it is done in a vertical 3G and overhead 4G position. The test is cutting a 3/8" piece out and bending it in a tight U, if it breaks it fails. If it doesn't break and there are defects they must not exceed what is allowed by code.

 This is the first time ever at this school that any student has passed a qualification test in welding.

Both students plan on continuing there career in the welding profession.