It’s back to school time across the country, and while many teachers are stocking up on number two pencils, many trade-focused teachers are stocking up on metal and welding gear. High Schools across the country continue to offer essential trade skills classes including woodshop and welding.
If you have a student taking welding classes this year or teach a trade-welding class at the high school level, this post may come in handy. Keep reading for 2 welding projects specifically geared to high school students.
Bike Rack Welding Project
From elementary to high school, many students avoid the bus by riding their bikes to school in fair weather. Why not grow the skills of your welding students by having them weld a bike rack for the school? This project is simple and useful, easily customized to meet your school’s storage needs.
You can have your students help you design the plans, but 1 ½ steel is a solid material for this project and the rack risers should roughly 2 feet tall with approximately 2 ½ inches between each upright. Leave 12 inches between each pair of risers to ensure room for bikes of any size. You’ll want two support pieces running the width of your bike rack to ensure the bike wheels are forced upright and in place.
This project can be as simple or as creative as you like! Allow your students to dream and then encourage them to see it through.
Pencil Cup Welding Project
Students love a project they can take home to show their parents. Which makes this pencil cup a great project to start the school year, especially if you have a lot of leftover square tubing lying around your shop or classroom. This project will help your students learn how to weld multiple beads, back to back, as they grow their fledgling welding skills.
Have your students start by cutting their metal tubing into pieces of varying heights that range from roughly 3-4 inches (no taller than a pencil, but tall enough to hold one.) Next, using clamps and care, you’ll want to have each student carefully grind down their edges so as not to draw blood when reaching for a writing utensil.
The first step of welding this project is to attach the pieces of metal tubing together, all in a row. Creating the “holder”portion of your pencil cup. Continue to weld on each piece of tubing, grinding all welds smooth as you go. You’ll want to add a metal base plate to your project to ensure you can move it without losing your pen and pencils in the process.
Once your piece is welded and ground smooth, you have a useful pencil cup that doubles as a paperweight. You can allow your students to paint it, but it does look pretty amazing left in its raw, metal coloring.
Stock Up and Save for Back to School Welding Supplies!
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