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Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / Great welder; needs some help with math
- - By jon20013 (*****) Date 05-05-2005 18:52
I have a fantastic welder, one of the best we've ever hired, but he is lacking on his math skills. Does anyone know of any links that I can download and printout to give him some self-study guidance? I really need for him to pick up his layout skills to further increase his value to the company.
Parent - - By jwright650 (*****) Date 05-05-2005 20:11
What are his weaknesses regarding his math skills? Are you wanting him to freshen up on triangulation and working parts of a circle?
John Wright
Parent - - By DGXL (***) Date 05-05-2005 20:19
jon:
I am mathematically challenged myself.
Here is a good site I have referred a few welder to:

http://www.aaamath.com/B/geo.htm

There are links within the page to basic math functions.
Parent - - By jwright650 (*****) Date 05-05-2005 20:24
Another site besides this onethat DGXL mentioned is one that my son uses ... http://edhelper.com ...http://www.edhelper.com/math.htm ...it has printable math problem sheets.
John Wright
Parent - By jon20013 (*****) Date 05-05-2005 20:35
Thanks guy's! Well, his weaknesses are really yet to be fully determined, he has gone through a pipefitters apprenticeship so I was thinking his layout and fitting skills maybe a little more fine tuned... He will do just fine though will just take him under a wing a coax his improvements. He's one heck of a welder though, makes me envious!!!
Parent - - By jon20013 (*****) Date 05-05-2005 20:38
Great site DGXL, have saved it to my favorites! I certainly don't claim to be a math expert but did suffer terribly from it when I was much younger... thankfully, I worked with many patient bosses (like myself now!) who brought me up to speed... trouble is most of that is so far in the past I can't remember how to tell someone else!!!
Parent - - By swnorris (****) Date 05-05-2005 22:01
Mathmatically challenged? All I can say is that there are three kinds of people in this world. Those who can count and those who can't.
If his problem is with fractions, tell him he is not alone. It's a little known fact that six out of every four Americans have problems with fractions.
Parent - By pjseaman (**) Date 05-06-2005 02:08
Not funny, maybe a grin but not funny! I have dyslexia and math is a pain for me especially numbers with 6,9,5,2 involved. I also have issues with Z,N,p,q,b,d, I can do the math but putting it on paper fouls me up. I actually do much of it in my head and just give answers, it ticks off the instructors. I built a deck on my house and missed the materials bill by 2 ballisters on a $1200 job. I believe the major part of our welding related math is geometry and it just makes sense to me, whereas algebra-forget it!

Check out the Sylvan advantage course it may help him,
I would be glad to help if I could, BTW I am 37 and returned to school 3 years ago.
Parent - - By metalfab (*) Date 05-06-2005 02:47
Get the cheapest PalmOne (about $180 Canadian) that has the ability to hook up to a computer and download: gCalculator (all geometric calculations), Bendcalc (bend allowance tool) and Draft Angle. I know how to manually calculate some trig and fractions are not that much of a problem but, for accuracy and time saving its the best.
Parent - - By jwright650 (*****) Date 05-06-2005 11:16
Speaking of calculators, my best friend is a "Jobber". Here at work I call it my brain. The guys will have a problem with a layout and they will ask me for help, I have to say, wait a minute let me go get my brain. This calculator has a 15 key number pad for fractions 1/16 to 15/16 so you can cut your key strokes down to a minimum when entering dimensions in feet and inches with fractions. It does triangles and circles with ease, good instructional booklet comes with it. Sample problems from everyday life illustrated in plain ole' terms.

http://www.jobbercalculator.com/

http://www.jobbercalculator.com/examples.htm

Here click the link above(a picture is worth a 1000 words)

John Wright
Parent - By DGXL (***) Date 05-06-2005 14:15
A few more comments for jon's post:

1.) All welders really need to know basic math functions. Simple addition, subtraction, division, multiplication and basic fractions should be mandated for any welder.

One of the welders I am currently working with can really lay those dimes. Unfortunately, he needs a calculater to figure out +/- 2" from 36". His boss has not given him a raise lately because someone has to help him assemble of figure out where parts go, using basic math.

2.) Conversion calculators are fine, but you still need to know some basic math. What happens when the batteries are gone, no more welding/fit-up? All of us CWI's know what you can do with those calculators at test time...

The tech. institute I used to work for required all incoming welding students to go through a 30 day basic math course. Most of the students were happy to go through the review, or simply learn new material. All noted it was a big help in the welding trade.

I guess my point is jon's guy really should learn how to do basic math using grey matter and/or a pencil and paper first. He will be much better off in the long run.


Boeing is auditing one of my clients today and I have to split, will post the outcome later today.

Parent - - By 357max (***) Date 05-06-2005 15:25
Rent a retired math teacher for evening courses for investing in your employees. It'll pay big dividends in your shop's ability to do jobs quickly and efficiently without cosly rework.
Parent - - By jon20013 (*****) Date 05-06-2005 15:35
Well, this post has probably expanded well beyond what I was trying to accomplish; I was simply looking for some information for my guy to do some after hours self study (or on the clock if work is slow). The company is not going to pay to hire a retired school teacher, buy him calculators or any of that stuff. This is really and truly his issue, I am simply trying to help him advance his career, thus be eligible for bigger raises and, at the same time, let him and me feel more confident in his fitting skills.
Parent - By jwright650 (*****) Date 05-06-2005 16:04
Jon,
I have been purchasing that calculator for years and the price hasn't changed since the last time I bought one. This guy can fork out $105 bucks and it will greatly help him just like a new welding shield or a framing square,...tools are necessary to do the job. I like it for adding a whole string of dimns to make sure the drawing adds up. Detailers we use have a hard time getting the dimns to close for some reason. Figuring slopes and laying out different radii are a snap if the detailer hasn't placed enough info on the drawing for the welder. Trust me it is worth the price for the type of work we do here in our shop.
John Wright
Parent - - By magodley (**) Date 05-06-2005 15:54
Delmar has a good self study/self paced book called Math for Welders, they also have one for electricians.
Andy
Parent - By jamesrodr (*) Date 05-08-2005 18:28
try this

http://www.math.com/

Regards,

James
Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / Great welder; needs some help with math

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