The economy may not be at its best right now, but once it improves the graduates of San Diego Continuing Education’s welding program will be well positioned to fulfill the need for skilled welders.

Now in its 35th year, the school focuses on adult education for unemployed and underemployed San Diego-area residents. Its curriculum is narrowly tailored to the needs of local industries — specifically shipbuilding, construction and manufacturing. The school provides free training to any California resident and currently has 96 students and a waiting list of an additional 58 people.

Associate Professor George Moore instructs student Steve Kim on proper gun angles and positioning with Bernard’s Dura-Flux gun.

“Our program is set up to provide the student with experience on the same types of joint configurations, metal types and welding processes that they’re going to need when they enter the workforce,” explains welding instructor Bill Borinski.

The program, which spans a minimum of 600 hours over 24 weeks, also prepares the students with the skills to obtain an AWS D1.1 (American Welding Society) Unlimited Certification by passing a visual and x-ray weld evaluation. Even with the school’s focused, industry-driven curriculum, there remains a lot of knowledge to instill and skills to impart to the students, and the school strives to ensure their time is well spent.

Borinski, explains that this is the reason it is so important for the school to have durable, time-saving welding equipment. “Downtime in business costs money — for us it costs knowledge,” he says. “If a student’s equipment is down, then he’s not learning. Our students have enough to concentrate on as it is, they shouldn’t have to worry about whether their equipment is working properly or not.”

The school recently converted its welding labs to Bernard Q-Guns, Dura-Flux guns and Centerfire consumables to prevent such problems. The guns and consumables were delivered together with the school’s new power sources and wire feeders. Borinski said he’s been very satisfied with the results. The program has been running the guns for 12 hours per day, four days per week — without any malfunction. The Centerfire consumables system has reduced student downtime and frustration, while also improving weld quality.

Partnering for success

In this open-enrollment program, students work on the material at their own pace until they master the skills required to graduate. New classes, which meet for 6.25 hours a day, four days a week, begin every month, and students can stop and start the program at their discretion.

Students learn an AWS-certified curriculum in self-shielded and gas-shielded flux-cored welding on 3/8- to 1-inch mild steel using E70T-1 and E71T-8 welding wire. Students briefly learn the GMAW process, but the program spends the majority of its time providing specific skills that are needed immediately in local industries. They focus on building proficiency in all welding positions on butt, corner and T-joints.

“We’re running some pretty hot, high-amperage applications here,” Borinski said, “and we have had zero failures — zero internal issues, zero electrical issues. We haven’t even needed to change the liners on some of the guns.”

The school uses Bernard Q-Guns for its gas-shielded flux-cored and MIG training. Borinski noted that the gun’s curved handle reduces his students’ muscle fatigue after welding for long periods of time, and that the guns also improve their mechanical leverage, making it easier for the students to hold the guns in flat and horizontal welding positions.

“What my students and I love about the Q-gun handle is that when you put it in your hand, it’s already in a position to weld,” Borinski said. “If the MIG gun is putting strain on my students’ wrists, they’re going to be sore and miserable by the end of the day and they’ll probably lose some of their enthusiasm for a career in welding.”