I have been an amateur welder of moderate skills. Weld only occationally. Done some car bodywork and fixed some garden tools. I am way too interested in welding machines and have bought several arc and mig machines (all in the bottom quality segment). What I find interesting is that we live in an era where heavy industry has moved to other shores, yet almost every man can if he want, buy power tools that in the past were solely reseved for the tradesmen. Today you should be pretty destitute to not be able to afford an arc welder (For instance I bought my Kende arc welder for roughly 30 pounds a decade ago, still running strong but needed a new ground clamp and stinger).
Another characteristic of our time is that goods are binned in almost pristine condition. Which raises the question if it is worth fixing anything ? I have perhaps squeezed a couple of years extra out of my cars from having done some rust repairs, but then you end up with a very undesirable banger (in a market flooded with newer alternatives).
What I`m left with is that my welding hobby has had no really practical importance exept for the joy I get from it. For me that is enough though. I feel in a strange way connected to mankinds old history of metalworking and I have developed an increased appreciation and curiosity of how things around me has been put together.
Another characteristic of our time is that goods are binned in almost pristine condition. Which raises the question if it is worth fixing anything ? I have perhaps squeezed a couple of years extra out of my cars from having done some rust repairs, but then you end up with a very undesirable banger (in a market flooded with newer alternatives).
What I`m left with is that my welding hobby has had no really practical importance exept for the joy I get from it. For me that is enough though. I feel in a strange way connected to mankinds old history of metalworking and I have developed an increased appreciation and curiosity of how things around me has been put together.