Lincoln Electric representatives and BNAP staff show some of the equipment donated to this year’s winners of the Outstanding Apprenticeship Award competition. L. to r. are Carl Peters, Lincoln director of training; John Standish, BNAP instructor; Jason Schmidt, Lincoln technical trainer; Louie Lombardi, BNAP instructor; Robert Simmons, Lincoln technical sales rep; and Mark Branscum, BNAP instructor.
Training center, top apprentices get new gear
APPRENTICES COMPETING at the national training center in Kansas City, Kan., got their hands on some hot new gear, courtesy of Lincoln Electric (Cleveland). Prior to the competition, Lincoln supplied the center with new machines for each of the facility’s 21 welding booths.
Included were Invertec V350 Pro multi-process welding machines and LF-72 wire feeders. But that’s not all. Lincoln included TIG welding machines, plasma cutters, an engine-driven welder, arc gouging/multi-process welders, a Power Wave 45M high-technology multi-process welder, and portable fume extractors. There was more still, as Harris, a Lincoln subsidiary, provided 80 gas flowmeters/regulators, oxy-fuel cutting torches, portable oxy-fuel cutting packages, and 6,000 pounds of welding consumables.
Lincoln’s director of training, Carl Peters, said the equipment is being made available for the BNAP training center’s use as part of the company’s effort to promote a “partnership” where Lincoln can showcase its products and apprentices can be taught using the latest equipment. “Each year, we’ll swap out the existing equipment with new models, so the school always has the most modern tools available,” Peters said.
Robert Simmons, a technical sales rep in the Kansas City area, said that in addition to the equipment on loan to the center, Lincoln is also providing free training at its Cleveland welding school for any Boilermaker instructor as well as free subscriptions to technical bulletins for Boilermaker training centers.
The Boilermakers’ national training center recently purchased a self-cleaning welding fume extraction and filtration system through Lincoln that provides flexible extraction arms in each welding booth as part of a comprehensive upgrade of the facility.
In addition to the equipment on loan to the national training center, Lincoln also donated gear for the apprentice competition. First-place winner Christopher Knox won a Power MIG 255C wire feeder/welding machine, while second-place finisher William Vanmeter received a Power MIG 215 wire feeder/welding machine. Both men also received a portable Power MIG 140C wire feeder/welding machine for finishing as the top team. Knox’s first-place finish also meant that Local 83 received a Power MIG 300MP multi-process wire feeder/welding machine for its training program.
