Page 19 - HIWT Fall 2013 World of Welding
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hiwt@welding.org                             HOBART INSTITUTE OF WELDING TECHNOLOGY




            WELDING STUDENTS BRING JOY TO RIDERS ON BIKE

            PATH IN MASSACHUSETTS


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            The Tour de France bicycle race is well underway this summer
            with international fans along the road side cheering the cyclists
            on as they pass through one beautiful small town after another
            in France.  On a more creative scale, welding students back
            at  Assabet  Valley  Technical  High  School  in  Marlborough
            Massachusetts,  under  the  supervision  of  instructors  George
            Aziz,  Chris  Wittimer,  and  me,  were  creating  bicycle  metal
            art using welding and creative designs to make the Hudson,
            Massachusetts bike path a cheerful pace to pedal and have fun.

            Once, long ago, the railroad was the choice of travel in our
            country.  Now, those old abandoned railroad tracks are being
            transformed into public bike paths, walking paths, and once
            again  being  used  as  a  way  to  get  citizens  from  one  point
            to  another,  whether  commuting  on  bicycle,  jogging  for  a   6WXGHQWV ZHOG RQ ROG IDVKLRQ³KLJK ZKHHOHU´ ELF\FOH  D W\SH WKDW
            workout, or just casual family fun activities shared together.     ZDV SRSXODU LQ WKH     ¶V
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            enhance their public paths with welded metal sculptures.

            It seems that students are quite creative when you give them
            an opportunity to build something out of metal.  Welding and
            its required technique is certainly a form of art, so it doesn’t
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            world transferring their technical skills into another medium
            of art.  It just happens to be bicycle art that Assabet Valley
            students set their minds to do this year.

            It all started with our school Principal Mr. Mark Hollick, who     Introducing the
            is a Hudson, Massachusetts resident and uses the bike path   WP-280 Water-Cooled TIG Torch!
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            students  would  be  interested  in  making  some  brackets  to
            mount several wooden sculptures to be displayed along the                       The water-cooled
            bike path.  As this project developed and citizens of Hudson                    solution for demanding
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            students  in  the  metal  fabrication  program  could  design  and                                     ™
            weld a bike path sculpture. Well, it does not take much to get                    technology
            a welding student to volunteer their time and engaged their
            creative  talents!    They  decided  to  make  a  modern  abstract
            racer  hunched  over  their  racing  bike…and  then  an  old-
            fashion, traditional big wheel bicycle.  As the pieces of art                     control and comfort
            were mounted side by side onto concrete pads, citizens could
            see both old and new design evolution. Bronze plaques were
            PDGH E\ WKH VWXGHQWV  UHÀHFWLQJ QDPHV RI WKH VWXGHQWV ZKR                       Weldcraft.com
            created the works of art.
                                                                           Phone: 1.920.882.6800
                              &RQWLQXHG RQ SDJH                           Toll-free: 1.800.752.7620



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