The other two weeks on the exchange we had practical lessons at welding workshop. Since the professor didn’t have many ideas of what to give us to do, one of the classmates remembered that he would be making an aluminum picture frame. He started looking for the material, and when he found it, he said “although aluminum is light, it is quite heavy in a larger piece” because he had six square meters of pipes measuring 20×20 millimeters in his hands.
On the TIG welding machine it is possible to set between AC and DC. AC is alternating current for welding aluminum, it can also weld copper, and DC is direct current for welding ordinary steel and stainless steel. And because he thought it was aluminum he set the welding machine to AC. When he started welding and added filler material aluminum ran away from him. It seemed strange to him because he was already welding aluminum and he knew it was unusual. When the frame was welded, he polished it nicely. When he brought it to show, it shone very nicely, which is a bit beautiful for aluminum, but I thought “aluminum can be polished well, but it lasts”. When he showed the product to the professor, the professor asked him “Are you sure, this is aluminum”, and he said yes. The professor told him to show the pipe from which he had cut. When the professor saw the pipe he saw that it was stainless steel. He replied, “This is not aluminum, this is stainless steel.” Of course, everyone else heard that and we burst out laughing. When we were going home that day we asked him “did you take a stainless steel aluminum frame” it was very funny to us.
