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Still asking Elmer

Instructor and former PWT columnist is still answering questions

Even though the Ask Elmer column no longer exists, Swank has never stopped answering questions or lost the desire to help those who are willing to become better welders. Photo courtesy of Hobart Institute of Welding Technology.

Twelve years ago, Practical Welding Today readers stopped asking Elmer. Not because he no longer had sage advice to dispense, but because it was time for him to walk away.

Even though Elmer Swank, the namesake behind former column Ask Elmer, stopped writing, he’s never stopped teaching. As senior tech instructor at the Hobart Institute of Welding Technology (HIWT), where he’s taught for the last 45 years, Swank said his students come first. And while he loved being able to help welders with their problems through his column, he decided to walk away when the demands of his class schedule increased.

Still, every now and then a student will ask him about Ask Elmer, which he thinks is “cool.” Otherwise, the 65-year-old is content to be known as “teacher” because he is able to do the same thing with his students as he did with readers: help.

Elmer Answers

Swank began his career at the historic HIWT in 1969 in the testing lab, and started teaching welders full-time in 1971. He’s seen the school expand numerous times, lived through all of the extensive technological advances the welding industry has experienced over the last half-century, and witnessed countless students go on to successful welding careers. When he was approached to write the column, it was just an extension of teaching, albeit an unfamiliar one.

“It wasn’t anything I had ever done before, and it wasn’t something I had ever thought about doing. I thought I’d give it a try, and turns out it was pretty interesting to do,” Swank said.

Dispensing advice was the relatively easy part. The putting it down on paper part? Well, that was a little different than his usual teaching method.

“Sometimes welders aren’t the most articulate. We typically talk with our hands. But Marty Baker, former HIWT librarian, was very good at what she did. She’d proof my articles, correct my spelling and grammar, and made it look a little more proper.”

Of course, the quintessential humble welder that he is, Swank doesn’t give himself nearly enough credit. From the January/February 2000 issue until the November/December 2004 issue, Swank answered a spectrum of questions from readers about all types of things, but most of them about troubleshooting welding fabrication, maintenance, or repair problems, in a clear and concise, down-to-earth, conversational manner similar to the way he’d answer someone face-to-face.

But if there was one topic area he tried to stay away from, it was questions pertaining to welding code.

“I didn’t feel comfortable answering those mainly because until you have all of the details to answer accurately, you have to be careful because we don’t want to misguide someone.”

45 Years and Counting

Like so many of the knowledgeable contributors who have shaped Practical Welding Today over the years, Swank has great familiarity with welding’s past and is still contributing significantly to welding’s present to ensure a better future. In an industry where welders have the freedom to travel the world and go where the jobs are, Swank has stayed put, influencing at least three generations of welders and preparing them to face the rigors of the job.

That includes staying on top of the technology upgrades that have affected the industry and, by extension, his lab environment. When he first began teaching, his lab included mostly power sources that ran on motor-generators. They were heavy and inefficient but produced a really nice weld. But as technology progressed and those types of machines were replaced with small yet powerful inverter-based power sources, Swank rolled with the punches like he always does.

“Welders didn’t like them at first because they just didn’t have a very good arc. Old motor-generators, when you ran a 7018 stick electrode, had a real good feel to it. Early inverters didn’t do so well. But the inverters that are around currently have been perfected to where you can hardly tell the difference in the arc characteristics from the old motor-generators. That’s about as smooth a DC output you can get.”

Technology isn’t the only thing that has changed; students have changed, at least in some ways, too. But you won’t hear the typical “kids today” speech from Swank. Ever the optimist, he’s not interested in pointing out generational faults or preaching about how previous generations are far superior to today’s smartphone-addicted youth. He prefers instead to see the similarities between today’s students and students of the past.

“Most of the students we get range from age 19 to mid-20s. I’m involved with one of the very first classes students take when they enroll here. There’s incredible enthusiasm and it’s wonderful to see.”

Like past students, he said members of this generation work hard, are willing to learn, and do their best to understand the information they are taught. Instructors, in turn, make every effort to keep students progressing by providing instruction paired with enough encouragement to prevent anyone from failing or dropping out. But if there’s one difference he’s noticed in today’s student population, it’s the amount of encouragement they need to keep moving forward.

“Young people need encouragement. Maybe they always have and I’m just more conscious of it today. We’ll get some who aren’t as motivated, while others question whether or not they can do it. But they change immediately when we show them they can. I really hate it when I hear older people perhaps talk down about our young people.”

You Can’t Go Wrong With Welding

Perhaps one of the drivers for Swank’s long teaching career is the fact that he is an ardent believer that welding is a great career option. He said there’s always going to be a need for good welders and he doesn’t ever see that changing, especially with significant demand in the infrastructure and energy sectors. And as long as there is a need for welders, there also will be a need for welding engineers, welding educators, welding inspectors, and welding equipment manufacturers and sales personnel.

“Someone picking welding as a career path today, I can’t see that they’re making a mistake at all because I think there will be a lot of opportunities there. They can weld as long as they want, and when they’re tired of it, they can do a lot of different things that require welding knowledge.”

In fact, Swank has noticed an uptick in young welders pursuing certified welding inspector (CWI) credentials.

“I think they see there are opportunities, and even though they can make a decent living as a welder, they want to be more versatile. They’ll invest their own money, which is considerable when you think about all of the costs involved, and it will help them either get a better job, become more employable, or become valuable to their current employer.”

After more than four decades, Swank still has a genuine passion for teaching. That, paired with his extensive knowledge, is why readers wanted to Ask Elmer and why welding students today are still asking Elmer.

“It always made me feel good to know that I had helped someone solve a problem or helped them do a good job welding something they were working on.”

About the Author
FMA Communications Inc.

Amanda Carlson

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Amanda Carlson was named as the editor for The WELDER in January 2017. She is responsible for coordinating and writing or editing all of the magazine’s editorial content. Before joining The WELDER, Amanda was a news editor for two years, coordinating and editing all product and industry news items for several publications and thefabricator.com.