This does not mean that the student who already has welding skills won t benefit from this training. By utilizing their previous knowledge, students will be able to advance to some of the more difficult positions more rapidly. After several days in the classroom students are ready to try their hands on some topside welding and oxy acetylene cutting. They also use this time to prepare test pieces for their final welding test. In the next two weeks, students practice everything that they have learned topside and apply it to an underwater environment.
Students dive everyday, beginning with the horizontal, flat position.
Also, during this time the students learn all the details of setting up an underwater welding station, inspecting their equipment for both safety and functionality, and welding rod selection and make up is also taught. The last week is spent performing underwater burning, a required skill not just for underwater welders, but for all divers. The students use a variety of techniques such as shielded metal arc cutting and the oxy arc processes and these are applied to all metals covering a wide range of thickness. Students receive quizzes throughout the course and receive both a written and practical test in which a final project is pressurized and tested for leaks. We have a new 80 gallon volume tank that was installed above the Quincy 5120 compressor providing more deck space to accommodate dive teams up to 20 divers.