Sam's first weld, and the down fall of society

OK, the boy broke his bed; apparently diving on to it, and yes it was an inexpensive setup. So I didn't get mad, it was time he learned some basic wire welding.

The thin square tubing split right down the center. I did a quick grind to get the paint off and hammer the metal back in to place.

I grabbed a small chunk of 18ga. sheet metal and put it in the break to make a c-channel that would fit the tubing tightly. With a break like this; the seam just can't be welded up. I though about letting Sam use the break and do the measurements, but one step at a time. Welding is fun and that will get him more interested first, than doing some easy math.

And here's the final result, and it's not bad. I did guide him just a little bit as he's not to the point making a tack to help see were he is yet. but he had fun, and was super excited. (had to go run in side and tell mom, and brag to his older brother!) I did a couple of quick grinds to knock off the gnarly stuff (don't want it ripping any pajamas!) and shot some black back over.

This lead me to thinking; what do people do who can't weld or repair the basics like this? I guess go out and buy something to replace it with. It kinda seams wasteful to myself, and I can not stand waste, or the consumerist society that's now the norm. To anyone that's listening think about this: what was the total amount of energy that it took to make the basic components of that new toy, car, cellphone...

If there was metal in that new product, think about the mining, the fuel for the trucks to move the ore, the crusher to smash the ore to the smelter to remove the rock impurities from the metal ore, to forming, shipping, factory stamping/molding and then on to assembly, packaging, shipping again, before it's finally sold to you. and all of these steps there was electricity used. And this list would just cover the metal contained in that new toy, car, cellphone... 

 Sure it's cheap when you pick it up in the store, and that phone will only last 6 months to a year, the car will go maybe 10 years. But the consumerist lifestyle people live in now, there is a triad off = garbage, or as others call it "built in obsolescence". How do you reclaim this lost energy that went into making the product in the first place? Recycling is a start, but not enough. The problem is that new shiny product is meant to have a short life span. The best plan is to buy the best built product you can afford, or one that can be repaired or serviced if needed, and minimize the waste. Tell the manufactures you're sick of the shiny junk they keep peddling and refuse to buy it. Stop visiting the big box stores, they buy the lowest cheapest crap they can find to pass a so called "savings" onto you, when really you're just stuck in an endless loop of consumerist purchasing.

Sorry about the rant, but I had to say it.