Page 15 - Hobart Institute of Welding - Fall 2020 World of Welding

Making Beautiful Music One Weld at a Time

By: Melinda Gladish
Eli Fairchild, like most normal high school students, was trying to figure out what
he was going to do for the rest of this life. His high school, Delaware Hayes High
School, offered a sophomore career day at Delaware Area Career Center (DACC)
and Eli decided to see what they had to offer. As he was touring the facility, he
saw welding and thought he would try it to see if it was something he would like.
After putting on a hood and striking an arc, Eli thought welding was “kinda cool”
so he signed up for the program. Brad DeMent, Eli’s welding instructor at DACC,
said that Eli excelled in class and earned job placement at a local manufacturer
during his Junior and Senior years at the career center.
As a senior at the career center, Eli was faced with the decision of what to do for
his senior capstone project. He had seen people making guitars on the internet.
He wanted something that would be functional and that he could use, so he
decided he would give the guitar a shot. The kicker is that Eli wanted to make a
resonator guitar. That type of guitar is generally mass produced so this was going
to be even bigger of a challenge for him.
The guitar is made from standard steel with some aluminum pieces for holding up
the strings. He used the gas tungsten arc welding process for the outside welds
and the gas metal arc welding process for the inside and the neck pocket. It took
about 9 weeks from start to finish.

When asked about the materials he used to make the guitar, Eli stated that “The plus about them is that it looks amazing. The minus is
that it’s heavy – very heavy”. Eli typically uses it for a slide guitar and for playing folk/bluegrass music. The downside of the guitar is if he
plays for more than 10 minutes or so, his leg falls asleep so it doesn’t get played as much as he would like. Eli’s DACC welding instructor
said the guitar is pretty spectacular and hopes the Eli never sells it. DeMent said “You can’t put a price tag on something like that” and he
hopes Eli turns it into a family heirloom.
Eli is in the Combination Structural and Pipe Welding Program at Hobart Institute of Welding Technology with an expected graduation of
April 2021. He says one of the things he likes about welding is when he puts his hood down, everything from the outside world goes away
and he can just focus on welding. He is looking forward to graduating and starting his career in welding.

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