Ron Dauplaise

Ron is originally from Massachusetts but has been in Fort Collins for two years now. He has 20 years of custom metal fabrication experience, ranging from all kinds of residential and commercial projects to one-off projects. He has worked with all different metals over the years, stainless steel is his specialty. TIG is his weapon of choice but has enjoyed relearning MIG for the benefits that can be achieved with a simpler welding process. We are so glad to have him here to share his experience!

Contact info: ronald.dauplaise@tinkermill.org, 508-789-9763, and active on Slack (members only)

Ian Flanders

Hi All! My name is Ian Flanders, one of the Co-Captains for the welding bay. I’ve been instructing at the TinkerMill for over a year now, mainly teaching the Welding Bay Safety classes and some of the MIG 101 classes. I’ve been “around” welding and fabrication shops for about 10 years, starting in high school at 13 years old and working in the industry to this day. I moved to Longmont 4 years ago after I finished up my degree in Agriculture Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on the sunny coast of California. I love the art of metal fabrication and the time/dedication that comes with immersing yourself into the practice more and more each time. I look forward to seeing you all around the TinkerMill!

P.S. I’m normally the one of the ones making sparks in the Welding Bay on Sunday afternoons

Contact info: ian.flanders@tinkermill.org, and active on Slack (members only)

Reach them both at welding@tinkermill.org

A training class is required before accessing any equipment independently in this shop. These need to be taken in order (other than the bandsaw certification which can be taken after WBS 101).

• Welding Bay Safety (WBS) 101: Your intro to the shop – you will learn safety practices and will focus on the horizontal bandsaw, belt sanders, chop saw, bench grinder/wire wheel, handheld angle grinder, and drill press. 
• MIG 101: Learn basic skills with hands on practice. After completion of this class, members can use MIG Welder independently and have use of shop space.
• TIG 101: Must have taken MIG to attend a TIG class. This class will teach you and grant access to steel use of TIG DC process.
• TIG 102: This is part two of TIG certification where you will learn aluminum application, AC process. Completion of this second class will grant member’s independent use of the TIG Welder for AC and DC applications.

In addition to being a member, there is cost associated with shop use. 

Gas Use:

• $10/hr, you will learn this procedure in your certification class.

We encourage you to practice these skills independently. Additional skillbuilding classes are also available after certification:
MIG 201: Basic Building and Sanding 
TIG 201: Basic Building and Sanding 

Slack Channels (member’s only) – #welding 

Reservations not required however Google Calendar reservations (members only) will take precedence and classes will be scheduled around them.