Jason Conrad from Churchville-Chili shows his WE-MO-CO welding teacher Mike Sorrentino the rose he made out of steel.

Students make roses out of steel

WE-MO-CO Career and Technical Education Center teacher Mike Sorrentino assigned a fun project for his second-year welding students, while teaching valuable skills on the curriculum. Students made roses by welding two metals together, mild steel and stainless steel, using gas tungsten arc welding. To make the leaves, Sorrentino taught the students forging, a technique he brought back from a blacksmithing class he is taking. First, they heated the leaves and then used a chisel and hammer to forge lines for the veins into the thin gauge steel. To finish the project, students added a little color with spray paint. Many students gave the roses as gifts to their special someone for Valentine's Day.