Who remembers Qwerty12?

Sat Aug 15, 2015 4:21 pm

Djordje, the Bosnian Serb who welded thin rusty sheet metal on cars with a cheap AC crackerbox?

I got an e-mail from him today.

He's doing okay. Working 12 hr. days at a cement plant and welding at night. Added O/A to his skill set.

The hood Jody sent him is still working great.

Steve S

noddybrian · Sat Aug 15, 2015 5:01 pm

Glad he's doing OK - I tried to get a hood to him at the time but he is very proud / stubborn & would never give an address to post to ! I wonder if he managed to engineer that small tractor articulated center joint he posted a question on. I wish him all the best in his difficult circumstances.

Sat Aug 15, 2015 5:09 pm

He was stubborn, indeed. I conspired with Jody to arrange a swap, and got him an A/D hood, which he says is still working great.

Steve S

noddybrian · Sat Aug 15, 2015 5:15 pm

Nothing wrong with a little conspiracy if it's in a good cause & that guy deserved our help - not sure why but I don't recall seeing a post from him here in a long time.

Sat Aug 15, 2015 5:57 pm

No, he went quiet. On the forum, and off.

I'd had a standing PM to him for almost a year.

I plucked his e-mail and sent him a direct letter.

It still took time to get a response. (Remember, he had to visit the local library to get computer time to talk to us at all...)

I was stunned to get an e-mail from him today, out of the blue.

Steve S

rake · Sat Aug 15, 2015 6:22 pm

Guess we don't know how good we have it sometimes.

Sure glad he's doing well.

Braehill · Sun Aug 16, 2015 11:09 am

I, for one, got quite a kick out of his posts. I too tried to get him a helmet without any luck. I hope he comes back to forum just for the entertainment. Glad he's doing well.

Len

Artie F. Emm · Sun Aug 16, 2015 5:37 pm

What's the background story? Needed a helmet, tough circumstances...?

Braehill · Sun Aug 16, 2015 6:08 pm

He's from Bosnia and was trying to weld rusty sheet metal with 6013 rod and a hand held face shield. We were trying mightily to get him a helmet because the import tariffs and limited shipping would have made a cheap AD helmet cost him around six months wages.

Go back and do a user's post search and you can get the whole story, quite a character.

Len

LtBadd · Mon Aug 17, 2015 7:25 pm

Braehill wrote:He's from Bosnia and was trying to weld rusty sheet metal with 6013 rod and a hand held face shield. We were trying mightily to get him a helmet because the import tariffs and limited shipping would have made a cheap AD helmet cost him around six months wages.

Go back and do a user's post search and you can get the whole story, quite a character.

Len

He was before my time here on the forum, when I first saw the post title I thought it was about an old keyboard for a MS DOS system.

Mon Aug 17, 2015 7:42 pm

He was doing amazing things with primitive equipment, and we all got behind helping him improve his safety in his venture.

In the end, it was Jody who sent him a good welding helmet. There's a longer back-story to that, but suffice to say, he's still using the helmet Jody sent him, it's still working, and so is Djordje

RocketSurgeon · Tue Aug 18, 2015 7:27 am

THIS!!!!
ALL! OF! THIS!
This is the reason why this forum and it's members are the best in the craft and why I visit it EVERY day!
Compassion, wisdom, knowledge and humility.

I searched for Qwerty12 and read most of the threads he started. Each of you that shared your training, experiences and mistakes, did something he'll never forget. What he has now, thanks to all of you, is direction and possibly a path to a better life by being encouraged to pursue a craft.

There were no political, cultural or social borders in any of the threads. Just an apprentice seeking the knowledge and wisdom of journeymen and masters.