Bode
has been in the welding business
since taking a high school welding
class in the late 1960’s. After
graduation, he entered the Navy and
honed his welding skills during his
enlistment. He advanced to being
certified to work on nuclear
component welding. After his
military service, Bode returned to
Lincoln to open his own welding
service, a business that has been a
Lincoln staple for the past thirty
years.
Don Bode is well known for his skill
at welding, and has worked on a
myriad of projects for individuals
and corporations. He is also an
artist who has exhibited his metal
sculptures at the Lincoln Art
Festival for many years. He credits
his niece for adding art to his
considerable welding projects.
During the visit, Bode demonstrated
his computer linked plasma cutting
table.
The plasma cutter that Don Bode
has in his shop uses electrified
ions to produce an extremely hot
cutting flame. The cutter is linked
to a computer that controls
everything from the height of the
cutting head to the speed of the
cut. It also controls how much power
can be generated to the cutting
head. The amount of power determines
how thick a piece of metal can be
cut. Speed, cutting height, and
power in the correct balance produce
the perfect cut with a minimum
amount of melted metal on the
surface that would have to be
removed by hand.
While the cutter is at work, a
brilliant flame is evident and an
enormous amount of smoke is
produced. Bode has installed an
exhaust fan that removes over 3000
cubic feet of exhaust per minute.
Sparks fly as the cutter head moves
unaided across the metal surface
producing a perfect shape.
Bode has linked his plasma cutter’s
computer with a computer aided
drafting program so that he can
design special shapes that are then
imported into the cutter’s computer.
The shapes that can be produced are
almost endless.
One design that shows the intricate
cutting ability of the plasma cutter
is a University of Illinois logo
which has over 400 inches of cutting
lines on it. Bode does custom art
work on a regular basis.
He has produced a St. Louis Cardinal
logo as well as one for the Chicago
Cubs for a charity auction. “The St.
Louis art work went for over $5,000
at the auction, while the Cubby one
went for less than $500,” he said
with a laugh.
With the collaboration of a
Champaign resident who is a horse
person, he designed horse yard art
that is so delicate that it moves in
the wind.
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Bode related that before
purchasing his computer aided plasma
cutting table, he had to make a
template of a design out of
cardboard and then transfer that
outline by hand to a piece of metal.
He then had to cut the shape by hand
with a cutting torch. With the
computer aided cutting table, all he
has to do is enter the dimensions of
the cut into the computer and turn
it on. The cutter does the rest
guided by the computer program. He
can replicate each design endlessly
with just a few keystrokes on his
computer.
While the LCGHS members watched, Don
Bode did an actual job for a client
as a demonstration. The client
wanted a quarter moon and stars
design to hang on his man cave
restroom door, like an old outhouse
design. It took the cutter less than
a minute to produce the intricate
finished product.
Bode related that the high cost of
the computer assisted plasma cutting
table was paid for in one year by
the specialty work it was able to
produce. He also credited the use of
the device with increasing his
computer savvy. He is self-taught on
all aspects of the plasma cutting
table.
Bode isn’t the only one who uses
this device in his craft. He
regularly goes online to a website
with other welders who use plasma
cutters. At the site, members share
their knowledge and artwork with one
another. A community has grown up
around this industrial device.
Don Bode has seen a lot of change in
the welding business in his thirty
years on the job. The use of a
computer to guide a welder was not
even on the radar when he began.
The Logan County Genealogical and
Historical Society meets the third
Monday of the month at their
research facility at 114 North
Chicago Street at 6:30 p.m. They
always have an interesting program
and the public is invited to attend.
[Curt Fox]
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