Welding students tackle tricky project

MOSES LAKE - The project that confronted a group of welding students at Big Bend Community College sounded simple. They were asked to build two brackets, one that would sit on a table and hold a computer monitor, the second one holding the same computer monitor on a wheelchair.

The monitor is for a person with speech disabilities. "He can only speak through the monitor," said T.J. Shoemaker, one of the students working on the project. The person looks at the words on the screen, "and it turns it into words. Pretty cool, actually."

But the bracket that came with the computer and wheelchair was inadequate. "And expensive," said Manuel Ponce, another member of the four-person team.

"Just one of the joints was, like, 1,000 bucks," Shoemaker said.

So Ponce, his wife Shay, Shoemaker and Kevin Scott took on the task of building new brackets. Simple.

Well, it sounded simple.

The brackets have to fit very specific parameters. They have to be sturdy and stand up to daily use, yet be able to handle precise adjustments. (If the monitor is not in proper alignment, it's difficult to use the program.) The recipient struggles with muscle spasms, and sometimes might hit the computer, so the brackets have to be sturdy.

The wheelchair bracket is going to be out in the weather, so it has to be corrosion-resistant at least, and non-corrosive is even better. It also has to be lightweight, so it doesn't overbalance the wheelchair.

The project had to fit those requirements, and there were no instructions, no blueprint, nothing but a picture of the original bracket.

OK, maybe not so simple.

The team is halfway through the project; there was a model of the table bracket in the welding classroom Wednesday afternoon.

"This is our -" Scott hesitated.

"Prototype." Ponce said.

"A piece of stainless steel and bicycle parts," Scott said.

The first step, of course, was a design. "We're kind of doing all these dimensions off pictures we took," Ponce said.

"(Manuel) Ponce and T.J., they did a lot of the work," Scott said. "They sat there at the whiteboard drawing (designs) for a few days." The table bracket that emerged was H-shaped for stability; the bicycle parts allow for about 60 degrees of adjustability. "That was a big step in this," Ponce said.

Shoemaker said it was spur of the moment inspiration - he needed something that was adjustable yet would lock and unlock. Bike seat and handlebar parts fit the bill. "They're actually from a child's bike,' Shoemaker said.

"This put a lot of the skills we learned to practical use," Ponce said. They had to turn an idea into a blueprint, then turn the blueprint into a working model, Shay Ponce said.

Scott was in charge of the welding. Stainless steel is composed of material that make welding tricky. "It warped a lot," he said.

But it's done. "All in all, we spent, like, $52," Ponce said.

"Not including labor," Scott said, but even including the labor, the total cost would be $200 to $250, he said.

These brackets are free to the family, with materials and labor donated. Bargain Town dedicated the bike parts, Shoemaker said.

The wheelchair bracket is still in the planning stage, and - well, that's another whole level of challenge. "The mounting on the wheelchair will take a lot more thought," Scott said.

It has to be lightweight, and the bracket has to be universally adjustable. "The hardest part is making these brackets that clip onto the monitor," Ponce said.

"That will be a whole another semester," Scott said.