When Midland High School (MHS) set out to expand its Career and Technical Education (CTE) welding program capabilities with five new welding bays, the shop’s supporting equipment needed to grow with it. BOSTONtec® was glad to support Midland Public Schools to make that happen, starting with a new stainless steel quench tank, fabricated in our shop and completed by the very students who will use it.
The previous quench tank made of carbon steel had served the program for decades, but it frequently required repairs, and the program’s growing needs had outgrown its capacity. Welding Paraprofessional Ty Case remembers using it when he graduated, and by his account it had been there well before. That kind of longevity is a testament to heavy-duty builds and a program that puts its tools to work, but with the lab’s expanded capacity, it was time for an upgrade sized to match.
The partnership came together when MHS Welding Instructor Chris Wall connected with John Zaremba, BOSTONtec’s Director of Manufacturing Operations, about the need. From there, BOSTONtec Product Development Engineer, Luke Richard took the lead on designing the tank with the intention from day one that students would play an active role in fabricating the equipment they’d use in class.
The new tank measures 60″ long × 34″ wide × 36″ tall (roughly 1.5x the size of its predecessor) and is built entirely from heavy 11-gauge 304 stainless steel for long-term corrosion resistance. It sits on 5″ heavy-duty steel casters for full mobility around the shop, with a three-panel stainless grate system, two hanger baskets, and 2″ stainless fittings completing the build. All told, the tank incorporates roughly 400 pounds of 304 stainless steel.
Project Specs
• 60″L × 34″W × 36″T Mobile Quench Tank • 304 SS 11-gauge Stainless Steel • 5″ Heavy-Duty Steel Casters
• 304 SS 3-Panel Grate System • 304 SS 2 Hanger Baskets • 2″ Stainless Steel Fittings
BOSTONtec Product Engineer Luke Richard arranges quench tank stainless grate system.
With the bending done in our shop, Senior BOSTONtec welder Joe Reed handled tack welding next, then we turned the project over to the students for the final welds. And these weren’t ordinary welds; a quench tank holds water, which means every seam had to be watertight. A single pinhole equates to a compromised weld and a tank leak. Luke Richard noted, “To prepare them, we supplied a number of stainless steel practice pieces so the class could build experience learning how to weld with the new material before committing to the table itself.” Wall explained some aspects of the technical difficulty involved, “Welding stainless takes a different feel than carbon steel. Heat management, filler selection, and bead control all carry more weight, and those practice runs on scrap let the students dial in their technique before laying down the welds for the finished piece.”
That skill set isn’t just useful, it’s in demand. Stainless steel welding is one of the more challenging disciplines in the trade, and producing clean, watertight welds in stainless is a sought-after capability across the manufacturing industry. It’s the kind of work most welders don’t tackle until they’re well into an apprenticeship or post-secondary program, and these students built that experience in high school.
Student displays example of practice weld on stainless steel scrap.
Under Wall’s guidance, students from Midland Public Schools contributed directly to the project, taking on welding, edge dressing, and cleanup work as the build progressed, including Everett Keyes (Midland High), Jason Spindler Jr. (Midland High), Brody Sallows (Dow High), Ben Kruger (Midland High), and Blake Snow (Midland High). The result is shop equipment built by the very students who will use it, ready to serve the program through its next chapter.
Projects like this are a natural extension of who we are at BOSTONtec. We believe in enhancing the well-being of our neighbors and embodying the essence of a responsible corporate citizen. CTE welding programs like Midland High’s are where the skilled workforce of tomorrow gets its start, and supporting them, especially as they grow, is one of the most direct ways we can invest in our community.
A sincere thank you to Midland Public Schools, Chris Wall, Ty Case, and the welding students for a great collaboration. We’re proud of what you built!
Read the full story from Midland Public Schools HERE.
Interested in collaborating with BOSTONtec on a community or workforce-development project? Get in touch.
