This heated debate inspired me enough to get this book out, and read some parts of it: Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance. OK, so the writer and his son are on a cross country trip on a motorbike, and the chain somehow chews up the chainguard. He needs it replaced or repaired; welded that is.
'Down the street I find a welder's sign and enter. Cleanest welding place I've ever seen. .. All the tools are hung up with care, everything tidy, but no one is home. I'll come back later.' 'He sparks the torch, and sets a tiny little blue flame and then, it's hard to describe, actually dances the torch and the rod in separate little rhythms over the thin sheet metal, the whole spot a uniform luminous orange-yellow, dropping the torch and filler rod down at the exact right moment and then removing them. No holes. You can hardly see the weld. "That's beautiful", I say.'
Just thought I'd share this.
Freek (I love a clean weld) Faro
Rotterdam Netherlands