Luciano (Buddy) Torres is 75 years young and has been welding since his military career. After the military, he became an automotive mechanic and part-time farmer and found that welding was a critical part of farming and automotive repairs. When his son asked him to make a metal turtle, he started to explore welding as a creative art.

“It started with one piece but I'm well into ten different types of animals,” Buddy says. “Each piece gets more and more elaborate. I find that creating animals comes to me easily because I can relate to their needs.”

Buddy works with mild steel, 20 gauge sheets, 1/4" round, 3/16"x1/2" flat, roller and ball bearings and 1/2" to 3" pipe. He uses an ESAB Migmaster 250 and Spoolarc 86 (ER70S-6, .023 and .035 gauge) wire. The ESAB equipment came highly recommended by his daughter-in-law, Michelle Ferran, who works in Los Alamos and uses this equipment. He also likes ESAB’s availability and price. He uses Tig and Stick welding for stainless steel, cast iron and cast steel but hopes to get Mig wire for these materials as he continues his work.

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