Message of the Day – A Welding Torch

My movements when I’m sitting in front of the computer typing must be unbalanced.

Now, I know a lot of McHenry County Blog’s readers would agree that I am unbalanced, but what I’m talking about is twisting while I work.

We had two metal kitchen chairs from my wife’s condo and they were the perfect height for typing.

The left front leg of the first one broke a while ago, but I didn’t worry about it. Another one was downstairs.

When the second one bit the dust and I tried a replacement, it was too low.

So, I started thinking about seeing if the old one could be welded back together.

I thought maybe Leroy’s Lawn might do some welding once in a while. They are the folks at 711 Tek Drive that keep my lawn mower alive.

After taking my son to a friend’s in Lake in the Hills or, maybe, Huntley—I have no idea where the village boundaries are—I drove to Leroy’s Lawn, which is between Pingree Road and Route 31, pretty close to Pingree.

It turned out that they didn’t have welding equipment small enough, but, pointing toward a building on Pingree Road, I was told that GK Welding did.

It was lunchtime when I arrived and a man waiting in a car thought I was the proprietor. I have to tell you, I’ve never been said to be a welder guy before.

Since I was across the street from the big Vulcan Lake, I wondered if I could get a decent picture. I don’t think I did, but by the time I had come through the bushes two times the owner had returned.

It looked like the man before me had machine tools to be repaired.

That turned out to be the case.

After taking his order and saying he could have most of the work done by tomorrow, I introduced myself. He said his name was Gary.

Later when I saw his card, I saw he was Gary Kerschke, President of GK Welding. He told me that he repaired a lot of machine tools.

I marveled out loud at his niche business.

He also told me a lot of local machine shops were shutting down, moving their work to China.

Because the Chinese use a different measuring system, apparently lots of tools get broken. They are then shipped back and end up in Mr. Kerschke’s shop.

After he taken that order I asked whether he could fix my chair. I told him there was no hurry, but he said he do it right then.

When’s the last time that happened to you when seeking a service?

Needless to say, I was really impressed.

You know how I am about stories. They pop up so often, the stack of ideas is over three inches on the desk above you keyboard. I can still see the screen, but I won’t be able to soon without some serious editing.

He clamped the broken leg pieces together and went to work.

The pictures show the sequence.

And, now I have a renewed chair. Some of the white paint is gone, but it’s functional again.

So, if you have small welding jobs, GK Welding is the place to go.

I’ve published a picture of the sign in front of his building so you can recognize it. The driveway is right off Pingree Road just south of the northernmost street in the industrial subdivision.

More about an empty building on the northeast corner of Pingree and Tek in a future article.

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Not a bad picture of the blue flame of the welding torch, is it? I took it looking the other way. It is a part of a larger frame.


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