When it comes to welding, Vandosdelle (Van) Swan Sr. is one of Bermuda's experts.

He taught the trade at the now defunct Bermuda Technical Institute, and put his knowledge to work in the company he started with his brother Arnold, Swan Brothers.

Although much has changed since those early days his brother has since passed; Swan Brothers has become Swandell Ltd. Mr. Swan is just as full as enthusiasm about the trade.

And at 82, his hope is to pass on his skills to others.

"I have taught at the first Technical School," he told The Royal Gazette during a tour of his Devonshire plant. "I have been in this field for a long time. I taught them how to do underwater welding all of this is not just something that we are (now) looking at. I know what is needed, and I want to pass it on before I pass on.

"We need to get it over to these kids that they can make themselves (into) somebody."

At the moment however, most of those who come knocking are far older.

"I don't have so many boys coming at me, I have men who are 'round 60 years old coming at me," he said.

"They are running their own operations and they are asking me, 'Swan would you please teach us?'

"I (tell) them that I will set it up for them and if it all goes well, these men will know. (But) those young men who are hidden around the corner and laying in the street to know, and that is the only reason why I decided to open the school in the first place."

The plant is perfect as an education centre. From it, Mr. Swan sells all types of gases which he also uses to weld metal in its many forms.

"When you are welding stainless steel or aluminium, you need these mixtures," he said.

"I do the mixing here. Welding today is one of the best things in the world, because everything today is steel and what is not steel, is aluminium, and what isn't that, is stainless steel.

"Everything is made up today. And any type of metal, we are capable of doing it."

As one might image in a career that has spanned centuries, evidence of his work may be seen across the Island.

Swan Brothers erected the steel framework for what is now the Fairmont Southampton, the current Bank of Bermuda headquarters at Albuoy's Point, Bacardi International, the American International Building and far too many others to mention.

"In fact," he said, "about 85 percent of those buildings in town, we put them up.

"I have been doing this for 50 years. The late William Thomas was one of the best crane operators that this country ever had. He could do almost anything unbelievable.

"When we were doing the Bacardi building I told him, 'Listen, this is a ticklish job and we can't afford to make any errors'. He told me that as long as I was standing by his side, we could make it.

"He lifted this piece of beam that weighed 17.5 tonnes and everybody ran. He put one man on each end of the beam. It was only a one shot deal to get the beam in place.

"They thought it was going to take all day but William had it in, in three quarters of an hour. They were so shocked. They took us all out to dinner just because everyone had said it couldn't be done.

"William was one of the best, he wouldn't crack an egg. And we (Swan Brothers) were the best of the best."

All the cranes have since been sold, however Swandell Ltd. still does much of the welding on buildings erected around the Island.

The equipment he now teaches his students on is new to the welding trade.

"Before you had to have a big torch, now you can cut with an air cutter and it is clean," he said.

"The machines are very expensive. They are about $6,000 a piece, the latest machines made in the world."

TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas), MIG and GMAW (Gas Metal Arc Welding), are just a few of the terms his students can expect to learn.

As explained by Mr. Swan, the TIG welding process joins metals by heating them with a tungsten electrode, which should not become part of the completed weld. Filler metal is sometimes used and argon inert gas or an inert gas mixture is used for shielding.

MIG is a welding process which joins metals by heating them with an arc. The arc is between a continuously fed filler metal electrode and the work piece. Externally supplied gas or gas mixtures provide shielding. Common MIG welding is also referred to as short circuit transfer.

Metal is deposited only when the wire actually touches the work. No metal is transferred across the arc. Another method of MIG welding, spray transfer, moves a stream of tiny molten droplets across the arc from the electrode to the weld puddle.

"They will learn how to make the root pass, it is like building a foundation and the others are called cover passes," he said of the MIG welding.

However as one might expect, the face mask is a welder's greatest tool.

"You have to protect your eyes, because watching the sparks is the equivalent of 50,000 candle power or candles," Mr. Swan said.

"The protective masks are very dark as a result."

Another lesson centres around the use of the ultrasonic machine, a device able to read or judge how many layers are welded onto a joint.

"It can tell you what is in a piece of steel. When I go to a building in town, I take this machine and I test it. If the steel is not right, then you have to gouge through all the (welding) layers and cut it all back out.

"After the steel structure is up we go all the way to the top to test. This machine can tell you (whether you're looking at) a root, a first pass, a second pass or a third pass.

"And not because it is all joined up, this distinguishes between layers to make sure that it has been done properly."

His goal now, is to pass on that knowledge to others, particularly those fresh out of high school or college.

For more information on the school telephone Swandell Ltd. on 236-4873.