A budding young welder

[rwsmith]

Now this is the USA.......

You think the place has gone to pot and this happens. A young gifted kid, gets a tremendous boost in knowledge and tools from someone who's glad to pass it on. Now that's the USA I'm proud to be a part of.

 

[anoblefox]

For me there is nothing more satisfying than finding a need and coming up with a solution within your own brain and fabricating via the weld process to make a useable whatever. Sometimes even using whatever scrap material you already have on hand. My feeling is that what's really important is to USE what god gave you, to the fullest, even if you are not so book smart. To have both skills and book smarts is a gift, don't waste it on college just because someone else thinks you should go the white collar route. Rant off!

 

[swsig]

[/url]

Logan is off to a great start in life. I know he'll go far. And what a cool welding helmet! I seem to have seen one like it before. Oh, yeah:

About all I can add at this point is, "Klaatu barada nikto!"

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Please encourage the young man in every possible way. Welding is an excellent trade that can enable a young person to have a fine and satisfying career.

Along the way in life I became fascinated with metallurgy, the scientific side of the trade. The differences in various alloys that make them uniquely suited for specific purposes. Much to learn.

 

[Rustyt1953]

The 3M Speedglas helmet was $400 when Larry bought it. I got quite the deal. Also the argon tank is full. Larry told Logan earlier that he was also throwing in a welding table and two tool boxes on wheels.

Logan has been busy rearranging our shed.

 

[rwsmith]

Logan is off to a great start in life. I know he'll go far. And what a cool welding helmet! I seem to have seen one like it before. Oh, yeah:

About all I can add at this point is, "Klaatu barada nikto!"

KLAATU
I'm worried about Logan. I'm afraid
of what he might do -- if anything
should happen to me.

HELEN
Logan?
(puzzled)
But he's a young man. I mean -- without
you, what could he do?

KLAATU
(slowly)
There's no limit to what he could
do.

 

[rwsmith]

20 acres and a mule.

The 3M Speedglas helmet was $400 when Larry bought it. I got quite the deal. Also the argon tank is full. Larry told Logan earlier that he was also throwing in a welding table and two tool boxes on wheels.

Logan has been busy rearranging our shed.

And a mule? GEE!!!

 

[NYlakesider]

Got to agree with all the good info given out here. Now a long retired welder. Heck I started with oxy- acetylene. back in the mid 1960s.

I now have a great niece taking welding and she is considering being a steamfitter. I have talked with her and she has the right mind set. Being I retired from that union I fell I can give her good advice. Heck I made dam good money and now get a good pension with good health bennies!

 

[67tempest]

A very nice set up from a extremely generous neighbor.

 

[jeffrefrig]

Agree with post #28. If you can get him in the Steamfitters at an early age I think he'll retire extremely comfortably! I was not a pipe fitter but a service technician in commercial & industrial Refrige & HVAC. Even during slow construction periods a tech will usually still be working. While working at his welding/fitting job, he can maybe take a course on the Service side; he may get to travel out of town for some welding jobs that their union can't fill. My regret was never learning to weld, even just for once in a while work on a particular job. He'll do fine coming out of trade school, and like I said try the Steamfitters Union. He'll go through their 5-year apprenticeship, but depending on how the Local over there operates, he may get placed in a higher grade since he completed a good trade school. I got put in as a 4th year apprentice so I only did 2 years before becoming Journeyman. I did very good in trade school, and I also took electrical, too.
Good luck to Logan!
Oh yeah, the Tin Knockers union has welders, too, but don't let him do that union!!

 

[Bald1]

With good math skills, Logan should also consider the tool & die/machinist trade. Machine shop math is mostly addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, trig, and geometry. Easy stuff for a good math student, yet most cannot do that anymore. Reading blueprints is easy for someone who understands geometry.

Things still need to be made and repaired, and people with those skills are in very short supply now. Welding is a valuable machine shop skill.

I make things out of metal on a daily basis with milling machines, metal lathes, surface grinder, tig, stick and torch welding, etc. It has been a rewarding career for 50 years. Best wishes for Logan's future!

Every time I hear a youngster (including my son and stepson)complain about advanced math like algebra geometry trig and calculus I tell them to pay particular attention to geometry. You can't build fix design or plan anything without it. They don't understand how triangles and trapezoids will benefit them later.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

When Logan graduates he has already been accepted to Butler Technical College into their 2 year welding program.

The boy is going to make more money than God! Book smarts PLUS love for working with hands, PLUS 2 years in welding....sheeeeeeeeeeet. On top of that I suggest classes in CNC machining. Open his own machine shop and write his ticket.

 

[Rodan]

It's great to see a young person heading into the trades instead of heading off to college to incur massive debt for a useless degree. IMHO, the enormous pressure schools put on kids to go to college, while eliminating 'shop' classes from the curriculum has been one of the greatest mistakes of the last 30 years. A good welder, plumber, HVAC tech or diesel mechanic will always be in demand, while the kid with the Masters degree in 12th century lesbian poetry will be working at Starbucks and wondering what went wrong.

I bought a little Lincoln MIG like the one in the OP from Home Depot back in the 1990s, and it has been one of the best and most useful tools that I've owned. It's still going strong today, and was eventually joined by a TIG and plasma cutter.

I've only ever been a hobby welder, but that little MIG has built everything from mailbox pedestals to workbenches to the rollcage in my race car to a heavy duty dolly to move my gun safes. Over 30 years it's been an incredibly useful tool.

 

[NYlakesider]

Agree with post #28. If you can get him in the Steamfitters at an early age I think he'll retire extremely comfortably! I was not a pipe fitter but a service technician in commercial & industrial Refrige & HVAC. Even during slow construction periods a tech will usually still be working. While working at his welding/fitting job, he can maybe take a course on the Service side; he may get to travel out of town for some welding jobs that their union can't fill. My regret was never learning to weld, even just for once in a while work on a particular job. He'll do fine coming out of trade school, and like I said try the Steamfitters Union. He'll go through their 5-year apprenticeship, but depending on how the Local over there operates, he may get placed in a higher grade since he completed a good trade school. I got put in as a 4th year apprentice so I only did 2 years before becoming Journeyman. I did very good in trade school, and I also took electrical, too.
Good luck to Logan!
Oh yeah, the Tin Knockers union has welders, too, but don't let him do that union!!

As author of post 28 I see a lot of trades that have some welding, that includes electricians and tin knockers. Without a doubt there are more welders in steamfitters/pipefitters, iron workers and elevator installers than the other trades.

 

[SMSgt]

Kid's got a future! My dad was a WWII Seabee and could build a house with just the plans in his heads. All I learned from him was, "Here, hold this." If any company ever needs a "This" holder, I'm their man.

 

[Protocall_Design]

Trig is a subset of Geometry. Geometry is the study of all shapes. Trig is the study of triangles.

My main occupation is making prototypes of new inventions. Because I can solve for any triangle (plus a few other skills), I get to make the first one or a few of things that never existed before. Every day is a new adventure! I now have around 20 patents, some just mine, some jointly with others. I am also able to make the highly customized revolvers that I shoot in matches as a side benefit. I would not trade this job for any other.

 

[Nevada Ed]

Got to agree with all the good info given out here. Now a long retired welder. Heck I started with oxy- acetylene. back in the mid 1960s.

I now have a great niece taking welding and she is considering being a steamfitter. I have talked with her and she has the right mind set. Being I retired from that union I fell I can give her good advice. Heck I made dam good money and now get a good pension with good health bennies!

It is amazing what you can do with thin metal, some heat and a cloths hanger !

 

[tinkerer]

I hope he studies some electric, pneumatics and hydraulics along with machining and tool work. A well rounded tradesman will never go hungry. Or thirsty.

Might have to build a shop for him. Little sheds fill quickly..

Good luck to him...

 

[DWalt]

Every time I hear a youngster (including my son and stepson)complain about advanced math like algebra geometry trig and calculus I tell them to pay particular attention to geometry. You can't build fix design or plan anything without it. They don't understand how triangles and trapezoids will benefit them later.

There are limitless applications of trig throughout all scientific and engineering disciplines. Yet trig concepts are very simple and understandable to anyone willing to study a little. Learning the three basic trig identities and the two "laws" of trig, the Sine Law and the Cosine Law, is really about all there is to mastery of the topic. Given that you already have some familiarity with algebra and geometry to begin with.

 

[boykinlp]

Trig is a subset of Geometry. Geometry is the study of all shapes. Trig is the study of triangles.

My main occupation is making prototypes of new inventions. Because I can solve for any triangle (plus a few other things), I get to make the first one or a few of things that never existed before. Every day is a new adventure! I now have around 20 patents, some just mine, some jointly with others. I am also able to make the highly customized revolvers that I shoot in matches as a side benefit. I would not trade this job for any other.

SWEET!!
As Mark Twain said, "Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life."
Larry