Are you a welder?

[sigp220.45]

My son got out of the Army and is going to a welding school (Emily Griffith Technical School in Denver) on the GI Bill. Its a long program - a couple of years. He loves it.

He's 26, and this is the first thing he's really liked. I'm happy for him, and I truly believe that skilled trades are where its at for lots of folks. He tried college, but it wasn't for him.

I know nothing about welding, or the welding business. I spent 33 years creating felons.

Any advice I can pass along to him, other than work hard and show up on time?

 

[VM]

Member G-Mac (Gordy) is professional welder. Contact him if he doesn't see this thread - good guy!

 

[Bkreutz]

Any advice I can pass along to him, other than work hard and show up for work?

That's the way to a successful career, but he probably (hopefully) already learned that in the Army. There are many career paths once he finishes school. I'm sure he will hear about the different paths from his advisor in school. Good for him, this country needs more skilled craftsmen.

 

[wingriderz]

Work hard show up early .Not a welder by any means its an art form. Over 30 years in auto service half was A S E tech .half as managment. ( could and should write a book ) lol.Auto had very little in welding mig for exhaust.It is hard indeed to find younger folks to fill the art

 

[vigil617]

Congratulations to your son for finding a trade he wants to learn and will enjoy doing. You know what they say, if you like what you do, you'll never work a day in your life.

I've never welded personally, but I spent a lot of time around it when my family ran a machine shop and fabrication shop, and later when I was a supervisor in a sheet metal forming shop. Your son will have a number of different avenues to choose from in the welding field, and the better and more dependable he is, the better he'll be compensated.

Metal fabrication -- making things out of steel, stainless steel, aluminum, brass, and other metals -- in a "job shop" (a facility that does one-offs and short-run production) will provide plenty of variety for him. He could be working in a shop or out in the field. Same with repair work involving welding.

Another area is in manufacturing, where he might be doing similar types of production welding combined with, perhaps, maintenance welding on equipment and systems. Learning how to TIG weld and then polish welds so they are almost invisible is a highly-valued craft. So is "orbital welding," operating a machine to attach pipes and tubes together, from very small sizes up to very large ones.

Welding also can involve metal cutting using a variety of tools from simple ones like oxy-acetylene torches to sophisticated ones like plasma-arc cutters and water-jet machines to make precision small and large parts.

A journeyman welder is able to do several different types of welding well, and only by working long and hard in the field is he able to get the experience and "touch" to do them well. Brazing, for instance, is a fine talent to have -- joining pieces of cast iron together with molten brass when they break. Soldering is a field unto itself, too -- using silver or lead solder to fuse small parts or pieces. The aerospace industry, I'm sure, has a need for welders who can work with titanium and other metals using in aircraft. The list goes on and on.

Hope this is helpful and, again, congratulations to your boy on choosing this line of work. I think he will find it very enjoyable, though probably dirty and hard at times, but the technology is moving so fast these days, he shouldn't have to worry about ever becoming bored, that's for sure.

 

[oneounceload]

My son is a welder - builds US Navy warships - make sure your son gets certified in every process and material - he'll be more valuable with a greater skill set. The highest paying welders are the underwater ones who work on off-shore oil rigs - a specialty all unto itself.

 

[garddogg56]

AND tell him to stay off the cell phone during working hours

 

[1morethan8]

Keep all skin covered at all times!

The arc can burn your eyes in a second and burn your skin in only a few minutes... the "cowboys" on TV that don't cover ALL skin may find out what Melanoma is in the future!

 

[oneounceload]

And don't go cheap on steel-toed boots, welding masks and other essentials. Buy once, cry once.

 

[targetchief]

In the trades, if you can pass the drug test and show up on time you have 90% of the people seeking those jobs beat. Good luck to your son.

 

[ben_g1]

Spent 27 years as a welder at the Rock Island Arsenal. Been retired for 18 years so I'm sure much has changed.

As the other poster said, get certified in as many types welding as possible. I worked in the tool fab. shop and the prototype shop. Had to take over 60 different weld certification test on as many different metals every year to stay certified for everything. There's more type's of welding than you can shake a stick at. Stick, Tig, Mig, Sub-Arc, Hot Wire Tig. etc., and the different type metal and gasses to use are a long list too.

I would suggest looking for a school that teaches mechanical and robotics welding. Don't think about today but imagine what welding will look like 10-20 years down the road. Sure it will be quite different from the current.

A little bragging here,,, one of the last projects I work on was building the first six prototype gun mounts that mounted the 105 cannon in the C-130 cargo plane.

I mention this because there were hundreds of blueprint revisions between #1 and#6 ((trying to marry army specs. with air force specs. )). Blueprint reading among other things is a must course if you want to get the higher paying jobs.

I loved my work looking back, maybe not so much some days , hot, long hours, etc. but it is a rewarding profession, building something with your hands.

 

[LostintheOzone]

It's hard dirty work. A lot of it outside in all kinds of weather. My neighbor and his son are both welders and mechanics. They had their own business and did pretty well.

Welders are in short supply as are qualified people in most trades. Nobody wants to get dirty and be miserable on the job anymore.

 

[Grayfox]

Smart move on his part. Skilled trades are where the future is at. There's an overage of computer/IT people already. What is really needed is mechanics, plumbers, carpenters and yes, welders. The job market is just screaming for people willing to get their hands dirty.
I was a truck/equipment mechanic. While technically not a welder, my job required me to do a lot of welding. While working for the city, I was often required to fabricate metal items for special projects.
As far as advice:
Wear all the protective gear and still expect to get burned often.
Drink lots of fluids because you're gonna sweat gallons.
Be very careful of your eyes. Flash burns are quite annoying and dangerous.
WEAR COTTON! I have a lovely set of burn scars on my right arm where a hot piece of slag set my company issued poly-blend uniform shirt ablaze.

 

[Stevie]

Send him to central Oklahoma...so much oil field activity going on it's hard to get a welder scheduled to get anything welded!

The pro welder I've been using is earning big bucks just being on-site and standing by...he takes a ice chest sandwich drinks and a pillow...sleeps in the truck..and waits for something to weld

 

[e3mrk]

Learn to read Blue Prints and Shop Drawings well and learn all types of Welding.
Fabrication and repair is where the money is not production welding.
Buy a good self darkening helmet to avoid welders flash( feels like you have sand in your eyes and is very annoying to say the least).

 

[jlrhiner]

Check with your Local Boilermaker Union hall. Boilermakers are always looking for good people that can weld.

 

[Roadtrash]

If you're willing to travel there's a lot of money to be made as a welder/fitter. Don't just weld learn to fit as well a multi talented person can make a lot of money and is always being sought. Also look into the field of becoming a Welding Inspector. There's a lot of calls for good hard working welder/fitters out there and they are hard to find most people today don't want to work just get paid. Between the salary and the per diem you can make a lot of money. Oh, and one other thing, never turn down overtime.

 

[rwsmith]

Even so so welders make good money......

....but GOOD, technically advanced welders are hard to find.

One of my wife's special ed student is an underwater welder and he makes a durn fortune. Of course it's hard, but if you're getting paid big bucks.......

Oh, me? I've wanted to weld, but my son is a more likely candidate now. I've enjoyed some metal working and wanted to learn some blacksmith skills but never got to that hobby. Maybe later.

 

[Onomea]

I wish more people, parents and kids, would see the wisdom in realizing college is not for everyone, and that a skilled trade provides a needed service to the community as well as a fulfilling and reasonably well compensated career.

 

[phantomcycle]

I live close to plant Vogtle they are building the nations newest nuclear reactors for electrical power and they are always looking for certified nuclear welders it's a skill in demand
I'm a self taught welder in stick mig and tig for backyard work ....but being a certified welder is a real skill

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