Welding Instruction - Gotta be a cheaper alternative

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Man!  Was thinking about taking the local Vo-Tech school welding course but I think I am gonna have skip that.There must be a cheaper way to take some welding classes?  Here is the schools course outline and schedule of fees for their Applied Welding course.
Reply:Have you checked Tallahassee Community College?   I am going the CC route here in California and it is much cheaper than a trade school.  The quality of education varies from school to school, but I am VERY happy with the level of expertise offered at my community college.  Check around with other schools in your area.  JayJay DavisAWS-CWIC-60 Specialty Welding ContractorLoving husband, and father of two boys (
Reply:Originally Posted by jbyrdHave you checked Tallahassee Community College?   I am going the CC route here in California and it is much cheaper than a trade school.  The quality of education varies from school to school, but I am VERY happy with the level of expertise offered at my community college.  Check around with other schools in your area.  Jay
Reply:If a guy wants to learn right and fast thats what it takes. If a guy is doing it as a novice hobbiest maybe someone offers individual courses on specific discipline i.e.  mig or tig. Sucks but schools are getting expensive and time consuming.Millermatic 252millermatic 175miller 300 Thunderboltlincoln ranger 250smith torcheslots of bfh'sIf it dont fit get a bigger hammer
Reply:Hehe, dude that's actually cheap compared to allot of places now.  I spent a year going to school 5 days a week at 5 hours a day with a total cost of $20k and it was worth every penny even though I'm still struggling to get the hang of working with confined locations and bevels the schools never went over.  Thats another thing to, everything they teach you in school is the basics of the basics and only covers how to join plates and maybe some pipe, they rarely teach  you how to work out of position or in confined spaces and with two different bevel types or in joining stainless with carbon steel.  That being said the basics is what you need to be able to grasp the advanced stuff and if your wanting to learn welding to make steady money then take the course but if your wanting to learn it as a hobby then spend a couple hundred on a lowes welder and practice at home.Welding Supervisor Department of Corrections.
Reply:Are you trying to weld for a living or for hobby? I know I'll never SMAW anything and I've used flux core once. If you want to see if it's your career take the class. Or do what I did and make friends with welders and buy them beer and food for their time and consumables. I just hate asking people to fix things for me.And, no matter if the old timer doesn't want to wear safety glasses or gloves when welding, DO IT.
Reply:Besides the dedicated trade programs similar to what you posted, around here the local high school tech schools run 30-48 hr evening classes. Where I help you can do Mig, Tig, or stick ( they also have OA but almost no one ever is interested in that beyond cutting). At the old tech school I learned at originally near here, you had to start with stick the 1st term ( or show the instructor you already had basic skills in welding) before you could do mig or tig. One school's program is designed specifically to teach guys the skills needed to pass specific certification tests. All programs are a bit different.Exact cost vary depending on the school. The school I help out at, next term is one night a week for 12 weeks (48 hrs) and the cost is roughly $600. That's about $12.50 / hr! For that $600 you get pretty much as much 1/8" steel coupons as you want to use to learn on in class, wire, gas, rod, etc, plus you get to use XMT304's with series 70 feeders or tig torches or Syncrowave 250's, depending on if you are doing Mig, Stick, or Tig. They also have alum and stainless available for those who have moved on to those sections of the tig program. Sounds cheap to me. You couldn't pay someone $12.50/ hr to teach you to weld, let alone figure in what the steel/alum/stainless material would cost you. Then there's the electric, wire/rod, gas...Some people have found welders that are willing to help them learn for a fee. How much would depend on what the guy feels his time is worth and how much a PITA you are going to be..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Originally Posted by farmshopIf a guy wants to learn right and fast thats what it takes. If a guy is doing it as a novice hobbiest maybe someone offers individual courses on specific discipline i.e.  mig or tig. Sucks but schools are getting expensive and time consuming.
Reply:What I did was email the Director of our local trade school and ask if any of the teachers would be interested in giving me lessons after-hours.  Within a couple of days, an instructor called me and set up lessons.  He and I agreed on a fair price and I couldn't be happier.
Reply:Originally Posted by DSWBesides the dedicated trade programs similar to what you posted, around here the local high school tech schools run 30-48 hr evening classes. Where I help you can do Mig, Tig, or stick ( they also have OA but almost no one ever is interested in that beyond cutting). At the old tech school I learned at originally near here, you had to start with stick the 1st term ( or show the instructor you already had basic skills in welding) before you could do mig or tig. One school's program is designed specifically to teach guys the skills needed to pass specific certification tests. All programs are a bit different.Exact cost vary depending on the school. The school I help out at, next term is one night a week for 12 weeks (48 hrs) and the cost is roughly $600. That's about $12.50 / hr! For that $600 you get pretty much as much 1/8" steel coupons as you want to use to learn on in class, wire, gas, rod, etc, plus you get to use XMT304's with series 70 feeders or tig torches or Syncrowave 250's, depending on if you are doing Mig, Stick, or Tig. They also have alum and stainless available for those who have moved on to those sections of the tig program. Sounds cheap to me. You couldn't pay someone $12.50/ hr to teach you to weld, let alone figure in what the steel/alum/stainless material would cost you. Then there's the electric, wire/rod, gas...Some people have found welders that are willing to help them learn for a fee. How much would depend on what the guy feels his time is worth and how much a PITA you are going to be.
Reply:That total is actually cheap compared to what it cost me in 2009. I think I payed around $18,500 for the full welding program. And that was on top of 4 years of college to get my degree in civil engineering.Go Cards!!!!!
Reply:Originally Posted by Cliff LodesThat total is actually cheap compared to what it cost me in 2009. I think I payed around $18,500 for the full welding program. And that was on top of 4 years of college to get my degree in civil engineering.
Reply:Originally Posted by MWaldenI should have done this instead of wasting four years in graphic design and web design.
Reply:If you are in CA then consider yourself lucky when it comes to Community College.  its is the best deal going, most other states charge for Community College what CA charges for state universities.    Not sure what it is now but used to be about $11 per unit and maxed out at around $150 for the semester regardless of how many units.Tiger Sales:  AHP Distributor    www.tigersalesco.comAHP200x; AHP 160ST; MM350P,  Spoolmatic 30A; Everlast PowerTig 185; Thermal Dynamics 60i plasma.  For Sale:  Cobra Mig 250 w/ Push-pull gun.  Lincoln Wirematic 250
Reply:Question is are you looking for a career or just a learning experience to improve?  It sounds like you want the latter.  That was me too.  I took a class at the local CC/tech college this past spring for about $300 or so.  One night a week for 4 hrs/night  ~12 wks.  Mostly SMAW, but that was what I was looking for.  I improved a lot.  The instructor makes a big difference in the outcome.  If you don't get one who seems to want to help, cancel the class ASAP and sign up with another one next time (if possible).  Or complain big time.  You are paying for it, after all.  I also learned that welding is a skill that takes a lot of time and practice to master.  Many people seem to think it "must be easy since it doesn't require a degree".  Hardly.  I like the challenge as a hobbyist, so I am keeping at it, but I have no illusions of being a "pro" after that class.  I learned a lot and improved, but that only goes so far when, umm, the arc hits the metal....  As a bonus I got some limited time on a wire feed unit and even TIG on mild steel. SS, and Alum.  It was very helpful even to just get a couple hours doing that near the end.What you posted was an entire curriculum.  Ask them about just a hobbyist class or similar.-DaveXMT304 with: 22A Feeder, or HF251 Hi Freq DC TIG air cooled
Reply:Cliff,A degree in Civil Engineering DOES NOT confine you to an office.I did my undergrad work in Civil and spent a heck of a lot more time "in the field" than I did in an office.  Just depends on where you want to develop your skills.Syncro 250 DX Dynasty 200 DXMM 251 w/30A SG XMT 304 w/714 Feeder & Optima PulserHH187Dialarc 250 AC/DCHypertherm PM 1250Smith, Harris, Victor O/ASmith and Thermco Gas MixersAccess to a full fab shop with CNC Plasma, Water Jet, etc.
Reply:MWalden,I applaud your decision to get some formal training and understand your "sticker-shock" at the cost of a full program. But, maybe there's a way to do it. The program you pasted into the thread is a comprehensive career preparation set of classes.Why not find a CC that just offers a basic intro to the major processes in one class. Our CC has a class (Welding for Art and Eng.) that takes a student through SMAW, GMAW, GTAW and OAW in roughly 10 weeks. Two days a week, 6 hours per day. So, you end up with about 5 days of instruction (all lab time) for each process. If you're seriously interested in getting some education you should be able to commit to one class. Something like this won't make you an expert but you will have a very basic foundation that would allow you to continue your education on your own. Also, many of the CC welding programs offer open lab time for enrolled students. This means that if you take one credit hour, you get access to additional lab time for free. That's a hell of a deal once you figure the cost of consumables and you usually have access to the instructor during open lab.Don't get discouraged. There's some alternatives out there. You'll find something.Best wishes.Eric
Reply:Well M Walden, my suggestion would be to consider a career in the building trades and apply for an apprenticeship with a local union. An example would be the Carpenter's union. Their apprentice training centers offer welding training, and also welding certification. Certified welder's work on pile driving crews welding piling for foundations and ground retention. The classes and certification testing is paid for by the local union.  After working the required number of hours you then become a skilled journeyman. Not a bad way to earn a living.
Reply:Take that money you'd use for school and buy a welder and a lot of beer and steaks.  Then invite over some experienced welders in your area. Dynasty200DX w/coolmate1MM210MM VintageESAB miniarc161ltsLincoln AC225Victor O/A, Smith AW1ACutmaster 81IR 2475N7.5FPRage3Jancy USA1019" SBAEAD-200LE
Reply:Originally Posted by AndyATake that money you'd use for school and buy a welder and a lot of beer and steaks.  Then invite over some experienced welders in your area.
Reply:Originally Posted by Welding_SwedeMWalden,I applaud your decision to get some formal training and understand your "sticker-shock" at the cost of a full program. But, maybe there's a way to do it. The program you pasted into the thread is a comprehensive career preparation set of classes.Why not find a CC that just offers a basic intro to the major processes in one class. Our CC has a class (Welding for Art and Eng.) that takes a student through SMAW, GMAW, GTAW and OAW in roughly 10 weeks. Two days a week, 6 hours per day. So, you end up with about 5 days of instruction (all lab time) for each process. If you're seriously interested in getting some education you should be able to commit to one class. Something like this won't make you an expert but you will have a very basic foundation that would allow you to continue your education on your own. Also, many of the CC welding programs offer open lab time for enrolled students. This means that if you take one credit hour, you get access to additional lab time for free. That's a hell of a deal once you figure the cost of consumables and you usually have access to the instructor during open lab.Don't get discouraged. There's some alternatives out there. You'll find something.Best wishes.Eric
Reply:Originally Posted by soutthpawIf you are in CA then consider yourself lucky when it comes to Community College.  its is the best deal going, most other states charge for Community College what CA charges for state universities.    Not sure what it is now but used to be about $11 per unit and maxed out at around $150 for the semester regardless of how many units.
Reply:Oldtimer's kid here. You could do it the old fashioned way like I did. Well not really, dad didn't give me much choice, lol. Hire on as a helper. By the time two years is up you will most likely be way ahead of the guys that went to school. Nothing against school now. I've worked with a lot of guys that were school trained and they were very good. All said the same thing. I learned a lot, but nowhere near all I needed to do this for a living.
Reply:Originally Posted by OldtimerOldtimer's kid here. You could do it the old fashioned way like I did. Well not really, dad didn't give me much choice, lol. Hire on as a helper. By the time two years is up you will most likely be way ahead of the guys that went to school. Nothing against school now. I've worked with a lot of guys that were school trained and they were very good. All said the same thing. I learned a lot, but nowhere near all I needed to do this for a living.
Reply:So education should be free? The people educating you should do it out of the kindness of their arse? For a guy with a the founding fathers in his signature line you sure don't embrace the ideals and values of them.Get a job as a helper.I was working for a JD dealer many years ago,We had a problem with bolts shearing off on track adjusters on JD crawlers.It was easier to weld new bolts in place than to drill out the stubs.An old fellow called Ducky always had me watch him weld the bolts on.I hadnt done any welding.One day when Ducky was off we got the track adjuster repair job in.I got the welder going and handed the helmet and rod holder to an older fellow they had just hired.He said I dont know how to weld..I welded the bolts on,Ducky looked at my welding next morning a said thats a good job.I moved to another job in a old service station.There was a welder under the bench and plenty of steel.I taught my self to weld.I have had professional welders look at my work and all approved.That was in the mid 50s.I worked on farms later and did a lot of welding.I would hire a retired welder to teach me and pay him well.
Reply:Originally Posted by jbmprodslocal high school out here has pretty much the same class. they use 304's, 252's,350p's, syc250's and dynasty's. it's 1 night a week for 3hrs for 12 weeks. all supplies included. they even supply leathers, gloves, goggles and hoods. they teach basic tig and mig (steel and aluminum) gas cutting and welding, and stick. all for the unbelievable price of $75.00 for the 12 week course. you can take the class as many times as you want and after the first time you have been through the course you can build your own projects. you won't get cert training but for the hobbyist or beginning fab job it's a pretty good deal.
Reply:You may be able to get student loans , I got a free 5,000$ grant and I only repay about 100$ a month towards the private loans I took out , school cost about the same as that something like 9,000$ for 900 hrs (6 hrs a day 5 days a week for about 8 months)..
Reply:Originally Posted by MWaldenI should have done this instead of wasting four years in graphic design and web design.
Reply:Ironic timing on the thread. I'm at a point in my life where I'm thinking about a new trade. Very interested in welding, looking at taking an intro to basic welding at the local tech school. It's only a 30 hour intro to stick, blazing, and oxy cutting. After that they offer more specialized 60 hour classes. Not knowing anything about the industry, are specialized classes enough to get a decent job or what is the likelyhood of finding part-time work to get experience to get a decent wage. Since "decent" is a relative term I need thirties with benefits or forties as contract work to be able leave what I'm doing now.
Reply:Originally Posted by TomHIronic timing on the thread. I'm at a point in my life where I'm thinking about a new trade. Very interested in welding, looking at taking an intro to basic welding at the local tech school. It's only a 30 hour intro to stick, blazing, and oxy cutting. After that they offer more specialized 60 hour classes. Not knowing anything about the industry, are specialized classes enough to get a decent job or what is the likelyhood of finding part-time work to get experience to get a decent wage. Since "decent" is a relative term I need thirties with benefits or forties as contract work to be able leave what I'm doing now.
Reply:Originally Posted by killdozerd11The local high schools here quit teaching metal shop when i was in Jr high all that you could take in high school was ag mechanics and two other guys and i taught welding because the ag teacher didn't know squat about it..All of our fathers were welders I took courses at Riverside Community College under Henry Jackson and i learned quite a bit from there back in the 90's ...I wound up doing some teaching mostly the girls because all they younger guys wanted to do in the welding booth was play grab *** and they seriously wanted to learn weldingI think that i learned more from an old retired welder / machinist friend of my fathers than anybody He had worked for GE and Hobart Brothers and othersHe had old things like an Atomic Hydrogen welding machine you should see one of those in action.Welding 2 in aluminum plate using 3/8 filler rodHe had every tig torch from a tig pencil which is demonstrated to me by welding the foil from a pack of cigarettes together to a tig gun that had a 1 inch cup it looked like a short shot gunAnd he had plasma torches ( Back in the 70's i never heard of one ) it had it's own power supply and ran off nitrogen gasEducation is where you find it  Enough of my boring story telling
Reply:One of the big reasons that i could do advanced tig so fast was because i learned to O/A weld firstIt teaches how to play heat and to recognize how it needs to be distributed during the welding processvery much like tig welding and if you look at it it's they same with all weldingMy father started teaching me welding when i was 8 yrs old  doing O/A and using that beast hobart 400 amp portable he hadmig is good to know but in the field it's a PITA because of the windBacked my CATMA over your CARMA oops clusmy me  What would SATAN do ?? Miller Trailblazer 302 AirPakMiller Digital Elite  Optrel Welding HatArcair K4000Suitcase 12RC / 12 VSHypertherm PM-45Rage 3 sawRusty old Truck
Reply:Originally Posted by killdozerd11I don' want to discourage you BUTYou only have 30 HRS of class time under your belt You would be lucky to get a job in a mig sweatshop with a bunch of guys who don't speak english for minimum wage
Reply:Killdozer11, I might have been a little vague in my original post. My only expectations of the 30 hour class is exposure to something new, to see if this might be a trade I could get into. After that I would proceed with the specialized classes. So to restate my question, would 120 hours of stick training ( 60 hours basic, 60 hours advanced) be enough to get started making money? Or would I need the MIG, tig, and pipefitting classes all completed before I have any value in the job market? Welding_swede, thanks for the encouragement and sharing your experience.
Reply:Tom it really depends. I know one student at a local tech school that with only 12 hrs of class in mig and no previous welding experience, managed to land a job. He was welding dumpsters. All the guy who hired him wanted was a warm body that could stick metal together and would work long hours in bad conditions cheap...  Some of our tech students can land a basic production mig job with just the training they get in the 48 hr class. Usually they are the good students. It's still a $hit job. Conditions suck, pay is poor, weld quality doesn't matter all that much and so on. There's always openings because the turnover rate is so high.On the other hand, there's no way many of the students could get a job say doing structural welds or pipe with the amount of training time you are talking about. They might get hired as a helper though and have an opertunity to learn enough to move up..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Thanks DSW, that's the info was looking for, maybe not the answer I was hoping for.  Either way ill start with the intro class as this is something I've wanted to learn for sometime. After that I can make the decision as to how much more training to get. In the mean time I need to research as to the average wages and what skills are in demand in my area.
Reply:After retirement of 45 yrs in the industry I was content on being retired, but everyone in the community knew me form working or evevn repairing or building projects for people. The state even made offers I couldnt refuse, anyway so many people learned about it and begged me to learn them how to weld, after a lot of contemplating I agreed thinking it would only be for a while. that was eighteen years ago. It got so demanding I hired some friends thet had lots of experience and even my son after years of teaching him all through my career. Orginally I only charged for equiptment upkeep ,gas, electrodes steel and any other consumables,but it got so large after having to hire other people I had to go up on prices, and also build a new build a larger shop buiding to accomodate the students, after getting state grants for the building and a state contract the process has been a overall good experience. Although I dont have a lot of time for other things I have turned most of the day to day operation it is still going well. I keep all vintage equiptment for my self it is kept in a locked part of the shop with no access to the trainees, It takes a lot of planning to instruct a class so I limited it to 15 one for smaw 15 welders, 15 for OA, MIG 15 AND TIG 15 UNLESS A studen prover he  is proficent in whatever process he or she is allowed to move on to the nex proces so what ever he or she wants to do at that point it 's up to them .wboldenLast edited by wbolden; 07-19-2011 at 10:24 AM.
Reply:Sorry i was harsh but in your op you were talking about that you would have to make 30 to 40K with Benefitsin order to take a welding job That's a big expectation for an untrained beginner if you go to school and get trained that improves your chances at getting a jobWhen i went to college a lot of guys got hied by company's before they finished there classesBacked my CATMA over your CARMA oops clusmy me  What would SATAN do ?? Miller Trailblazer 302 AirPakMiller Digital Elite  Optrel Welding HatArcair K4000Suitcase 12RC / 12 VSHypertherm PM-45Rage 3 sawRusty old Truck
Reply:Originally Posted by MWalden I just wanted some general basic instruction for my personal knowledge and use.
Reply:Ah but you would miss out on so much fun not going to schoolSome of the stories i could tell yaLMAO When i think back on some of them ......PricelessBacked my CATMA over your CARMA oops clusmy me  What would SATAN do ?? Miller Trailblazer 302 AirPakMiller Digital Elite  Optrel Welding HatArcair K4000Suitcase 12RC / 12 VSHypertherm PM-45Rage 3 sawRusty old Truck