i have a few questions.....

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im looking for some answers about certifacation.....i certified aws d1.1 in positions 3g and 4g in eary 06' then i joined he army right after that...im thinking about getting out and going back to welding...will i have to recert.??and also what qualifications would help me make the most money???
Reply:Pipe welders generally get paid more, and those pipe welders who can run stick, wire, and tig on any type of pipe get paid the highest.  Which is why i've been practicing TIG on stainless pipe lately.  But since you have been certified before i'd say recertify with what you are already trained with.  I don't know about the AWS standard, but in my state (Washington) you must recertify every year unless your boss signs off that you have been doing related welding for most of that time and your welds are satisfactory.But if you want to skip to a new type of scenery, and want big money, welders on pressure vessels and boilers are sometimes paid the highest as refineries are often in high demand of them when doing a shutdown and will pay whatever it takes to get skilled welders in to get the job done as soon as possible so they can resume operation.  I've heard of them getting over $40/h + Per dium .  However, many boilermaker and steamfitter unions (even non union outfits) and such won't let you weld on a boiler until you've been at the bottom of the totem pole for over 4-years.  And that is only if your welds are perfect.  So a long process like that is probably not what you are looking for.  But you get to travel the country from refinery to refinery and make big cash for 3-6 months at a time before jumping ship again if that is what you are into.
Reply:ok thanks for your help...im not really looking to travel 2 much i have a wife and 2 kids and im getting ready to come home from my 2nd tour in iraq...but ill keep the hole pipe thing in mind thanks agian
Reply:stepper. i did 8 yrs as a cavscout and then came home and went to welding. for a payscale that is comparable to yours, you will need atleast $15hr. given that now you will have to pay for housing and health insurance. depending on what part of the land you live in. Here in charleston we have some shops doing all mig, no certs starting pay is $17.50 with tons of OT. they are building the new wheeled APC's. most of the construction companies here hire welders w/o certs. the job i have didn't require no weld test, just a resume. but i fit and weld all my own stuff and usually to my own design. they tell me what they want and i build it. even if you go on the road, most companies don't care about certs. when i was road-doggin, we showed up on the job and took a weld test and then went to work. but some places do require certs. lorenzo, lotechman or tozzi would probally be the ones to refer on that."Retreat hell, were just fighting in the other direction"Miller Trailblazer 302, Extreme 12 VS, Dimension 400, Spectrum 375, HF 251D-1, Milermatic 251 w/ spoolgun  Hypertherm 1000Lincoln sp 1702000 F-450 to haul it
Reply:Don't ignore getting certs though.  Many places require it and if they don't ask, it's not a big loss.  But if they do, your family goes hungry until you get "lucky" and find a job that accepts people without certs.It depends where you live.  Here in Washington it is hard to find a job to hire you if you aren't a certified welder.
Reply:Since I got a cert (one) 3G with bare wire, I have been asked for it once.David.Real world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:If I ever hired anybody with a mobile welding business to come to a job of mine and repair something, i'd require them to be certified in that process.
Reply:This is where certs get confusing.  From what I understand if you certify, and don;t do work requiring that cert for so long then your certs are no good and must retest.  That is why I have never certified.  Since I have been in business in the past 8 years I have had three jobs that came to me that required certification.  However I am in the repair business, and that it not usually something that requires a certification.  However I have had some plant shut downs that if you were not currently certified they would give you an in-house test and if you passed it (which I alway did) they had no problem of you working on the job.  Some fields will require certs while others won't so it depends on the field in which you won't to be in...I'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......
Reply:Nuclear pipe welders make the most of all. Find out if there is a nuclear powerplant near you. If there is one try to find out who does their shutdown welding. The welding instructor at your local community college should know.When I worked at the local shipyards here in virginia, back in the late 80's, most of them required a 6g pipe test. One yard I worked at only hired welders who could make an xray 6g pipe test on schedule 40 4" pipe. If you could not do it then they hired you as a welders helper. I was not a welder or a helper, but was always trying to get a welder to fix something I was working on that was already supposed to be finished with welding.When I went to welding school I had a Virginia Power (the state power utility) welder teach me how to do the 6g test on schedule 40 3" pipe. 1/8" 6010 root pass and 1/8" 7018 cap. I never did take that test for real though. I did not want to do nuclear work.
Reply:jrfv, That interesting.  Down here I have talked to some of the guys who do work in the nuclear plant around here, and those guys, are only bringing in around 17-18/hr, and they are union.  In this area the best payed welders are probably hired by the military.  We have a marine base here that does alot of fabrication for equipment, etc... and they hire civilian welders, and from what I hear they are payed VERY Well.  Especially considering the benefits and holidays they get.  I honestly have thought about going over there myself.  Sometimes it seems like it would be ALOT less stress.....I'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......