Work?

admin

Some people I talk to tell me not to get in to welding because they say I'll be working in a warehouse on a production line welding bird cages and frying pans for the rest of my life.  That's not true is it?  What kinds of work can a welder do.  Describe your typical work day.
Reply:Most of those are production workers and not really weldors. The welding field is extrememly vast and its a priceless skill. These days I am mostly a farmer but would be lost without being a proffecient weldor. Normally I weld or cut something every day and that doesnt include major rebuilding or fab projects. I even charges a neighbor 40$ for 45 mins work this morn and he didnt bat an eye at paying.  dont have a typical day, but worked all over in the welding biz for all kinds of companies, some of the worlds largest construction outfits and a few small ones.  Its suprising how much we use it in automotive and truck repairs. I am a broken bolt specialist, I can remove a bolt in a few minutes other guys fight for hours with. I have built thousands of brackets for all kinds of stuff. A weldor can do all kinds of things a non weldor just cant do,, or doesnt even think about. It crosses trades easily too, even carpenters hire weldors on big projects, electricians too. Fresh water work is plumbers work,  know several plumbers have never done anything besides welding. Came in very usefull being an electric sign installer even. Its endless.www.urkafarms.com
Reply:There are  different types of weldors. I think the 3 most common are the Pipe, Structural,& Maint. Welder. Today I am a pipefitter, I don't have to weld on my full time job. After work or in my spare time I am a weldor, I design, fabricate, and/or repair with welding & machine shop equipment. I guess it all depends on how you want to make money as to what type of welding job to have. I believe that a good maint. or general shop & field weldor is the best type of work since there is some variety to that type of welding. Not much that can make you bored doing the same thing over & over.   If you want to be a welder, go to a school that teaches all the basics including the math work that goes along with it, hire on as an apprentice welder & after about 5 years or so of learning on the job you might be able to call yourself a weldor for that particular job. I'm not trying to sound mean or anything, but there are too many people out there that get out of welding school & think they are owed a job as a welder or actually believe that they are a weldor.   Good luck on your decision.
Reply:Hey, man.  Don't ever let anyone pigeon-hole you.I have a degree in Accounting and I'm a computer programmer.  I had a buddy tell me, 'You can't be a programmer!'  I said, "Watch me."  When I finally did it, guess what he did?  That's right.  He asked me how he could do that.From what I've seen by spending some time in a custom welding shop, you can do ANYTHING metal with welding.  I've seen welding used for everything from fixing bakery rolling equipment to giant pistons as big as a Volkswagen for the oil industry.  The guy I know fixed a broken stair-stepper and a muffler for a Porsche Boxter in the same morning.If you can join metal, you can build anything out of metal.  You can make art, build stuff, repair stuff, make tools, anything.  Don't let other people try to limit you.rvbWork is for people who don't know how to plunder!
Reply:I agree dont let others tell you that welding skills are nice to have.  I work for North America Poer Systems http://www.norampowersystems.com/manuproducts.htmYou can see some of the items we build from ground up. My daily job may be making custom exhaust for a light tower, making trailer hitches, custom fabrication of just about any item like braces and brackets. My job is endless. Yes producing these units there is a lot of items we build that are the same, but I custom build new parts each and every day. That make my job nice since  I get to do different things.EquipmentLincoln 200SATrailBlazer 275MillerMatic 252Hypertherm Powermax 600
Reply:For me it's slightly different. I weld the same product all day, every day. A day with less than 300 ft. of weld is considered a bad day. My wire comes in 600 # drums and I use up about 1 per month. Robot scheduled to appear in January. Then I'm gonna sit and watch it work.