Noob welding questions

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Hey there, markus the noob here...The community college I am studying at requires the following classses one must pass for certification.Intro to gas/arc/mig/tigARC-flat&horizontalARC-vertical, up &overheadintro to gas weldingadv. gas welding & plasma cuttingM.I.GT.I.Gpipe weldingMy question is, is it more beneficial to become familiar with all types of welding, or to focus on one or two types & try to master those? what kind of welding usually fetches the highest pay?I'd like to focus on all types, i want to be as well rounded as possible, but if the norm is to pick one or two methods & master them, i'd like to know.forgive me if this is a stupid question, im as noob as it gets.Also, where does one learn to read blueprints?? there doesn't seem to be any classes at school about that
Reply:I've heard the best paid welders are the ones that do it underwater. I've found that stick welding is a good start, once you figure out the basics, you can apply most of the tecniques towards other types of welding. Mig is easy to learn, I can have a total newb burning nice looking welds in an hour, stick can be more difficult for some to master. I went to the comminity college to get my certs for stick, then had enough time to do the gass wire, and almost all of the hollow wire tests. Not bad for 1.6 credit hours. It didn't get me the payraise I'd hoped for, but helped get me a new job that paid $4/hr more.
Reply:Arc is the one u want to master... Pipe welding pays well.   TIG welding is also needed for pipe.  Hence why pipe is probably listed as the final class.   Not sure why they have 2 gas welding classes.  If they mean OA gas welding, its very rarely used process now.   OA is primarily for cutting now...  eaach clas should have a lecture part to it and a lab part.  The lecture should cover all your welding symbols and proceedures etc...Tiger Sales:  AHP Distributor    www.tigersalesco.comAHP200x; AHP 160ST; MM350P,  Spoolmatic 30A; Everlast PowerTig 185; Thermal Dynamics 60i plasma.  For Sale:  Cobra Mig 250 w/ Push-pull gun.  Lincoln Wirematic 250
Reply:Originally Posted by fourXFordI've heard the best paid welders are the ones that do it underwater.
Reply:If you want to be well rounded, the tickets you want are as follows:Structural ticket (in Alberta it's your all-position cwb) a chimp can weld this but in Alberta it's a must to have your structural ticket.B pressure - F3F4 ticketHeavywall and smallbore F3F4Downhand F3 ticket - heavywall & smallbore all position ticketFor tig: You want your Carbon, f6f4 Stainless tig tickets. F6f5 Theyre the most common. You can also get your Inconel, duplex stainless tickets too. I don't have a ticket for Aluminum or Titanium pipe yet, but you can get those too.Mig welding - the ones you want are the short circuit for use of the STT & RMD machines.. Some places use STT machines and other places use Miller welding machines.. Same idea.. For the fill To cap, you can do it with 7018 or fluxcore. The ticket would be for either an F6F4 or F6F6.For pay - depends where you work. By hand you couldMake it the low to high 30 some an hour. In some shops, you could be welding pipe at 39$/HR. In unions, it'll be roughly the same, maybe up to 40/HR - but electricians makeMore money than welders. Subcontracting, ad a b pressure welder with only an f3f4 ticket - $50-55/HR.Rig welding? Depends.. If you're a grunt structural welder, it's 70/HR. On the pipeline it's $89-120++/HR. Depends on your position On the pipe and you often get bonuses and extras; accredited hours, etc.Right now I'm welding stainless pipe - 12 hours at 100$/HR and given an additional 1 extra hour for welding on exotic metals. Rig Welding. When I drop back to carbon which we're done the stainless, then I lose the extra 1 hour bonus. If you work in a shop, sometimes you get a tug premium of anywhere fro 2.50$ extra to 5$.Overall, you want your F3f4 heavywall & smallbore, stainless & carbon tickets, short circuitMig ticket for use of stt/rmd; structural ticket; downhand - and you will get more jobs if you have an Inconel tig ticket I've noticed.. Typically the reason why I always find work and other welders who have very limited tickets are asking me for numbers for work I've turned down.But welding takes practice and experience. Especially watching out for heat input! Stainless will bow like a banana and sink in in itself, so you gotta atleast look like you know what you're doing.46’ sae30047’ sa200 w/Wisconsin VF451’ shorthood56’ shorthood56’ shorthood68’ redface69 redface07’ ranger 305G13’ sae300Inconel/Hastelloy – SS – Duplex – Chrome/Carbon Tig – F3Downhand – STT/RMD – F3F4 – B Pressure
Reply:thank you guys, i appreciate it very much. Deff. more questions coming soon.