Career path?

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Well I am going to college right now and just finished all my core classes like English, math, reading, etc. Right now I am signed up for Auto body but I am thinking about changing. They have welding class too where I can get a diploma in it. They used to have a Motorsports welding section in the class for race car chassis, etc but I don't see it offered in the book. They may or may not have it. Either way, they teach you EVERY kind of welding there is, you can get certified, etc. My plan is to run my own restoration or custom shop working on hot rods, bikes and more. I know I am only 18 and have a long ways to go but I am already doing jobs doing full body work and painting cars, etc so I need to start thinking ahead. Basically what I am asking here is what do you guys think I should do? Auto body or Welding? What does welding have to offer? I am thinking welding is good to because I want to make chassis, etc and also if a shop doesn't work out then I can do portable welding services with a truck and a welder on the back and whatever else I need. I can't really do both because after whichever one I choose I will be taking business classes and get some certificates in business management and small business.Thanks a lot for any info here guys!!!
Reply:well shawn I gotta say im impressed wiht your enthusiam.  You also are showing respect for what you want.  So basically, its a tough call.  Ultimately its all on you.  I dont know much auto body.  A friend of mine does.  If it were me id say the hell wiht the auto body, losts of painting, straightening panels, aligning doors and al sorts of stuff.  Its a real art form to doing it right.  The welding has served me very well and I love it.  I wouldnt trade it for anything.  And I hate painting btw.  I guess its all about what do you want more.  If you have to pick one or the other its pretty much search your heart and soul, pick one and dont look back.  But I guess if you really hate it well get out.  But at the same time get your degree or diploma or whatever, if you dont like one you can always take courses later in the other.  Or you can like the one you in, and still take courses in the other and be more rounded.  Your young, you can do this.  But yeah, it would benefit a body guy to know welding, but to take classes wouldnt be necessary.  If your looking to do custom work, where perhaps you change motor mounts and do other stuff, it mgiht not hurt ya know.   But its all up to you. Most importantnly though, you gotta deciede where your heart is.  As for me its in the welding.  I love to fabricate and welding is fun in of itself.  Sure youll have rough days.  Some days you eat bear, some days the bear its you.  But thats with anything as long as you enjoy what youre doing.Good luck   and keep me posted as to your decisionCHRIS
Reply:Thanks for the word of advice! Well that is my problem (I should have noted this in the earlier post) I can't choose which one I want to do. I like BOTH.... I plan to do custom painting work, and build hot rods from the ground up. With auto body class the only thing I can do is auto body... With welding I am thinking I can do fabrication work (I love to work with metal and want to learn to form tanks for bikes and such in an english wheel, etc) I can also do other automotive related things with welding and if I choose not to do something related to cars or trucks then I can do a portable welding service which seems to be fun. I have a Miller MIG welder now and know how to weld quite well enough to where I can trust my welds on a car frame if I ever do build one. I am just not sure which way to go and have to decide within the next week....
Reply:I will say, most welding classes wont offer much fabrication,  unless its a specialty fab class.  For most of us fabbin was learnt OJT.  The welding classes for the most part teach you how ot weld.  They teach you to be able to pass welding tests in any code you want, even them danged X-ray type.  Depending on what you all get you could get things like inspection, metallurgy and drafting as well.  Thing I like about welding is as you point out I can load up the truck and go hunting    BUt I would think if your any good at the autobody, even if you dont get into a your own business theres always wrok,  if nothing else as a painter.  But yeah like you said youll just have to make a decision.  Its tough I know, but you  will prolly look back in 20 or 30 yrs and laugh.  A good friend of mine, his name was navyguy he started on here.  He had less than 6 months to retire from the navy with 20 yrs.  He was a jet mech.  Wanted to look at welding.  I pursaded him to get right into it, head first.  Well he did, he started at a shop partitme.  They took him on fulltime day after he retired.  Hes having the time of his life.  Hes like 43 and wish hed done this sooner, but heck with it...hes having too much fun to careGood luck though  dreams can come trueCHRIS
Reply:Hmm, maybe I should stick with the Auto Body (they do MIG welding class in it) and then find a company that does welding and try it out by working for someone? Not sure how a welding company will hire me when I have no experience or schooling for welding though. Seems like nowadays you can't get a job anywhere unless you have a degree or diploma at LEAST.
Reply:nah,  if you can pass their weld test you can get a lot of entry level jobs.  Though somefolks dont like that as the pay is also entry level.  But I mean therss work...sleep on it atleast and keep your options open.  But yeah youll do whats right.  and as I said if worse case happens you dont like what your doing,  theres always changin.  Nobody said once you pick something your stuckCHRIS
Reply:Typically, the lowest-paying welding jobs are doing mig welding.  Some good jobs require both, but if all they want is mig, it's likely a sweatshop that doesn't pay well.  If you're planning on starting a business, you may need to go after both auto body work and welding at the same time...because when starting a business, you may not get many jobs and therefore the additional abilities may increase your work load (income).Having a welding machine on a truck is typically not going to make you a lot of money unless you're working on a large pipeline project, as a contractor.  If you just want small jobs around town welding handrails and such, there's going to be a lot of competition.  Where there's no competition, there's more money.
Reply:"If you just want small jobs around town welding handrails and such, there's going to be a lot of competition. Where there's no competition, there's more money"danged it i knew there was a reason i cant never seem to come out ontop...oh well i will say i always do alright for a country weld'n son'ava gun   chris
Reply:Speed,I think you are smart to consider going on to school, it really can pay off in the long run.  Two years in the right junior college welding program will give you an Associate Science degree and can qualify you to work as a welding technician with most companies.  A couple more years for Bachelor of Science with some metallurgy studies, and you can work as a welding engineer.  And you can keep going from there, Masters, PhD, Professional Engineer, etc., but don't worry about that yet.Once you have the education, you are the one that decides what makes you a living and what makes you happy.  Without the education, you can be very successful, but your choices are limited.  You are young, hopefully you have a long life ahead, your options are wide open, just start plugging away and don't stop yourself short.One school I read about in the Welding Journal is Ferris State, contact the American Welding Society about schools, and become a student member, http://aws.org.As one small example of the many paths open to you, I am a welding engineer with an A.S. from the College of San Mateo (CA) and a B.S from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and ten years later a M.S. from Colorado School of Mines.  I have primarily worked with automated GTAW, GMAW, PAW, and EB processes.  Products I've worked with include automated equipment manufacturing, nuclear power plant systems, nuclear weapons components, auto air bag inflators, and satellite power systems.  The exciting part of my job has always been learning something new, and there is no end to it, it happens every day.If you end up as a welding engineer working on the next space shuttle, you can always drop the $120,000, 401K, 4 weeks vacation, health insurance, etc. and start your own company.Best of luck.
Reply:www.mountainviewcollege.edu   i just got done registering for my last two classes here for an Associates of Applied Sciences Degree in Welding TechnologiesCHRIS