Post: #1

Does anyone have info on welding? I should of picked apart a welders heads more but he basically said

- its not hard just takes practice
- the helpers were making something like $29/hr so I know the actual welders were killing it
- lots of guys don't even take classes
- you will always be in demand, especially if you go out to oil towns and rigs


I know they were using some gas guzzling trucks and had to put thousands down on the equipment. All of them were fat and didn't have to lift shit.

Post: #2

I'm going to wait for the in house expert aka Scotian to chip in on this, but from what I saw in the oil sands, welders make a ton of money. Think about 100+ bucks per hour! Even more if they are running their own truck/company...

Post: #3

What kind of welding?

Field and shop are different, requiring different set ups.

Mig/TIG/ARC and cutting are all different.

I have a TIG set up in my studio that I use for steel, aluminum and stainless. Its 200amp so I can weld 1/4" fairly easy. If I want to weld all day (I dont) set up a water cooler system.

MIG and ARC dont need water coolant. Both use a flux to cover the electrodes and especially you see a lot of guys using "flux core" to weld up steel out in the field. Most of the big diesel welders sitting on the backs of dually pick ups are ARC.

MIG is more likely to be seen in a shop, is fairly easy to learn as well, and can weld fast, likely the fastest of the different types. Its nicknamed "squirt gun" for the point and shoot action.

TIG is my favorite. It has amazing penetration, allows the welder to add filler as needed, has amazing accuracy (laser like, if a small tungsten is used) and leaves little to no grinding. Its also the cleanest for aluminum and stainless, just wire brush the burn off and its fine.

For stacking paper, get a dually/welder set up and move where pipelines construction is at. Count $$$ and learn how to be a fat, ignorant cunt.

Post: #4

I just started reading this book:

http://www.amazon.com/The-100k-Welder-Sc...057804837X

He mainly talks about what you have to do to pass the 6g cert and the best way about getting it done.

He also gives out his email address.

This is his website:

http://www.100kwelder.com/

I spoke to a welding inspector that is working up in ND. He makes 275k a year.

He told me he could teach me to weld in 90 days tops, sign me off on the 6g test and hook me up with a job.

I'm strongly considering it, but I'd have to go without work for a few months.

Post: #5

Underwater welders are supposed to make great money.

Post: #6

   

Post: #7

Full mask and respirator?

Fuck that you ninny the safety trailer is in the nursery.

Post: #8

A question for the old-time welders here...How's the vision?

Post: #9

Laner sent me a pic of him working on an art piece I commissioned.









   

Post: #10

Old welders up north tended to be missing fingers more than something to do with eyesight. One or two would get electrocuted while working on ships in dry dock each year as well (welding in an all metal enclosed space that tends to collect water..no thanks).

My old mentor would say. If you can weld, stay off the booze and not have a woman fucking up your life you can make alot of money because no one else seems to be able to keep their shit together.

Post: #11

There's nothing wrong with welding, but I believe you can make money easier and slightly less hazardous ways.

Post: #12

Ali-B, Foreman.

What he really does in the Middle East.

Post: #13

I've worked with a few welders. It's more of an art than a science. The good guys all had at least 10 years of experience. The best guys had a 'feel' for the metal. They'd weld up a whole bunch of joints that'd look crooked as shit when they were hot and then as they'd cool they'd settled to within a mil of their specs. Awesome things to see. The best guy I knew was a preacher/ex-con (rumor was he'd murdered someone) who had flame decals on the side of his welding goggles. If you want to get into it find a salty guy who's done government or military work and ask to apprentice with him.

Post: #14

If I was 18 again I'd have skipped college and become a welder. Would be a welding inspector by 25 and retired by 30.

Post: #15

(02-05-2014 11:49 PM)Aliblahba Wrote:  There's nothing wrong with welding, but I believe you can make money easier and slightly less hazardous ways.

Such as?

Post: #16

(02-06-2014 10:55 AM)renotime Wrote:  

(02-05-2014 11:49 PM)Aliblahba Wrote:  There's nothing wrong with welding, but I believe you can make money easier and slightly less hazardous ways.

Such as?

Safety
Electronics
Training/Instructing
Project Management
Pipe fitter
Inspector
Mechanic
Engineer
Callboy

Guys are drawn to welding cause its fast to get in quick and start making money. But a lot of guys I know start to look rundown over time. Same as heavy wrench turners.

You guys need to pick a path and stick with it, gaining as much education as possible along the way. Nobody wants to be standing out next to a pipeline in -20 weather sticking rods. At that point you need to be retired or in an office job.

Post: #17

(02-06-2014 11:09 AM)Aliblahba Wrote:  

(02-06-2014 10:55 AM)renotime Wrote:  

(02-05-2014 11:49 PM)Aliblahba Wrote:  There's nothing wrong with welding, but I believe you can make money easier and slightly less hazardous ways.

Such as?

Safety
Electronics
Training/Instructing
Project Management
Pipe fitter
Inspector
Mechanic
Engineer
Callboy

Guys are drawn to welding cause its fast to get in quick and start making money. But a lot of guys I know start to look rundown over time. Same as heavy wrench turners.

You guys need to pick a path and stick with it, gaining as much education as possible along the way. Nobody wants to be standing out next to a pipeline in -20 weather sticking rods. At that point you need to be retired or in an office job.

Welders aren't the only guys that are run down.

I helped out a pipefitter/electrician yesterday and it was a pain in the ass.

Meanwhile the welder was sitting in his truck waiting for that shit to get set up so he could grind and weld it.

There is currently a shortage of welders, which means pay is going to only get higher.

You can weld for a few years and then become a a welding inspector and end up making even more money.

There are other places to weld besides Montana and Wyoming. You could end up working in a nuclear power plant. If you become a marine welder you will only work at the beach.

Guys that want to get into the trades are really doing themselves a disservice if they don't even consider welding.

Post: #18

For sale in Edmonton. $19,000.


Comes with an ashtray full of buts and the ability to make $200,000 a year.

The barrier to entry in welding is low. Hence, the high standard of people out there. Welders really are a special breed.

Post: #19

What are you wanting to know? I started out as a welders helper for about 4 years, then learned stick/tig on pipe and started working in power plants, refineries, and chemical plants. I worked on pipelines as a helper, that helper rate seems about right for union work, non union is usually in the mid teens. I'm now working as an inspector and broke 200k last year, (3500+ hours). The money is there if your willing to work, and work in shitty places. Rig welders on pipelines make the most, I know a guy (mid 20s) working in ND right now, he gets 60/hr for the arm, and not sure for his rig, probably around 150 a day, and has been steady working for the last year.

Post: #20

(02-06-2014 12:16 PM)Laner Wrote:  The barrier to entry in welding is low. Hence, the high standard of people out there. Welders really are a special breed.

   

Post: #21

In my field of work, I work with tons of welders. As great as the money is, I don't think I'll ever consider becoming a welder.

Post: #22

What's so shitty about welding? What about the underwater welders?

You should make a Trade thread Ali

Post: #23

(02-06-2014 05:14 PM)Screwston Wrote:  What's so shitty about welding? What about the underwater welders?

You should make a Trade thread Ali

Go take a class and see if you like it! You're in the right state to make $ at it although Mexicans are notably bad welders and make sloppy beads.
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Post: #24

(02-06-2014 05:14 PM)Screwston Wrote:  What's so shitty about welding? What about the underwater welders?

You should make a Trade thread Ali

Most welders aren't smart enough to pass the CWI, or all of them would have it. The inspectors I've worked with were unusually intelligent for their field and have some college under their belt, like a 2 year degree, and plenty of certs/experience. Look at job descriptions to understand what companies look for.

Commercial diving is a crap shoot. You spend 20k for school, then try and get picked up by a dive company. All start out as a tender, meaning you are shit on for up to 2 years before breaking out. And if one superintendent don't like you, forget it. Boys club. Now when you breakout, you do surface supply diving, which pays, but the real money is in saturation diving. That's where you live for 30 days in hyperbaric chambers breathing helium. It takes a special breed to do this, but you can make 1k per day at depth. But most of the time, you won't see that depth in the GOM.

Post: #25

thing about deep diver welders is that they would much rather teach a great welder how to dive than a diver how to weld
so if you're making 250k as an inspector topside and want to make 300k as a diver more power to you

I hear welders go blind and divers go deaf. so pick what you're getting paid for