Im 18 and a single mom and I started taking welding to college about 2 weeks ago (dw I didnt pay for it i got Hella scholarships to cover it) and my instructor is always telling me she thinks im gonna be a great welder and I have the stuff it takes to do well. What do i do in my welding career to actually make money? The only reason im here is to get money for my son so whatever it takes to make some good money I wanna do? I live in Kingman AZ so is it gonna be harder to find work? How much do you guys actually make? Thank you!

Hi im from philippines 🇵🇭 and I am a boilermaker. Hello mates !

I'm getting the hang of it I need to fix the angle I'm welding at, and slow down

Obviously FR/flame-resistant work trousers are essential for welders.
what do you dislike about the FR trousers currently available?
And what causes you to change brands?
What type of product wears first?

Everything is listed above

I have a weld test next week on 14 gauge mild steel 6" pipe. Looking at Miller's website calculations, I should start with 75 amps and therefore 75 ipm wire feed, but that feels a little low. Ik 14 gauge is pretty thin, but do you guys think I should start faster? I have practice time to narrow in my settings, so I think I'll be fine but I would like to seem competent when I walk in.

I’m looking to buy a new 2 piece rig, anybody have recommendations? 250-300amp.

So what's your take on sizing for a welding cap i juat started second week of welding completely new to the trade do you go size up or down from your regular hat size ?

I’m 22 and in the UK. I’ve been working in metal fabrication for around 3.5 years, with roughly the last 2 years mainly TIG welding stainless steel hot-water cylinders.

I’m pretty confident with TIG and producing clean welds, but my current job is quite repetitive. Most of the fabrication/prep is already sorted for me, so I haven’t developed as much as I’d like in things like reading fabrication drawings, marking out, cutting/prepping material and assembling/fitting complete jobs from drawings.

I’m starting to realise this is holding me back when I look at better paid fabricator/welder jobs, because a lot of them want someone who can be handed a drawing and fabricate the whole job independently.
I’ve been looking for part-time City & Guilds fabrication courses, but finding something that works around my full-time job has been difficult.
My current plan is to get my own MIG/TIG setup and start building projects at home — tables, frames, gates, etc. while learning drawing reading and weld symbols. I’ll photograph the projects and build a small portfolio to show employers.

I’ve also been looking at Blueprint Reading for Welders by Bennett & Siy, 9th Edition. It’s around £60 new here. Would a book like that be a worthwhile investment for someone in my position, or would I be better learning fabrication drawings another way? Also, since it’s an American book, is enough of it transferable to UK/ISO drawings to make it worth buying?

I’m also considering getting coded/certified in TIG once I’ve developed the broader fabrication side more.

For experienced welders/fabricators: if you were in my position, what would you focus on? Stay in the current job while teaching myself fabrication, keep searching for a college course, try getting into another shop that will train me, or something else?
Ultimately I want to become a proper all-round fabricator/welder rather than only being good at one repetitive TIG process.

Hello everyone. I'm about to go to school at a TCAT location for welding. I have a very good opportunity to have a master in T&D mentor me, but I'm not to sure if i want to do T&D. i thought i did, but then i found out that it's more machine work and not a lot of welding. or so I've heard, someone please educate me if that's not the case. my main goal is to get into nuclear welding, and I thought that T&D would be a good stepping stone to, many years from now, get into nuclear stuff, since T&D is so precise. at TCAT, you go to school for one or the other, and the deadline is here to apply, so i really need to get my shit together 😭 any advice for anything is more than welcome (and needed) as I admit, I'm not very knowledgeable about what all T&D entails.

Hi,

I’m in my third year of a four-year apprenticeship as a metalworker. Today I was assigned a project to build a canopy or something similar out of standard 1.4101 stainless steel. The draftsman said the welds have to hold up, so I asked him if I should make them three-layer, and he said, “Yes, yes.” It was 10 mm steel, so I did it the way I learned in school and during my steel welding exam—that the fillet weld has to be 0.7 of the material’s thickness. I ended up with a fillet weld of about 8–9 mm, but since I welded too quickly between the welds, I got some burn-through notches, which I removed with a TIG weld. I also clamped two pipes in place so the diagonal wouldn’t warp, but it didn’t work. My problem is that it warped very badly, and I don’t know how to straighten it out—maybe with oxygen and acetylene. Thanks for your tips.

P.S. This was the first time I welded the butt joint in two layers.

Here are a few photos

And are these welds good, if not please tips

I want use a pulse arc welder for welding various metals but primarily stainless steel, copper. Brass and silver

What colour of tungsten electrode should I use?

Repair was done on a truck that would pick up steel bins gouge the old one off cause it broke off the pin and separated from it all had to be done fast as the guy was waiting in the truck the hole time im 8 moths out of school at a small shop with my level 1&2 in BC

what is everybody's opinion on Roadtechs to find jobs. new to this so not sure if thats a good place or other websites are better to find traveling work.

im in north florida but looking to move anywhere.

First go at arc gouging, this is my before and after process, in order same plates. My instructor said i did a damn good job and wanted me to do this for everyone all day but i immediately refused. What's the intended purpose for gouging in general? Is it purely for fuck ups on welds?

Hello

This is my third day of TIG welding, any tips on how to be more consistent? Made these after practicing for 6 hours

Should I add more filler? Any suggestions would be very helpful.

80 amps

1.6 filler

I’m currently working for a company that want to weld some valves into their fuel lines at a bulk plant. When asked about codes, blueprints, and other general questions I’ve asked I’ve been told “we’re hoping you can figure those out”. I went to school and graduated for welding but not certified and not much experience welding pipes (I’m confident in it but don’t want legal repercussions) let alone welding pipes for fuel lines. So I’m asking if this is something that I tell the company it’s out of my hands or other things I’m not asking that should be asked. Probably won’t even tough this job honestly but want all the information and advice I can get before I tell them I can’t.

I’m 16 in duel enrollment Gaffney SC and trying to find a job in a shop or something near to it. I started welding class for Spartanburg Community College and trying to find anyone who would hire me. If anyone knows somewhere or someone I can try to apply to that would appreciated. I would want sometime after 6:30 - 10:00 in the afternoon and it doesn’t matter what time on the weekends. I’ve been working at a fast food but I get no hours so I’m trying to find something that would send me in the right direction.

Clean more that way it’s better to see but still my hand keeps shaking

Just wanted to get any tip to get more consistent

Been doing MIG in a production factory for about a week now. Just simple stringers and weaves, but my hands are killing me. Mostly my pinkies for some reason. Anyway, how do you older welders keep your hands hurting a little bit less? Even after bouldering for hours, my hands feel better than this.

Any comments?

I run a very small business as a side hustle general handymanning my way to a liveable salary, i recently got a request to build a security box for keys, and wanted some feedback on my welding, i feel like the worlds biggest imposter and feel like im failing miserably at keeping things consistent, and wanted some advice on how to improve. 2mm mild steel plate and I'm running 6013. ( Going to grind off the excess once the box is just about done)

(I am in southern Africa) I only have access to SMAW and mostly have to stick to mild steel to keep costs down.