welding as a career?

Don't you have to have a certain amount of experience to get into welding inspection? How does that work?

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Ted H

You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas.
-Davy Crockett

In some special situations a person can make good money welding,

my son looked into a job, where he would have made $75 hr, 12 hrs a day for two weeks and then a few days off, that would have resulted in about $18,900 a month and for 12 months, that would have resulted in about, 226,800.

the catch was you provide the truck the welders the entire supplies all rod, and O2, grinders, ladders, and any thing else you needed, which was probably taking a good bit of that pay check, and they were about two months behind in the pay checks, each month, and when the price of oil continued to drop so did the job, as they were only finishing the one rig they were working on, the other 4 rigs were postponed indefinitely, (he was working in a shop at that time making sub parts for the rigs, the control house and other parts, not being self employed, he was making about $12 and hr working in the shop. Since that job ended as well he is driving truck currently. (that $12 an hr is a good wage for our area, he has worked in a number of shops in the area, and $12 to $14 is about the best one is going to do around here),



so yes as a self employed inveigle working 50 to 60 hrs a week, (which is hard to normally find that kind of work), one can gross $200,000 a year,

but one has to Be a very good fabricator in the process and normally have a shop and a truck and it take time and years of reputation to build normally to that level of income, and then you need help if you have that kind of work coming in, so there are more expense's,

but the run of the mill welder will make a living but normally not get rich at it, unless one does some thing special. like stated usually there is a lot of heavy lifting, and it is hard on ones lungs as well.

For an overview of thermal welding of RR track go to www.anvilfire.com. Scroll down to The anvilfire! NEWS. Lots of photographs.

My husband is a certified welder. He makes a fair wage, no where near $200,000.00 heck no where near $50,000. The shop he works for currently has the guys working two weeks and then off two weeks, they've been doing this since Nov. We're just thankful he still has a job. He comes home mighty dirty sometimes and with holes in his clothes, but he enjoys his job, and he's thankful for steel tipped shoes.

Just a sidebar on the certified welder thing. Certifications are not all encompasing. There is a different certification for every process. Most employers will not accept a previous certification. They will have you do a new one under their control. This is not to say a previous certification is not useful, its shows a skill level that will help you land a job, but no contractor or job superintendent will accept it on face value.

Tom

Not really. I was hired off the street with no experience. The company basically will give you a short class, usually 40 hours. Then you will get on the job training hours as an assistant. After so many hours of OJT then you can start qualifying for higher levels (and higher pay). The more hours you have the more the company will realize you are serious about your job and offer you more classes for more certifications. That means more money and job opportunities for you.

We have lived well for the last 20 years and my husband is a welder. Of course, we are self employed, so some years we might hit that 200,000. mark and the next year we might hit the 50,000. mark. Evenso, when you put in the insurance, liability, health, etc. and the tools and gasses and upkeep and time put in, you would have to be a very self motivated person to be self employed. That is all we have ever done in our married life, so it's our way of life. Our oldest son is also working for us welding. We work for a lot of industy, government contracts, and the everyday farmer too. It takes a lot of time and self control to be self employed though, and a most people have a hard time with it. You have to be willling to take the bad along with the good, but we love it............so you might think about it. It can be done.

Well first of all it's hard to get rich working for a boss, working for a boss is more about security. (for what that's worth these days)

If you can put together a mobile welding rig with all the bells and whistles you need to fix a broken implement out in the field, you will not starve, in fact you may make a pretty good living.

Looking past all the nay sayers. keeping in mind that many of these people would say that you can't make a living farming, yet people do.

I don't think it's unrealistic to say a welder can gross 200,000 a year, I'm sure that if a plumber lands the right contract he can pull in that kind of cash too.

It really depends on how hungry you are for it, what sort of sacrifices you are willing to make, and how much time you are willing to put into building your skill.

There are people out there that make a living selling AVON for Gods sake, I'm pretty sure you can make a living as a welder.

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The best of men is only a man at best.

I would recommend sticking with the CNC, especially in Catia. I see you are listed as being in Wichita. Aerospace design work is done almost exclusively in Catia V4 and V5 with only a few exceptions. I can't speak for the job market out there right now but the company I work for does engineering work for Sikorsky Helicopters and we are BOOMING right now, can't hire enough designers to keep up. Of course it helps that we are located in Indiana and are much cheaper than Conneticut to do things. I know Sikorsky is partnered with Spirit for the CH-53K Marine heavy lift replacement and Spirit will be building the cabins. Not sure if that will be in Wichita or not and it is most likely 1-2 years down the road before it happens, but might provide job opps there.

i know a welder who is certified by nasa to do welding on space gear, LOTS and LOTS of exotic metals and tools and he makes no where near 200K, Heck 100K would be a streach so forget the idea of getting rich on it. $10-20/hr is more the norm and its going to take lots of experience to make any real money.

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Gary in Central Ohio

Listen to what Patches and others have to say about being self employed.

I have been in business 12+ years, have been welding/fabricating for the past 25 years.

It is hard, dirty and dangerous work. Besides the fumes and occasional slag burns, I've suffered broken fingers, a broken ankle, 3rd degree burns to the sole of my foot, cuts, stitches bumps, bruises and a totally shot lower back.

And none of that holds a candle to the massive amounts of Self Employed Stress.

It can however, be a very gratifying and respectable trade. I would encourage you to continue to pursue the machine work, if anything it could compliment a heavy equiptment repair line of work.

And dittos on the money aspect. In my best year I had 3 full time employees plus myself working and we grossed 350K for the business. Being very frugal and having been debt free for a number of years, my wife and I grossed 150K that year. We used the money to finish paying off our mortgage and a truck.

This year we've taken in a little over 2k gross, all my employees are gone and I have spent the better part of this week tending to my cattle and canning Spaghetti Sauce and Potatoes. Thank God veggies are in down here in S.W. Florida.

I have no idea what I'll be doing next week.

P.S., there is no safety net for those of us self employed, so keep that in mind also. All the reward, but ALL the risk also.

Good Luck To you and your future!!!

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"...if only men were granted absolute freedom, and compelled to obey no-one, would they then associate themselves in the common good."

My dad has been a welder for 36 yrs he definantly does not make 200k a year more like 50k Welding is a job to be sure but its a job that will age you way beyond your years...my dad has arthritis in most of his joints, has had hip replacment surgery in one hip and needs the other one done, he has no cartiledge in his knees, has a torn rotator cuff and last but not least carple tunnle done on both wrists...and thats not to mention the horrble fumes and smoke he's inhaled all these years.

p.s. Try to find a job where you arent standing on concrete all day!!

Lots of great replies!

I'm equally trained as a manual machinist and as a welder. I spent many many hours working toward the LA city structural exam (the only way to find employment in Cali as a structural welder) before I realized that I didn't like SMAW. I ended up honing my skills on the GTAW machine and eventually went on to do a little pipe fitting to ASME code, both x-ray and macro-etched. I made $19 an hour in one of the better wage markets in a non-union shop. I hear rumors of union/prevailing wagers earning 90k in the refineries and power plants but this work is temporary with lots of travel. I've also heard of the mobile guys earning up to $125/hr but you need all your own equipment, insurance and current certs for every possible standard using SMAW and FCAW methods.

From my experience - MIG welding won't earn you much at all - they don't call it monkey welding for nothing. To my knowledge, only SMAW, FCAW and GTAW are accepted for structural or pressure vessel welds, where the money is.

Oh - I fell for all that vocational professor chatter about how much you can make in those fields. The 75k+ machinists are journey level tool & die makers or shop owners. The 50k + welders are working very long hours in the rain, wind, dirt, mud, etc. No experience drags you waaay down the pay scale.

I make far more money now taking pictures of dust and playing with GPS equipment...

Chris

Try a shipyard. The one here in Duluth starts out at $35 an hour. Union provides lots of the training. It's a hot, cold loud, dirty job. Last November they still were shorthanded. Be careful of your lungs and eyesight. Haven't met a career welder yet that didn't have health issues, some serious.

First things to invest in would be a leather welding coat, gloves and a low profile respirator that fits under your welding helmet. If you are going to make a career out of something you may as well stack the odds in your favor. Earplugs, safety glasses, and boots too.

There are risks to just about any trade, even some of those white collar office jobs can leave you crippled in the long run if you don't take precautions.

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The best of men is only a man at best.

I went to Lincoln Electric Welding School in 04. Loved it and was a great experience. I have certs in API (pipeline), AWS Structural and Sub Arc.

I chose a town and put out my applications and had a job the first day. However, starting out you wont likely be welding. They will want you to do materials handling and prep work till they know you are not going to kill someone on the job.

If i had it to do over again I would have bought a good used truck and the biggest Camper i could get for less than $5000 to live in. I would moved to where the work was in Texas or Louisanna- live cheap and work hard long hours. Really learn the ins and outs.

Your best money out of the box is going to be a Union Fitters job. API is 6" pipe and larger. ASME is less than 6" generally and is all those pipes you see in manufacturing plants and factories. Union jobs are most often ASME- and usually TIG cert. but sometimes Stick cert. Thats where the money is right off.

I have built bridge spans and done I beams on buildings. Tons of local work for whoever. My original goal was the Oil Patch, but i had no way to live in or even move at the time. If your not careful with your money you will spend it all on living expenses.

If you can do CNC or Radiography then stay in that field. your quality of life will be much better in the long run.

Stay out of the Mines. dont go to the Uranium or copper mines. big money for a reason.

Most of my friends who are union make between 50 and 75,000 a year and they have to move where the work is. When they finish a new plant they move again. Of course their families tend to stay back home where the kids can stay in one school- so you will be separated a lot. But it pays the bills.

Being a plant maintenance welder isnt bad either. There are lots of ways to make money welding. lots of ways to make very little money too.

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Where some fear to tread I call home. A good cabin, a good rifle, a good fishing rig and a few great books is all I need.

Many thanks for all the replies! What type of welding do you find the most useful? Brings in the most money? Easiest or hardest? I'm considering taking more classes in the fall....

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Ted H

You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas.
-Davy Crockett

My husband has been a welder and an inspector for 10 years.
He is certified for mig, tig, arc, including structural, gas, pressure vessel, and carbon arc.
He makes 16 per hour after doing it for 10 years and around here thats considered good pay even though the cost of living says otherwise these days.
He started out at 10 per hr.
He even has his DOT license for welding inspection on semi rigs.
He is certified for ag equipment too.
Welding even in the inspection field isnt that great in manufacturing like it used to be.

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"We spend money we don't have on things we don't need to create impressions that won't last on people we don't care about."
~T.Jackson

My site.

I see several suggestions here in reference to working as a union Pipefitter or Boilermaker.

Unless things have changed radically, when I worked construction it used to be semi-impossible to get into those unions. A person was either "born" into, in-lawed into, or had to be very well connected with an insider that had some "pull" to get you in. If not, forget it, nepotism at it's finest.

Granted, it's been a long time since I did that kind of work but I don't imagine things have changed much.

2 of my boys are working in Texas, one as a welder and one as an ironworker, something-monkey, climbing all over rigs. They're both making around $3000 a week with lots of overtime and per diem pay, and living in a crummy little travel trailer in Tyler. 13 days on and one day off. Tired as heck, but they're both young. That's about the best pay down there, and it isn't $200K a year. They'll be laid off when the job is done. They worked about 7 months steady last year, traveling between southern cal, wyoming, and texas. Most of the time they were making far less than what they're making in Tx. They could come home and work a 40 hour week in the shipyards making $27 an hour and benefits - when there's any work. Nothing is steady in heavy manufacturing.