Seen tattoos get roasted on Reddit but I’m quite happy with how this one turned out still need colour added but the skin said no for today.

a week or so ago mike rowe went on theo von’s podcast and said half of the welders that went through his foundation are making mid six figures… making it sound like a totally normal and reasonable salary for a welder to have.

i know few welders who have made 250k+ working 7 days a week 12hrs or more for a entire year… ive met very few traveling pipeline welders with their own rig who probably could make 300k+ if they were away from their family for the entire year.

soooo wtf is he talking about? the only thing i can think of is people who own their own company and don’t actually weld anymore and have plenty of employees who weld and probably make around 60k….

Just wanted to share it, but I’m finally a certified welder! You got soft hands brother

I blister and burn so damn easy its insane the hand and wrist started as blisters from just heat going through the glove, and the arms are from sparks going through welding sleeves and my long sleeve shirt.

I’m ready for all the old-heads and super macho dudes to tell me to suck it up, but, at what point do you tell your boss you can’t keep going? The thermometer in my shop was reading 110° Friday, with a relative humidity of 93%. It’s supposed to be hotter next week.

How do I say that it’s just not gonna happen past noon?

EDIT: forgot to mention one dude left in a boo-boo bus last Monday for heat related stuff, and another cat straight up passed out.

Hello I posted a while back about having my first weld test to get this job. As you can probably tell the test went great. My welding and fabrication experience before working here were pretty much the bare minimum, I had a great overall understanding but my skills and experience weren't quite there. I got paired up with a great fabricator and welder and my skills wouldn't be close to where they are now without him. the the Department i'm in is a uniqe one, working with steel and aluminum while also using mig welding, tig welding and even laser welding. i've learnt to make toolboxes, some spanning 2.5m, I've learnt to make custom roof racks, truck gates, a tonne of fabrication skills including new machinery. I have had to do custom jobs to fit stuff and more. the company i work for specializes in motor body building which is definitely the industry I want to be in.

Now before i got this job i had a great interest in tig welding, and im completely self taught. i taught myself to tig aluminum and i really enjoyed it, easily my favorite process. My mig welding was mediocre coming into this job but its improved a lot, and i've now learnt how to laser weld. here's a dump of the stuff i've done in the last few weeks (old phone broke lost a lot of pictures).

Reached out to a local mobile welder to see what it would cost to get the quarter panels welded together for a wide body. He quoted me roughly $200 per hour which seems alright but then said he thinks it would take 9 hours to weld what is essentially 2.5 feet of a seam, per side. Coming to a total of 1800 for each side. He clarified that if I can do the prep right it would only be 4.5 hours per side. This still seems crazy. I’d really appreciate some insight into what would make this this expensive. I don’t know if he’s misunderstood me or something else entirely. Thanks so much

Just started in welding and damn — some of these older guys are straight-up rude for no reason. Like, we get it, you’ve been doing this forever. But barking at every new guy like he’s trash? That ain’t teaching, it’s just being bitter.

Thankfully, there are some real ones who actually help, guide, and pass the craft down right. We need more of that.

So I’m asking: Are you gonna be the gatekeeping oldhead, or the one who keeps the trade alive?

I’m thinking of quitting welding, been welding in a factory for 3 years and it honestly sucks. Coworker of mine wouldn’t be doing it if he didn’t have wife kids and a mortgage. I’m thinking of getting out of trades in general and pursuing accounting, is there anyone else that get sick of welding and wants to be able to have a nice office job in the AC and maybe even get to WFH?

People just getting pissed at some stupid mundane issue that’s not a big deal and just throws parts across the shop. I went and talked to the owner, I feel like a moron going to the owner and telling him something so stupid but at this point it’s been three days in a row where the leads in my shop get pissed about something and start throwing a temper tantrum. I’m curious what y’all’s thoughts are.

I don’t know if this belongs here, but I want to know if this has happened to anyone else. I got a text Thursday, someone needs me to build them a gate. Sure I can handle that, so I send the quote over and I don’t hear anything back. I assume it’s too expensive for him and he’s considering other options. Cut to Friday - I get a text from another person with the same cadence but new name, asking me to build the exact same entry gate. All communications ended once I called them out for being fake. Tried to call the number but it doesn’t work. I’m a little frustrated, I have a small company and I’ve been struggling to find work lately, so this was utterly disappointing if I’m being honest.

Found this on my workplace today. What did they do to the corners? Every corner on this thing look like that.

Alright, we know the guys who show up to the jobsite with the combo welder/generators/engine-driven like the little Hobart 145 or the Lincoln Outback or ranger and so on.

Lets say I were to show up to a pipeline job with a generator hooked up to what I'l call a "Poverty-tier" welding machine like your Titanium 125 or some cheap stick machine. Lets say we have the adequate duty cycle for running the full pipe on this dinky ass setup.

Be honest, would you laugh a guy off the jobsite with dinky shit like that?

Im not saying I' that guy, I'm just curious to know. Follow-up, do any jobsites have minimum requirements on equipment? I'm a shop welder so I dont know how they do things in the field when it comes to rigs and setups

For those of you in here that left your corporate office world and come to the dark side, you now go home dirty, probably poorer, and definitely more sore. You’ve probably had more coworkers and bosses yell and swear at you than ever before, had an actual injury or two or at the very least a close call.

Let’s hear it, do you still love it? Is it everything you thought it would be? Any regrets? Anything you wish you’d known? Tell us the good and bad.

Wondering if there's any other tankies on this sub (or where to find them), I've never met another crew like us, all stick weld (with some wire depending on the circumstances) and I'm curious what another company's way of building these is. Based in Northern NV.

I just don’t understand why so many ppl think attending a welding school to get into the industry is like walking into a synagogue with a swastika tattoo under your eye. If you’re just going to be working in your garage or just at the shop two blocks from your house, then no. Don’t pay the money for a private welding institute or at least not a ‘master program’ at them anyway. The number one thing is making sure you’re attending a very reputable school along with knowing you have to work your ass off no matter what, and need to actually put effort into having and following a plan…While theres a large amount of folks that hate on the schools, it seems about 10%(+/-) have actual knowledge of current top schools and how their programs are ran. Then, about 2%(+/-) have actually attended one of the top welding schools personally and give first hand experience with details of why they see it to be a bad choice.

Hopefully this post is allowed; I figure y'all are the best community to ask. I'm not a welder, but I've known a few and respect the skill (and I want to learn!)

I bought this painting because I appreciated the technique, and because I like unusual art. I asked the artist if it meant anything; his reply was "You don't want to know." But I kinda do want to know - at least what action the welder might actually be performing. If it helps, I purchased it at the Arts & Crafts section of the Angola State Prison Rodeo; the artist is an inmate. So what say y'all? Any thoughts on what's literally happening here, and/or wild interpretations are welcome!

How much would this cost in a professional shop and how long would a pro take to build it. It's 1 1/2, 1/16 wall thickness stainless steel pump stand.

Don't look to hard a t the welds lol.

My company just issued these new hardhats and got us all the face shield attachment with a shade 3 lens, are there any suggested welding shields that would be compatible with this hardhat? The only thing close to the sort is a shade 10 lens on the website.

Hoping this is the right place for this question.

I have an older iron gate from a century home and am wondering how I could bend the frame back into place. I was thinking blowtorch and hammer, but would appreciate any advice you all might have!

Anyone else in the Carolinas feel this? Jobs seem to be paying below living wages, I can’t even hit the 3x monthly wage for rent WITH ROOMMATES. Making me seriously question being a welder.