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What is it like working in welding?
What is a typical day at work like when you are welding? Do you do metal art? How open is the work field? Are you paid well? #Welders
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Seth’s Answer
A typical day depends first on what kind of welding you do: you have structural welding, pipe welding, welding repair and rehabilitation (such as valve shops, hardsurfacing valve parts), automotive welding, space industry/NASA welding, shipyard welding, and more. Also some of these categories can be broken down much more, like pipe welding for instance: you have tig welding, stick welding, and mig welding. And the different areas with pipe welding include: petrochemical field, oil and gas, energy, thermal energy, medical, chemical, pharmaceutical, food industry/food plants, space industry/NASA, shipyard/ship building, and probably more that I'm forgetting.
For me, I'm a pipe welder. I have my own welding rig - that means I have my own truck with a gasoline-run welding machine and oxygen acetylene bottles (for torch cutting) and other various welding and pipefitting tools in the back. I get paid for myself an hourly wage and my truck gets and hourly wage as well (that goes to me of course). It is a very lucrative career especially if you work for the right company. In my area, in the Bay Area, California, it's easy to make it into the 6 figures for your yearly income.
You also have the option of working union or non-union. That may depend a lot on where you live and if its big on unions or not. For me I've worked both and it seems to me that the difference is working in the union you definitely get paid a higher pay rate with better benefits and retirement, but the work isn't always there. Working non-union, you may get a little lower pay and not as great benefits, but you can stay working a lot more steady. Again this all depends on where you work and how much work and what kind of work, is in you area, because theres guys that might have a whole different experience and outlook with this.
A typical day for me is, pulling up to the job with my truck, getting out and starting with our sunbrite (morning) meeting. After that I head to one of the weld bays and start rolling out my welding leads and get ready to start welding pipe. (We also have welder helpers who will help us roll out, prep pipe, and clean up). Where I'm at right now we do a lot of tig welding on Nickel pipe. Sometimes I'll have to look at plans and drawings to determine what needs to be welded and in what orientation. I also do pipefitting so sometimes I go out into the field and perform layout and fitting.
As I said before, the pay is REALLY good, but that depends on what kind of welding you get into. For instance, Structural welding generally pays a lot less then pipe welding. Pipe welding takes a while to get good at and you have to be good enough to pass X-ray tests, which is common in the field.
If you work pretty steady you can easily make over $100,000 a year. I know a lot of guys that work shutdowns and turnarounds for refineries (a lot of overtime there) and make probably into the $200,000 a year range.
Another type of welding that I didnt talk about is metal art and side projects. People have made there own businesses out of doing art, signs, designs, home decor, furniture, bbq grills/pits, and trailers. It can be very lucrative if you can create nice or unique products that people would like to buy.
To sum it up, welding is diverse, there are many different fields and areas. When you start welding, you may decide you like to do one kind of welding over another, and that may lead you to the field you get into.
For me, I'm a pipe welder. I have my own welding rig - that means I have my own truck with a gasoline-run welding machine and oxygen acetylene bottles (for torch cutting) and other various welding and pipefitting tools in the back. I get paid for myself an hourly wage and my truck gets and hourly wage as well (that goes to me of course). It is a very lucrative career especially if you work for the right company. In my area, in the Bay Area, California, it's easy to make it into the 6 figures for your yearly income.
You also have the option of working union or non-union. That may depend a lot on where you live and if its big on unions or not. For me I've worked both and it seems to me that the difference is working in the union you definitely get paid a higher pay rate with better benefits and retirement, but the work isn't always there. Working non-union, you may get a little lower pay and not as great benefits, but you can stay working a lot more steady. Again this all depends on where you work and how much work and what kind of work, is in you area, because theres guys that might have a whole different experience and outlook with this.
A typical day for me is, pulling up to the job with my truck, getting out and starting with our sunbrite (morning) meeting. After that I head to one of the weld bays and start rolling out my welding leads and get ready to start welding pipe. (We also have welder helpers who will help us roll out, prep pipe, and clean up). Where I'm at right now we do a lot of tig welding on Nickel pipe. Sometimes I'll have to look at plans and drawings to determine what needs to be welded and in what orientation. I also do pipefitting so sometimes I go out into the field and perform layout and fitting.
As I said before, the pay is REALLY good, but that depends on what kind of welding you get into. For instance, Structural welding generally pays a lot less then pipe welding. Pipe welding takes a while to get good at and you have to be good enough to pass X-ray tests, which is common in the field.
If you work pretty steady you can easily make over $100,000 a year. I know a lot of guys that work shutdowns and turnarounds for refineries (a lot of overtime there) and make probably into the $200,000 a year range.
Another type of welding that I didnt talk about is metal art and side projects. People have made there own businesses out of doing art, signs, designs, home decor, furniture, bbq grills/pits, and trailers. It can be very lucrative if you can create nice or unique products that people would like to buy.
To sum it up, welding is diverse, there are many different fields and areas. When you start welding, you may decide you like to do one kind of welding over another, and that may lead you to the field you get into.
Seth you have truly answered my question and gave me a lot of things to consider when going into welding.
Thank you for your honesty and feed back I'm new to welding and you helped me understand what I would be getting into and a picture of what the pay could look like and a typical work day being a welder with your experience.
I believe I'll enjoy welding even more from this experience thank you.
Chelsiea
Updated
Roy M.’s Answer
Welding Technology is Spectacular and that is why it is everywhere. Bridges to Industrial Piping Systems and Buildings to Underwater Infrastructure. Welding is Not for everyone yet everyone can do it if enough time and attention is given to the subject. There are out side conditions (Onsite Construction Welding) and then there are Shop Conditions for
Pre-fababrication. Shop conditions are my favorite yet not paid as well as out side welding positions. Pay ranges depending on location, industry, weld process difficulty, Union or non-Union Contractor, etc.. Ideal Career would be United Association Steamfitter/Welder. U.A. Local 393 preferably. Learn the weld symbols by if possible. Wear Respirator.
Regards and Respect,
Pre-fababrication. Shop conditions are my favorite yet not paid as well as out side welding positions. Pay ranges depending on location, industry, weld process difficulty, Union or non-Union Contractor, etc.. Ideal Career would be United Association Steamfitter/Welder. U.A. Local 393 preferably. Learn the weld symbols by if possible. Wear Respirator.
Regards and Respect,
Thanks Roy M. Arce for giving me more insight into welding and what to look for when applying for work. I picked welding as my career choice because it was exciting and paid well. I'll take this wisdom to heart.
Chelsiea
Updated
Alan’s Answer
There’s really no typical day for all welders. Being a welder you are able to work in all kinds of industries. You can have a job building giant ships, working in a clean room laboratory, welding skyscrapers, welding space vehicles that will travel into outer space. Welding plays a part in everything and there are many areas of welding that you can get into. It’s all about how much you apply yourself. However, like every other job you have to start out at the bottom but if you apply yourself and learn new things, you can make a very, very good living in a short amount of time. It is a very good time to get into welding or any of the other trades such as being a carpenter, electrician, ironworker. There are a lot of jobs available.
Thank you for your honesty Alan Domagala.
Chelsiea