Welding Tips and Tricks

I am located in Frankfort, Ky and would like to learn how to weld. I don't have any previous experience. Right now I am looking at either enrolling at Knight welding school or Kentucky Welding Institute. I guess I am looking for advice on what I should be looking for in a training program, and whether or not anyone has experience at either of these schools. Knight is closer so if there isn't much difference in quality of education I am leaning towards them.

I want to learn it all. My goal is to be more of a hobby fabricator, and maybe turn it into a part time job. If I love it maybe I could make it full time in some sort of industry job but one step at a time I guess.

Any and all advice is appreciated. I don't know anything, trying to learn.

It looks to me like Knight is more of a nuts-and-bolts welding school focused on the skill of welding. KWI appears to have programs for "line operators".

If it were me, I'd do Knight and choose their Stick course first. Then do GTAW (TIG). Learning to stick weld will be immensely helpful in all other processes as you learn to read a puddle, manipulate a rod/torch, and position your body. GMAW (MIG) I think is easier to learn than all others, but can be limited in its application. Certainly a very good process, but if you can TIG well, learning to MIG will be a cake walk in my experience.

cj737 wrote:It looks to me like Knight is more of a nuts-and-bolts welding school focused on the skill of welding. KWI appears to have programs for "line operators".

If it were me, I'd do Knight and choose their Stick course first. Then do GTAW (TIG). Learning to stick weld will be immensely helpful in all other processes as you learn to read a puddle, manipulate a rod/torch, and position your body. GMAW (MIG) I think is easier to learn than all others, but can be limited in its application. Certainly a very good process, but if you can TIG well, learning to MIG will be a cake walk in my experience.

Great! this is the kind of advice I am looking for. Thank you.

@cj737 do you have any advice as to going to a school like Knights vs a technical or community college?

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Mericas_Meuth wrote:@cj737 do you have any advice as to going to a school like Knights vs a technical or community college?

From what you described, I think Knight's would be my choice. It is a technical skill program with certifications possible. I don't think you'll learn everything for a single process in that amount of time, but you should learn enough to make you employable. Besides, schools can't teach you what you need to know- there just isn't sufficient time, condition, variables, etc to cover it all. Welding is very much on-the-job experience. But knowing the basics, principles, and safety concerns is minimum standard.

If you're lucky, you can hire on with a company that will also have an apprentice program to truly cultivate your experience. You may need to switch companies in order to gain experience in other processes, but that depends greatly on interest and market.

I'd also recommend a blueprint reading, fitting program. This opens up all types of opportunities later too. You can go to other schools at different intervals in your career to gain exposure and develop more skills.

Community college would be good for general math and English. Literacy is under-rated these days Maybe find a 2-year Associates program in some Engineering discipline?