Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello All,

I'd like to start by saying I don't know too much about welding besides from the YouTube videos and reading online. I'm 27 years old, about to get married with one son and a baby on the way, and I'm looking for a real career path because $8.00 an hour isn't cutting it. So I chose welding.

I'm here to soak up as much knowledge as I can before I jump into the field of study. I want to know exactly what I'm doing and not just walk into a room giving the impression that I do. I want to learn about the types of pipes or welds. The vocabulary. The tools. Heck.. even the effects it has on one's eyes. I want to provide for my young family and make my parents proud because I'm been quite the little badass up to this point. I'm considering enrolling in a local community college program to learn and get certified but since I'm starting from scratch, they want to place me in a 3 year program, and by year 2 I would be actively welding. Feels slow to me. Especially went bills and mouthes to feed. I've looked into short certifications and on-the-job training/certifications but how exactly does that work from a welder's point of view. Would I have to have experience in even picking up a tool first to do so? I know there are so many types of certifications out there. What is the right one(s) for me starting out? How would I practice welding and where would I go to do so? Should I catch on with a welder privately, looking for a mentor? Would it cost? What about becoming an apprentice? How would that work? What about learning blueprints? Geez.

Feedback and links to videos and websites would be greatly appreciated. Like I said, I'm here to get to know everyone around this forum and soak up all of the knowledge before diving head-first into a career in welding because as of today, I know little to nothing about the field except for the lingo my welding friends used to use and even their away on jobs right now haha.

Thanks in advance. I'll be on here roaming and browsing for a while, getting to know the layout.

Samuel from Birmingham, AL

Welcome to the forum....

Good luck with your new career, my friend.

If you have questions, any questions, feel free to post them up, and pics of your welds too...

Go Seahawks,

~John

Welcome to the forum Samuel.

Welcome, Samuel,

You've found a great starting point. THere's so much information here to soak up. There's tons of posts about schooling vs. OTJ training, Union vs. non, one trade vs. another, and tons of info to soak up about each trade and process.

I'd suggest a good study of the current and older posts, and give some thought to what path you'd most likely enjoy (because if you don't enjoy it, it's just another crappy job despite the paycheck).

Steve S

Welcome to the forum.

It sounds like a noble thing you're doing, bud. And it certainly is a noble trade you've chosen to provide for your family.

I'd say, watch every single one of Jody's video -- twice -- and then make sure to remember or jot down every single one expression (or term or parameter) that Jody mentions/uses which you don't fully understand, and look it up. Then you need to understand it. And if you don't quite understand it, post about it on the forum -- 'cuz helpful welders will, and they'll explain it faster than it takes to burn stuff and try to understand it looking at shitty welds after the fact.

The bottom line is that you need seat time -- Arc Time -- to become a welder. But Jody's video's are so good, his comments are so spot-on insightful -- and hopefully this forum is as good as the welder flagshipping it (I only just joined, sorry, I'm a noob) -- that if you truly studied those videos, and thoroughly and unabashedly asked about anything and everything that Jody mentions in the videos' audio commentaries which you don't feel like you master -- You can learn tons by watching the videos, listening to the man, and asking questions here. You can get so much information here, but you can only go so far as welder without being there alone behind the glass. Pictures of whatever you weld would be hugely helpful for other distant (internet) welders to share their craft with you.

Good luck, bud.

plimogz wrote:It sounds like a noble thing you're doing, bud. And it certainly is a noble trade you've chosen to provide for your family.

I'd say, watch every single one of Jody's video -- twice -- and then make sure to remember or jot down every single one expression (or term or parameter) that Jody mentions/uses which you don't fully understand, and look it up. Then you need to understand it. And if you don't quite understand it, post about it on the forum -- 'cuz helpful welders will, and they'll explain it faster than it takes to burn stuff and try to understand it looking at shitty welds after the fact.

The bottom line is that you need seat time -- Arc Time -- to become a welder. But Jody's video's are so good, his comments are so spot-on insightful -- and hopefully this forum is as good as the welder flagshipping it (I only just joined, sorry, I'm a noob) -- that if you truly studied those videos, and thoroughly and unabashedly asked about anything and everything that Jody mentions in the videos' audio commentaries which you don't feel like you master -- You can learn tons by watching the videos, listening to the man, and asking questions here. You can get so much information here, but you can only go so far as welder without being there alone behind the glass. Pictures of whatever you weld would be hugely helpful for other distant (internet) welders to share their craft with you.

Good luck, bud.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Very good advice, BTW.

Samuel,

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them on this forum, and we'll try and answer them to the best of our ability....

+1 on watching all of Jody's vids.

You'll learn from them all.

Good luck,

~John

You can learn without a teacher, now, I too, am in the process. Of course my journey to competence began 45 years ago. With the modern internet, and the generous people who pump information into it, your brain and hands need to receive what's coming through the wire. How long does it take? Ask me in 45 more years. I'm like a doctor in that I'm still practicing. One day I hope to no longer need practice, and be able to do.