Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello all,
I've already said that I'm greatly interested in welding. But I'm a beginner in welding and I don't have much knowledge about it. So I have decided to take up a welding certification course. I hope that many of you here are professionals, so I would like to get suggestions from you all regarding my decision. I am interested in Flux core welding. Will this course be helpful for my future? What are your opinions?

Based on what I saw that class/program is only flux core. I don't recommend this. Flux core is nice if you are doing heavy industrial welding like say a large structure, but many times these jobs also require you to be certified in stick welding as well. Also, job availability may be an issue depending on your location. If there is a large layoff and you have no job for several months that could be a problem. If you can weld with mig or tig you can have a job that will keep you afloat during layoffs. I would recommend doing a program that includes all of the processes so you aren't stuck.

Your profile indicates you're currently a nuclear engineer and interested in MIG. Are you considering a career change over to welding? If you're a hobbyist then a broader curriculum covering more processes might be a better idea, more fun, and a better use of time and tuition funds. How and why did you choose a flux core course? If you're considering a career change, the answer to your overall question will likely be different.

Flux core is widely used through out heavy industry and is a great process to be adept with. Definitely a bread and butter process.

That being said, is this a nationally accredited(AWS or CWB) course? I noticed that it says "a Weldtech certificate will be given" which is not to say that you won't learn anything, but a corporate cert may not necessarily meet the training requirements and weld quality standards required to pass nationally and internationally accepted standards for a given code specification. There is also the issue of whether or not the corporate cert. is on par with the national cert if it is required that a welder be both certified and qualified, which is sometimes the case. If it is not on par or recognized as valid, then it is not worth anything in that regard. I could start company PeteM Weld Training and pass people as PeteM certified with stationary I picked up at Office Max. It means absolutely nothing to anybody though.

Then there's welder qualification (or "in house" testing). In a qualification test you must pass any number of weld configurations using the different types of electrodes, with settings within a certain range, that are then tested to the standards required of the work to be qualified to do that specific work. Some (virtually all) places put more value on this than on a certification. A cert means you did a passable weld once. The qualification test means you did it or can do it as a working welder. You do not need to be certified to be qualified. A lot of really great welders are qualified with no certs.

So, practically speaking, you can be qualified without being certified.