Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the opportunity to share my story and for your knowledge…

I grew up welding with my father’s company in the Summers for years. I landed a fabrication job a little more than six years ago working for an architect firm with a build team. They gave me some simple plans and some scrap and told me make something. It was a pretty fun “test-to-hire”.

Long story short, The side jobs on the weekend are becoming lucrative and plentiful so I’m looking to go out on my own, but I don’t want any loose ends. I’d like to be proper certified and adequately insured. Do I have to go to school to get my Certs? If no, what steps can I take and literature consume to not make a fool of myself when I go to a test facility? In my spare time I’ve been welding up plates and cutting coupons and performing visual inspections, but I don’t have any means of destructive testing. Besides, I’m not a CWI, so it doesn’t really matter what I think. My plan is to be certified in the positions and processes I will mostly use… MIG 3G and 4G and the same positions for stick.

And now, for the final question… Am I over complicating all of this?

Once again, thanks for all your time and know how, fellas.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You don't indicate your country of origin, so... grab a copy of the correct Certification authority (AWS, CWB, etc) and begin looking at the test procedures. Plenty of videos on YT as well to help guide you with how to set yourself up for success on these, and you can even fashion your own DT press (Abom79 did one for Weld.com that they just completed CWB 1-4 with).

Jody has plenty of videos as well for guiding you on process, technique, adjustments. Ultimately it will be up to you to replicate the practice environment and push yourself to be as critical as possible on the outcome.

Fantastic! Thanks so much for the quick reply and the direction, it’s greatly appreciated. I’m from Atlanta, Georgia.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

School is not required to certify in the US. If you are just starting out, I would consider having fewer certifications (probably just 3g-4g for whichever process you use more) due to the cost and the fact that few clients will ask anything other than a yes or no "are you certified?" and many won't ask at all. This is assuming that you do not perform code work or subcontract for industrial facilities- those situations tend to require specific certs. Certifications are not required at all to get insurance. Unfortunately, certs are highly specific so there is no easy way for a general fab guy to certify in all the process/material/positions without lots of tests and lots of money.

You can do simple destructive tests just by cutting a strip out of your test plate, put it in a vice, use pipe wrench as a lever to bend it or smash it with a hammer. The sample should bend and not break at the weld. Other than that, if you are consistently able to pass the visual criteria (root pass, undercut, porosity, slag inclusion, excess reinforcement) you should be fine. Google AWS accredited test facilities and get a couple quotes to have a WPS written and test administered. They are vying for your business so most are very friendly and will gladly answer reasonable questions.

That was very encouraging, COwelder. Thank you for your reply.

Yeah not to mention most certs expire in 6 months unless verified by a 3rd party.