Well I start welding school tomorrow, I'm very excited... Something I've wanted to do and learn for a long time. Starting out structural welding, then moving onto pipe then tig/ combo welding, went to welding supply shop here in town and got all my supplies yesterday... Any tips/ suggestions from any of you fellas that have been welding a while?

Get a few diff shade lenses so u can pick which works better 4 u. If they have you run flux core make your sleeves are long enough to cover your wrist at all times. Don't tuck ur britches leg into ur boots. I font like wearing thick welding gloves so when my hand gets hot I can move it, when it gets hot with them thick ass gloves on its 2 late u gotta stop to throw that sumbitch off. I'll thank of something else later I'm sure.

Yeah, don't stay up drinking til 0130 in the morning the night before you start welding school!

Oh yea good luck

Your not gonna be able to weld just like the people who teach you, everyone has a different technique just gotta find what works for you. So don't get frustrated if you can't get the hang if something right off the bat.

Yeah become a proctologist instead it's the same thing gonna deal with a lot of assholes
and take plenty shit No seriously , don't just go off of what they teach you when
you see someone make a weld you like , ask them exactly what they did , how the machine
was set and incorporate it into your own style. Good luck.

Technically I start Monday coot lol so when I said tomm... That's what i meant.

After you learn how to weld in a school environment. Go be a helper on a pipeline and learn how to weld the right way. School is perfect, real life welds are not perfect. Just keep that in mind. You will learn more in a month with a good rig welder than that school will ever teach you!

My advice... if you dont plan on riggin up and hittin the line... dont do it. If yoyr going to school just to say you know how to weld around the house then fine. Ive seen guys come straight out of them schools to work and couldnt weld a lick. My best advixe to you is learn in the work place while your making money. You will learn so much more on the job rather in a school. Good luck

I don't plan on pipelining, ill be working at sasol, going get on in the fab shop and work in there for a while and hopefully quit and open my own shop up on this side of the state. I'm a sheet metal mechanic by trade, hopefully I can pick up on welding pretty quickly and begin working for myself by the time I'm 30. I've already obtained the skills I need for metal working. Just need to be able to weld aluminum and steel.

Ur going to tws it sounds like

what fowllife said learn on the job my pops ia combo welder in chemical plants and he shows me way more than a school can ever teach because he been there done that got the burn
but if you do go to school just burn all the rods you can ever which way and pay attention
and talk to all the welders you can and get there 0.02$ on direction to go

On hands training is better but the only good thing is that u learn the technical side that most welder's don't know! Just don't go to school and get done and act like u know it all and can weld bc u have a ton more to learn and see! The thing ab school is they teach u how to pass a test but not the out of position welding that u will face everyday in life

I took welding in at my high school and I thought my teacher more than he thought me. All he would tell us is " Do whatever is comfortable to you"

Take it from someone who did go to a school worked several different jobs and then the school asked me to come back and teach:

nothing is as good as real work experience but like rich said school will teach a lot of basics that you will be glad you learn because there are honestly a lot of welders who don't do things the right way.

Use the time that you or whoever pays for wisely. Staying in class and practicing is only way to get good but don't get a big head.

Dont ever be afraid to learn. U could do something for years one way and even though its right anf good ur not comfortable doing it the one day someone might say try it like this. Dont think u know everything bc u will never know everything and u will be surprised what u can learn if u keep an open mind at all times

Pm sent Willett

Been welding for years. Working on my next degree up in it right now. Like said before there really isn't anything that can be a one size fits all welding technique. You will learn that different types of welding all have different techniques that will give you the best bead. Just be patient with it, practice as much as possible, and take your time. It won't take long for you to find out what works and what doesn't. Play around with wire feed speed on flux and mig welding as well as heat to see which gives you the best results. As with tig welding its kinda been my experience that you either get it right off the bat or you take forever to get it down right especially if you use a foot pedal. Its a rewarding skill to know, but don't expect to get it perfect right off the start. I was fortunate when I started welding way back in high school and got the hang of it fast, it was just my one thing I was really good at, everyone else took slightly longer. Not that I was any better of a welder, my point is that not everyone picks it up at the same speed. Don't get discouraged easily.

It takes a ton of practice. Just use as much of the hands on training you can get. If you like it and get good at it, get as many certifications as you can. Good welders are always in need and never go without work. Tig is my favorite. It looks pretty and its clean. Get a good hood. You only get one set of eyes.

Yea I bought a save phace first gen auto darkening. Supposed to be a pretty comfortable hood and well ventilated.

MIG welding doesn't involve a great deal of skill. I've never tig welded but heard it is bout the hardest because of the amount a coordination between both hands. I stick weld everyday. I wish I could have a shop of my own to build stuff that i like to build like boats, welding beds, jeeps and buggies.

I'm a pipeline rig welder and if I knew what I know now I woulda started out as a helper straight out of high school. If your serious about welding and want to make more money than most any other welders this is where its at. Its not easy just requires a lot of practice and skills, I love it and wouldn't want to do any other type of welding. But the saying in the field is "you can't be a pussy and a pipeliner"

I love heliarc welding, went 2 school for 2 years for it And me and another guy out of 12 were the only ones that could heliarc. Talk about some pretty welds, everything they taught me helped But in the end I ran the machine how I wanted and got really good and comfortable at it


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It don't matter how much school you have or how many "certifications" you have. If your testing for a job they don't care about a welding school you went too or a test you past last year. They care about the test your about to take for them. Certs don't last very long. Even if you don't wanna break out on the pipeline I'd still go be a helper. I was a helper when I turned 17 and by the time I was 18 I was doin small stuff like double jointing pipe at the yard or doin socket welds on launcher or compressor jobs. I didn't try nothing crazy and sure as hell didn't want to be on the firing line with 1 year of experience!! I welded on and off in fab shops and on pipelines till I was 20. Now I run a crew of welders. Only welding you will see me do now is heliarc or mig when I'm building a boat lol bottom line is what ever your trying to accomplish with welding, the best way to learn it is from someone that been doing it for along time. And being a helper is a great way to learn while you get paid. School will teach you to weld a perfect bevel. You go from school to a branch test and you will soon realize what I'm talkin about lol

Be hungry to learn. Its real easy if your hungry for the knowledge.

I appreciate everyone's insight. Today is my first day so ill let y'all know how it goes, I'm sure the first few days we'll be in a classroom learning safety ect ect, then break out into the shop next week.

Well today we start the actual welding, running lots of beads stacking beads can't wait to go through this program and come out with a skill/trade that I can use to work for myself. Instead of always having a boss breathe down my back

Yep your right! But you can't live and learn by sitting back and wondering what if. Gotta take the initiative and get your hands dirty. I've ran jobs big and small turnarounds and maintenance. So I'm not speaking without exp. but with that being said point taken!