#weldposting

[hailthedragonmaster]

it's all about noodling yourself into small enclosed spaces btw

[emordnilap-fr]

no more work to do in class until test day what if i weld the tbh creature into the wall of the booth

[thyrell]

So I'm planning on becoming a welder, as I've just graduated high school. Any advice? Even the most basic stuff will help.

FINDING A SCHOOL:

- its way easier to get into trade school than you'd usually expect, if you just look for technical colleges in your area you'll probably have pretty solid luck. if money's tight check their tuitions but training for careers like welding is typically really cheap

- I've heard apprenticeships are also a good option but I don't really know much about those, so you'll want to do your own research on that.

- seriously though technical colleges can be cheap, as I've mentioned before I'm paying less than $70/mo for classes and I expect to be done in less than half a year

EQUIPMENT:

- BUY THE EXPENSIVE SHIT ON A WEBSITE LIKE CYBERWELD.COM. NOT FUCKING AMAZON. YOU WILL SAVE SO MUCH MONEY. MY HELMET WAS LOW $200s ON THAT WEBSITE. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN OVER $300 ON AMAZON.

- you're gonna want a good pair of welding gloves. they're pretty cheap, so it shouldn't be hard to get your hands on them.

- if you have $200 to drop on a quality helmet, do it. seriously, at a technical college course they'll probably have loaners. they probably won't be very comfortable. the lens quality on them will probably not be great, and being able to actually see what I'm doing helped me tremendously. goes without saying that you should try classes first, see if you like welding or see it as a viable long-term career, and then buy a helmet, but if/when you decide to commit to it as a career don't skimp on that.

- if money's tight, there are good helmets under $100, but read the reviews before buying. also please for the love of fucking god don't buy one of the shitty 30 dollar ones.

- first thing they teach you in safety training is to avoid wearing flammable/baggy clothing or light fabrics. get yourself a pair of jeans and a good jacket. i wear black skinny jeans and a black leather jacket because I love edgy fashion, but normal jeans and a denim jacket will work too. ill respect you more if you take the goth route though

ONCE YOU GET IN:

- youre probably not gonna start off Good At Welding, it's not as easy as it sounds, but it's also not as hard as some people will tell you. chances are your welds are gonna look like shit at first, and lots of instructors will probably tell you so. don't take that as a sign that you'll never be good at it, it really just takes practice!

- being a good welder doesn't take a steady hand. people told me that a lot, and it seems like the kind of career that would require really good fine motor skills but...I definitely don't have those, and I'm still doing well. don't get discouraged if you got shaky hands.

- you're gonna get metal gunk on the tip of your weld gun. if the shop you're training in doesn't have a pair of whelpers (welders pliers) for you to clean it with, get your own. if you don't clean the gunk off your weld gun when you're done with it you're fucking dead to me.

- you're probably gonna learn a lot more than just arc welding. the other shit is just as interesting so have fun with that.

important thing to know: welding is a really male-dominated and pretty right-leaning field. chances are your class is gonna be mostly dudes, and a lot of open republicans. don't let that shit discourage you, because this field needs more people who aren't like that.

[hailthedragonmaster]

welding small pipes my behated

[hailthedragonmaster]

after two weeks of nearly no welding to do at work we might finally be able to start working on the next build and im GNAWING at the BIT i hope there's stuff left to do that's for sub-assembly and more specifically i want to do the little hood things that flip up on the conveyer belts that everyone hates doing. i love those things please let me do them i want to do them

[emordnilap-fr]

cannot describe how glad i am that the place i work has ac. i do not miss welding in a shop that had no ac in this weather

[emordnilap-fr]

i already knew a 50hr workweek was Long but now that ive finished my first week of work. it is sooo much longer than i thought. and yet can be shorter like today when i was doing the most repetitious welding known to man

[emordnilap-fr]

ouuhhggg i love 3F so so so much. 2F get the FUCK away from me. 3F i will marry you come here

[emordnilap-fr]

i got my pipe welding certification paper tonight :3 the exam was in december but now i have the proof!!

if all goes well i just need this one last class and i get to graduate in may and be a certified combo welder :3

[hailthedragonmaster]

today is my mom's birthday and she wanted a nameplate + art on the back so i got it done last night while we were slow/doing our own things at work :] this is the art side

[hailthedragonmaster]

forgot to put these here yesterday oop ANYWAY welding shop class stuff and lemme tell u about them :)

terrible video cause i had to slide it between the buttons of my welding jacket LMAO but this is me putting the first pass in a vertical open root groove! i messed up near the beginning, was holding the torch uncomfortably and the edge of the cup did Not want to move, but i fixed it. warning for loudness and bright light/flashing

the gas tubes/valves/hosing that go to the two torches in my booth, the left one is for tungsten welding (argon and helium, this is the one i was using!), the right is for mig and flux core (argon and co2). also the tig torch! with a piece of tungsten in there

this isn't tig, this thing is the machine and the gun for mig and flux core; i did those but not in this booth thank god bc it opens towards the wall lmao. you put a spool of wire in there, change it for either type. i like the warning signs <3

some of the tig machines! mine is the one all the way in the top right, it's kinda cut off but :P it's one of the dinky ones and nobody else likes it but it works just fine for me so <3

my old booth for stick welding <33 EVERYBODY including both instructors fucking hates this booth but i loved it. it worked just well for me. because this booth loves me. :) see also: some idiot in a different class put the stinger down right on the table instead of hanging it. if it were turned on and it touched something weird it'd flashbang you. i speak from experience

and then just the stick welding machines :) mine was the one labeled 2 in the first pic. mmm cables and knobs <3

[hailthedragonmaster]

forgot to put these here yesterday oop ANYWAY welding shop class stuff and lemme tell u about them :)

terrible video cause i had to slide it between the buttons of my welding jacket LMAO but this is me putting the first pass in a vertical open root groove! i messed up near the beginning, was holding the torch uncomfortably and the edge of the cup did Not want to move, but i fixed it. warning for loudness and bright light/flashing

the gas tubes/valves/hosing that go to the two torches in my booth, the left one is for tungsten welding (argon and helium, this is the one i was using!), the right is for mig and flux core (argon and co2). also the tig torch! with a piece of tungsten in there

this isn't tig, this thing is the machine and the gun for mig and flux core; i did those but not in this booth thank god bc it opens towards the wall lmao. you put a spool of wire in there, change it for either type. i like the warning signs <3

some of the tig machines! mine is the one all the way in the top right, it's kinda cut off but :P it's one of the dinky ones and nobody else likes it but it works just fine for me so <3

my old booth for stick welding <33 EVERYBODY including both instructors fucking hates this booth but i loved it. it worked just well for me. because this booth loves me. :) see also: some idiot in a different class put the stinger down right on the table instead of hanging it. if it were turned on and it touched something weird it'd flashbang you. i speak from experience

and then just the stick welding machines :) mine was the one labeled 2 in the first pic. mmm cables and knobs <3

[hailthedragonmaster]

i doubt this place hires welders but if they did i would apply Just so i could go in there and frolic with the beasts

[hailthedragonmaster]

i love. class