Jobs

[GG]

There is high demand - and the so-called shortage - for welders at $12 per hour.  If there were valid responses to 'supply and demand', the hourly wage would go up, and the demand would go down because more people would be taking welding classes and getting jobs.

I bet if the average pay was $25 per hour, there would be a lot more jobs filled.

I'm in the staffing business have been for 20 plus years, was a HR Mgr the 14 years before that all in manufacturing.   So I do know what I am talking about.  

$12/Hr is in the welder helper range.  Actually it is $11 to $13 range.  

Structural welders can expect  $13 to $16 range.  

Code welders can expect $16 to $22/Hr

Fitter Welders $18 to $24/Hr.  

They should also expect lots of overtime.    50-60 hours per week are not unusual when times are good.  

However, welding is a young man's game.  Working conditions are not the best.   Most welders are burnt out by 45-50 years old.  

I encourage people that ask to become CNC Machinist.   Working conditions are good, (shops are usually climate controlled) and clean working conditions.   CNC Machinist can start out entry level at $11-$14/Hr and work up to $16 to $22/Hr plus and work as long as they can stand up.  

CNC programers can make $18 to $30/Hr.   Again good working conditions and work as long as they can drive into work.  

CNC Machinist can also become QC Inspectors for more responsible jobs and better pay.    

Welders can move into QC jobs but they usually require more training in x-ray, radiography, gamma ray and other non-destructive testing techniques.    

[GG]

Fluxcore is what most shops have gone too.   Some mig, hardly any stick welding. 

Good tig welders are in demand for aircraft and other specialty area's.   

Most welders do not like to tig weld, it is hotter and harder to master.   

Therefore, a good tig welder can usually command a premium. 

[heironymouspasparagus]

I saw 6 pages of want ads on the Whirled site for welders.  That tells me that the price being offered is just a little too low fill the jobs as fast as they would like.  But when times turn bad, you can be off for a long time.

Haven't been by there in a few weeks, but Baker Hughes on the BA expressway seems to always have a banner up for CNC machinists.

[Red Arrow]

I encourage people that ask to become CNC Machinist.   Working conditions are good, (shops are usually climate controlled) and clean working conditions.   CNC Machinist can start out entry level at $11-$14/Hr and work up to $16 to $22/Hr plus and work as long as they can stand up.  
CNC programers can make $18 to $30/Hr.   Again good working conditions and work as long as they can drive into work.  
CNC Machinist can also become QC Inspectors for more responsible jobs and better pay.    

I have always made a distinction between a machinist and a machine operator.  To me, a machinist can take a drawing and some material and turn it into a product.  A machine operator can put material into a machine that is set up and turn the "on/off" switch to the "on" position.  If  they remember to brush the chips off before putting the material in the fixture/vise, the parts turn out OK.  What is today's proper nomenclature for that difference?  It seems to me that "my old time machinist" is still a bit more than a CNC programmer.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Fluxcore is what most shops have gone too.   Some mig, hardly any stick welding. 

Good tig welders are in demand for aircraft and other specialty area's.   

Most welders do not like to tig weld, it is hotter and harder to master.   

Therefore, a good tig welder can usually command a premium. 

I haven't got to do much tig (don't have a tig welder), but I always enjoyed it a lot.  Have a neighbor who is doing stainless heat exchanger work in OKC area who does incredible work.  He keeps busy at it, too.

I haven't seen a Lincoln cracker box in a serious shop for many years.

[Red Arrow]

Most welders do not like to tig weld, it is hotter and harder to master.   

I can gas weld a bit and TIG weld a bit because it is kind of like electric gas welding but I haven't done any for a while so mostly I make a mess.  Plus, bifocals make seeing the work a bit challenging.  I can join the electrode to the work with a stick welder.

[heironymouspasparagus]

I have always made a distinction between a machinist and a machine operator.  To me, a machinist can take a drawing and some material and turn it into a product.  A machine operator can put material into a machine that is set up and turn the "on/off" switch to the "on" position.  If  they remember to brush the chips off before putting the material in the fixture/vise, the parts turn out OK.  What is today's proper nomenclature for that difference?  It seems to me that "my old time machinist" is still a bit more than a CNC programmer.

The guy I learned my meager machinist skills from was a tool and die maker, who was basically wasted at the company he was at, but he was getting older, too and wanted a more 'casual' gig.  Glad he was there.  Amazing skills.

[heironymouspasparagus]

I can gas weld a bit and TIG weld a bit because it is kind of like electric gas welding but I haven't done any for a while so mostly I make a mess.  Plus, bifocals make seeing the work a bit challenging.  I can join the electrode to the work with a stick welder.

Gotta love the bifocal!!!

Gotta love the mig!!

My next big purchase tool toy is gonna be a plasma cutter!  They look like SOOOO much fun!! 

[Red Arrow]

Gotta love the mig!!
My next big purchase tool toy is gonna be a plasma cutter!  They look like SOOOO much fun!! 

A friend has a small MIG and a Miller 250 TIG (15 years ago) with a water cooled torch.  Another friend was teaching us both to weld with the TIG.  At the time, I had access to scrap aluminum.  We made approx 2" cubes of aluminum.  It was fun but I never did get consistent with aluminum.  I could do a little vertical welding in steel but never got to overhead.

Plasma cutter does look like fun.

[Red Arrow]

The guy I learned my meager machinist skills from was a tool and die maker, who was basically wasted at the company he was at, but he was getting older, too and wanted a more 'casual' gig.  Glad he was there.  Amazing skills.

I have been fortunate enough to work with some pretty good machinists over the years.  They certainly helped me grow as a Mechanical Engineer.

[heironymouspasparagus]

I have been fortunate enough to work with some pretty good machinists over the years.  They certainly helped me grow as a Mechanical Engineer.

You are dangerously close to a point that is huge on my radar - the blue collar guy versus an engineer's attitude.  I started out doing shop work, so I got a feel early on about what these guys can do.  (Not even counting the sledge hammer trick that Clyde did!!**).  Too many engineers go through school, making their grades in the math and technical courses, which is good, but it absolutely does not mean your s*** don't stink.  Which is the attitude too many have.  There is often an arrogance around shop guys that is not only unjustified, but stupid in a real world.  Just because a guy wears chambray doesn't mean he is dumb.  Anybody can learn calculus and diff eq, and thermo, if they just keep after it long enough.  But to learn to be a machinist or a great welder is an art that not everyone can do.  And while a good old fashioned FEA will give you an idea of whether a structure will survive, I have seen guys that could tell you within pounds just how much load an assembly could handle 'cause they learned it from a different direction - hands on.

New engineers should always be placed on a production line or in a model shop for many months - or even a year - before getting to do any engineering.  Best way to learn the fastest.


** 14 lb sledge trick.  Grab the end opposite the head of the hammer.  Extend arm straight out, so that the head is straight above the hand holding the handle.  Then, while keeping arm extended straight out, slowly bend the wrist back so that the head of the hammer comes down to touch the nose - without smashing the face - then return it to vertical.

[Conan71]

Fluxcore is what most shops have gone too.   Some mig, hardly any stick welding. 

Good tig welders are in demand for aircraft and other specialty area's.   

Most welders do not like to tig weld, it is hotter and harder to master.   

Therefore, a good tig welder can usually command a premium. 

I can TIG weld quite well, but have never gotten the hang of stick or wire feed.  Mainly because TIG is what I learned first when I was 18.

I say that, but I haven't picked up a TIG "torch" in 7 or so years.  I used it quite a bit when I had my own business.

[Gaspar]

I can TIG weld quite well, but have never gotten the hang of stick or wire feed.  Mainly because TIG is what I learned first when I was 18.

I say that, but I haven't picked up a TIG "torch" in 7 or so years.  I used it quite a bit when I had my own business.

I can J-B Weld.

[Red Arrow]

I can J-B Weld.

How about Conley Weld.  Support your local businesses.

[heironymouspasparagus]

I have never been able to figure out what the benefit of sub-arc welding is?  Over the gas or other flux based systems...  Can anyone here 'splain it to me?