Careers in welding and metal fabrication.

[$loth]

Hey all,

I've seen that some of you are in this sort of industry (having lathes and cnc machines etc). My question is what can I expect, in terms of hours of working, progression, pay etc. This (http://www.brightonsheetmetal.co.uk/) place has said that they are considering taking on four apprentices in september and I have told them that I would be very interested, i'm just looking for opinions from people who are/have been in this industry.

[Drum Thumper]

From what I understand, there's good money in welding. In Montana, a journeyman welder can make upwards of 20-30 bucks an hour, which is damn good money for this state. I'm betting it's more in the more densely populated areas of the US. What that translates to for the UK is beyond me.

And Minty, be glad you didn't have to go through what I did--we started on the old arc (stick) welders and had to be able to successfully weld three different types of welds (angle, joint, etc) before we even got to take the cover off the MiG welder in High School.

Oh, those were the days...

[Spawn-Inc]

not sure about pay or anything like that but welding rocks! i say go for it. i've done a course on Oxy/Acetelyne welding when i did my basic level of refrigeration and passed with a b, on the welding. i can make pretty good welds on long straight pieces but with small round things its harder for me for some reason.
http://inlinethumb04.webshots.com/579/2360267220100511463S600x600Q85.jpg
but it does work and hold 125+ psi. i would go more but my compressor won't go higher.
i have also tried mig at work with not help. the first time i forgot to turn the gas on haha it looks like crap. i was building a gaint crossbow to launch a model plane. it didn't come out good though (design wise).

[$loth]

Sounds like you 3 did more than me in high school, we did brazing, oxy-ace and some arc welding, only about 5 minutes on each though :(

Thanks for the replies, I do really hope I get this as I'm just not suited for an office/ retail type job. These hands were made for doing things!

[b4i7]

ive only ever done a little welding when i was in machining school... but there is always a lot of money in machining, plus depending on the type of shop....you will always be making something new....one week i was working on 3 or 4 different products we sell WHILE working on waterblocked

[$loth]

Thanks for the reply b4i7, do you enjoy the job? What type of things do you make?