Article/Blogs

Selecting a process to learn

Ok, so you want to weld? Have you identified what type of welding you want to pursuit first? No? Well if you haven’t, you need to. Not all welding is the same or uses the same techniques. Though some skills are transferable between the different welding disciplines there a special skills and equipment you’ll need for each type of welding you will do, whether it is MIG, TIG, Stick or even oxy-fuel welding.

Although getting a good welding course or two under your belt as you start your welding hobby or career is the best idea, that may not be practical for many people. But don’t completely discount it before you give up on it. Local high schools and colleges often offer welding courses at night. Even many local county agent’s offices or young farmer’s organizations can offer short seminars or classes. (If they don’t offer them, then ask them to!) And even sometimes you may be able to get private tutelage from the local ag or shop teacher in the high school.

Every year around the end of October, or the first week of November the Las Vegas neon lights grow bright in the eyes of the attendees of the annual industry attended SEMA show. SEMA is a large specialty automotive association that offers a yearly gathering of motor sports gurus, celebrity TV auto and fabrication show, personalities and the average person in the automotive industry an outlet to seek each other out and connect on a professional level, which can help build their business and their bottom line.

As part of a program to extend our product line, and to continue to be an innovating company in the welding industry, we are proud to announce our latest unit, the PowerMTS 221Sti. This unit should reach the market sometime in mid 2017. The latest in our line of MIG, TIG, Stick welders, the Power MTS 221Sti, features a lot of unique features not found in other units of its class.

Someone once said there is a difference between a calling and a passion for something.  Such is the difference between a professional welder and a hobbyist.   A lot of people want to dive into welding because they like it, and they want to know more about it.  But fewer have a true calling for it.  Being able to recognize whether you should keep welding as a hobby or turn pro might be a difficult thing to ascertain.  But in general, testing the waters before jumping fully in is a good idea. 

If you are a welder, you probably have been divorced or are about to be, if you haven’t taken time to provide for your family’s needs beyond the financial or your family/spouse does not understand and cannot tolerate the separation caused by a welder who is constantly away from home chasing work all across the country (or the world).  In many cases a welder who is pursuing the big “bucks” will be gone a lot and will have to leave wife/husband/children behind for long periods.

Moving around the country to obtain a job may not be your cup of tea.  But if you’ve just graduated from welding school, this may be the lot that is cast at your feet.   If you aren’t willing to relocate, and in some cases, willing to become a transient welder and “chase” the work while living out of motels or become isolated on rigs, you will have to figure out how to gain real employment where you are.  You can choose to stay exactly where you are, but you must be willing to do one of two things.

Whether it is expectations of an employer or expectations of self, failure to achieve expectations results in firing or job burnout.  If you want to be a welder, whether it is as a MIG, TIG, or Stick welder, or even as a master of all three major categories of welding, you must adjust your expectations based off of natural skill.  If you are still in the courtship phase of being a welder as a new career, it is best that you serious evaluate your natural talent and skills.

One of the things you may think about while welding, is possible electrocution. Yes, that is a possibility, or at least a moderate shock may be experienced if safety practices aren’t followed, but that is something we all know. But did you know that if you own a MIG or TIG welder, you could suffocate, especially if welding in a tight shop or closed garage. Yes, there are dangerous gases in the air, which could eventually cause cancer, but this is not the immediate concern with welding.

We like to regularly touch on welding safety in these blogs to keep our customers aware that there is always a possibility of an accident while welding. Something can and will happen at the last minute if care and planning is not taken. A few years ago, one of my best friends in the welding industry, now retired, who has welded more pipe than most people will ever see, worked off of oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and rose to welding management for a major oil company, experienced a severe accident doing what he and many others do every day…weld.