Hello ,
My name is BRIAN PHILLIPS. I have been welding every since before high school.My step father taught me how to weld when i was 12.(my stepfather ,he owned the main contractor business that built I-77 interstate back years ago!)well from Ohio to south Carolina anyway.the interstate was expanded to what it is today about 10 years later.Where I went to school, My welding exam is still on display after 20 years !Showing what a perfect weld in suppose to look like.My son even studied after my work when he went there 3 years ago.
I am certified in 5 different classes of tig,MiG,arc.all different kinds of pipe welding and even under water welding.
I have took pride in what i have welded in my life! It is a very rewarding profession.I have placed my welders stamp (number N-38)on things like:
Every piece of the HONDA(4 wheeler) plant timminville SC ,many shopping malls all over the USA,bridges on the eastern seaboard,and most of the oil wells in north Dakota and south Dakota!hospital medical pipe in all the new hospitals from 1997-2003. I have welded every piece of metal in the I-77 Rock hill South Carolina -Hampton INN .I have also done automotive welding and tractor&trailer frame fabrications ,bulldozers and yukes(earth movers).And I am proud to say I have had a part in building the Biggest Crane bucket in the world!Just the bucket took 18 tractor&trailers to move to the site for welding together!when finished you could take 3 tractor&trailers ,one on top of another and 4 rows wide and go through the bucket! now that was big .
Its time to move on to the smaller stuff .All the years of hard work has taken a toll on my body.I have broke 28 bones ,over 400 stitches&staples and ruptured 3 disks in my back.now i have 2 titanium rods in my back fusing L3,L4,L5 AND S1 that cost me $20,000 (USA dollars) each.just the rest of the surgery cost me $83,000.ALL THAT HARD WORK OVER THE YEARS AND ME PUSHING A LAWN MOWER OVER A CLUMP OF GRASS FINISHED MY BACK OFF!GO FIGURE!!!
So i can say for certain that some of the welding jobs out there ,do take a toll on the human body. And i have the scars to prove it!
OK enough about me ! I will be glad when i do get my new toy! and ill re-post what think about it.I have 5 other welders here at the house to put it through the tests !we will see ????????keep your fingers crossed !!