Tech school for metal fab even worth it?

I have toyed with the idea of going to a tech school for metal fab for a few years now and finally enrolled for this fall.

My problem is that for that same amount of time I don't feel that its necessary as I think you either have the p***ion and work ethic to do it or you don't. Now with the refund deadline looming I'm strongly considering pulling my enrollment and investing in equipment for myself.

My only other main reason to go to this school is more publicity to get into a metal fab or welding job as right now with no "real" listable work experience for a company I can't catch a break anywhere to hire me. Also having trouble finding apprenticeships of any kind in my area.

Experiences and recommendations highly welcomed

 

Going to school can never hurt, only help.

 

What is your goal? If it is to build custom cars for a hotrod shop, then school will probably help teach you the things many of us learned the hard way. It will all depend on the schools' cirriculum. If there are shops in your area, call and talk to them to see if they are even hiring. For a "normal" bodyshop, you don't need that kind of metal fab training.

 

Depends on the school.

Some make students spend a lot of time writing reports,
and sitting in cl***, instead of getting their hands dirty.

Even in a "good" school, not every student
has what it takes to be successful.

 

back when i was in school to be a steam engineer i needed hours in a plant and was sweeping,painting and taking lots of ******** from guys that knew their **** and i was doing it for free! on a job resume that was the best experience i could have received. did that in a electric motor shop also to get familiar with them. that was 30 years ago and i never regret one minute of that time.

 

My long term goal is a small shop of my own, not necessarily as my only income, but at least a decent stream of interesting side work. I want to have the ability to make anything someone wants and anything I want at anytime.

Very vague and general but they are all based around the automotive field side of fabrication and forming.

 

School wont teach you p***ion or work ethic. What they WILL teach you is the proper way to work with metal. How can that hurt?

 

Go to school. My friends that did know the how AND the why...

 

Take the cl***,learn what they teach and seek more from the instructor.
Its been said a student will seek a teacher.

When you get out of school,take the first job you get offered, take what you can experience wise and get anotherjob in a different kind of shop, repeat. Be honest with your employers that you are interested in learning and expanding your experience base.

But to pull that off you need to be good or cheap.

 

You can learn on your own, but you'd still need at least videos to learn from. Without those, you'd be 70 before you learned it all.

This cl***; how much shop time? 90 percent, I'd go for it. 50%, no way

 

how much does it cost?

 

go to school at least that way if score a job in a metal shop you'll at least have half a clue
and thats what the employer will be thinking

 

2x!

 

There's no money in that line of work. If that doesn't detour you I would just by the equipment and you could screw up alot of metal in between now and then. If you can show someone you know what you're doing you're employable.

 

x2 Been there, done that. If you can survive on $8/hr. Then go for it. I'm going back to school to learn something that pays a wage that's not minimum.

 

Are you interested in sheet metal type work, or ch***is work?

What I would suggest is taking a welding cl*** and learn different types of welding.

 

Yes. Do it.

 

go for it.

 

The full semester is 1500$ per and its about 75-80% shop time. As for what type of work I'm interested in, I don't have a small scope. A full build from start to end is what I want to be able to do. From a structural ch***is that won't fail to full body repair to deliver a "perfect" working peice is my mindset for this. I also have a soft side for the circle-trackers so a job in a race ch***is shop would also interest me.

 

I took a tig welding cl*** last semester at my local CC.. Bought a tig welder and am loving every minute of it. This fall I will be taking a metal shaping cl*** taught by Frank Milsap owner of sachse rod shop.. I already have a full time job and am just doing this for fun. But there is no way I could have taught myself to tig weld without learning the basics. Shops are hard to get into here I offered to pay one guy $100 a day for me to come and watch he said he would think about it. I haven't heard from him since. So experience is king!

 

pm me, I have taught at a couple of "those" schools.

 

If you can get enrolled in a true Metal Fabricators school that teaches repairing damaged or stretched metal using the old techniques with lead, dollies, and files, by all means seize the opportunity. Look at the shops who are looking for Metal Smiths with this ability. It may be a dying art but it isn't gone yet. My nephew does this for a living. There are shops that would love to kidnap him. A clean $100 bucks an hour isn't anything to sneeze at and then look at the future. The needs for this level of craftsman is increasing, not dying out! We need craftsman from any trade badly. The world is loaded with educated idiots but good crafts and tradesmen are now almost impossible to fill. Show me a good body and prep man for a restoration shop? Not many around! They are constantly in demand.
Normbc9

 

with my experience in life, i came to find out that school never hurts. anything you learn today will help you in many ways later down the line. picking up tips and tricks from various people only makes you more knowledgeable and you can never go wrong with that. i dont know how much your school is but it may still be worth it when your building and selling your rods out of your garage...

 

I wonder how many of the guys that are naysying about cost or learning other things first have actually gone to school? Someone tries to better themselves and all of the people who are " self taught " come out and tell the stories of their glorious " rat rods" and the work looks like hell. Self taught for sure! Anyway....

I went to wyotech. Learned a lot. It is true that there are some things school just cant teach. But hell, for what you do get out of it, it is worth it. It is impossible for ANYONE to teach you every possible scenario.

And btw, look up my shop thread. See what it is I learned. And Also, just outside of 1 year of graduating, I run my own shop. I have built a name for myself. That is the hard part.

 

experience is the best teacher but, school can save you a lot of money and agravation trying to learn on your own. it's always nice to get an answer from somebody that doesn't give you **** and is being payed to tell you them. not like some people on message boards.

 

There's not much money in joining metal.
The money is in, cutting, marking, forming, shaping the metal precisely
Layout man always makes more than a welder.
Reading prints and fabrication is where you'll earn decent money.
A background in engineering basics helps quite a bit.
The best engineers have quite a few years shop time getting dirty.

You could always further your education and credentials.

 

Great idea going to school even if you do not enter the field you may just use your new skills for your own projects...Imagine trying to learn this skill in a shop....you likely spend years sweeping the floor and being a general gopher before you acquire any marketable skills

 

A BIG advantage to attending school is being able to pick the instructor's brain,...And, the possibility of making a new connection in the trade is priceless !!!
My days of parts cleaning/shop sweeping at age 14 was priceless as well....because while being ragged on, I was listening, watching, and sticking my nose in "Motor" manuals.....
Go to the school....... You can't lose !!

4TTRUK

 

What type of skilled fabrication are you talking about? The type of skis I believe te OP is asking about pay 3 to 4 times minimum wage

 

Skills*