Knowledge is king! MIG or TIG?

"I'm as healthy as a ruttin' buck." Modified quote from "The Outlaw Josey Wales". Actually, for my age, I'm pretty healthy. No broken bones, no allergies, just bi-focals.

I'm sure I'll have fun and welding is something I always wanted to learn. Now's the time. My contract at the VA hospital is running out and shipping/recieving jobs aren't hiring or paying well at all. If I can learn this, it'll be fun working with my hands.

 

I know we sort of veered off course here, but just wanted to say thanks for posting this info. I'm at the point where I've just started to have difficulty seeing, and its very frustrating that sometimes the best I can do now is something I would have been ashamed to admit I did a few years ago...maybe its time to step up to a real prescription pair of glasses.

 

I'm only 25 so I can comment on the long term physical effects of doing this kind of work, or of what the job market is like in the country, but I'll try.
I've been doing fab work in the same factory for 5 years now, and it is hot, hard physical labor. I do enjoy the work and since the product changes to suit customers needs I can see this staying interesting enough to be a lifetime career.
We mainly mig at my work, but friends with tig experience have better paying jobs than me. I would start with mig, and get a job with a larger company. My company will pay for schooling so if you are enjoying the work you can go back for more.
I don't have a degree an the only schooling I have is what my company sent me to. In the midwest, the 25 an hour I make seems to be about average for factory work mig welding, and there are more specialized shops paying more than that for tig welders and guys who can do all their own fab work start to finish on a product.

 

I do not weld for a living but been to numerous schools during my lifetime of welding for myself. Did all forms of welding. At my age an on my personal autos I prefer Tig for most work,clean and few sparks. Mig for body panels IMHO.


Ago

 

I think Blue One nailed it!!! Great advice!

 

I would take up mig it's a good start and then learn tig.
good luck.

 

off topic but In the h.v.a.c. field we gas weld copper tubing,mostly 3/8"-1/2", sometimes larger dia.piping on chilled water systems
and it involves elec,plumbing,and mechanical
I strictly do commerical cooling (computer heat load)and its a great career,pays comparable to a welder but the work is cleaner and you can do it in later years(iam 58)
you can save the cutting,grinding,and welding for the hobby....

 

Consider the flexibility of the tig. AC/DC means you can weld anything. (advantage for aluminum) Spool gun welding of aluminum with a mig is ugly and sucks. I don't even know anyone who owns a tig that would consider trading it for a mig if you could only have one. Fortunately , I have both. BUT everytime it matters for looks or strength on a car, I unroll the tig torch. Top dollar drag chassis are tig welded, mufflers are mig welded.

 

Tons of good advice. I heard back from HCC and now I'm waiting for the VA to approve my tuition grant. Damn government moves slow.

 

x2

OAW welding is very malleable for sheetmetal and is a dying art, I'm glad that we still teach it at the college I work for despite the fact the the government wants to exclude it from apprenticeship training. It's a fundamental to learning puddle recognition and IMO leads to better hand skill and understanding when learning TIG.

 

I'm old (75), my 40 some year old Century mig, my old Miller Dialarc tig, and my Victor 1250 gas rig was old when I bought it in 1969 so I can vouch that vision is the MOST important factor in welding. Those exact same machines used to make beautiful welds that now look like bird shit so do as the man said and get glasses for the job. As far as jobs are concerned being able to tig weld pays better. There are migs everywhere, even little 110 machines but a younger fellow I know picks up some good pocket change from just aluminum repair with his tig; everything from transmission bell housings to custom aluminum radiator mounts to household stuff.

 

Enrolled in classes today! I start 8/27. This semester is the basics, lightly touching on MIG, TIG and GAS. Spring semester will be full intro to TIG, MIG and pipe welding. Both semesters end with a certification. The thrid semester is optional and is advanced in either. Class capacity is 19 students and I was number 15. Glad I jumped when I did.

Wish me luck. It's been 30 years, since this dog went to school!

 

Hey I am thinking of taking a welding class at HCC and I might see you there. How much are the classes? I am still pondering if I should take the class you are going to jump in or Blue print reading. Anyone have thoughts on this???

 

Hey, do they pay more for people who learn how to read blue prints?

 

Good luck Fred, we are looking forward to your first tech week post on TIG puddle control!

 

The first semester is about $1,300... if I remember right. Blueprint reading isn't a course, it's one of the classes in the course.

 

Well, day one is August 27. I got my books last week and that set me back $400! I'm really looking forward to it. Other than the blueprint reading, there's a LOT of math in this semester, but it's high school math, which means it'll be kicking my ass.

 

Good luck, I know all about new "jobs". Change can be good - just don't change your avatar to some dude welding!

 

Nah...... too many fans, can't change it. Maybe I'll have someone photoshop a torch in her hand.

 

Ain't she neat! I read some where, her measurements were 37-22-33 . Seriously, how traditional is that?

 

All the best for your study Fred.

Regards,
Hot Rod Todd

 

Wow, 1300 is steep, so did you pay in district tuition our out of district tuition? I am curious what is the class number you are taking? WLDG 1407 Intro to Welding Using Multiple Processes or WLDG 1421 - Intro.to Welding Fundamentals and is it a credit course or just continuing education? I am a veteran also and 27 years old. From what I understand that the Financial Aid will cover some of the tuition (Half I think) and that the Texas workforce will even pay for the training due to the high demand of welders( maybe all of it). It states it in the HCC website and other community college websites. Currently I am going to attend Lone Star and HCC for WLDG. I hear San JAC is well connected with the industry and their course load is top notch. Hope you do good. Well, let me know.

 

Sorry I missed this earlier; I think I may be able to give some usable advice. I live and work in the Houston area, been in the construction and inspection trades for 25 years. In this area a good pipe welder can do pretty well for himself. There are a lot of rod burners out there, but there are fewer good welders. Most people start by welding with stick rods and move to TIG. A lot of the procedures that are in place in the refineries and chemical plants is to “run” a bead and hot pass with TIG and “fill and cap” with stick. This would apply to carbon steel and chromes. Stainless Steel is usually welded with TIG exclusively.

There is a big demand for good welders and some of them make pretty good money. There is a lot of new construction planned for this area in the next few years. Good Luck in your new adventure and keep us posted on your progress.

 

i don't mean to be a downer or discourage you at all.
i have a close friend who was able to retire in his 50's after 35 years at his previous job. his second career was welding. he now has parkinsons. i have to wonder if the claims about the link to welding and the disease are real. it scares the hell out of me.

 

how are the classes going?

 

You'll learn em both in class...get good at gas welding, tig is exactly the same...mig is used more in manufacturing settings, tig in repair welding and stainless and specialty welding. I enjoy either equally, but the money would be in NDT of welds

 

Okay, a little update. I've mentioned some of my head way in a few other threads, but I'm trying to use this as a sort of journal.

I passed all my classes last semester and finished with a 3.8 GPA. A big surprise was an A in Blueprint Reading. There was a shit load of math and I hate math. So, I studied the formulas and kicked ass. The actual blueprint reading turned out to be fun. I like to draw and I caught on pretty quick. The instructor used some of my answers to check other students! Some companies here pay fairly well for weldors who can read prints, so I still flip through my textbook, when I get board.

Next semester starts MONDAY! More stick and gas, along with TIG. I can't wait. I'm going to invest in a auto-darkening helmet. Stick gave me trouble because I couldn't see where to start my bead until the stick lite. I don't want to be starting blind when I get into TIG.

The courses for MIG weren't provided this coming semester, so I'll end up taking it in the summer. Also, overhead stick was a BITCH!

 

Yea, I'm sure there are dangers, but so is smog, cigarettes, coffee, sugar, red heads, etc, etc. In my opinnion, about all a person can do is be aware and take the appropriate safety precautions. After that, it's up to the big man upstairs.

 

Sorry I missed your post before. If you're a VET, like I am, you are eligible for the G.I. Bill. Talk to the HCC VET reps. They'll get you started. There are a TON of ways for a VET to go to school. The government LOVES it, when we ask for money to go to school.

Also, you don't have to take all the courses. If all you want to learn is TIG, you can just take the TIG courses. It won't be a degree plan, just side courses. Anyone can take any course they chose. Some have specific requirements. Like, you can't take advanced TIG without Intro to TIG. For obvious reasons. Otherwise, take what you need.

Keep in mind, the certificate that HCC gives is almost worthless. It will look good in your resume, but whatever job you go to, they'll give a certificate test. That decides where you are, as far as they are concerned. So I was told by the company that offered me a job.

 

Fred I am just finishing my second year of welding night school. One more semester and im done in may. I'm 43 and my only regret is I wish I would have done it 10-20 years ago. I had a couple different instructors and all them were great and specialized in a different types of welding. I learned oxy from a 70 year old who started his own AWS inspector business, great story's to go along with his instruction he fixed airplane frames in hawaii for pilot instuction and crashed one of the planes in the ocean...... Not related to his welding or pilot skills. My current instructor has been working with me ..... He knows TIG is my main interest so he allows me to use any xtra time to hone my TIG skills .....welding stainless pipe with a purge or making an aluminum oil tank, our welding class has pipe benders an iron worker ,brakes, and other fabrication tools. In all honesty I started this program to go in to any welding career..... But If I decide to pursue a welding job it will primarily be TIG orientated job, pipe welding in a field just isn't for me and I'm not sure building garage doors with a spool gun is what I want eighther...at the very least it's a skill I will use probably weekly in my hobbies, I also took the blue printing class but was lucky that my tech math and writing transferred from automotive tech classes I took in 88