Having this same experience at my local community college. Feel like I tossed $800 out the window. I’m not trying to get a degree or certificate. Just wanting to learn for my car hobby at home. First I purchased a cheap little flux core welder and I was practicing at home. Not really sure how to correct my mistakes or how I can improve. Thought I’d take a class. The textbook they had me get has helped a lot with the basics. The defect materials in the classroom have also helped me see what I’m doing wrong and how I can improve. I’ve also learned that a $4000 welding machine is far superior to my easy flux 125 from harbor freight lol. I’ve learned kids at night school are unmotivated and want to go home early. Along with the part time teachers. Well the assistant is a good guy and he can weld very good but it’s his first time as an assistant and you can tell he doesn’t really know how to teach. Being really good at something and teaching it are 2 different things. I do notice the young girls getting tons of in the booth instruction from the actual teacher while the rest of us get brushed off when we bring our work over for tips or instruction. Assistant says you’ll just figure it out. Keep welding. Or watch me weld then try to copy it. Is what it is. I’m not going to complain about it. Maybe I’m just getting old but I’m really unimpressed with the college environment. Going to reward myself with a miller 211 for finishing the class before the rebate expires at the end of March. Then I’ll just keep working at it at home. RU-vid is also a great help.
Good overview on welding schools. My son went to a program like you described. He thrived in the environment and liked the hands on training they provided. At the end of his training his instructor recommended him to an international welding shop. The week after school was over he had a new job. America needs tradesmen to keep our county running. Also, a well trained welder makes a good living and their salaries rival those of college graduated students.
Hey, Beau, I took the same class in 2000-2001 at the Jamestown campus., ..GTCC.....night time classes of 3 SMAW and 2 GMAW 5 days a week, Then the GTAW and High Pressure Pipe 4 nights a week, a dude came around looking for weldors in 2001 [he had taken classes there] and I applied and was hired on the spot....continued my classes, best thing I ever did....Cheers, Paul
That is awesome I was in the new facility but was taking night classes as well until the summer, where I switched to daytime for Tig Pipe and Certification Practices.
Great video I really wish I had this when I went my biggest tip for welding class I went in with no knowledge whatsoever on how to weld so I found in all honesty just ask the instructors are there to help you and most welding classes have assistants to help you too if you don't want to ask them then try asking somebody who's in one of the more advanced classes or someone who just generally knows what they're doing
I was always asking my instrutors questions through school. It can be intimidating to ask for help but that is why your instructor is there in the first place, to answer the questions you might have that could help you get better.
I'm 14 and I want to start welding 1 because there's good jobs out there that pay good 2 I can help my grandpa weld some of his stuff together that breaks all the time
then don't go to a school that doesn't offer you AWS D1.1 certification or CWB certification. All of these schools you see online don't get you a job without welding tickets through a verified apprenticeship program.
Late to the party I know, however as a youngster. Check your local vocational school. I know near me junior and senior high school students can take a trade program of their choice. Just have to get a seat first that is.
Thank you Sir, you have been very helpful to all of us here in our own little shop. You covered very important details about keeping safe, and we appreciate your help. Thank you.
I'm in the nuclear program. It's an associates degree. We started out doing stick, then mig and tig. We end with pipe welding, advanced pipe, and welding maintenance. I don't plan to work at a nuclear plant though.
Grinder wise, get the kind that has a dead man switch - DO NOT GET A GRINDER WITH AN On/Off SWITCH! Sooner or later IT WILL KICK OUT OF YOUR HANDS! I've experienced it 1st hand - the Deadman switch saved my life! The cutting wheel hit the inside of my leg where my femoral arterie is! Didn't get a scratch where as without the Deadman switch it would have been severed!
Yikes, man! For anyone else reading this, dead man switches include paddle switches and (for "rat tail" grinders) trigger switches. Just be careful how you hold a paddle switch grinder when you're not running it, so you don't accidentally bump the safety catch and turn it on when you don't want. I learned this last week while using a wire wheel and trying to adjust the guard. Fortunately my leather gloves saved my left hand. If you need to make a quick guard adjustment on the fly, hold the tool by the handle and not the body. 😬
Thank you so much for answering most of my questions about what to expect on day one of welding school. I am applying to Lincoln Tech. I have looked through the course description but am having difficulty deciphering between, Welding and Metal Fabrication Technology vs. Welding Technology. It seems that both classes have the same 4 types of welding. ie. Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW), Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW/MIG), Flux Core Arc Welding (FCAW), and Gas Tungsten Arc Gas Welding (GTAW/TIG).
.... A lot of us in the the field, out here in Louisiana, carry old sawzall blades with the teeth filed off, in conjunction with a fitting wedge to maintain proper spacing in grove welding and pipe welding. That's just one of a few things I wish I was told back in school.
thank you for this video man!!! Im plannin to shoot an application within the next two weeks to my local college for "WELDING/FABRICATION". wish me luck man ill be following your channel
Current addictions counsellor going back to school this January (2024) to get my certification in welding and fabrication! Thank you for the video’s, they are extremely helpful.
I'm starting in the fall at macomb community college. My school has two certificates 1. Basic welding 2. Advanced welding. The basic teaches safety, metallurgy, diff metals, the flat/horizontal position of all different welding types. The advanced focuses on overhead/vertical and certificates for all the different types including pipe, tool/die, maintenance. Each one is its own class. I'm doing the basic, while applying to apprenticeship for pipefitter/ironworker. If I don't get In. I'll do the advanced. And then reapply to pipefitter
I've been debating taking the welding classes at the local tech college, but I'm an older student doing it for my own business (I'm a blacksmith), and I've had a recent hearing loss (illness, not PPE failure). I'm pretty sure they'd work with me on my learning goals, since the local program is pretty free-form. How practical is it to take welding classes with a severe hearing loss? Books and hands-on are all fine, but I couldn't sit through a stereotypical university lecture anymore.
I'm only speaking from my own experience here, but I'd find it difficult to get through some of the demonstrations with limited hearing. In my school's shop, it is always pretty loud, so the instructors are often shouting over the racket and have to repeat things multiple times. However, they do have options for people with a wide range of disabilities and seem like they'd try really hard to accommodate everyone. Before coughing up any tuition, I'd contact an advisor from the school and see what they can do to accommodate you. The vast majority of my actual classwork is visual, and I don't have any lectures. It's all in the shop. But that also may vary from school to school.
Thanks for this video. Very informative. I'm about to start classes and this video is encouraging. I hope you are enjoying your profession and a wish you great success.
thank you sir. really appreciate the info. i’m from romania and after i finish the truck driving school i wanna enroll into welding school. very helpful info. thx again.
I’m 17 got my GED and looking to go to welding school, but I’ve never welded a day in my life never even seen a welding machine in person. Do you think I should take some welding classes before going to an actual welding school to get certified ? they have an advanced welding school right down the road from my house I’ve already been there to take a tour of the school. don’t know if I should dive right in to AWS or take some classes first. Let me know what you would recommend please thank you 🙏
Not at all similar to my school experience. D1.1 smaw class and I watched a 20 minute safety video and started welding. Very little information was communicated they just want you to start testing as soon as possible. Passed 3G and 4G by the hair of my ass and left with a d1.1 ticket in about 30 hours. No prior experience welding and I still don't know shit about welding but I'm certified. Pretty sad about it. I wouldn't hire me.
My biggest concern is my safety, I start my first class tomorrow and I’m so damn nervous especially because I have anxiety and I just wanna make sure I don’t hurt myself.😣
Yea, everything was fine I just always way overthink things and expect the worse but I sucked at the welds because I couldn’t see anything bc I needed glasses badly but now that I have glasses I’m doing pretty good with welding.
I have never had any ' welding classes ' of any kind. The closest to a welding class I might have had was getting ready to take certification tests the instructors showed us how to do the test.. I have been welding in various different shops doing various different kinds of welds on all kinds of different materials. If I were to take a welding class I would expect the instructor to tell me everything I do is wrong. Then I would learn how to do everything right so I could then go back to my job and do everything wrong as my job is in the real world where hardly anything is like the books.
In school you won't have to worry about lifting much more than a practice plate or coupons. I would say 20 lbs is going to be the max but I would recommend a tool box with wheels if you have to take them with you each day.
Do you have a video going over certifications and which to get or how to get them or if you need them? I’d like some info on how to work in a shop environment vs a mobile environment.
I have a question how do I joined welding school there’s some near me but I would like to know how to get in first starters because I’m having a lot of trouble what to do or how to get in
I want to check out my local Community College just to get the welding certificate they offer. I dont want to go into the industry now, but I'm interested in it as a new skill/hobby. Do you think I'd be wasting my time and money taking classes?
I was the same as you and this is what I did. I live in Louisiana and there is a jobs program called “la works”. I was able to enroll in my local community colleges welding program through laworks. It’s non-credit which I didn’t care about and the cost is 250 a semester. Because it’s non-credit there is no degree if I go all the way through but I’m still getting my certs so it’s all good. See if your state has something similar.
That is kind of what I did as well I went in and got the Certificate in Welding Technology. It gave me a great understanding of Mig, Tig and Stick. Any time you get to spend under the hood is going to be a great investment. You could also look for a local makers place that might offer welding courses.
I couldn't pass my other classes did great in my welding and blacksmithing course but when it came to the other bs classes they made me take I failed them. Horribly. Tech writing. Us history (wrong). Psychology 101. Couldn't hack it. It wasn't what I wanted to learn anyways. I only wanted to sharpen up my math skills and learn to weld better. 30,000 in loan debts now. Can't afford to pay em.
My only hesitancy to joining a welding program is exactly that, all the bs extra classes. Im considering a specialized trade school, like UTI, which has a 36 week program, with no other junk classes. 36 weeks, no BS, and get your AWS certification.
School was always hard for me unless it was a subject that I was super interested in. The program I went into was 100% welding but I did come in with transfer credits for my gen ed requirements. You still have your welding skills thought and tons of companies will teach you even if you don't have a degree or diploma.
What knowledge or understanding do you need before entering a welding career? Also, do you have to have your truck setup to work for someone? Thank you!
As far as understanding knowing how to read a tape measure is super helpful but outside of that just know it is going to take patience. You don’t need a work truck for shop jobs and a lot of work.
It looks like East Windsor has a Welding Technology Diploma program. Looks like they have a few mig classes as part of that program you have GMAW Plate and GMAW Pipe as well as a Fabrication course.
@@beaujamesblues Thank you Beau for your quick reply! I will look into this school. I am looking to use MIG welding in small engine repair and similar. More of a hobby. Already purchased almost all items you reviewed including Hobart Handler 140 and gas AR/CO2. Been sitting for over a year with no use. I need instructions on correct use. Your are so right when saying very expensive to purchase items. Thanks again for your help.
@@vinopan5374 So for that machine you are going to have your Wire Feed Speed (WFS) on the top knob that will control the speed that the wire is fed to the gun. Your bottom knob is going to be your voltage. On the inside of the door, there should be a guide for setting your parameters for different thicknesses of material. These are a starting point for you to get up and running. Taking a few classes is going to help you understand what you want to hear sound-wise for your settings but also you will understand what you are supposed to be seeing in the puddle.
i think mig welding is the most popular/most used welding method, but the machines i've seen are two or three times as expensive as the stick and flux machines. am i just not looking in the correct places?
Im mostly deaf.. no welding classes for people who can't hear. kinda have to teach ones self. Just purchased a small stick welder and auto tenting helmet and heavy welding gloves. but it looks like i need to so much more. shoes , cap, jacket etc etc
Any skin exposed to the welding arc will result in a painful sunburn - even after only 5-10 minutes of welding depending on the amperage. It SUCKS ( I'm speaking from 1st hand experience)!
The first day of class my teach told us that we were about to be inducted to the Black Booger Society and I thought it was a joke but now it is a way of life.
It depends what kind of welding you’re doing. If you’re doing pipeline work, you would need to know basic math like decimals and fractions and how to covert them. Fabrication welding can require more advanced math. So it all depends, but in most cases, math is going to be part of the job no matter what.
Went to school but had the worst welding instructor I have ever seen. Didn’t give two craps about students, he just wanted to take our money and look pretty. Certainly not pretty i mind you. Showed favoritism to a few people there and was either talking to them or dug in his office with his feet up and pretty much doing nothing than looking pretty. So before you sign up for for schooling get to know your future welding instructors first. I had to go to his classes because he was the only instructor in my area. So he only served as a way to get paperwork to show I took his damn class.
Please watch this verse is informative Revelation 14:12 (1599 Geneva Bible) 12 [a]Here is the patience of Saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Another thing to keep in mind is how your pants fit. Trust me when I say a hot spark hitting your junk is no fun. Make sure that waist is pretty tight 😂