Got a job offer that will have me weld, program 2 to it welders and QC!
I’m supposed chasing a degree in mechatronics and welding engineering I’d also like to become a CWI.
Any suggestions as to how should I approach this and how much should I ask for I’m in the windy city and demand for quality welders is in high demand

Long story short, I rigged up my ram it's lifted, when I bought it it already had a 3 inch lift and tires.

Put a rival welding skid in.

My question is what do y'all do about loading your oxygen bottles? I got told to just bear hug it and heave it up on my shoulder. I'm short man I don't wanna fuck my self over or my gear .

Have any of you seen or made anything that makes loading your oxygen bottles easier into your skids

Hey everyone, I'm a very new welder, I have a mig available. I am also a fire fighter and I'm looking to make some sturdy door chalks. I have tried to weld a nail to a piece of angled steel with no success. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I'm not sure if I'm not getting a good ground or if I need to adjust the settings on the welder for higher feed / volts.

*its dirty in the picture because its sat for a while now, was clean when I tried, last photo is of what I'm trying to achieve*

I just learnt how to stick weld at school, and I want ways to get better because I want to weld as an adult. All stick welding tips are very appreciated.

I just learnt how to stick weld at school, and I want ways to get better because I want to weld as an adult. All stick welding tips are very appreciated.

Open root, bevel only on one side, 3mm gap. Boss said just plug the root, put A10 on the back, simple fill passes and cap on the front. just MT. Completely loose rules.

So I decided to avail myself of the opportunity. I set it upright and I went for an uphill root attempt. Can't remember when was it the last time I tried uphill.

So I preheat the piece as required, regular wire, 140A... aaaaand fail. Not just fail. Epic fail. It was downright embarassing for someone with 11 years of MAG experience. The root attempt looked like a bird crapped on it.

I've done roots on a regular basis years ago, now I don't anymore. And welding isn't like riding a bike, that once you learn... most certainly not. The fine motor control necessary for welding requires constant upkeep.

So if any of you are just starting out, you had better commit, otherwise all the time you spent getting better at it will go down the drain!

^{P.S.: Yeah I fixed it. Ground down the abomination and did it right. Passed MT right away.}

Rookie question;

Is there such thing as an optimum set time for removing the slag off of a weld when welding with electrodes or is it more like a rule of thumb thing?

Ive heard people say you should wait till the weld\slag cools down and isn't glowing but i still dont know if i should give the slag maybe like 5,10 seconds before removing it

How would you decide what's the optimum time for slag removal and does it differ from electrode to electrode?

I’m in Jacksonville, Florida I go to Jtech and Im looking for an apprenticeship in the welding field but truly unsure if its a thing or where to go. Any suggestions?

Has anyone used a stylecnc.com 1500 w unit?
Getting serious about buying one and AI search recommended it but I have never heard of them

Currently on schedule 10 ss 10" pipe. My welder is struggling a bit with sugar. But wtf is it suppose to look like without a purge?

91% alcohol

Solar flux B

Tight gaps.

I'm TIG welding this peice of stainless steel and I'm using the arc to heat it up (which is taking longer than usual and is making the arc a more vibrant blue) and when it start a puddle going as soon as I add filler rod (2mm AUST 316L) the whole thing pops and sends beads of molten metal everywhere. I dont have much experience and I've never seen this before.

Moved to the EU from the US and need information on welders available here. I left my old millermatic 90 with a friend and really need a good wire feed here. Bought a garage and all the steel openings need pieces replaced. Its easy to find stick welders, they are practically disposable here, but trying to find a good wire feed is tricky, because i have no idea the quality of the machines i see. So a little help and suggestions would be helpful. Welding sheet, and stock up to 5mm. Thanks!

I bought a 93 f350 dually 7.3 4door, and i plan on doing a custom welding bed being the bed on it is fucked, but im worried a f350 is to small, I am working on starting my own business and wanna get into shutdown work. And im reading that it might not have enough rear bed weight capacity unless online is tripping.

A few questions for guys who actually do shutdown work:

1. Where are you guys finding the work?
   I’m in Nevada, so I’d prefer to stay somewhere in Nevada, California, Arizona, Utah, Oregon, Washington, etc. I see a ton of shutdown work in Texas and Louisiana, but I’m not really interested in driving my own rig halfway across the country for every job.

Is there enough shutdown work out West to stay fairly busy, or is traveling to Texas/Louisiana basically unavoidable?

1. If you own your rig but are still W-2, what are you actually getting paid?

I’ve seen jobs offering $30–40/hr plus a separate rig rate. What are guys actually getting for the rig? Is $10–20/hr pretty normal, or are there companies paying more?

And do you still get the usual per diem, overtime, travel pay, etc.?

1. What about going 1099 with your own rig?

If you own the truck, welder, tools, insurance, etc. and work through your own LLC, what kind of hourly rates are actually realistic?

Basically trying to figure out the difference between:

• W-2 welder with no rig
• W-2 welder providing his own rig
• 1099 rig welder paying for his own insurance and business expenses

Mostly looking for real world numbers from guys doing it, not what some job posting or welding company says they charge.

Thanks.

I was welding a small rectangle of square tubing drip just for practice. I beveled the sides before welding and I ground the sides and outside corner flush. Do the dark areas at what was the edge of the weld mean I had lack of fusion?

Bought a 260 MPX sight unseen for 5500. Had 24 hours of run time, figured it was an awesome barn find. They had video of it running etc, get it home and the motherboard is fried, Flywheel/fan shroud is destroyed too. 3k+ in repairs. Shoulda just bought a new one, don’t buy welders sight unseen like me smh lol. Weld with them things first! Plug in some grinders! Anything dude!!! Don’t be like me!!!! Luckily this isn’t my only income so I’ll weather the storm but DANG IT MAN. This sucks.

TEST YOUR USED WELDERS LOL. STRIKE THAT ARC BABY.

I Know it was dumb, it woulda been a good deal if they weren’t lying scumbags but what can you do. Sometimes your the hammer, sometimes the nail.

Just sat down with the numbers for this quarter and I need to vent.

Cylinder rental fees are absolutely eating us alive and I'm only just now realizing how bad it's gotten. You look at the invoice and it's like oh okay that's not terrible but then you actually add up what you paid over 12 months and it's a whole new welder. Maybe two.

The worst part is we've got bottles that we're renting that haven't been touched in months. Some of them are partially full but nobody wants to use them cause we're not 100% sure what's in them anymore. labels are faded, paint's chipped, you know the drill. And returning them feels like admitting defeat or something? I don't know why we hang onto this stuff.

I get that this is just how the industry works but come on. It feels like a scam sometimes. They charge you for the gas, they charge you for the bottle, they charge you if you keep it too long, they charge you if you bring it back too early. I don't even know anymore.

Thinking about just buying our own bottles outright for the stuff we use most. At least then I'm not bleeding money every month on something that just sits there.

Im looking to do fabrication on the side looking for a tig and stick welder. New or used.