hey im 20 years old and have a shitty job now... im gonna go back to school but haven't decided for what yet. i always thought about welding, and then BAM this new forum pops up!!! so what kind of money would a welder make? is it hard work welding all day long, or do you have to do other stuff too? im talking automotive welding, and maybe construction welding too. thanks welders!

 

im a certfied SMAW welder and have TIG,MIG Credits as well average here is 25-$35 an hour

 

Very true, my brother has the LA Cert so many other certs and the sort. He got $2,000 for two weeks on the job (was one of those side job dealies) Seems to me they bank.

 

From what I've heard you make big money once your certified. I make good money but don't weld all the time at work. It's awesome in the winter when it's cold outside but sucks when it's above 70. The shop I work in isn't climate controlled.

 

.. you should look into it. Maybe, take some classes at your local comm. college or something to get an idea.

 

another question, did you guys all start with apprenticeships? like how would i get my feet wet?

 

I am a Government certification card holder in TGMAW and GMAW I mainly specify in specialty materials such as 5% chrome 10.5% chrome and CopperNickel along with 400 series staniless (has magnetic properties)......I am only 19 and I can easly go out and make upwards of $20 an hour. Jobs are easy to find....sometimes....but you have to remember that welders are a dime a dozen...a metal artist is a rareity. I honestly consider myself a artist only because I grew up welding and learning under the advisory of a true craftsman (my Uncle Paul is a master machinest)

if you really want to hit bank and you are not worried about your long term availability, get into underwater welding and head over to the Scotland Shipyard. You can easily make upwards of $90 an hour if you are good enough. but you are resytricted to how much you are allowed to work per day, per week and per year for safety reasons.

 

noy always I'm ceirtified for mig and stick and I only make $16 an hour fabricating concrete forms and I'm a forman it depends on were you live and what your doing

 

Seems like welding for a living would get monotonous. Guess tons of other things are too

 

Well only if you weld the same parts over and over. At my previous job the welders did different things all the time. They welded Titanium, Aluminum, SMO and 316SS (food grade). They weren't certified (as far as I know) but they made around $23-$30 per hour. I really like welding and machining and assembly, BUT I prefer only on my own car, NOT AS A JOB. That is only my opinion, since it is kinda like a hobby. I totally agree with RuskeR, try doing some classes at a local community college; they are farely cheap to take (compared to state schools or Tech schools) so if you decide you don't like it you wont have spent a great deal of money to find it out. But if you do they just continue your education on it.

 

yea that is my thing with becoming a mechanic too... i like it is as a hobby, i think i would get sick of it doing it for everyone else! thanks everyone for your input!

 

At the local tech school, the bulletin board in the welding dept has job offers starting at $14/hr for basic welding skills.

 

Up here in canada, certified welders make 20$ upwards. Some work in metal shops, manufacturing plants, for trucking companies, high rise building construction and even for utility companies as underwater welders.

Job is fine. COuld be a bit dangerous because of the fumes all the time. But in a good shop, with good ventilation, you have no problems.

Great career to get into. If not, it is a great skill to have.

fs

 

we had a welder come out to our house to do some work on our cars its a Alumium frame it had a crack in it , he got 625 for 4 hours of work ,and he used our tig at our house , portable welders can make tons of money

 

I'd say if you're gonna do it, try to eventually open your own bussiness, if you're concerned about making a lot of $.

My uncle welds and owns his own bussiness.... Mostely welding concrete forms (he gets a lot of local govt contracts), and he also rents out large metal storage bins that he welds together (they kinda look like just the TOP part of a tractor-trailer....)
It's a good job if you don't mind monotony, and you don't mind gettin dirty while you work

EDIT: he probably makes 75K+/ yr, maybe 100K, i dunno

 

Normal around here is about 15-20 pending on skill. Once you are really good you can make a ton. My boss used to make F1 manifolds for Ferrari so he makes crazy bank. Id look into some Nascar stuff if you want to make money.

 

I'm curious, how much do those guys working at Mineke and other muffler places make?

 

close to nothing....the mineke back home pays only like 12 bux an hour

I went there to see what I could make for just a regular job instead of always welding in the bottom of ships and in awkward places

 

interesting!!!!!

 

If you want to make bank I'd suggest mastering welding and then getting certified to make NHRA/NOPI etc cages/tube chasis etc. There's a place near me that does tube chassis and stuff like that and hes gotta be banking alot. I went to him so he could weld my bov flange to my charge pipe and he had 3 69 camaros on lifts getting tube chassis, 1 ls1, an iroc and a bunch others. And he has a newer corvette sitting outside with a 150 shot on it. I think it's his.

 

i have a friend whos dad used to tig weld race cars... but he stopped doing it b/c he didn't get enough business. myabe that is just b/c of this area though. that would def. be a fun job i think. i think washing cars would be a fun job, as long as they are high performance race cars, i would do anything! but usually you get stuck washing crappy cars. or wrenching on crappy cars, or welding on crappy cars... that would suck the fun out of the job enough for me not to do it!

 

when i was a tig welder, welding stainless steel cages for medical research. i made 16.25 an hour in nj. but i only worked there for 5 or 6months. my one friend has been working there for 2 or 3years and he make almost 20 and hour i think.

 

My dad is a professional welder, with all the taxes taken out of his salary, he makes $55,000 a year...i say thats pretty damn diggaty good, but you have to realize the condition these people work in...lots of heat during summer...no a/c in building.

 

look in your local classifieds...salaries and hourly wages are very dependent on your local economy. The type of welding, your level of skill and industry also makes a difference in what you should expect to get paid.

It was mentioned a few times, definitely consider your work environment...you will sweat your *** off for most of the year. It is definitely not a comfortable way to make a living.

 

Dude you can train a monkey to weld. The money is in fitting.