Is welding a skilled trade

would you have to be good with your hands like a carpenter? or could anyone get the hang of it with practise

BreadnBuddha

Anyone who can run a bead of silicon sealant along the edge of a shower tray can mig or arc two bits of 3 or 4mm steel together.

Doing it with thin steel or alloys without burning holes in it, distorting the crap out of it or just making a seam and not really a strong weld is what takes understanding, practice and skill.

Working on car bodies, shells and chassis can encompass every possible type of welding and material you can imagine. If you want to be very competent you need to really understand what you're doing and how everything affects the outcome of the weld and then you must add practice, practice and practice.

For that reason, I'd say it's just like any other trade. Just because you can join a few bits of wood together doesn't make you a cabinetmaker and changing oil and filters doesn't make you a mechanic.

Just because you can use the magic of electricity to melt some metal together, doesn't make you a welder. Add skill, education and practice and yes, welding becomes a highly skilled trade.

Check out this video with some detail on the welding skills that go into finishing a Bentley shell....

dieselbug

TheJiggaman wrote: »

would you have to be good with your hands like a carpenter? or could anyone get the hang of it with practise

Is there a particular reason you ask?

A steady hand and a good eye are essential.

A lot depends on what area of welding you need to know about. It goes from basic stuff welders, to much sought after certified welders who will specialise in their own niche.

Process stainless welding, gas lines, oil or high pressure steam lines, ie pipe welders. Most if not all these welds will be tested to a high standard and as they say, you are only as good as your last weld.

Bpmull

dieselbug wrote: »

Process stainless welding, gas lines, oil or high pressure steam lines, ie pipe welders. Most if not all these welds will be tested to a high standard and as they say, you are only as good as your last weld.

My dad is a welding inspector well he does loads of other forms of material testing too not just welding. As you said these inspections are incredibly difficult the welds don't only have to be visually perfect but dept quality etc. there's welders welding for 20-30 years with all the training and Certs and their welds would still fail regularly enough.

We done a bit of welding in college were trained in a few of the basics and practice does help and after a while you would get handy op and be good at welding gates or a door but proper welding for process plants and oil pipelines is a different ball game althogether. There's not a hope of your welds passing until you've had extensive training and experience and even at that.

jimgoose

Is welding a skilled trade? You bet your patootie it is.

okane1

In my work we deal in pressure vessels which are welded. I'm talking about carbon steel, stainless steel, inconel, monel and thickness from 6mm-200mm. Is welding a skill - absolutely. Been able to maintain an array of welding parameters and then have all your welds fully inspected by third party inspectors with visual, DPI, UT & RT keeps the pressure on the welders to achieve good quality. Tough job

jimgoose

okane1 wrote: »

...inconel, monel and thickness from 6mm-200mm...

Oh HELL yeah.

CianRyan

Man, I'd love to try work on something 200mm.

As a certified welder, bloody hell yes!
The slightest error in the way you hold your welder, the difference between the tip of your tungsten being 1mm-2mm away from your work piece and the amount of gas you use can all determine whether your weld will look alright, never mind pass an X-Ray test!

As said, you can teach a monkey to MIG, stick is slightly more difficult as you have to keep everything very clean, you can't go back on your self and the way different rods react is a huge wobbler for a newbie.
TIG is the goal, to be a good TIG welder takes a lot of practice.

Boskowski

Welder is a proper trade w apprenticeship etc back home.

There is s difference between welding and being a welder. Anyone can weld two pieces of metal together. With a bit of practice even somewhat decent. I can stitch a button back onto my shirt too. Doesn't make me a tailor.

goldfishinbowl

Actually, how does someone become a certified welder? are there training courses or companies who offer training to become a welder? I do understand there are different types of welder. I work for a training (not welding) organisation and over the years this is an area that I have had a few requests from clients wondering where they would go to get trained as a welder.
I know FÁS/Solas offer welding courses but you need to be unemployed to be selected. My clients are usually working and wouldn't qualify for FÁS/Solas courses.
Thanks in advance.