Tee Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Greetings All, I'm looking to go back to school for a Welding Certificate at the local trade school. Below are the classes offered in the program. I would like to get your thoughts on the programs classes offered. I have no welding experience and will be taking a blacksmith courses nest spring from a local organization. Thanks for your help. WLDT 1410 Oxy-Acetylene Welding, Cutting & Brazing, Carbon Arc & Plasma 4 WLDT 1420 Intro to SMAW, Metallurgy & Welding Theory E6013 & E6010 4 WLDT 1430 Intro to Blueprint & Measuring Devices 4 WLDT 1440 Intro to Welding Certification & SMAW E7018 4 WLDT 1510 GMAW, Short Arc 4 WLDT 1520 Intro to GTAW - Mild Steel & Stainless 4 WLDT 1530 GMAW Spray & Pulse & Welding Certification 4 WLDT 1540 GTAW Blueprint Symbols, Weld Inspection & Welder Certification 4 Total Program Credits 32 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old N Rusty Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Welcome to IFI! That sounds like a great lesson plan of study, and I hope you get many hours of practice welding in this school. That is everything in a nutshell.. PRACTICE lots of practice lots of hours , days, weeks of practice. Where do you want to go with welding? Pipe welding? Many opportunities!! after the school has certified you go to your local union and get in the apprentice program, as a certified welder you will almost immediatly jump to full journeyman wages. and earn good money. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWHII Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 All the classes listed will give you a good foundation on your welding career. Like Old & Rusty say's pratice, practice, practice. Even when you start to get consistently good coupons, start to learn to use your opposite hand. I have work with a lot of men who have not had a good, or any welding education and the ones who have always seem to be a step ahead of the ones who have had none. Good luck! B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinton Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Ya- what they said, lots of practice. When I went to school for pipe welding we spent the first semester on plate only and it was a full time job in the shop Monday - Friday, welding every day for 8 hours. The second semester we started to work with pipe. After the school and getting certified no one wanted to hire a welder with no experience. I took my first job living out of my car at $ 4.25/ hr, it has taken me years to gain the skills that I have now. I do hear stories of guys getting hired on right out of school and making big bucks, I guess I was not one of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWHII Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Ya- what they said, lots of practice. When I went to school for pipe welding we spent the first semester on plate only and it was a full time job in the shop Monday - Friday, welding every day for 8 hours. The second semester we started to work with pipe. After the school and getting certified no one wanted to hire a welder with no experience. I took my first job living out of my car at $ 4.25/ hr, it has taken me years to gain the skills that I have now. I do hear stories of guys getting hired on right out of school and making big bucks, I guess I was not one of them Clinton don't feel alone. It was the same way for me. $4.50 hr. welding aluminum skylite frames. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry H Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Are you taking all these classes ? Or asking opinions ? since you are a beginner I would take the first four, If you are looking for a welding career take them all I started welding with no exp, $ 3.10 an Hr in a sweat shop, it was horrid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawn patterson Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 I am a certified pro welder. I do everything, or can at least, in my line of work we do very little stick but.... I worked as a welder for ten years before ever needing any credentials and by that time i had alot of experience. Over the coarse of a month me and another guy got all the necessary certs in .035, .045, and 1/16 mig and 4 different certs in tig. Theres a huge learning curve for someone going into school without any experience. We were actually automatically certified in blueprint reading and schematics because we had been functionally using those skills for so long. The one thing i would stress is not rushing into the first job offer. Find a clean and responsible company to work with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McPherson Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 All trade schools offer the same basic list of courses. Here in NC, courses are either accredited statewide under the state college board, or not. The quality of the instructors makes all the difference. Ask about years of experience, and any credentials, affiliations and training they have. Also see if the schools training programs are qualified under the AWS SENSE program, NCCER, or equivalent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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