Rig Welding Question

[Klugger7214]

I'm a High-School student going into the field of welding and I've got a few questions for all you experienced rig welders. How did you start out? How much experience did you have before you got your own Rig? What did you start out with?

[admweld]

my start

klugger7214,Istarted out in a 87 F-250/pu diesel 6.9 and a TB250G first mobile job i did was refloor a 6yd dumpster 1 large pc. of 10 ga hr sheet AND some 3"channel iron and just been going since, this is my 11yr.my new rig is posted in here if you do a search.on rigs

[J hall]

I started in a fab shop and then moved away and did heavy equipment repair.
Bought my first truck in 1983, a 1976 chevy 1ton, and put a Lincoln SAM-400 on it.

[Richard]

Dear Klugger,

I think its good that you are asking questions so you can make good decisions about your future. I also asked a lot of older more experinced people and got knolige from them to start my future and belive me the older people know and well most off the time help you. you are on the right track

well my father had his own welding rig. he started out working in a shop with heavy equipment and welding. got some experince before going out on his own. you to should go to work in a shop to get some experince and lurn
you can let the shop suport you and you can learn on their clock save up some money and buy as you can to start your own rig/business this will improve your chances of success.
you can go by some welding shops and talk to the owners tell them your situation and you want to start your own rig/business and would like to work for them to get some more experince and knowledge talk to severial shops then make your decision. I fell like this will be good for you
you could work like a internship
also while you are working you can see what you need and like and how other rigs are set up and build our own rig as you want and wich set up will be best for you and your needs.
I hope this helps and keep asking questions

[Fishy Jim]

I disagree in disclosing your intentions with the shops you want to get trained by. The last thing they need is to pay for your education and mistakes only to have you up'n walk out to compete with them when you're finally confident in your skills.

Let them know you want to learn the trade and have a deep interest in the various jobs that mobile welders encounter and start from there.

[MMW]

I must agree with Fishy Jim on NOT disclosing your intentions up front of learning & leaving. If you work hard & give them your best all the time then there will be no hard feelings when you leave. It will take you some time to gain enough experience to go off on your own. Yes some guys have gone out right away & done fine but I think it is better to gain more experience while working for someone. This way if you get in a jam you have people to back you up & help you. Also you will hopefully get a good reputation so when you go out on your own it will be easier to get work right away. Most rig weldors must be able to do a little bit of everything. I have found that it is rare to go to a job & only have to weld something. They may tell you that ahead of time but when you show up you find out that it requires mechanical work as well as fab work before you can even strike an arc. This is where the experience really pays off.
You can also pick up some nice used equipment cheap along the way if you just keep your eyes open & be ready to buy when the opportunity presents itself. Always keep up with what stuff is worth so you know a good deal when you see it. If your working for someone else then you don't have to buy everything right away.
Good luck & keep asking questions. ---MMW---

[Stick rod]

Klugger,
I to agree that it is best not to reveal your intentions to learn and move on.As mmw says learn what you can on their time.You will be better prepared to go out on your own.In the shop enviroment you will be able to see what will and what won`t work,it`s a whole differant game in the field when you have to improvise something to complete the job.By having the shop experience it will help you make wise desicions on site.If the shop does portable work try to get involved with it you may find it`s not your cup of tea.You can also get a feel for what tools to buy and which ones are the most durable.Also said before portable work most times involves more than showing up and welding.A little shop experience will give you an idea what can be involved and you may find there are certain jobs you want no part of on your own.All of us here have done jobs once that we will avoid like the plague.You may find that you want to specilize in one area,pipeline work,heavy equipment,structural or oilfield work.Once on your own you will be glad you have some shop time under your belt.Sorry to ramble on I hope this gives you some idea how you might approach this.

[calweld]

I kind of got into this ***-backwards. I grew up operating and driving trucks, ag equipment, and construction equipment, and kind of developed my welding skills as i went along. It all ties in, my knowledge and experience in equipment helps me in my work today. I picked up something from everybody i worked with, was fortunate to run into many talented people (both in business and in welding). I did work one year for a manufacturing/fab plant, that was my only pure welding employment. The whole time I was working for wages, i did have a standing job offer from a local shop (for a lot more money than I was making), never took it, explained to the owner that I intended to go out on my own eventually and didn't want to be in the position of stabbing him in the back by taking his customers while working for him. I told him I was going to try to take customers away from him, but i was going to do it on my own. It turns out he appreciated my honesty, after I did start on my own he was one of my best sources for advice, and we did do quite a bit of business together since he knew he could send me out somewhere and I wouldn't turn around and hand my cards to his customer after I did the job.

I started with a 1968 Ford F250, I built a bed, ended up so overloaded had to double the rear springs, find xtra heavy duty front coils, truss the rear axle with 3/4" turnbuckles, if the commercial cops saw that truck today they'd probably throw me in jail. Went to a 91 F350 with a utility bed, still overloaded, discovered that a utility bed is good for neat people, I'm not, so that was a mistake. Now back to a flatbed with toolboxes, this time on a IHC, so plenty of capacity and room for my mess.

You will need experience, shop experience is good, you can learn little tricks from the experienced guys that make the work easier and better and faster. Whatever you plan to go into (pipe, general fab, equipment repair, ornamental work, etc.) you need to learn the particulars. When you're on your own, there's nobody who is going to be standing there and telling you to "weld here" or "do this before that", or 'be careful of this", you need to know yourself.

What mmw and stickrod said about portable work is very true. You have to be versatile and flexible to do this work, you don't always have the perfect environment with the perfect tools and the perfect materials to do the job, especially if you're doing repair work.

[Coalsmoke]

They may tell you that ahead of time but when you show up you find out that it requires mechanical work as well as fab work before you can even strike an arc. This is where the experience really pays off.

I couldn't agree more.

As for experience, I have about 8 years, of which 4 are directly in the field I have just opened my business in where I was running a welding rig for a heavy equip. company. Now granted, this is in a bit of a tougher market here because we I am in a relitively higher population area, but still, I think it applies somewhat universaly. I wish I had another year to build contacts, 4 just isn't enough when you are working for another company. But, 4 is 50X better than 2. I have been in busniess 2 weeks with the new rig and no work yet. You will find many people already have their "favourite" welder to call upon. Business is out their, it just seems to take time, like most things good. As my barber reminded me today, if it were easy, there would be too much compitition.

Stick Rod mentioned the different types of work. I agree, get tastes of them all and see what you like. Ornamental can be quite creative, structural can be very clean and heavy equipment repair is about as dirty as you can get (lying on your back having to scoop mud out of your helmet gets old real quick ) I personally like heavy and forestry equipment repair, and can't stand much structural work, shop work is great if you like to have some time off, as most times it is 8-4, where as mobile will often find you working all and any hours. Even ended up doing a 24 hr shift once, now I know better

Best pieces of advice:

1. be on the ball,
2. listen what people have to say and pay attention to what people are not saying,
3. hold integrity on the highest degree, it will pay off in spades,
and
4. be willing and ready for about darn near anything.

[Fishy Jim]

One more thing to add to that list: Don't take a job you know you cannot do.

People will respect you for declining the work because you cannot do it up to standard, they will haunt you if you say you can and botch it.

[Pile Buck]

Hi Klugger7214, I agree with these guys about going to work in a fab shop first. While I was still in high school I worked in a small shop. The welding school I went to was affiliated with my high school. With my grades I was allowed to go to work full time before graduation. Soon as I graduated on a Friday, my dad had me in an apprenticeship by the next Tuesday. Once I started getting around pipe fitter weldors it was obvious who was the cream of the crop. I bugged the sheet out of every pipe weldor I was around to teach me how to weld pipe. 98 % of them helped where they could. My last job as an apprentice I was working with about 15-pipe weldors. One of the older guys told me I would never be an elite weldor in the trade I was in, because there just wasn’t enough welding at any one time. He suggested I go to work in a shop, where I could weld everyday. Luck have it, that’s exactly how it worked out. I worked 3-years in a nuclear fab shop.

One thing these guys didn’t touch on, which I think is very important!
Estimating, I suggest you get in the habit right off the get go of keeping a log. Write down everyday what you did and how long it to you to do it. Make up a time card, or just take a loose-leaf binder. But some how keep records. Nothing will break your back faster than giving your work away. Don’t pay for the privilege of doing work for someone.

[Stick rod]

One thing these guys didn’t touch on, which I think is very important!
Estimating, I suggest you get in the habit right off the get go of keeping a log. Write down everyday what you did and how long it to you to do it. Make up a time card, or just take a loose-leaf binder. But some how keep records. Nothing will break your back faster than giving your work away. Don’t pay for the privilege of doing work for someone.

Very good point! I keep detailed records of all jobs I do also.Tracking things such as time from arrival to leaving,time the engine drive has run,how much welding rod was used,grinding wheels,buffing pads,drill bits,etcTrack as much as you can so when you run into a similar job you can go back through your files for referance.Another thing I do is when I bill someone I give a description of the work that was performed,doesn`t need to be detailed down to the last minute.Some jobs can be very involved to do but don`t look that time consuming when they are all done,that way the customer has some idea why you billed them for 8 hours when by looking at the job they think it should have been done in 4 hours.And if at all possible take pictures of work you`ve done to keep as referance cause we all tend to forget something sooner or later.

[Klugger7214]

Wow, that helped alot. So it sounds as if I should get at least 5 years experience in a shop environment before even thinking about the rig. I will be doing an apprenticeship through my High-School next year (I am currently a Junior). I dont really know how many other Rig weldors there are in this area. I only know of one so finding other rigs may be a task. I am hoping to get a job/ apprenticeship through that one rig weldor. How about getting your name out there to get business once you have a rig. What is the best way to go about that?

[J hall]

When I moved home, the fab shop I used to work for pushed my name out there as they did no portable work.

[fun4now]

one thing no one has mentioned is there is more than 1 way to skin a cat, just because your instructor at school told you to do it this way dosent mean thats the only or even the best way.nothing an expereance forman will hate more than a snot nosed kid just out of school telling him he is doing it rong.even if he is. i asure you if you act thet way if you dont lose your job you will atleast lose the opertunity to lern from him.if you think your way is better i would say "wow they told us at school to do it this way,how come you do it like that is it faster or just hold better" by putting as if he is right you might just lern he is, and he will be happy to keep teaching you.

also be shoure to keep pack out and pack up time in your mind when you estamate a job, thats not to say you can charge 4 hr's to do a 2 minuit weld because you spent 3-1/2 hr's looking for your helmit, but time you spend on the job is just that time on there job, be prepared and organized and it will be a small amount added in, or a large understandable part depending on the job.

although it may verry with mobil rig welding as a carpenter i always charged for role up time and did role out on my time, in your area they may well charge for bolth. if you get a chance to work on a mobil rig with your new shop job check it out, ask ???? and see how its done.