Rig Welding Question

[fun4now]

i did carpentry for nearly 20 years and it too caries all the no fun of rig welding but wouldnt have done it any other way, i loved being outside rather than in an ofice.my nerve root threw the l5-s1 is destroyed now and i am lucky to be able to get out to my shop 2 times a week i'm only 40 now and will only get werse that being said i would do it again (maybee a lil diferent ) if you are an outside kind of guy, that loves doing with your hands, then go for it. if you think you will be rich at 21 from it your looking at the rong job. for me i wouldnt give up the 20 years outside doing what i love (even with all the back strains and soure every thing's) for 40 years in an office. some of the shows on TV right now glorify the welder (like the bike buiding and monster garage) but few will actualy go that rout. it will be a dirty hard job, but with any job if you do it right it can be rewarding. if it is what you love doing, than do it and enjoy the parts you can and deal with the parts that need dealing with. one thing is for shoure welding is a skill that will serve you well in or out of the trade. some people were just ment to be outside its not about grades or being smart its just the kind of person you are, if i was stuck in an office all my life for a job i could only hope it was on the 30th and up floor, so i could jump out the window i just couldnt stand it. you are yung get out there and get dirty. it wont take you too long to figure out ( if you havent already) if you are an outside hands on kinda guy. if not get back in school (jr.collage then on from there) and try something else. retirement is a long way away you have time to make some choices and change them if need be.

i hope this hasent put you off welding, you have put a lot into it already and you should give it your all, if its not for you you will figure it out with plenty of time to change later.

[Coalsmoke]

some people were just ment to be outside its not about grades or being smart its just the kind of person you are, if i was stuck in an office all my life for a job i could only hope it was on the 30th and up floor, so i could jump out the window

Oh how I can relate good way of putting it.

[Klugger7214]

I am one of those people who love the outdoors and I am very hands on. I've gotten the speech about the dirt and the back aches from many of my relatives and collueges alike and I still think I would enjoy it.

[fun4now]

then odd's are you will injoy it.

[goatwelder]

I’ve got to chime in. I majored in electronics and spent 12 years being an electronics technician and in production. I co founded a corporation and was a director of a research and development department as well as a vice president. I have worked at all levels of corporate life.
I started welding late in life. It is something I always wanted to do. I find much more satisfaction in having my own small shop than I ever did working for others at any level in a corporate situation. I am my OWN MAN. I have NO politics to deal with. I only answer to me and the current customer…and my wife. Now I don’t work at all, I just play because now my job is my hobby.
I was out today installing some of the 98 parking lot signs I built. I was feeling so happy on the way home thinking what a lucky guy I am to be able to do my hobby and get paid for it. If you really love what you do its not work, its play.

[admweld]

i enjoy what i do but goatwelder after you done say 98 buckets you won,t think there that much funny anymore the fun always wears off at least IMO.now i,m in to just prove my integrity in the long haul.opps there goes the ego

[Klugger7214]

I expect it to get old after awhile but that will happen with any job. IMO it's when you master what you are doing that it becomes old. So if you can change things up a bit then it wont get so old so quick. But thats just my opinion.

[Coalsmoke]

5 years out in the field and it hasn't gotten old yet, course now that I have my own rig I'm all smiles about everything. Sure, there are plenty of aggrevating times, when you just want to shove it all up the kazoo, but if you can keep those times from contaminating the good times, you'll be in pretty good shape. Knowing the detractors of a job and being prepared to deal with them before they deal you out will usually ensure that you enter and stay in a field that you are at least somewhat satisfied in. Good luck

[Sberry]

I have found it way more fun to chat about it here than actually do the work.

[J hall]

I have found it way more fun to chat about it here than actually do the work.

Sometimes.....

[Klugger7214]

Do any of you do both shop work and rig work for a carreer?

[goatwelder]

I expect it to get old after awhile but that will happen with any job. IMO it's when you master what you are doing that it becomes old. So if you can change things up a bit then it wont get so old so quick. But thats just my opinion.

That is right. When ever I master anything I get intensely board with it. But there is so much to learn with metal fabrication. If I just did 100 buckets I suppose I would be pretty board of it. In the type of work I do I am usually asked to build something. I have to come up with a design and then fabricate it. If it is a series of items then I design a ways for mass production. Most every job is a puzzle to solve.
Then there are new processes to learn or master. Not just welding but bending, forging, rolling, cutting, painting, powder coating, tempering, etc. etc. etc. I have yet to fully master any type of welding. In my mind my welds always need improvement. I mostly do mig but I want to move more into tig and then tiging exotic metals. IMHO there is a lifetime of learning ahead of me. That’s why I hang out on this forum. I’m picking your brains and gaining knowledge from those who are much more the masters of their craft than I am.
I work all day with metal and then I relax by reading the posts in this forum to see what more I can learn, then I try to apply it in my work.

[Klugger7214]

I agree, this forum is pretty awesome. I'm on here every night now. I've learned alot from both this forum and the Miller forum.

[Stick rod]

Klugger,
I don`t think anyone is trying to talk you out of it,just telling you like it is.We will all experience the pitfalls that this job has but at different time in our careers.By all means go for it and follow your dream of running your own rig,all in all it is very rewarding,we just gave you a reality check as to what it really is or can be.One thing to remember"the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence".As others have said any job gets old.You get out of it what you put in it.
Lots of cliche`s here.

[Eric Carroll]

Try to work in a shop that has a mobile service, or start out in a field that is already outside.welding is a good career for diversity if you make it that way.My s.s. tig exp. has helped me get lots of big inside handrail jobs because builders dont want sparks landing all over the floor of a 5 million dollar house.learn on someone elses dime, then when you feel confident try it on the side,see what you can do with out cutting into your real income.It is very time consuming to run your own rig or shop,when people ask me if I work saturdays I think "Who doesnt" . You will get calls at 2am, you will run out of grinding wheels halfway thru a job, you will sleep in your truck- but when you get that good job an think "wow, 12 hours at $55/hour, thats $660 and its only monday" you will feel it.I had a geeky project manger at a dupont plant try to make me wear some goggles over my glasses under my hood, he didnt ask, he threw them at my feet and said"put them on or leave" , He ran away as I kicked over 4 pipe stands with some 8" sch 80 on them. If I worked for someone else I could never have done that, but I will put up with the long hours and piles of invoices and 3000 phone calls a day just so I can do what I want when I want.