Welding Schools.

[Lucky]

Hey! I am looking to take a welding class in Houston, and I was wondering if any of you all know if there is a school that just teaches welding. I was looking at the college, but would like to stay away from there if I had a choice. The college does offer an Intro to SMAW. Any idea what that would consist of?

Thanks!
Bryan

[Bert]

Like my 1st year of the 2 year program at my voc-school, it was all smaw.
stick 6011 and 7018 and practice,practice,practice,practice,practice,pract ice,practice,practice,practice,practice,practice,p ractice,practice,practice,practice,practice,practi ce,practice,practice,practice,practice,practice,pr actice,practice,practice,practice,practice,practic e,practice,practice,practice,practice,then when you've done that, practice some more!!!
2nd year was 1st semester tig aluminum and stainless, 2nd semester was mig.
More than likely you'll be doing stick. Worked mostly on coupons. You'll learn faster by bringing in your own projects and trying different things, after you get decent on the coupons.
Good luck, welcome to the board and have fun (I KNOW you will!!!!)

[Samurai Dave]

Instructors make the difference

SMAW is commonly called "stick" welding. It is usually used for structural (thick mild steel) type welding. If you are looking to weld in those Texas oil fields, that is prefect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shielded_metal_arc_welding

Unless the local college has very lame equipment and/or instuctors, it is worth a look. It will certainly be much cheaper than a private welding school. I have taken a TIG class at the local college and had a GREAT instructor.

Just because a private school charges more that doesn't guarantee they will have superior instruction. Ask around in your area.

[Lucky]

Thanks Guys.