Welding on the side for extra money

[gearhead]

I have been doing small jobs, here and there, but I have been told to buy some type of insurance to cover a fire or any general mishap. What is general thoughts on this.....gear

[safetydave]

insurance

Hey gearhead, just thought I would send you my thoughts on the issue here.

I have done alot of work for people on the side and professionally within the feild and have yet (knock on wood) nobody has asked if I had insurance, and the only thing I do have insurance is on my equipment and vehicle's.

I might add if you do it's really not that much, if you find a good agency.

I have been doing this for 15-20yr's now so thats my opion take it for what you feel like.

[safetydave]

more info-extra money welding

If you have a Walmart or Mejier around were you live just ask them who they have to fix the aluminum carts they use in the store and you will be suprised they have to ship them out to be fix so if they can have them done local and no chareg for return shippment it might give you the chance to show your work and a quick turn around also,just a thought for you to think about.

I do agree with the other guys if you can promote yoour welding skills in the aluminum area go for it as much as you can becuase you'll find not many welder's can weld alum and be very good at it esp tig welding they just don't have the time or patience to do the job. I'M NOT TRYING TO SOUND LIKE ALL WELDOR'S ARE BAD AND DON'T KHOW HOW TO DO THE JOB BUT THERE ARE SOME REALLY BAD WELDOR'S WHO SAY THEY CAN WELD AND CAN'T, NO OFFENCE TO THE GOO ONE'S.

[tnjind]

I am not even "one of the good ones" and I am not offended. I know what you are saying.

[Taw Paw]

Extra Money

I started welding in 2000 for extra money. I started welding for the landscape, lawn care and irrigation industry. They destroy a lot of trailers and equiptment. Then i joined the Louisiana Craft Guild and started buliding sofa tables, crosses and an assortment of other crafts. I started attending Craft shows (not flea markets no money their). That lead to custom trellises, arbors, gate and small fences. At this point it is a 15000.00 a year side JOB!!! At times it is to much, but the money is good.

[Jolly Roger]

You can make money in handrails and other ornamental and decorative ironwork, but get ready to have the squirrels fall out of the trees. I do them but don't count on them for anything nor do I really consider them profitable. I have yet to sell anyone on aluminum or stainless once they find out both cost considerably more than steel. I let my partner handle the rails. If they can handle the cost I do the artsy stuff, but it is never cheap. Surprisingly in the last year I have had maybe 10 calls for aluminum (none handrails) and zero for stainless and I live in New Orleans, lol.

I don't build trailers. I just modify them, and repair them. There is no way that I can compete with the manufacturers. I would sell decorative steel security doors, but even my supplier can't compete with the cheap crap from China that Lowes and Home Depot sell, and that is mostly all anyone around here wants. I don't mess with the iron fencing anymore. I just fix the messes these guys who don't use levels and squares make. Incidentally, they mostly don't speak english either.

Learn all of the processes on all materials, and get good at them. Putting all of your eggs in one basket is always a bad idea. I know how to Tig aluminum as well as stainless, steel, cast iron, copper, titanium, monel, inconel, get the picture, and mostly never even get approached for them. Learn to use a Mig, yes it works well on aluminum and is much faster than Tig. Speed makes the customer happy. The faster you can do it the cheaper you can do it.

Learn to use sticks. Simply because there are many many things that Tig is not well suited for, and the same goes for Mig. If you plan on making welding a career the more versatile you are the better off you are.

Give the customer excellent work and they will always use you, and most will wait until you can get to them. I have 6 weeks of work lined up right now from one customer, simply because of the quality of work I give and knowing more about what I do than anyone around.

[wldrman]

I think it's cool you want to start your own business doing aluminum.

Word of warning. Doing alum repair is a far cry from doing new welding with nice shiny new aluminum. People will bring you the dirtiest, greasiest garbage you can imagine. Old transmissions. boat skegs etc. If you have never worked with this stuff you will be in for a big surprise. It takes a long time to learn how to repair these things properly. Which rod to use for cast versus billett. Which technique. What gas if tigging. Dirt is your enemy, especially with aluminum.

I am not trying to discourage you, go for it as I did. Just make sure you can do what you say!

Good Luck

[surf rider]

need more projects

I have listed on craigslist, put a sign in my yard and I have stopped by trailer shops and other businesses soliciting my welding services. I have left my cards at these places in card holders but I just can't seem to get more traffic.

Any Ideas?

[Hardrock40]

I have listed on craigslist, put a sign in my yard and I have stopped by trailer shops and other businesses soliciting my welding services. I have left my cards at these places in card holders but I just can't seem to get more traffic.

Any Ideas?

If it was mentioned I missed it, The best thing you can do for free is list a google add. You can't add a whole lot there but you can do some for free.

Most of my calls come from google. Yes , you'll be right in there with rest of the welders, list all your keywords so search engines will pick you out.