Becoming a welder is the perfect way to combine your love of science with your creative side. Welding offers people an opportunity to create custom projects that satisfy their creative minds while also fulfilling their need for scientific discovery. If you are interested in becoming one of the many talented welders in the United States, keep reading!
Follow the steps to become a welder.
1. Research the different types of welding jobs
2. take welding courses
3. Earn your welding certificate
4. Be knowledgeable about all welding safety rules and regulations
5. Obtain your welding certification
6. Gain hands-on experience
1. Research the different types of welding jobs
Before you apply for any jobs, take the time to research the different types of welding jobs. You will want to become skilled in a specific area of welding, and thus you should research the other jobs that offer that kind of work. For example, if you enjoy working with automobiles and want to be a welder for a car company, research the different welding jobs you can get at a car factory.
2. Take welding courses
After researching the different types of welding jobs, enroll in a welding class to become certified. Learning from a certified instructor will better understand the specific industry your research pointed to. In addition, registering in a certified program will give you hands-on experience with the equipment used in that particular industry.
3. Earn your welding certificate
Be sure that after you have gotten your hands-on experience, you earn your welding certificate from a local community college or online college. The certificate will be necessary when looking for work, and this is also where many employers look when hiring new employees.
4. Be knowledgeable about all welding safety rules and regulations
To become proficient as a welder, you must first understand and follow all safety rules and regulations. While on the job, you will get training on operating the equipment best, but it is essential to be educated beforehand on why those safety standards are in place. For example, if your employer asks you to wear protective glasses while you weld, it is essential to understand why those glasses are needed instead of just wearing them because your employer told you to.
5. Obtain your welding certification
Be sure to obtain your welding certification while you finish up at the community college and after you graduate. It will be good practice, and it is a requirement for almost all welding jobs. Obtaining your welding certification will give you the best chance at getting a good job.
6. Gain hands-on experience
To become a welder, you must learn how to use the equipment properly, and you must also know how to do repairs on both the equipment and automobiles. If you plan on working in auto repair or for a car company, gain hands-on experience there before moving on to welding. You can also work in a local auto repair place or obtain a job at an auto parts store to obtain the required hands-on experience.
What Are the Different Welding Disciplines?
Following are the different welding disciplines.
1. MIG – Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW)
This is the most commonly used welding discipline. It combines Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) and Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) processes. This is generally used to weld carbon steel, low-alloy, stainless steel, nickel alloys. It can also be used on materials like aluminum or magnesium alloys, which are harder to weld with SMAW/GTAW processes. It is more consistent than GTAW / SMAW but has one major drawback it introduces more heat into the weld joint than GTAW / SMAW, thus affecting the heat treatment of the base metal,
2. TIG – Torch Welding
This is the most commonly used welding process in the automotive industry. Also known as “Flame-cutting” operation. It was developed in the late 1940s and remained an industrial process for many years. You can use it to weld all metals, including aluminum, stainless steel, titanium, copper, precious metals like gold and silver, nickel alloys, and low-alloy steels. TIG has become more prevalent in recent years because it produces very smooth welds with good penetration properties that are ideal for joints that require high strength and stiffness at minimal cost compared to other welding processes. The standard welding procedure for TIG is a gas shielding arc with an inert shielding gas (argon or helium).
3. MIG – TIG – Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW)
This is a relatively new welding discipline. It is a hybrid of GTAW and MIG welding processes. This can be used to weld all metals, including aluminum, stainless steel, titanium, copper, precious metals like gold and silver, nickel alloys, and low-alloy steels. It uses a non-consumable gas metal arc with a second electrode. It provides the flux energy to heat the workpiece until it melts or becomes fluid, dissolving the welded material. This operation has been used to repair cylinder head machining dies for gasoline tank assemblies
4. FCAW – Flux Core Arc Welding
This is the most commonly used welding discipline. It was developed in the 1940s and has been used extensively in the fabrication of structural steel, boiler work, pressure vessels, nuclear components, petrochemical applications, and general fabrication. It can be used to weld all metals, including aluminum, stainless steel, titanium, copper, gold and silver, nickel alloys, and low-alloy steels.
This operation uses flux core wire coated with a special flux that covers the entire surface of the wire when it is fed into the weld joint, thus protecting the base metal from oxidation while melting it to form an oxide-free fusion bead which is essential for high strength joints. This operation also requires shielding gases to protect the molten metal from atmospheric oxygen.
5. Signal Arc Welding
This was developed in the early 1960s when steel producers began to produce plates from mild steel. Mild steel has a low carbon content and is more malleable than higher carbon steel used for welded structures, making it more difficult to weld with conventional arc welding processes. The traditional arc welding processes were not satisfactory for this material, so Signal Arc was developed, which uses an electrode that produces low carbon steel wires instead of the traditional tungsten electrode. This allows the formation of higher quality welds than would be possible with other methods, thus allowing low-carbon steels to be used where previously only medium- or high-carbon steels could be used
6. Plasma Cutting, Plasma Saws/Cutters, Plasma Machining, etc
This is a relatively new discipline developed to cut, shape, or remove material from a solid mass. Plasma CUT-OFF saws are high-speed and efficient to use. However, it produces a very rough edge; hence smooth plasma cut-off saws or plasma cutters have been developed, making very smooth edges. The advantage of plasma cutters over other cutting methods is their ability to cut faster and more accurately since they can be tailored to suit specific applications. Plasma cutting produces a slag that needs to be cleaned before proceeding with further operations.
7. Wire Feeding, Wire Feed Machining, Wire Stripping, and Shearing
This is the most commonly used welding discipline. It was developed in the mid-1940s and has been extensively used on railroad equipment like boilers, bridges, cranes, etc. Wire feeding machines are used to push the welding rod (wire) into or out of the weld joint. The welding process then melts the wire, thus creating a fusion bead that welds the parts together.
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Conclusion
With all of these steps complete above, you are well on your way to becoming a professional welder. With the proper safety gear on, safety training, certified welding certificate in hand, and hands-on experience under your belt, you can expect that taking that first step into this profession will be much easier than you think.
