Wow! Thats... well quite a bit more than the locals around here! The local UA hands here make 21 bucks an hours, and most of then work only 7-10 months out of the year. you do the math. Also, something I have always thought was pretty underhanded, is that the workers here, apprentices and white card...

In the unted states, it differ form state to state. Some states have legislation preventing a closed shop, and some don't. Union differ as well. Some unions have a "hiring hall" system, which means that a worker reports to a union hall for work, with the business manegers job being to find...

Yeah, I know what you mean. Over here its carpenters, millrights, and piledrivers too. And the ironworkers hall is composed of ironworkers, riggers, and get this...... window installers ! I am aware that many unions cross trade jurisdictions for a few reasons. The first is that unionization historic...

If by UBC, you mean the united brotherhood of carpenters and joiners of america, then no.

Supposedly there is no apprentiship in this special "906" local, and everyone is sorta like a second class boilermaker, or "white card/permit hand" until they get in 6000 hours. And then they are still in the suitcase local. I've been told that basicly the wage rates are less pro...

I have been in a few trade/construction unions in my life, and everyone knows how hard they can be to get into, and more importantly, to keep working in. Boilermaker local 909 is a "travelers" or "suitcase" local, but most boilermaker unions are. The difference is, this local is ...

You can ask your local welding supply store if they sell individual coupons, some do, and some just don't.

Otherwise, visiting a local welding school and asking the teacher for a few peices might just work, if you can find the sympithetic type.

good luck,

-Rick

Wow! That all is amazingly informative! Thanks.

-Rick

By the way, I just noticed after all this time, that otto nobeder, can be translated to: Oughta know better. My girlfreind pointed that out.

Does anyone really know the difference between Inverters and transformers? I understand the difference by looking at them, but what exactly does a transformer do? Opposed to it, what does an inverter do?

-Rick

It always seemed to me like union jobs needed more certs. I think its becuase unions are sorta like closed economies, in which there is ussually a lack of work and a surplus of labor, creating an enviornment in which one needs many, many certification to obtain employment. Non union work seems to re...

Exactly! do-able, just not recomended. Really is just the starts and stops that seem bad, the tungsten seems to burn off the contamination of the aluminium after the firtst 1/4 inch or so. But re-grinding the tungsten every weld is hell in a handbasket! :twisted: -Rick P.S. thanx for not getting all...

Welcome to the forum

-Rick

As far as actual welding goes, pretty sure the only thing you -cant- scratch start on is aluminum. Mild steel and stainless are weldable with a scratch start. Not to be a dick, but for the purposes of education, aluminium can be welded via the scratch start method, given the machine has the appropr...

Also, hobart is not a bad brand, but it is a hobbyist brand, so it won't be as full of bells and whistles as the machines you are probably using at your school, but, it'll still work fine. When buying welders, it is important to know what amperage range you want, and the duty cycle as well, and look...

Getting one off of a forum will be hard becuase forums are international. Check your local craigslists ads. When I bought my first welder, I bought a new one becuase i didnt want to get stuck repairing something that i knew nothing about, but , come to find out, most welders of tough sons of bitches...

Well, if you are reqiured to provide your own air and power tools, ideally, you would have enough tools to make your job as easy as possible. But we all know how it is to have a tight budget. For cleaning spatter around tight spaces, a die grinder would work well, but maybe an even better option wou...

If you can't make youur way into school, maybe you need some on the job training. Alot Shutdown/turnaround companies will hire less than perfect hands, and the experiance in my opinion is very valuable. If You can get on with one of these, working some 7 day, 12 hour shifts will allow you to meet al...

Did anyone else notice that some of jody colliers videos were in the april issue of the AWS magazine? I thought it was pretty cool, and hopefully might get this site a bit more attention.

I"ll see if I can find an online edition of it for a link.

-Rick

Wow check out the big brains on Steve!

Since you seem to know alot about it, what exactly is the "plasma" produced by a plasma cutter?

you should be fine, even if it doesnt work, it definatley will not, under any circumstances, blow up . Dont worry I remember being super catious about my first machine too.

First off, I think that a 4 year degree program in welding, though not a bad thing at all, is much more then what is needed to become a "welder". When I say welder, I mean a guy working in a shop, or a construction site, hanging steel, repairing engines, clocking in at the shipyard, or the...

Ottos right about the english! But for you question, the ac current should be what breaks through the skin, not the heat, so try turning that on up first. Secondly, fillet welds for me always seem to take more heat, I mean think about it, theree is alot more surface area, and potential for contamina...

Stainless can be oretty hard to run uphill with no groove or gap, since it has a very fluid puddle, and a tendancy to run down away from you. My advice is to turn the heat up and keep the tightest, closest arc possible without sticking. Even though your running uphill, the arc force from the heat sh...

There is a company around here called DZ Atlantic. Its the usual shutdown, turnaround type outfit. I've never worked for them, but so far they sound decent. The work seems to stretch from new york state down to North Carolina. Shutdowns are always good for greenhorns too, lots of experiance, and the...

What is an "Autogenous weld"?