Discussion about tradeschools, techschools, universities and other programs.
Welder
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    Fri May 11, 2018 8:08 pm

Hello. I am based in Europe and I would like to improve my welding knowledge, and I think that right now the best options are available only in the US.

I found out that there are 3 main welding schools in the US, and the one that provides courses for International students is Tulsa.
Lets assume my English skills are good enough and I can afford to pay the education fees,

Does anyone know:

1)What are the basic requirements I need to fulfil in order to study welding in the US?
2)What certification program would you recommend me? AWS for example?
3)have you been to a welding school and have you met any students from abroad?

I will eventually ask more questions later....

Thanx in advance for all willing to help.
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Hi there,

I think you are slightly on the wrong track. Welding and Welders in Europe are some of the best in the world. End of story. Places like The Welding Institute (TWI)

http://www.twitraining.com/home/course- ... lification

Bohler welding
http://www.voestalpine.com/welding/Serv ... rentPage=0

Sandvik/ESAB (not great info)
http://training.victortechnologies.com/

European welding federation.

https://www.ewf.be/

I don't mean to can the Americans, but when your back yard has the best of the best, look closer to home.

Regards, Mick
cj737
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    Thu Sep 29, 2016 8:59 am

I won't take up the argument of "Who is better..." but, I do side with Mike that you can certainly find outstanding training in Europe. The most significant reason I'd stick closer to home is due primarily to the different codes and processes used in different countries.

In the US, we use different rods than other countries, sometimes different filler too. So you may be better off studying what you'll use in professional practice. You are also more likely to find a good apprenticeship program at an employer there who will train you, and possibly send you to school on their dime in exchange for time of employment.
Welder
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    Fri May 11, 2018 8:08 pm

Thank you so much guys!

I always though that the American welders and welding schools are one of the best because of the good and experienced teachers.

But let me tell you more about myself: I have welded almost all processes (SMAW, GTAW(manual and auto), FCAW, SAW(automatic), oxy and propane). I have been doing welding buildup for quite some time on automated machines.
various pieces, mostly cylindrical, pipes, shafts etc. etc. along with the 'manual' stuff.

And getting a European certification is not a problem for me. I am talking about the "Standard" EN 287-1 piece of paper that will say that you are eligible to work as welder on EU soil.

But I was looking for was something "more".

I want to meet with the best and learn from what they have to offer. :)
At some point I was even interested in joining the "marine" welders, who work on board of various vessels. (please do tell me if this is a good idea or if I should stick to the 'shore').

Anyway, I will look into the links Mike gave me, read & do a research online and come back with what I found out.

Thx again.
Farmwelding
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    Thu Mar 10, 2016 11:37 pm
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There are fantastic welders every where. Look at the world skills competition. Someone had to train those guys and they are amazing. Sure there are great welders stateside, but every country has amazing welders and instructors.
A student now but really want to weld everyday. Want to learn everything about everything. Want to become a knower of all and master of none.
Instagram: @farmwelding
Nick
cj737
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Welder wrote: I want to meet with the best and learn from what they have to offer. :)
At some point I was even interested in joining the "marine" welders, who work on board of various vessels. (please do tell me if this is a good idea or if I should stick to the 'shore').
Do you mean shipbuilding? Commercial, military or private yachts? Depending upon where in EU you are, there are several high end Yacht builders in Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Turkey, etc. I know a few of them and their welders (aluminum, stainless and carbon steel) do some of the nicest work I’ve seen. I also know many of them have full apprentice programs and very strict requirements for quality and process. That may be of interest to you also.
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cj737 wrote: Depending upon where in EU you are, there are several high end Yacht builders in Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Turkey, etc. I know a few of them and their welders (aluminum, stainless and carbon steel) do some of the nicest work I’ve seen. I also know many of them have full apprentice programs and very strict requirements for quality and process. That may be of interest to you also.
Fairly close to where I live (wel.. the country IS tiny anyway :lol: ) is one of the shipyards that make ridiculously nice yachts for very high end clients: http://www.feadship.nl/ (Eg. they built the one for Steve Jobs at the time..)

If you're looking to do very high quality and visually 'perfect' welding work on anything that remains exposed/visible then this is the sort of work you'd want.. For some reason apprenticeships are usually in quite short supply though :roll:

Bye, Arno.
cj737
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Arno wrote:
cj737 wrote: Depending upon where in EU you are, there are several high end Yacht builders in Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Turkey, etc. I know a few of them and their welders (aluminum, stainless and carbon steel) do some of the nicest work I’ve seen. I also know many of them have full apprentice programs and very strict requirements for quality and process. That may be of interest to you also.
Fairly close to where I live (wel.. the country IS tiny anyway :lol: ) is one of the shipyards that make ridiculously nice yachts for very high end clients: http://www.feadship.nl/ (Eg. they built the one for Steve Jobs at the time..)

If you're looking to do very high quality and visually 'perfect' welding work on anything that remains exposed/visible then this is the sort of work you'd want.. For some reason apprenticeships are usually in quite short supply though :roll:

Bye, Arno.
Cheers, Arno, are you near their De Vries yard? They do all their stainless work elsewhere but assemble at De Vries.
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Located closer to the Royal Van Lent yard.

Even though I'm not professionally involved in metalwork (mainly an IT dweeb that ends up also doing all other technical stuff that branches out into metal fabrication :) ) they do usually have an 'open day' every few years and it's fascinating to see what they build and to what standards it's all finished.

But then again... For yachts that go into the many, many milions of dollars that's kinda expected :lol:

They have now opened an additional yard in Amsterdam as the current location is very nice and compact, but the (very old) waterways in the area are not that big, but these yachts are getting more and more huge and they are running into problems of getting the ships/hulls out once they are completed.

Minor details like bridges not being wide enough for them to pass and that sort of thing ;)

Bye, Arno.
pidjones
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    Wed Oct 10, 2018 2:52 pm

I have heard that there are shipyards on our Gulf coast that want to hire thousands of welders in the near future. Knowing that there aren't that many free, they are planning to train and pay well. I would imagine that work visas would be easily obtained for this. The employer would assist in application. The Gulf coast (Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas) area is the place to look.
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