I'm asking you to imagine you're a pipe welder, and then think about everything you can do with that skill.
Pipe is everywhere and it comes in many sizes and metals. Pipe used for transferring oil like the pipeline which was blocked (temporarily) by the President, are what we normally think of when pipe welding gets mentioned. The processes for welding carbon steel pipelines vary. Traditionally, stick welding or SMAW (Shielded Metal Arc Welding) is used to weld pipe joints. Stick is the original welding process. It wasn't widely used until World War ll, when it was most famously used to build Liberty Ships at record speeds.
Stick welding is losing some ground.
Stick welding is being replaced by flux core welding, which is a wire with a flux coating. The welder simply pulls the trigger and the wire progresses out the tip of the gun. This process saves time because the welder seldom has to stop. Stick welding requires the welder to stop as each stick becomes a short stub, to put a new stick in the jaws. Some people would have you think stick is dead. It isn't - far from it. It lives on because it can easily and quickly be set up, requires almost no maintenance, it is versatile, and economical.
TIG or what used to be called heliarc welding is another very versatile process.
TIG is sometimes used for the root pass or first pass on a pipe joint for a pipe that is carbon steel. This is because TIG is extremely strong. TIG is used to weld aluminum and stainless steel pipe. Stainless is commonly used in food manufacturing plants. A welder with his own rig, and who contracts with the factory, will typically charge $100 or more an hour.
Dune buggies have evolved into $100,000 machines.
Custom buggies with mid-engine aluminum V8 motors are being built across the country, in specialty shops and garages. The frames for these machines are aluminum pipe. The frames are typically welded with the TIG process. Choppers are also custom made in shops all over, and the frames are pipe. the hotrod industry uses pipe as well.
Let's do a little math.
Let's say a 6G welder decides he or she has had enough traveling to weld. If that welder is 6G with stick and 6G with TIG, and good at it, they can very likely make a handsome living as a mobile welder. Think of the well-healed dune buggy enthusiast building a buggy in his shop or the hotrodder - the list is endless. Add all the industrial applications for pipe such as powerplants and water systems. This wonderful skill which is actually an art is as portable as the welder's hands. If you know anything about small business and how to market your services, $65 to $105 an hour is very realistic, depending on where you are in the USA. If you booked 40 hours a week at $75 an hour, that's a gross annual income of about $150,000.
WARNING:
If you're going to be a pipe welder or you already are a pipe welder, it would be a mistake to NOT become a Master TIG Runner. In my opinion, it would well worth your effort to find the time and money to learn it. TIG is a quiet, clean welding process. It is the welding process that is closest to being an art.
Pipe is everywhere and it comes in many sizes and metals. Pipe used for transferring oil like the pipeline which was blocked (temporarily) by the President, are what we normally think of when pipe welding gets mentioned. The processes for welding carbon steel pipelines vary. Traditionally, stick welding or SMAW (Shielded Metal Arc Welding) is used to weld pipe joints. Stick is the original welding process. It wasn't widely used until World War ll, when it was most famously used to build Liberty Ships at record speeds.
Stick welding is losing some ground.
Stick welding is being replaced by flux core welding, which is a wire with a flux coating. The welder simply pulls the trigger and the wire progresses out the tip of the gun. This process saves time because the welder seldom has to stop. Stick welding requires the welder to stop as each stick becomes a short stub, to put a new stick in the jaws. Some people would have you think stick is dead. It isn't - far from it. It lives on because it can easily and quickly be set up, requires almost no maintenance, it is versatile, and economical.
TIG or what used to be called heliarc welding is another very versatile process.
TIG is sometimes used for the root pass or first pass on a pipe joint for a pipe that is carbon steel. This is because TIG is extremely strong. TIG is used to weld aluminum and stainless steel pipe. Stainless is commonly used in food manufacturing plants. A welder with his own rig, and who contracts with the factory, will typically charge $100 or more an hour.
Dune buggies have evolved into $100,000 machines.
Custom buggies with mid-engine aluminum V8 motors are being built across the country, in specialty shops and garages. The frames for these machines are aluminum pipe. The frames are typically welded with the TIG process. Choppers are also custom made in shops all over, and the frames are pipe. the hotrod industry uses pipe as well.
Let's do a little math.
Let's say a 6G welder decides he or she has had enough traveling to weld. If that welder is 6G with stick and 6G with TIG, and good at it, they can very likely make a handsome living as a mobile welder. Think of the well-healed dune buggy enthusiast building a buggy in his shop or the hotrodder - the list is endless. Add all the industrial applications for pipe such as powerplants and water systems. This wonderful skill which is actually an art is as portable as the welder's hands. If you know anything about small business and how to market your services, $65 to $105 an hour is very realistic, depending on where you are in the USA. If you booked 40 hours a week at $75 an hour, that's a gross annual income of about $150,000.
WARNING:
If you're going to be a pipe welder or you already are a pipe welder, it would be a mistake to NOT become a Master TIG Runner. In my opinion, it would well worth your effort to find the time and money to learn it. TIG is a quiet, clean welding process. It is the welding process that is closest to being an art.
