How and why pipe welding can pay $1,000 a day?
Can any welder weld pipe? No. Pipe welding is extremely critical because if the welding is not done correctly, life, earth and the environment are at stake. Learn more about 6G welding and why it’s so profitable. And why the lies of the welding school industry keep most welders from learning how to do it.
How can a pipe welder earn $1,000 a day?
A highly experienced pipe welder who can weld stick (SMAW) and TIG (GTAW) pipes and own and operate his own welding equipment (a truck with a portable engine-generator welder) can earn up to $150 per hour . If a combined pipeline crew welder works 14 hours and is paid $71.42 per hour – 14 x $71.42 = $1000. And yes, these rare welders can earn up to $300,000 a year.
The flip side of that coin is another welder.
Consider the welder who has struggled for 6 months to two years in a college welding lab and now finds himself (or herself) struggling through days of robotic welding in a factory for so long. only $80 per DAY. They are both welders. What is the big difference?
The mystery and myth about welding:
Both examples of accomplished welders (above) have worked hard to develop their skills. The mystery is why one earns up to $1,000 a day while the other earns as little as $80 a day.
The myth is this: “Go to welding school and you will live well.” This myth is perpetuated by an industry that has not kept up. There are many reasons for this.
Reason #1 for perpetuating the myth of the welding industry:
Welding schools and instructors know that by maintaining a traditional “chain of learning,” students must spend more time in school. Becoming a pipe welder requires learning basic welding in at least one process. To be a “Master Welder” much more schooling is required because the student must master several processes. Typically these include MIG, Stick, TIG, Brazing, Torch Cutting. In addition (and along the way), welders are taught at least the basics of metal fabrication, metallurgy, and often plasma cutting.
All of this learning takes time and money – it’s “payday” for the welding instruction industry. Any shortcut is frowned upon as “cheating”. However, this “learning chain” is theft, stealing from welding students, and has been going on for decades.
Reason #2 for perpetuating the myth of the welding industry:
The welding education industry doesn’t want you to know how low the wages are for the skills they are teaching because they will lose students. The best aircraft TIG welders make a lot of money. These are structural TIG welders at a level that is hard to come by. However, few of these “cream of the crop” TIG welders do what the average pipe welder does (single handed, pipe welder with no truck and no welder).
And the average TIG welder (who still has to be an amazing TIG welder) will be offered $15 an hour in a factory… a very sad situation. Welding schools will point to pipe welding and say, “As soon as you have structural certifications, you can go to pipe school, graduate, and make a lot of money.”
What they don’t tell you: You’ll be so exhausted with welding school, all the time, effort, and money to get structural certifications, you’ll give up and go find a $10-$20 job. there is another option: students simply come to the end of their money and MUST go to work.
Now, the above starting salaries for welders just out of school apply to welders who have had a “master welders” education! All that learning of all those processes and other skills still results in disgusting low wages!
Reason #3 for perpetuating the myth of the welding industry:
“You must get your structural certifications before you can attend pipe welding school.” This myth is partially true only because the welding school industry conspires to make it true. If you don’t have your structural certifications and try to enroll in pipe welder school, you will be rejected. There may be some exceptions in the US, but not many. In other words, basic structural welding schools collude with pipe welding schools to make this LIE a manufactured reality.
What they are NOT telling you:
THERE IS NO LAW that says you can’t learn to weld just by welding pipe! Imagine a school where you would be taught welding safety first. Next, he would learn how to properly draw an arc. After that, you would master the string beads on the plane. Immediately after that, I would master the stringer beads at the 6G position on the pipe (the pipe is mounted at a fixed 45 degree position).
From then on I would ONLY place beads on the pipe bundle at a 45 degree angle.
Next, I would practice the open root weld on the flat. As soon as you have learned that, you will practice open root welding on the pipe in position 6G. You would never weld anything flat again…
Once you master 6G root passes, you’ll learn 6G hot passes. After that it passes the 6G padding and then passes the 6G cap.
Lastly, the school would provide a Certified Welding Inspector (CWI) to test your best joint. If you pass, you’ll be ready to enter the world of high-demand, high-paying pipe welding.
What would be the total elapsed time – without welding to the pipe welder? About 3 months! Just think about it: you could go from being a non-welder to a pipe welder in a few months… NOT years!
Conclution:
The US may be the only country that does not have a structure of laws regarding pipe welding. In other words, if you can do it, you can do it, and that’s it.
In most other countries (including Canada), you must successfully complete a long chain of classes and certifications BEFORE you become a pipe welder.
In the US, if you can successfully pass a 6G welding test, you can find work as a pipe welder. Your first employer will ask you to work as a helper to a pipe welder so they can observe you and allow you to weld more and more slowly.
The reason for this is to make sure that you are not going to blow up the joints in the pipes; it just costs too much to rework the joints. Your time as a helper can be short or long, depending on what you do, it could be a matter of weeks or months, but NOT years!
What should you do next?