Welder

This reading sits behind the What a Trade Is panel for the trade named below. The panel gives the trade in 250 words; this gives the trade its context — what the work is, how it is learned here, and what it costs and pays.

The panel text

What. A welder joins metal with heat until two pieces become one. Every ship, tower, pipeline and bridge is held together by welds, and every weld is a decision: process, position, filler, heat.

Tools. Arc machine (stick, MIG, TIG, flux-core), grinder, clamps, helmet with auto-darkening lens, chipping hammer, wire brush, the print with its welding symbols.

A day. Read the print. Fit and tack the joint. Set amperage and wire speed. Run the bead in the flat, horizontal, vertical or overhead position the job demands. Grind, inspect, log. Repeat until the shift ends or the inspector signs.

Pay. $40k entry to $75k experienced; pipe, pressure-vessel and underwater welders earn well beyond.

Path. Universal core → SMAW → GMAW/FCAW → GTAW → pipe → fabrication. Credentials: AWS SENSE, NCCER Welding L1–4, AWS D1.1 Certified Welder, ASME Section IX pipe.

See it. Live welding booth, Gallery G3, behind the glass. Wear the glasses.

Reading further

The panel's series (What a Trade Is) hangs together in Gallery G10, the Hall of Makers. Each panel in the series is printed at 48 inches on aluminum composite, lent to schools and libraries, and archived here with its reading.

The program behind the panel: Welding

9.0–12.0 months full-time. Curriculum: Safety; SMAW; GMAW; FCAW; GTAW; blueprint & symbols; metallurgy; oxy-fuel & plasma cutting; pipe welding; fabrication.

Courses

• 1. Universal Core: Safety, Math, Communication & Career — 148 hr (core), $1,185
• 2. Safety — 103 hr (trade), $1,850
• 3. SMAW — 103 hr (trade), $1,850
• 4. GMAW — 102 hr (trade), $1,830
• 5. FCAW — 102 hr (trade), $1,830
• 6. GTAW — 102 hr (trade), $1,830
• 7. Blueprint & symbols — 102 hr (trade), $1,830
• 8. Metallurgy — 102 hr (trade), $1,830
• 9. Oxy-fuel & plasma cutting — 102 hr (trade), $1,830
• 10. Pipe welding — 102 hr (trade), $1,830
• 11. Fabrication — 102 hr (trade), $1,830
• 12. Capstone Project — 216 hr (capstone), $2,160
• 13. Externship / Worksite Placement — 324 hr (externship), $1,295
• 14. Certification Exam Preparation — 90 hr (exam_prep), $900

Credentials: ASME Sec. IX pipe; AWS D1.1 Certified Welder; AWS SENSE L1-2; NCCER Welding L1-4.

Every course above carries a written exam, an observed skills demonstration, a signed log and a safety audit; the program ends with the capstone, the externship and the credential exam.