What are the best paid TIG weldings around?

[Mid Wales welder]

Hello to all, i was just wondering, what are the best paid TIG jobs out there and how does one go about getting that sort of job? Thanks.

 

[tigler]

I'm no expert but F1 fabricators get paid serious money as do those involved with Aerospace. Wouldn't know the career path to find such a job but I bet it's not easy !

 

[Mid Wales welder]

I'm no expert but F1 fabricators get paid serious money as do those involved with Aerospace. Wouldn't know the career path to find such a job but I bet it's not easy !

Thanks to TIG paul for moving this thread, i was'nt sure where to put it!

Yes F1 and Aerospace sound like good things to get into, but i doubt i could ever get that far as i'm sure it requires going to university.

I work as a welder fabricator making all sorts of things, mainly in steel tho, industrial heater and boiler housings, lots of stuff for a bulk baging company, big hoppers, convayours, rollers etc and all the usual welding workshop things, including fixing anything that comes in. I recently had fix a pretty much destroyed old land rover bulk head that was so rusty i could barly pick it up and buy the time i finished it was nearly like new which i was pretty proud of!

Anyway i've deviated from the subject here, just thought i would give a bit of backround. so i was thinking alot in the last year or so that i would like to start my own business as a mobile welder, but the more that i looked into it i realised that it costs so much to set up and is so nhard to have work all the time. So now i am thinking that i just want to go into a more specialided job in TIG welding stainless and alluminium.

So my question in the end is, how do i go about moving into this feild?

Any info would be greatly appriciated, thanks!

Dave.

 

[langy]

Hello to all, i was just wondering, what are the best paid TIG jobs out there and how does one go about getting that sort of job? Thanks.

Being a great TIG welder would be a good start

 

[Mid Wales welder]

Being a great TIG welder would be a good start

Yes i hear you on that point, i can TIG weld well, do a bit in work and play about with it at home. Guna go to collage at night as its been 10 years since i did my welding at collage in the first place, but there is no substitute for actualy doing the work and gaining expierience, but how do i get expierience without being in the job?

 

[langy]

Yes i hear you on that point, i can TIG weld well, do a bit in work and play about with it at home. Guna go to collage at night as its been 10 years since i did my welding at collage in the first place, but there is no substitute for actualy doing the work and gaining expierience, but how do i get expierience without being in the job?

You will need certificates for a job i would think. then just apply but you ain't gonna get an interview with an F1 team for sure.

 

[Mid Wales welder]

Lol, like i said i have no illusions of working for an F1 team. Just want to do a job that i enjoy, am very intersted in and have a passion for, that pays fairly well! i did city and guilds and NVQ welding and fabriction and been a welder fabricator for nearly ten years, just want to go into a more specialised job. not sure if the certificates i've got are still valid.

 

[ronan]

Aerospace isn't as well paid as you'd imagine, i did an interview with a big company over here that made and did maintenance work on pratt and whitney aero engine casings, they wanted alsorts of certs (most of which i had) but the money wasn't great and it was too far for me to commute to comfortably.

The best tig work imho is anywhere that does purely stainless steel work , clean and light work.

 

[hotrodder]

Aerospace doesn't necessarily pay that well. From a quick google...

http://www.jobsite.co.uk/job/aerospace-tig-welder-943085857?src=search If you have experience welding stupidly small diameter stuff made out of exotics and don't mind rotating shift work they'll pay you almost £12/hour basic

http://www.aviationjobsearch.com/jobs/manufacturing/west_sussex/tig_welder_qualified_to_caa_bcar_a8_10-82337.html £26 - £28K. Gotta be at least 8 years ago but the last full time job i applied for was offering something like £24K basic (remember lots of years ago!) for an ally welder/fabricator. No shiftwork, workshop based, mostly uncoded work

For an idea of what's of involved with aerospace tests here's an outline for approval testing to CAA BCAR A8-10 (worldclass motorsport also sometimes work to these standards)... http://www.casa.gov.au/wcmswr/_assets/main/download/caaps/airworth/33_1.pdf

F1... exhausts aside how much of a modern car is made of fabbed and welded metal? Only things that come to mind are heat exchangers and like exhausts they don't all make this stuff in house. Goodfabs is one name that comes to mind regarding exhausts, Docking Fabrications one for heat exchangers/ally work
Plenty of other motorsport disciplines that still rely on metal more than burnt toast and glue though

Another area to check out would be sanitary/hygienic stainless work, a lot of pipework is done with orbital kit but there's plenty of stuff that isn't.

 

[ronan]

A lot of the aerospace work has gone to eastern europe recently though hotrodder, i know ryanair for one were making a lot of noise about the costs of maintainance in the uk and ireland. The polish were able to do the same work for a lot less. its the new way of the world sadly.

 

[Mid Wales welder]

Aerospace isn't as well paid as you'd imagine, i did an interview with a big company over here that made and did maintenance work on pratt and whitney aero engine casings, they wanted alsorts of certs (most of which i had) but the money wasn't great and it was too far for me to commute to comfortably.

The best tig work imho is anywhere that does purely stainless steel work , clean and light work.

Yes purely stainless is more what I'm looking for, anything to do with dairy or food grade, just not sure if there is anything like that near me tho!
On the heat exchanger point, I already make these where I work but they're welded with mig stainless.
I'm getting slightly diss heartened by it all at the mo, people are either saying there's no money in it or you need years & years of experience which I can't get because I havnt got enough of it to get into job in the first place.
It's also slightly annoying when the old timers don't like younger people coming into the trade (not all of them, but some) and don't want to give any help or advice. Where do they expect welders to come from in the future?

 

[langy]

Personally I've never worked for anyone since I was 21, it was then that I realised the only way of earning proper money is to be self employed, I started a business and to get work I just went around all the companies I could find and told them what I could do, when asked if I could do a certain job I answered yes even if I had never done it, then went off and learned how to do it.
A lot if the time bulls**t baffles brains

 

[Mid Wales welder]

Personally I've never worked for anyone since I was 21, it was then that I realised the only way of earning proper money is to be self employed, I started a business and to get work I just went around all the companies I could find and told them what I could do, when asked if I could do a certain job I answered yes even if I had never done it, then went off and learned how to do it.
A lot if the time bulls**t baffles brains

Yes, I was thinking of going self employed, but just worried that I wouldn't be able get enough work!
Do u mind if i ask what type of jobs you do?

 

[langy]

Yes, I was thinking of going self employed, but just worried that I wouldn't be able get enough work!
Do u mind if i ask what type of jobs you do?

I build Hotrods and sell parts.

 

[Mid Wales welder]

I build Hotrods and sell parts.

That sounds very interesting, & lucrative! How did you get into that? Was a hobby that grew into a business?

 

[octo0072000]

Langy rod shop

this is the kind of stuff Steve makes the man is artist

http://www.langysrodshop.co.uk/gallery.htm

 

[Mid Wales welder]

this is the kind of stuff Steve makes the man is artist

http://www.langysrodshop.co.uk/gallery.htm

Wow, that stuff looks amazing!!

 

[langy]

That sounds very interesting, & lucrative! How did you get into that? Was a hobby that grew into a business?

Why do people thinks its lucrative ??? I wish it was

 

[Mid Wales welder]

I guess its because its kinds specialist work that you can probably charge quite a bit for!

 

[astro_al]

... Because it was for Boyd...