Lessons from My First Welding Job

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My first welding job came along before I was done with welding school.
Winter break was near and my instructor announced that a nearby shop was hiring welders.
So I went to test for the job.
I bombed out on the mig welding vertical tee joint test , but I go hired anyway as a stick welder.
My job was to weld the mast head support for mobile drilling rigs.
It was high strength steel and I sat on a 5 gallon bucket all day welding with 3/16" diameter 11018 rods.

[thomasjefferson]

I've been burning rod most of my life off and on. I never had any school training but I've welded for a living at times and did machine maintenance most of the other times. I always wanted to get schooled at it but I finally retired. Now I weld for home projects. I love your videos because it teaches me some of the "schooling" I always wanted to get. You're never too old to learn new things.

[ildefonsogiron]

What a humble man you are: "I knew I was worth nothing and that they were paying me to teach me". That's the way great men think of themselves when, on the contrary, they are worth every penny. Best regards.

[oldlincolnpipewelder]

“Some experience is better than no experience..”- Amen!

[sabotabby]

this job story is one of the best arguments for Unionizing I've come upon

[Dogleg]

Whenever I start getting full of myself I look at videos like this and realize I still have a lot to learn

[leebarnhart]

In my early days I didn't even know I had a crappy job till I got something better.
65 years later I realize just how crappy some were! We all pay our dues to get in to the old mans club.

[joshmonk]

To this day, this is my favourite welding video.
Watch it countless amount of times! Great video

[leebarnhart]

You have the best arc shots on YouTube and have the prettiest welds all around. Bet you're good at anything to choose to be. You're a cut above. You're the Godfather.

[Supplayers]

landed my first welding job! started school at 19(still attending) 22 now and I'm doing production welding(mig) haha it's a sweatshop environment but man feels good to be learning and getting paid for what I wanna do better than my last job haha mcdonalds.

[gutsandcasca]

I just started going to Tulsa Welding School in Houston Texas, and a week before I went to school I found your channel because I didn’t know much about welding, and going on my 2 to third week now. And I want to thank you for being very instructive, having high quality video, and interesting stories. Thank you sir

[ryanwalker]

For lots of 7018 work, I keep a brick on the table. Nothing fancy, just a square paver. I tap the rod straight down, and scrape it to the side so starts are easy.

[mikem]

I am now retired had a few jobs welding I just learned more from this video than anything I picked up while working . Thanks

[jamessonger]

I could listen to ur stories from the early days of learning to weld forever. Keep up the great great work!!!

[sudy]

I love when some one is willing to take the time to master a trade, even more so when that person is willing and excited to share that knowledge to others. This country has lost the mentor-ship that it used to have....so these videos are awesome.

[euckilla]

Didn't expect these to still be available 3 or 4 years after this video came out, but they are! Thanks.

[blakereaser]

Awesome to see someone promoting the importance and value of jobs that could easily be underappreciated. Thank you jody

[xQuadroGamingx]

“Black booger club” got me dead that’s how I felt first day in the shop grinding

[dkjoses]

I’ve been watching your videos for some time now and I’ve picked up a lot of info from them. I just got my first welder and laid my first welds just a day ago and I realized it’s not as easy as you make it seem

[BountyHunterLetsPlaysOnGoogle]

12:21 a good old whack on the end of the electrode against the table before sticking it in the stinger always worked for me.

[fuzzylogic]

Working at a pipe yard helping boost production for a project. Welding 49” flanges, putting down 1/2” fillets, and 7/8” fillets. We’re burning about a 50lb can per flange. Talk about some hot stingers, some hot whips, and plenty of practice planning ahead on beads!