so...i love my job!

[kevin]

all i can say is that i hate f,n wood, i mumble that all the time when i work with it

[travisc454]

all i can say is that i hate f,n wood, i mumble that all the time when i work with it

Thats funny. I f,n hate working with steel. I mumble that when i have to work with it. I LOVE aluminum. No smoke, dirt. cuts and drills like wood. And its welds so clean and easy.

[TxDarth]

I guess we are never Happy are we............

I work with both as a hobby - not to earn a living, enjoy both but have to say wood is easier to me. It is easier to correct a mistake, which I seem to make a lot of....

I am just happy to able to still be active - 68 and retired for last 6 years. Other than one bad leg and poor hearing life is good!

[Blondie_486]

On the other hand, metal is a lot more uniform than wood. With metal, you don't have to worry about grain direction, seasonal movement and cracking caused by humidity changes, etc.

I like both woodworking and metalworking ... they're just different.

You do with AR400. Try bending it the wrong way it'll crack and break.

[Bryan27]

I am really enjoying the learning process with welding. I'm as new and green as they get. I'm a fairly accomplished wood worker and know enough about machine tools and how to use them that I can tackle the projects I would likely do. But, to me, welding is more of an art that is just going to take a lot of practice to master. I can design anything in wood and with math and carefull cutting and joining it will come out exactly as planned regardless of skill with a hammer. But with welding, you still have to have that "skill with your hammer", so to speak.

[metalmedic]

I started my welding career in 1988 and have always loved welding, not always loved the people or the environment, but I have never gotten tired of trying to make every weld perfect!

My own little quote: Work is for losers that weren't lucky enough to be born rich!!!

[CaseyMckinney]

That great man, it's cool that you get do this as a profession. I am a refueling mechanic now so they try to keep and welding as far away from us as possible for good reason. As a result I spend every spare dollar I have on metal. I do get a bit jealous of guys that get to earn a wage at this. Maybe in my next life after the millitary I will get it right and let someone else buy my metal.

[Corgan]

I hear ya mate, its very satisfying.

I don't get to weld as a profession but I do pick up a few odd jobs and I like to volunteer for projects when someone is in need of something metal. Have been thinking of selling some furniture and other random items on the side.

Would love to one day get boilermaker trade papers but even at 25 I found it hard to get an apprenticeship- no time really to do a full time apprenticeship anymore, so I'll keep getting more welding certificates and keep making things out of my own pocket until i can fill in the gaps.

I worked for years in an office admin type job, not even as boring an admin job as they come and compared to physical work, fabricating and actually making something tangible at the end of it, office jobs to me are about as unsatisfying as it gets

[jelias]

I am really enjoying the learning process with welding. I'm as new and green as they get. I'm a fairly accomplished wood worker and know enough about machine tools and how to use them that I can tackle the projects I would likely do. But, to me, welding is more of an art that is just going to take a lot of practice to master. I can design anything in wood and with math and carefull cutting and joining it will come out exactly as planned regardless of skill with a hammer. But with welding, you still have to have that "skill with your hammer", so to speak.

Do not under estimate your skill with wood working. There is more skill to using a hammer than you my think. Ever seen someone swing a hammer that does not do it for a living? I find it funny, and often laugh at my self when i go to nail a board together and miss the nail as many times as i hit it. I am currenety remodeling my house and i could tell you how many times i cussed and wished houses were made of steel. All the trades are considered skilled labor for a reason, when i was younger and knew everything about anything i often laughed and thought how hard could it be. But after my first job as a welder i quikily realized that there is more than meets the eye. Now the older i get the i appreiate the skill involved with almost anything in the trades.

[gwiley]

Do not under estimate your skill with wood working. There is more skill to using a hammer than you my think. Ever seen someone swing a hammer that does not do it for a living? I find it funny, and often laugh at my self when i go to nail a board together and miss the nail as many times as i hit it. I am currenety remodeling my house and i could tell you how many times i cussed and wished houses were made of steel. All the trades are considered skilled labor for a reason, when i was younger and knew everything about anything i often laughed and thought how hard could it be. But after my first job as a welder i quikily realized that there is more than meets the eye. Now the older i get the i appreiate the skill involved with almost anything in the trades.

SOOOOOO true. I taught my boys to swing a hammer last summer when we built my shop together. I didn't realize that it was a learned skill until I saw them trying to put some nails in wood!!!

Each trade has a separate set of skills that you really NEED to do a good job (in addition to many shared skills).