Hi all,

For those in this trade, which would you say has the highest starting wage, greatest growth? For the welders, what are the worse hazards or hate about the work? I do spuratic welding, but not enough to get a good feel as to how id like it 10, 12 hour days. Have a background in both but im not a journeyman in either. Any other info would be helpful.

Thanks!

plumbing I have never called one but the wife was told at work to call a plumber to fix a plugged drain 7 plumbers later she found one that could actually be there the next day minimum 100 dollar trip charge. most were booked out 1-2 weeks

machining and welding other than a little repair rely on product being built and sold a solid economy and production.

people never stop needing a plumber even in a recession.

Having done both for over 30 yrs, I preferred machining and don't think the money is much better in 1 over the other.
I made a good living with both.
A welder who can engineer his own fixtures is worth more than 1 without that skillset.
I liked standing up at a lathe or mill more than often times getting in weird positions to weld, primarily during an install.
I know some welders sit/stand at the same table each day, but that wasn't us. We have weld stations where I work now, so guys don't move much, BUT they have to wrestle heavy steel around at times, whereas, I had a hoist over my lathe when turning Caterpillar shafts, so it did my heavy lifting.
I often made weld fixtures in our machine shop.
Was blessed to travel for installs, and used the lathes/mills at plants all over Oregon, Idaho and Utah when needed.

I learned those trades as part of Gunsmith School training, and found out in short order 'smithing was a labor of love, except custom rifle builds.

Plumbers around here make a good living. Machinist depends upon the company but usually they don't do as good as th hey should as they don't get paid any better than the idiot working next to them. As far as welding, I k no pi w of several with serious health issues due to years of inhaling fumes and dirt. One has pulzie due to doing exposed to welding flash. But where I to choose I would take machining or welding since I enjoy making things and can see what I accomplished at the end of the day.

Your questions is very simple.

There are many types of each not just one standard description to fit your question.

Welders just weld, pipe welders just weld pipe, structural steel welders are squirrel who crawl all over with a stinger in their paw all the time, There is lots of different ways to weld, not all people know more than just stick or mig welding, Tig right not can bring you very good money if your in an area needing it.

Pay is good for welders in areas where there are not a lot of them, shipyards and mines, where I work now as a Structural welder pay very good at the copper mine here, others mostly only by example of your experience.
It's a dirty job, with lots of hazards to you health, but most can be adverted with proper equipment and some basic education, more if you have an apprenticeship or got to a collage to learn how to weld.

Machining is much the same and has just as many hazards for extreme hurt on you, if you get complacent for one second on open working machines, lathe's, turret work, open CNC machines etc.

Again an apprentice ship or schooling saves you a long learning curve on proper use of equipment, experience is a sometimes slow road to drive on either trade.

I would search for the need in either in an area with good transportation for heavy equipment being made, and low population of trained employees to fill either job class.

Some companies have unions which support either or both, like the mine I work at but do not have any apprenticeships any more you must be qualified from the get go.

If math is easy for you machining is probably the least on you health for damage, if a small company and your good probably more long in life as well.

Welding is a pretty common trade but not a lot know more than one machine or type of welding to do, if you choose this field more is better, become a Tig, (Heli-Arc) expert and do pipe work, learn fitting as well, so you don't need a fitter with you or the company to supply you one, invest in your own service truck and become a roamer for companies in need of Tig work, you will never make less than 100k a year, but never have kids or a family as you will never be around to see them grow !!

stay away from machining . no money. get a real trade. machinist are not considered a skilled trade any more. your a button pusher . 35 yrs in the trade to late to try something new. now a days u need 35 to 40 dollars a hour to make a good living. there all the same no matter where u go. worked in union and small companys to big. they don't know what u do but they sure cant do what we do either. I go find a plumbing or electrican career. machining isn't a career for money if that's what u want.

Steered my grandson away from machining, his Dad steered him away from welding. He is thinking something in the healthcare field, lot of us older people around.

There are always sick people and dieing people no matter how bad an economy. I wish I woukd have went into healthcare.

Manual machining isn’t a great choice these days, but CNC operators and programers will always find work somewhere.

IMHO, look into industrial maintenance jobs. Normally more pay than the welder or machinist in a plant. Where I work they're taking applications for a maintenance apprenticeship. 2yr degree, state certified journeyman card, no experience required, starting around $20, after 5 years probably $35. Not to bad of benefits anymore. Would be near Greenville, SC.

I don't think welding is a very healthy occupation, especially long term. Breathing those fumes and smoke has got to be bad for you.

For a little while, China is stealing those jobs too. We are losing 30% of our CNC machines , being delivered and set up in China as we speak. It's only the beginning. Better, faster, cheaper rules the day.

Personally I got my degree in electronics and computer technology. Applying that degree and experience to industrial controls, from relays to PLC's and everything in between got into the plant engineering group. Troubleshooting is a highly marketable skill. Now our machinists don't make much of squat and neither do the maintenance guys. Obviously you have to learn a trade first and then find the right niche to get in, learn how to interview and negotiate, and then NOT be afraid to keep looking and moving up (including moving to a new company) as necessary to achieve your goals. Machining/welding/maintenance tend to go hand in hand in many shops and plants these days. The physical aspects can be fairly demanding and always the work comes with many risks that have to be dealt with properly. Industrial hands on work is filthy and many times frustrating especially if your on the production end. One thing I definitely will never do again is take work on a swing shift schedule.

My body is now wearing out from trading it for money, i.e. working hard for a living. So now I'm continuing my studies, I'm 53, and branching out into embedded systems programming. Keep learning and making yourself valuable to a company. The infrastructure of the US is aged and many places still have equipment from the 1950's and 1960's while loosing folks that still know how to troubleshoot and repair it. I don't see any youngsters coming to our place that are even interested in the knowledge that I will, sooner or later, take away with me. NEVER stop learning and growing.

If I had it all to do over I would have become a game warden or wildlife biologist.......building a comfy cabin out in the boonies on the side, with the intent of having NO DEBT when the time to head for the hills came around. I'm getting close to that now actually.

Good luck and keep at it. It takes persistence and dedication with a good attitude.

This is very good advice. A friend of mine has worked maintenance at a plant since leaving the Navy in the late 80s. He was trained in electricity but has learned hydraulics, welding-metal and plastic-and is flown to other plants to troubleshoot problems they have. He is very well compensated because he is so valuable to his company and others that would like to hire him away.

Plumbers aren't welders. Fitters are welders.
Get In the Pipe fitters trade and since you can already weld that will be a benefit to you.

Actually there are Fitters, Welders and Fitter/Welders

You learn to be a fitter as well as a welder your more apt to find more work than having to have a fitter hang around, today's employers don't hire both if one can do both jobs !! The pay is adjusted to what you know !

If I were you, I would pack up and go to the Tulsa Ok pipe welding school. A very good school to learn the pipe trade. If you want to pursue gas line work, (downhiller) get in the 798 pipe welders union. if you like uphill better, get into a pipe and steamfitters union. I have welded all my liife, am almost 73 and in pretty good shape yet, but there is a lot of security in the trades. If you don't like working out of a suitcase, then go the machining route. Both can be dangerous, so use your head in any thing you do! Good luck to you, whichever way you go!

trouble is welding and machining are very general descriptions.
Many different types in both fields.

I always told my kids that when you go into a trade go for the highest level/skill set in that trade.

Don't be a machinist, be a Toolmaker for instance.

In the end what matters more than machinist or welder is your dedication to your trade/craft.
If your always learning, and by learning I don't mean formal education, have a good work ethic, strive to do the job better every day, make the next guys job easier you'll do well.
And even tho many will laugh and deride this you should always think about how you can make the company your at more money.
When your job gets routine and the ability to learn is diminishing its time to move on to another place.
Even while working in the same trade working at different places will improve your skills/knowledge.

All this makes you a more valuable employee.

I spent 35 years as a fitter /welder. I only traveled once In all that time. And that's because our local was on strike.

If I was younger I would start up my own crematorium.
Just spark up the oven,feed in the carcasses,shovel the ashes into a nice container-collect a couple grand.