Metalworking Career?

[Moose McAlpine]

Other for me.

Mechanic by trade for 13 years, i now work in roadside assistance but would like to retrain as a welder and make the switch. My job/"career" is a dead end one and there's no fun in it anymore.

I like the satisfaction of actually making stuff. (Ideally truck bodies, workbenches and container homes as well as architectural metalwork.)

 

[stuvy]

Coach building is what your after mate

Have you thought about going out on your own?

 

[Moose McAlpine]

Coach building is what your after mate

Have you thought about going out on your own?

Yes, exactly that. I would love to but don't really have the money or experience to take the dive just yet.

Unfortunately i'm stuck in a bind as my current job gets progressively worse and i want to get out of it, but am not suitably experienced/skilled to jump right into welding.

 

[stuvy]

The way I took the plunge and swapped career was to get debt free, have 6 months money in the bank to cover the bills just in case I’d made the wrong decision and I could take the time to find another job with out sleepless nights

Then I went to local places and offered to do a day or two for free to see if I liked it

I got a job that way and made great friends. Iv built horse boxes and custom land rovers as well as restored some great cars and bikes

Although Iv been self employed and flirted with other jobs here and there I’m finally on my own and although it’s a worry I’m so glad I’m finally there

I’v had today off to take the cat for the snip and I don’t feel guilty for not working, I do feel guilty for the poor cat

 

[Moose McAlpine]

I would love to do that, but due to my home situation and work's cut on overtime i can't easily save money anymore. I do have some money saved but it is not easily accessible yet.

You're not that far from me, want a part-timer?

 

[stuvy]

My retired dad is my part timer

I’m lucky enough to have no mortgage or kids so I’m fairly flexible with what I can do work wise

Pm en route

 

[Yamhon]

I've started a welding/fabricating course, initially because I wanted to learn how to weld. I'm not really a hobbies person, either I don't do something, or I get quite into it... would like to gain skills and experience so I can make a go of self employment through welding and general fabrication... or perhaps work in the nuclear industry, with welding as a component of that work.

 

[Will!]

Professionally involved in the industry of making things out of metal but I don't actually hit, cut or get things hot in my day job.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

but I don't actually hit, cut or get things hot in my day job.

Welcome aboard, @Will! Where's the fun in what you do, then.....?

 

[Will!]

Welcome aboard, @Will! Where's the fun in what you do, then.....?

The fun is watching the welders argue with the machinists that their CNC machine caused the surface indications in the weld cladding, rather than accept it's just plain old porosity.

Tactical edit: I'm not an inspector either.

 

[Sparkyarc19]

Im an maintaince engineer closest thing to fair ground engineer lol just getting into stick and mig welding i do everything fair ground related from build up to pull down fixing hydrolics electrics and disele engines

 

[highseas]

welder for a living well %40 of it from june till about now...i weld. everything from gates and railings to trailers to buildings to farm gates lots of mobile repairs on farm gear ect ect
the rest of the year i catch moles...a LOT of moles

 

[Migmac]

Im an maintaince engineer closest thing to fair ground engineer lol just getting into stick and mig welding i do everything fair ground related from build up to pull down fixing hydrolics electrics and disele engines

So you have a job that is all swings and roundabouts

 

[Sparkyarc19]

Yeah its always up and down

 

[Sparkyarc19]

Lol emojis didnt come up lol

 

[Barking Mat]

I chose maintenance, as that's the closest, to the never ending list of things I do at work.

 

[Dutch Welder]

Maintenance technician at a non woven factory, welded more at my first job which was a machine/conveyor builder.
Still do a lot of welding in my free time, on anything but cars.

 

[Bluemotion]

Professional welder (vehicles)
Is what I chose.
I started off many years ago as a vehicle refinisher but got bored. In fact I got sacked for being too gobby which started off my career below.......
Got a garage business going in the early eighties and moved over to panel beating then to restoration and fabrication then to woodwork then to multi-trade (construction trade) back to motortrade coach building ambulances in brighouse.
Now I’m freelance classic vehicle restorer/escalator refurbisher/general metal fabricator/vehicle crane refinisher/motorcycle paintwork specialist/domestic kitchen & bathroom fitter............. God, where does it end???
And to end it all I really want a new challenge for the year 2020 where I can use more than 10% of my skills in one go, any suggestions ???

 

[Keith 66]

With that skill set you could easily get a job as a D&T technician in a school but would need to be computer literate, good at CAD, & electronics, plus be a mind reader and put up with horrible scrotes and do all of it for little more than minimum wage!

 

[Bluemotion]

With that skill set you could easily get a job as a D&T technician in a school but would need to be computer literate, good at CAD, & electronics, plus be a mind reader and put up with horrible scrotes and do all of it for little more than minimum wage!

Does anyone actually want to work for local council in schools? Your right Keith, the skills line up but what a way to waste your life under that sort of dictatorship. My wife is already a teaching assistant and ‘conditioned’ to the system unfortunately.