welding buisness

[deereguy]

I heard that welders in SW Ohio (certified welders, that is) are basically all hired out with the 42" gas line that is going thru the area.

Go to your local Co website concerning starting a business as well as the State of Ohio, links to the Federal, etc.

 

[metalmeltr]

I heard that welders in SW Ohio (certified welders, that is) are basically all hired out with the 42" gas line that is going thru the area.

Go to your local Co website concerning starting a business as well as the State of Ohio, links to the Federal, etc.

I have herd of that line, but sur dont want to weld on it. My target was to do repairs in the field on tractors and such (cylinder mount breaks off FEL), I was also going to do custom fab at home and moible, I will do any job that I feell I can handle (sorry no broken cast iron axles).

 

[DaryleD]

I don't want to downgrade certification, but I think that it is worth very little, except on job sites, or with companies that require it, to get a foot in the door. If a company requires it, they usually will have you weld their coupon to pass their test. It is probably a good thing to do, but anyone that has passed a certain companies cert, can say that they are certified. People hear that word, and assume that you are an elite welder. It means that you are good enough, on whatever cert that you have taken. There is a lot to this, depending on what you will be called to do. Think very hard though, before you weld something that, if it breaks, could cause injury, like alloy control arms on a sports car, or a boom for a crane etc. Don't be afraid of saying NO from time to time. Good luck with this venture. Let us know how you are doing with it, from time to time.
Daryle.

 

[Lar1911]

I didn't notice where you specify how much experience that you have working on equipment so this may be elementary and totally unessesary, but the intentions are well ment so I'll mention them anyway. Make sure that you watch your grounding. Grounding back thru somebodies electrical system, bearings or gearbox not only can get into your pocket, but probably won't help the ole reputation, especially starting out.

Make sure you carry adaquate fire extinguishers and tools on the portable rig also it wouldn't hurt to have a fire blanket or two to deflect sparks on hand either. While reading this thread, I remembered an instance where somebody local was doing some work on a haybailer around here and it caught fire before they noticed it. Tractor, bailer and a good portion of pasture went up in smoke. Oil, gas and grass might be good for getting rides; but, can get out of control in a hurry when mixed with fire. Wood chips and saw dust, can be just as bad, grain dust can be explosive.

Know exactly what has/ is in any tanks and how it will react when you fire up or breath the contents or smoke that you might encounter to work on, some things go boom or are terribly toxic. There may also be a difference between solid, liquid and gas forms. Don't use a tourch and especially be looking over the top of any barrels that somebody may just drag up wanting you to cut, unless you are absolutely sure of the previous contents or taken the apropriate measures to render it safe. Chances are nobody will check for you beforehand.

Anyway with that happy note, good luck.

Also it might not hurt to carry tags and a paddlock to lock out any breaker boxes of moving or electrical equipment, especially if the work area is not easily seen from the breakers or switches. It might be a little late to try next time.

 

[ccsial]

The most important thing is not price, but being reliable. Eddie

Amen!

 

[metalmeltr]

I didn't notice where you specify how much experience that you have working on equipment so this may be elementary and totally unessesary, but the intentions are well ment so I'll mention them anyway. Make sure that you watch your grounding. Grounding back thru somebodies electrical system, bearings or gearbox not only can get into your pocket, but probably won't help the ole reputation, especially starting out.

Make sure you carry adaquate fire extinguishers and tools on the portable rig also it wouldn't hurt to have a fire blanket or two to deflect sparks on hand either. While reading this thread, I remembered an instance where somebody local was doing some work on a haybailer around here and it caught fire before they noticed it. Tractor, bailer and a good portion of pasture went up in smoke. Oil, gas and grass might be good for getting rides; but, can get out of control in a hurry when mixed with fire. Wood chips and saw dust, can be just as bad, grain dust can be explosive.

Know exactly what has/ is in any tanks and how it will react when you fire up or breath the contents or smoke that you might encounter to work on, some things go boom or are terribly toxic. There may also be a difference between solid, liquid and gas forms. Don't use a tourch and especially be looking over the top of any barrels that somebody may just drag up wanting you to cut, unless you are absolutely sure of the previous contents or taken the apropriate measures to render it safe. Chances are nobody will check for you beforehand.

Anyway with that happy note, good luck.

Also it might not hurt to carry tags and a paddlock to lock out any breaker boxes of moving or electrical equipment, especially if the work area is not easily seen from the breakers or switches. It might be a little late to try next time.

All the equipment that you mentioned willbe mandatory.

 

[flusher]

I am considerig very highly startin a welding buisness I am just curios how many ofyou guys culd benifet from such a service.

Are you a certified welder?
If not, I'd be careful of liability issues. Someone pays you for a welding job, the weld fails and results in an injury---enuf said.

My welding skills are so basic that I only weld my own stuff. I don't do welding jobs for neighbors and certainly not for pay.

 

[Lar1911]

I think Daryle covered this issue pretty well, but I'll add that certification shows that at least once at a required time you have had the ability to make an x-ray quality weld using a specified method on a specific material set in a specified position and most likely under ideal conditions. Whether you ever do it again or have the ability to do it standing on your head down in a hole and behind your back maybe a different story. There is also a difference between "been certified" and "currently certified" there is a time period for certifications in between use. Being certified is in no way a release from liability, but as you see may be an issue addressed with certain customers.

You can always take a test, but unless given on somebody elses dime, that you might work for, they are reletively expensive and one doesn't cover all.

I've known some old pipe hands that could make a down hill 5p (6010) sing and string out a 6" pipe probably to x-ray spec.s with hood raised, smoking a cigar and carring on a conversation. They could do it by sound. Put them on something straight, hood down, vertical with low/hi and you might come up with the most buggared up mess you've ever seen, with dogknots hang'n off that they could hang their hood on or use as an arm rest.

Besides company requirements that are just that, I have seen some insurance and warrenty work that wanted the welder certified or at least one out of so many were to oversee and sign off on some work. For the most part this was infrequent from my experience.

This is just my opinion, but if you really feel you will need papers, hit an outage or shutdown and save the test expense for a track bug, mag drill or other equipment that will do you more good in the long run.

Several things might help with the unneeded certification issue with most clients. Be professional, organized, make the appearence that this isn't your first rodeo when showing up at the site. Practice on your weaknesses like overhead, make sure you keep joints and multible pass welds clean when making them watch how you start off and finish welds. Have your work on your equipment look good and in good repair. Show off some of your handi work on your rig, but remember this is also your work table in the field, so don't get impractical. If you show up and the bumper of the truck is haywired on or the door on your tool boxes fall off it will probably not give a good impression with no proof to fall back on that you are capable of doing a good job.

 

[AndyinIowa]

I grew up in a weld shop. I clearly remember the day: I was standing in a roll-top manure spreader. It had a broken rotor. The spreader was full. I was up to my waist in liquid pig-doo, torching a hog carcass off the rotor (a lot of farmers would spread dead animals on their fields instead of paying for rendering). The torch was burning the carcass. It was about 85 degrees. Flies on my face, arms, neck. Took all day to fix the spreader.

Farmer shows up, tells us all he has is $20 to pay us....


THAT was the moment I decided to go into engineering, take a desk job, and never NEVER start my own weld shop.

You don't get to pick your jobs. Unless you have a strong backup of other machine shop services, repair welding is your lifeblood. You don't get vacations. You have to deal with people who aren't willing to pay to have the job done right-the-first-time.

If you think you can drop a shop somewhere and immediately start charging $30 per hour with a 2 hour minimum, think again.

Not wanting to sound harsh on this, but I've LIVED this life, and won't do it again. I'm thankful for everything it taught me, but I can't honestly recommend it to anyone else...

IowaAndy

P.S. Contract welding is a different animal. My Dad is currently semi retired, and has about 15 hours of contract welding per week, which pays $105 per hour. If you can land a few contracts, you can make decent money...