I used to be a welder. I was employed by Newport News Shipbuilding to build aircraft carriers and aircraft carrier parts. I did it for five years until 1992 and hated every minute of it.
The reason I am creating this page is mostly because you can’t find Home Pages on the internet that belong to Welders or people in the occupation of welding steel or other metals together. Well, if this page is not the first, perhaps it will be the most comprehensive, and most of all, honest. Why there are not any web pages dedicated to welders will be discussed below.
What it is like
If you have never tried welding, I must say, DON’T! It’s not fun. The best way to describe what it is like to weld for 8 hours a day: Imagine sitting in a very dark place, staring at a very bright puddle of light which is actually molten metal, watching it move slowly from point a to point b. Now repeat. Keep repeating for 8 hours. Sounds boring, right? Well, boredom is not even the half of it. If the pay is right, boredom can be handled and endured, for after all, work is not really supposed to be fun, is it? But work can be downright miserable when you factor in the perks that come with the job.
Heat
Welding is nothing more than playing with fire, albeit in a somewhat controlled environment. Fire, as its nature, produces heat. Fire hot enough to melt high tempered steel produces a lot of heat. Therefore welding is hot work.
Add to this the safety issue of protecting a person’s body against this heat, and the work becomes hotter. A welder must wear protective clothing to avoid pain and injury from flying sparks, slag and arc flash. This means being covered head to toe in thick cotton shirts and jeans. Thick gauntlet style gloves are worn to protect the hands. When welding overhead, a leather jacket weighing about 15 lbs. is added to the wardrobe to prevent hot slag from burning through the clothing on the arms. Additionally, a hard hat is worn to protect the top of the head from the same debris. Sounds like it sucks, huh?
- So imagine playing with fire, covered head to toe in thick clothes. It’s hot.
How hot is it? Your whole body perspires except for your hands which are too close to the welding arc. Your gloves begin to smolder. - Now, imagine that it is summertime. It’s really hot.
How hot is it? Sweat rolls freely down your face and drips steadily into your welder’s face shield, pooling into a salty puddle at the bottom. All of your clothes begin to stick to your body. Your gloves are smoking now and the bottoms of your steel-toed boots begin to melt and stick to the deck. You begin to see mirages. - Now imagine that it is summertime and the metal you are welding on must be preheated to 250 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent it from becoming too brittle. A torch or huge heating coils are used to do this. It’s really, really hot!
How hot is it? Your sweaty clothes dry out as fast as you can sweat, leaving gray and white streaks at the wrinkles due to the salt your body excretes. You occasionally have to remove your gloves when they burst into flame. Your feet are smoking because your boots are almost completely melted away. You ARE a mirage. You begin to see demons. - Now imagine that it is summertime and the metal you are welding on must be preheated to 300 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent it from becoming too brittle. And you are welding overhead. Below the 6 inch thick steel flight deck on an aircraft carrier that has baked in the sun for 12 hours. It’s hot as hell!
How hot is it? Your welding face shield begins to distort and melt. Your hands burst into flames and burn right down to the elbows. You no longer have the exertion to sweat; your clothes are so heat dried that they suck the moisture out of your body like a sponge. A portal to Hades opens up in the very air before you and Satan begins to beckon your name. - Now imagine that you have to do this for EIGHT hours! AIIIEEEEEEEE!!!
But wait, there’s more!
Dirt
Welding is not only hot work, but its dirty work too. The process of welding produces almost as much waste as useful material. Most of the waste is turned into smoke, a gray sooty substance that smells like a mixture of dust and dirt together. This smoke settles on everything and leaves a brown residue. The rest of the waste byproduct becomes slag, an almost clay-like substance that cools onto the surface of fresh weld. This byproduct must be removed with a “pecking hammer” and the slag just gets everywhere.
Other processes in the course of welding produce even more dirt and grime, including cutting operations, surface grinding and “carbon arcing.” Carbon arcing is a process that instead of putting metal into a surface, you gouge it out with high voltage electricity and compressed air. Very dirty process.
So not only do you have the heat, you have the sweat and the dirt. Dirt gets stuck in sweat and turns to mud. This dirt also grinds into your clothing, breaking your cotton trousers down at an almost molecular level. The dirt also gets on your car seat on the way home, your sofa at home, etc. etc.
Sweat
As mentioned above, you sweat constantly, even if it dries faster than you can produce it. Therefore you cannot get enough to drink.
Metal Shavings
Metal shavings are produced by grinding operations. If the weld doesn�t look right, you can grind it down a little until it looks better. But it produces thousands of metal splinters. Imagine sitting on them or accidentally putting your hand in them. Ouch. ‘Nuff said.
Smoke
This stuff is nasty. It mixes with sweat, gets in your hair, tastes really bad, collects in your eyes and makes you look like you are wearing eyeliner. The smoke even mixes with your mucous membranes until you feel like you have half a box of Cocoa Crispies crammed up your nose. The smoke from carbon arcing is nothing but atomized steel and a respirator has to be worn to prevent some sort of mining disease.
Metal Fume Fever
I swear this is a real disease, as it is what eventually ended my welding career. Thank God!!! Exposure and inhalation of too many welding fumes cause this metal fume fever. It produces flu like symptoms, which last about 18 hours from the time of exposure, wearing off just in time to go back to the gulag of a welding job. Shivering fevers of 103 degrees are not uncommon, along with painful joints and a dry cough. I began to get metal fume fever every day and that�s when I knew it was time to file for Worker’s Compensation.
Hemorrhoids
Sit on unyielding hard, hot steel for 5 days a week for a year and you tell me what happens to your ass! Many welders pack Preparation H in their lunch pails.
Sunburn and “ArcFlash”
Welding produces more light than heat if you can believe it. That is why they have to wear those face shields. With a good welding face shield, you can look at the sun and count sunspots. Really! Most of the light from welding processes is in the ultraviolet spectrum, which produces sunburn on exposed skin. It probably produces x-rays too, but I’m no physicist.
Anyway, another added bonus is arcflash, the “hot sand thrown in the eyes” feeling from watching someone weld without using adequate eye protection, or from having an asshole welding neighbor that neglects to erect a canvas shield to protect his coworkers from the harmful rays of his arc-light. Veteran welders swear that sliced potatoes placed on the eyes will alleviate the severe pain associated with arcflash, but I just think that is one more example why welders are such stupid people.
Welders
As people, welders only really come in one flavor, and that is DUMB. Face it. People that have a Bachelor’s degree just don’t weld, and if they do, it just proves my point even further. Why would anyone want to spend their time rolling around in the dirt, fire and smoke if they weren’t stupid? Sure, I did it for five years, but I was smart enough to get out with my life intact. The points below will justify my statement that all welders are inherently stupid.
Longevity
Welders always tell each other that there is no such thing as an old welder. This is because, they claim, that welders have a shorter life expectancy because of their trade. Welders develop respiratory ailments, their knees go bad from the constant kneeling, their backs go bad lifting heavy steel plates or welding machines, their hearing goes bad due to loud environments, eyesight goes out due to arc-flash and loss of life due to industrial accidents. It is true about the unfortunate ailments that afflict welders. But if all welders know this, yet continue to do what they do, it must mean they are stupid!
Furthermore, you might not wish to believe the statistics about welders not living long. True, they may not, but it may be more attributed to their stupidity than their occupation. I mean, stupid people get hit by buses, forget to take medication, or partake in activities that are not healthy. And, stupid people also become welders.
Coarse Breed
It takes a special type of person to become a welder. As mentioned above, the prime requisite is a low IQ. But genetics aside, one other characteristic is common among welders: Lower Middle class family values. These include rednecks, trailer dwellers, welfare victims and the occasional lesbian.
You will never see a welder living in a Penthouse apartment or a Riverside three-story house. You won’t find welders making their fortunes on Wall Street. In fact, as welders like to say, they contribute weekly to their retirement fund by playing the State Lottery. It’s not that welders don’t make a decent hourly wage, but being stupid, they spend their wealth on Budweiser, Skoal Bandits, cigarettes and Colt 45.
Don’t get me wrong- welders are some of the hardest working Americans among us, but they are down there on the economic and social food chain. These are guys that hang out in topless bars, go hunting every November and fart audibly on elevators. A limited vocabulary forces welders to curse like a sailor. Many of them are proud that they can spit 15 feet.
Tobacco
As if breathing atomized steel particles weren’t bad enough, many welders indulge in tobacco use as well. That welders would indulge in an activity that would increase the odds of their dying prematurely is yet another example of limited intelligence.
The really tough smokers smoke Tiparillo cigars right under their face shields, and the chewers and spitters deposit their droppings directly onto their job sites and have no qualms about sitting in the brown chunky puddles. I used to know a welder that would spit directly onto the inside of his face shield while he was working. Every now and then he would lift up the shield and allow the run-offs to drain out along with his sweat, staining his coveralls brown. The guy always smelled like peppermint barf.
Why no Web Pages About Welders?
This is an easy answer. Again, welders are too stupid to create a web page. Many of them could easily afford a nice computer, but once they get it, their Netscape bookmarks consist of Nascar sites, Guns and Ammo, and Porn, Porn, Porn. Ever notice you can’t find a newsgroup called alt.welders?
If you do a search on welding on the Internet search engines, you will find a bunch of vendors and suppliers of welding machines and welding stock, but no personal web pages. Welders would not go into an IRC chatroom and brag about the fact that they are welders. Wherever they have an option to fill out a profile on-line, they list their occupation as “engineer” or “metallurgist.”
Welding War Stories
Every occupation has groups of people that gather around over drinks to discuss accomplishments of either themselves or others within their immediate circle. These are called “War Stories.” Accountants tell war stories about IRS audits or catching a client embezzling money, and computer technicians talk about their dumbest users or awesome Servers they have built.
Welders tell stories too. Most welding stories involve mutilation, death, and unsurprisingly, heat. Below are a few I have heard that have floated around the shipyard on more than one occasion.
Dropped Badge
The shipyard is famous for having hundreds of cranes for lifting heavy loads. Many of these cranes operate off a high voltage rail and track system like a city subway. The largest crane has its tracks and rail underground, and as this behemoth moves, steel plates rise up and allow the wheels to track forward.
Well, since the shipyard is contracted by the government to build Nuclear Warships, it is a secure facility, which means everyone always had to wear a badge. One welder accidentally dropped his badge down a hole between the steel plates that cover the high voltage rail of the large crane. The welder found a long piece of wire, fashioned it into a hook and stuck it down the hole to fish out his badge. Of course, it hit the rail. I�ve heard some people say that the voltage was so intense that his body exploded, and the only things left were his boots. Dead welder. Stupid welder.
Cutter Beneath an Overhead Plate
One welder was assigned the arduous task of cutting out a large section of a pre-fab unit for replacement. Cutting operations are of course, easiest cutting below yourself, and the welder thought he was finished, but the hole he had cut didn’t fall out of the bottom of the unit as planned. He climbed out of the unit and inspected it underneath to find where his blowtorch had missed. He found the spot and since he could see it better underneath the unit, he fired up his torch and took out the last section. He happened to be standing where the unit would fall. Twenty tons of metal hit the concrete with him pancaked between. Dead welder. Stupid welder.
Confined Spaces
Many welding operations require the use of inert gases as shielding agents. The most common is Argon. Argon is an inert, colorless, odorless gas that is about twice as heavy as air. It is almost like an invisible liquid the way it can fill up an unventilated room.
A welder did not check with the chemists to ensure that a hole he was about to crawl into was free of Argon gas. He went in, inhaled deeply, and suffocated. Dead welder. Stupid welder.
The remaining items are war stories of my own, and thankfully do not involve death and severe mutilation.
Being on Fire
Welders are combustible. I was no exception. The most fireproof clothing anyone could wear in welding operations was thick denim jeans. Blue jeans can be exposed to a direct flame and will not combust, provided that there are no holes in the jeans. But hot slag, sitting in the fold of denim can wear out the fireproof properties, and ground in dirt wears out the fabric too, so that after a few washings, frays in the material begin to appear. Unlike the rest of the denim, these frays of cotton are very combustible, and once ignited, the fire spreads quickly.
I have had many a hot spark set me ablaze, and being in the dark and unaware of your surroundings, you could be on fire for several moments until you smell the smoke. After the smoke comes the unmistakable sensation of heat spreading up your body, and flames actually “lick” your skin. These flames are not real hot against your skin, but it does feel like a dog licking you with a hot tongue, minus the slobber.
The pain does not come until you try to beat the flames out with your gloves, and grinding the smoldering clothing against your skin hurts. There is a safety rule in the shipyard that says that you are not allowed to blow dirt off of yourself with the oxygen from your blow torch for obvious reasons.
Oxygenated clothing ignites and burns like flash paper.
Scars and Slag
I still bear a few scars on my forearms and feet from slag burns. Slag, as mentioned above, is the clay like material that appears on fresh weld. Removing the slag sometimes sends glowing hot debris flying in many different directions. Sometimes the slag falls into shirt pockets where it sits and burns the skin, or into folds in the shirt sleeves. It falls into gloves too, and that hurts a bunch.
In fact, if you were to watch a welder for one shift, you would probably see him throw his gloves off at least once to shake out a piece of hot slag. Sometimes slag falls into the top of the boot. You cant shake a boot off your foot, but you can do this little dance and cause the slag to rattle around inside so it doesn’t burn one spot too much. Instead you try to make it burn a whole bunch of little spots.
I have heard welders that are smokers tell stories about how an ordinary Bic lighter, when ignited all at once, is like an eighth of a stick of dynamite. It seems that welders forget that a lighter is in their shirt pocket, and when hot slag hits it, it goes poof!
High and Tight Places
As if all of the above weren’t bad enough, welders work construction, which means they are often times placed in high or tight spaces. Most welders therefore, do not suffer from acrophobia or claustrophobia, mostly because they are too stupid to be afraid. I have welded hanging 80 feet above the bottom of an empty dry dock on rickety, shaking-in-the-breeze scaffolding. Likewise, I have crawled forty feet into a catapult system in spaces so tight you couldn’t turn around.
Typical Welder on the Job Video
Here is a welder doing his job. He appears to be cutting something with a torch. Watch the video to see what happens. Would a smart person risk being decapitated by an explosion?
Explosion Nearly Decapitates Welder - Watch more free videos
Conclusions
Just because welders are stupid, it doesn’t mean that I hate all welders. True, I hated the occupation, but the fine Americans that comprise the steelworkers union are mostly good people that work hard. But they are still stupid. However, America needs its welders to put our ships together, to build our skyscrapers and our bridges. But I must say that if there is ever any occupation most deserving of replacing its workers with robots, it has to be welding.
If you are one of the smart welders that know how to work email, feel free to send comments or share a welding war story with me. I may even post it here! Or, you can register with the site and post a comment, but it will be moderated.
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169 people responded in this post
[...] Welcome to World Wide Welding [...]
Sadly….
Stupid Welder… Dead Welder….
http://tinyurl.com/qt432
A construction worker was killed Wednesday when a welding torch apparently ignited his clothes while he was working inside a steel drainage pipe at a construction site at Highway 29 in Napa.
The man, whose name was not released, was trapped inside the pipe and burned to death, according to the Napa Fire Department.
The worker had entered the pipe to perform either welding or cutting with an acetylene torch. The pipe was 24 inches in diameter, and the man was about 40 feet inside the pipe when the fire broke out.
The man cried out in pain, and his partner, who also was not identified, attempted to go to his rescue with a fire extinguisher. However, it turned out the second man could not be of help, according to fire Capt. Scott Sedgley.
“You can crawl in the pipe, but you can’t turn around,” Sedgley said. Realizing the situation was desperate, the trapped man’s partner backed out of the pipe and called 911.
Stupid Welder… Dead Welder…
This one didnt think he needed good scaffolding.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/4028789.stm
Defence company BAE Systems has been fined £250,000 after a welder died while working on a North Sea platform.
Billy Farrell, 35, of Belton, Norfolk, fell to his death as he carried out maintenance work on a crane.
Norwich Crown Court heard on Friday that despite it being 90ft above the North Sea, there were no safety rails or toe boards.
BAE Systems Operations Ltd admitted failing to ensure the safety of a person other than an employee.
The Hon Mr Justice Cresswell said that the scaffolding used for the work was “unsafe and unsuitable”.
Stupid Welder…. Dead Welder…
He couldn’t see the fireball that was coming toward him…
http://www.fresnobee.com/updates/metro/story/11751514p-12473182c.html
John Robert Pura, 46, who was injured in an explosion and fire Monday afternoon at his business in Clovis, died this morning at University Medical Center, the Fresno County Coroner’s Office reported.
Pura, a resident of Clovis and owner of Pura Fabz, a custom welding and fabrication business at 53 W. Herndon Ave., was doing a welding job near a fuel tank on a truck when the explosion occurred.
Pura, who reportedly was covered in a ball of fire, was taken to UMC with third-degree burns over 100% of his body, as well as other injuries. He was pronounced dead about 5:15 a.m. today.
I’m so SHOCKED to hear about this stupid welder….
From an accident report here: http://tinyurl.com/opkxr
Farmer Dies When Electrocuted While Welding Feed Bunker Wagon
Stupid Welder… Dead Welder. This time in Kuala Lampur. From TMCNet here: http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/02/28/1418556.htm
Stupid Welder manages to survive his accident. Not all of them die.
Thoughts and prayers are with the family for a speedy recovery.
From the Sun Herald here:
http://www.sun-herald.com/NewsArchive4/030206/tp1de1.htm
Here is an example of a stupid person that wants to BE a welder. And I think he gets his stupidity from his mother, who refuses to forbid him from doing highly stupid things.
From the Kingsport Times:
http://www.timesnews.net/communityArticle.dna?_StoryID=3615614
This man may not have done anything stupid to cause his own welding death, but he works a job that blinds him to safety hazards around him. Someone comes up and plays with the controllers on his cherry picker, and it kills him.
From Onlineathens here:
http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/040706/cops_20060407042.shtml
Pat said,
“Yes, I have had an extensive education. However, a real education means that you are indeed capable of making a judgement about something. Only pussies refuse to commit to one side or another of an issue. To demand that I “see all sides” of an issue is a multicultural red herring.”
Pat, I would like to know about this “multicultural red herring” In all the years in Soc, I haven’t come across that term used in a non-multicultural sense
FWIW, you bring up some good points, but I’d like to make the ammendment that welders aren’t inherently stupid. Rather, for some reason welding seems to attract stupid people like a moth to a light. There are a few smart ones out there and usually they are the ones that will make it past 50. The rest, as you have pointed out, find a way to weed themselves out (which is fine, as it helps keep down the old age pension payments for the rest of us).
The modern view of society is that it is a sin to have an opinion on anything. That’s right, a sin, and to confess and repent from that sin you have to espouse both sides of an issue. This is a preposterous idea. Only modern day sociologists use the red herring or distraction from the issue at hand, to say that unless both sides are presented about an issue, the conclusion is automatically wrong.
Welders are stupid sir. You want to sugar coat it to say that only stupid people are attracted to the welding career, but doesnt this just mean that welders are stupid?
Also, you seem to take heart in the fact that welders die young due to stupidity. This is also wrong. I have never rejoiced in the death of any welder, and to suggest that it is okay because there is more pension money for the rest of the crew is stupid too.
Welders should be replaced by robots whenever possible. Welders should be trained in robotics and engineering so they can make their jobs safer.
Only politicians embrace that great a form of fence-sitting. If being strongly opinionated works for you, then so be it. I agree, the general populus is being raised in an unopinionated state. As J.S. Mill pointed out, people without differing opionions are worthless to the overall integrity of that society.
I did not intend to paint death of any person in any profession as a reason for rejoice. But, if you are looking at facts, you can paint it whatever color you want, the fact still remains that stupid people will weed themselves out of society. Hopefully they will take as few innocent people with them as possible. The punk that drives 120mph and t-bones a family on their way to church is stupid, hopefully he dies. Simple. Punk weeded out.
If you want to look at real stupidity, start looking at some of the other occupations out there. For example, the noble police officer, who via numbers found through a report done in conjunction with the police and PhD Plecas, lives an average of of two years after reaching mandatory retirement before succumbing to heart disease. That in its own form is stupidity. These officers are chasing that carrot (often in the form of a gauranteed retirement pension), working the best part of their lives away until they have nothing left but medications, medical bills, and often mental illness in the latter stages of their lives. A trades-person’s occupation seems pretty tame when compared to that.
While replacing welders with robots seems ideal, it is at this point and time not feasible and still economically unwise (on a national scale). The increased unemployment rates alone may very-well outweigh the cost savings of unmanned labour. Also, I am not sure that society can realistically be confined to a protective bubble that prevents people from engaging in potentially harmfull activities.
Stupid Welder, Dead welder. And he took his welding shop with him. From a Texas news site: http://tinyurl.com/m27le
Stupid Welder leads against Cherry Picker controls and kills himself.
Stupid Welder, Dead Welder. And he took his buddies with him. This time, it was welding a tank on a massive Oil Tanker. Boom. Bodies floating at sea. From here: http://tinyurl.com/mbfsu
Stupid Welder, Running Around on Fire Welder:
Another welder works on a supposedly empty tank which then explodes. This welder runs around on fire and would have turned to ash if not for the quick thinking of his neighbor.
From an Aussie Paper here: http://tinyurl.com/olfug
Stupid welder burns up his legs at a Chicken Factory. Of course he does. From the Herald Sun: http://tinyurl.com/jkpwq
Stupid Welders engaged in illegally manufacturing gas cylinders caught a tank of paint thinner on fire. BOOM. Dead welders.
Sammy Hagar knows welders are stupid. He is donating cash from ticket sales to benefit a burn unit where a friend died after catching fire in a welding accident.
http://www.dailynews.com/music/ci_3889195
Welders working on a tank. Big explosion. Dead welders.
It seems that the most popular accidental death from welding is explosions. Explosions happen when welders fail to clear the area of explosive materials, or worse, weld on a tank that used to hold explosive materials.
From an Alberta News station here- http://tinyurl.com/rt368
Lots of welders plummet to their death. Here is one such case, sadly:
http://tinyurl.com/e5vn4
Another Welding Explosion- From the Anchorage Daily News at
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/8039274p-7932244c.html
Man welding killed in fuel tank explosion
A 48-year-old Wasilla man was killed in an explosion Thursday at a Wasilla boat building shop, according to the Wasilla Police Department.
The accident occurred just after 4 p.m. at a shop on Railroad Avenue in downtown Wasilla. Krill said the man and another employee were doing welding work on a fuel tank on a 24-foot fishing boat when the explosion occurred.
Crain said the two men appeared to have taken the appropriate safety precautions, including making sure the tank was empty before working on it. But, he said, some remaining fumes may have triggered the explosion.
this is a very informative page.. keep up the good work. i have taken a few welding courses, but “woke up” before i could actually enter the trade. what is the real deal about only having to work 8 months out of the year, and still bringing home 70- 100,000+++ dollars a year??????? is all that true??? peace!!!
Most welders do not earn that type of salary, James. Maybe some real specialized welders do, like underwater welders.
Oh my God. Some welders are stupider than others. I write often about welders blowing themselves up. Usually welders explode because they weld on fuel tanks or other containers with explosive gases inside. Rarely does it involve dynamite or other explosives.
This is a case in Maine where a man was welding with blasting caps sitting on top of his workbench. The blasting caps were sitting there forever because they never bothered to throw them away.
From MaineToday here:
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/3009087.shtml
you mention welding for 5 years. does the smoke and fumes really get into your lungs. the only welding i have done was in a booth at school, with a vent sucking the smoke, or something like that. On the job, is there any kind of protection for your lungs? did you notice any respiratory changes in yourself?
James,
Welcome to the Blog!
Yes, the smoke and fumes really get into your lungs. But from your minimal exposure, you shouldnt have any problems. My health problems came from “metal fume fever” which is the inhalation of some heavy metals in particle form. Once I stopped welding, I stopped having these symptoms. I have no idea what, if any, long term effects it may have had on me. I feel great today and am in great health.
If anyone is worried about welding fumes, a respirator should be available for use.
Welder dies in yet another explosion. This time it was a Tanker Truck.
From the AP here:
http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/15392904.htm
greetings! how much did you earn per year, when you were welding? thanx. it seems nobody else will tell me. i am interested, because i am examining different careers. peace brother!
Hi john! When I was welding back in the late 80’s and early 90’s, I was working for a union contract at NN Shipyard. I was making about 18.50 per hour. If I was non-union, I may have been able to pull down about 25-30 bucks per hour.
Pay really depends on the type of work, the type of welding and the degree of risk involved. If you have to work for a union, you can expect less pay, but more of a guarantee of ongoing work.
Ive worked for the last 10 years as a welder, and your right about one thing. The majority of MarineWorkers, Iron Workers, Pile drivers and general Shop wire monkeys are stupid. Those are the lowest fields in the welding trade, and your bitter you because you were just a stupid weelder, working in a shipyard. I think the entrace requirement for a shipyard welder is a double digit IQ. I spent a year doing Marine repair and i hated it sometimes and loved it other times, All i got out of it was a good paycheque and scarred arms. Smart welders work in safe clean shops, Tig welding stainless and assorted alloys. Stupid shipyard welder
Another unfortunate accident. This time a man is crushed by his work. He was 59 years old. From KTVA here:
http://www.ktva.com/alaska/ci_4399582
[...] You can read my horror stories about welders in the comments section of this post. [...]
A welder had his legs crushed and he died from his injuries. From the NY Daily News here:
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/484543p-407929c.html
This is an email thread from a disgruntled reader. As email, it is best to be read from the bottom up.
comment removed at request of poster.
Stupid welders cant find the caps lock either. And your first sentence, seeing if you get it straight? Wrong. I am not sitting at home collecting disability. That’s not even how disability works, stupid. And as far as finishing at the top of the welding game? Its like coming in first at the Special Olympics. Even if you win, you are still retarded.
Good luck Glenn. And the caps lock is just below the tab key. Thanks for visiting Belch.Com!
Here is another horror story of a welder. He was crushed to death by a steel plate weighing thousands of pounds. It fell off of a ship he was working on.
From the New York Times Here: http://tinyurl.com/whzyg
For those of you keeping track like me, that makes two welders crushed to death in one week in New York City. My condolences to the families.
[...] I used to work on nuke subs back in the day. I didn’t have a hand in working on the Newport News, but I know guys who did. [...]
Welder Electrocuted and Falls Forty Feet
More welder intelligence here: http://tinyurl.com/yd7ys2
All you are and all you will ever be is a stupid ship welder.It sounds like you were a stupid production welder to me with no welding or fabrication skills.I would love to see you design and fabricate something like a robot that can do what i do.The only reason robots are made are for productivity, consistancy and to replace crappy welders like you.You are just mad because you couldn’t take a man’s trade.So just stay in your girly office or go stand with your mom on the corner.And by the way,do you also think firefighters are stupid for running straight into burning buildings?By the contents of this blog you seem like you aren’t very bright yourself.
Nate,
I had to edit the swearing from the comment. As far as your prognostication that “All you will ever be is a stupid ship welder,” you are wrong and are exhibiting poor comprehension skills. If you read carefully, you will see that I have left the shipyard. Years ago. I have become much more than a welder and I am very proud of my contributions to my employer, who pays me very well for what I do.
Attempting to compare welders to firefighters is a complete non-sequitor to your argument, as are your attempts to claim that I have feminine traits because I was smart enough to get a more suitable job.
So what is your job then?this whole time you have yet to tell everyone what you do for a living now.i live in northern va so why don’t we meet and talk about your view’s on welding.you can come to my shop and see what i do and then call people like me stupid.i don’t think you would do that tough because you are afraid of your opinion being wrong.all you have to go on are people you have worked with and things you read.if you feel that strong about your opinion tell everyone what you do and prove me too be a stupid welder and come to my shop.and don’t make up some bull**** job too make your self sound smarter than you really are.i’m sure you will find some lame excuse like you have moved.i will come pick your lazy butt up and drive you myself.now go ahead and start thinking of all the excuses and comments you can type back because everyone knows thats all your going to do.you sound like you have sand in your vagina to me.and yes i know your going to edit this and try to make yourself look good.GOOD JOB PATSY SORRY I COULDN’T FIND THE CAPS LOCK.WHERE WAS THAT AGAIN?
Can’t find the space bar either, I see. Look Nate, if you read my blog it will become apparent what I do for a living. And I obviously don’t need to see what you do since I know you are a welder. And Im flattered that you really want to meet me, but honestly, I’m just not that into you. And its really stupid to threaten anyone over the Internet.
good one,how long did the space bar joke take you to think of?so what the hell do you do all day???you sound pretty stupid yourself because i didn’t threaten you at all in all of that.i was trying to be some what nice to you.what is your job title now?you are starting to prove my point that you are just as stupid as everyone else you talk about.don’t go around bashing people and what they do unless you can prove your point in person.if you want a real threat i can do that but you wouldn’t have the balls to give me a chance to follow through.this will be my last post unless you want to meet me and prove that i am just a stupid welder.i think your just afraid of your opnion being wrong and failing at something else in your sad life.so good luck at quiting whatever you do now and if you ever need a good job you can come and suck on my balls in my welding shop while i do a man’s job.andthislastsentenceisjustforyoupatsyyoustupidcomputernerd.
I keep telling you that I am not that into you. For the last few posts, you keep making homo-erotic references to us meeting. Its not going to happen. Im very happily married. And even if I was gay, I would have more taste than to date a dirty, stupid welder who lives in Sterling and makes such a pitiful salary.
Face it, you wouldn’t be so mad if everything I had written wasn’t absolutely true, especially about you. Thanks for your feedback on the page. You have done well to prove my point.
Stupid Welder is Squished by a Dump Truck
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/news-story.php?story=243452
Welders the world over suffer unfortunate run-ins with their own stupidity. What could possibly happen when welders are working on a refinery pipeline? How about they burst into flames?
From the Hindu.com site here:
http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/02/stories/2007020203761400.htm
You are a stupid **@!.
Michael,
Welders in Toledo Ohio in the middle of winter are particularly stupid. Not even the welding arc can keep you warm there today. While you shiver and chatter your teeth today, think about your career choices.
This page is a hoot. I love these stories and hope you keep posting them.
The negative ‘bs’ is stale, so/but considering the source. I can filter.
I love welding cause it’s (truly) a no brainer. and a great hobby. and a handy tool at the home shop. Like when you have to stich up that old wreck, cause a welder can’t afford anything better than an impound that everyone else passed on. I’m surprised to find so many welders responding, because I have confirmed a theory that welders don’t read. Some just can’t.
Most don’t even speak this language.
Even light-duty welders manage to blow themselves up. Stupid welder was working on a gas tank of a car- kaboom.
From http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21192585-1702,00.html
Another Stupid Welder goes up in Smoke. This time, the man was 72, which is pretty old for a welder. All of his experience still could not save him.
From http://tinyurl.com/27puog
Well lets start here….i have been welding for 20 yrs…seen a lotta stupid stuff, i say it lightly. However, let me tell you, and all your wanna be’s..most of the accidents, and such, come from 1 of 2 things, lack of proper training, or not having your head on your job. Sure there’s the eager employer who will have you rush into a job, or miscommunication from a higher up, so you think everything is ready to go. This site i thought (lmao), was to be informative. how about this… I’ve caught fire several times…however, not stoned to the point i dont realise, i am on fire, and how badly, that i cant finish the weld im doing (without recieving burns).
I never took off work and recieved workmans comp for welders flu (a joke, cause ive had it), to the point where i broke a rib,tore the cartlage from 2 of the ribs, and not only KEPT working, but continued to work everyday.
I have been in the union, and as well not. My gross is $62,000 a year.
Idont sit holding my groin, when it comes to doing whatever task my employer hands me, but i do it as smart as humanly possible to help avoid accidents, something (if you were smart), helping others to do, besides pointing out how someone was killed, by a simple, NO BRAINER….people…always work safe!!!! It doesn’t mean you’ll never be injured ,killed, dis-membered, but it does HIGHLY reduce the risk.
AS for YOU host!!!!!!
SHAME ON YOU!!!!! Welding to a skilled welder is an art!!! Not stupidity!
robats will NEVER replace skilled welders…not ever…and the pride in saying i made this, or i make these….as an american a true american, as well never be replaced…even by the likes of you. Quick comments trying to dodge the bullet….shame…degradeing part od america’s back-bone…shame….and puttint the isnsult to injury of anther double shame….shame on you little man, shame…
BTW..they dont call me Megalodon, because im big and stupid….im only 5′9 160 or so lbs…they call me it, cause i have a heart….large, yet ferocious….and you called yourself a welder…..shame…..
oh… and before you call me a “stupid welder” for a few misspellings, wasnt that i am stupid, i just didnt FEEL like going back over to proof read, so i dont look stupid….like someone on this site wants people to believe….peace people, and again….work safly, and resonsibly, something our host here is “too stupid i see” to tell you
oh ya…..i have to say it….i can no longer resist….CRYBABY!!!!
please star at the top of the page for correct heat….
1) in this reference….you might sweat a little, pending on the job you are doing. the hands do perspire mildly at times.
2) Pre-heat is required usualy in thikness of i do believe 1 1/4+”, this does give off yes, a bit of heat…your clothes , hands and gloves, with even somewhat protection, save say if it is summer, and oh…lets go 90 degrees outside, pending if you are indoors, good amount of sweat, as well as gloves….pending outside conditions, if you wear the proper outdoor gear, approximatly the same.
3) pre-heat at 300+ degrees….no your hands dont burst into flames up to youe elbows…..this must be a sic joke…truly people..if this was so….how would the welding be accomplished?…certainly it would be impossible.
Here’s what ya do….go to a searh engine….type in the word welding, methods, and equipment. That will open up a REAL worl to you as to how, and what methods,and dangers there REALLY are to the REAL welder. obviously, this fellow, hasnt done a lot of welding, and must be hanging to his mama’s teet , otherwise why such things……go to the mans web sites to learn more…leave this joker to be his own king….seriously
Mega-low-mart,
So let me get this straight- you think that you are the smart welder? The one that refuses to take off of work due to illness or injury? The one that has been doing the job for 20 years and is finally making the salary that a college graduate makes? The one that writes three angry posts full of badd grammar and misspellings before realizing that this page has humorous content? The one that thinks that all of the dead guys I have written about on here were the real stupid ones, right?
ummm duh….stupid USED to be welder…you said those poor people were stupid…not me….i think your candy ass couldnt cut it in the real welding mans world….so you feel shame…and have to call others stupid…lmfao!!!!
shame, shame, shame…….i pity your lame non-artistic ass. someday, you might actually learn something ….like what stupid means….try the mirror….btw…mega-lo-mart?……where ya get that….some cheap joke book?
as well resorting to the name calling….soooo mature mr host….oh ya…..SHAME as well…..dont forget the look in the mirror for the definition of STUPID…hahahahahaaaaaaa!!!!!!!
Look stupid,
welding is not art. There is not a single piece of “art” in any museum in any country that is based solely upon welding.
And just how many years must a stupid person do a stupid job in order to be classified as “cutting it?” 2 Years? 3? Or does it take a lifetime of doing a really stupid job to “cut it” and do a “man’s job?”
You are just angry and bitter that you have wasted your entire youth and health on a job that has very little reward and absolutely no future. Don’t be pissed at me for shedding light on this truth that welders are the least intelligent person in a room.
And just to prove how stupid welders are, they ignore the most obvious threats to their lives when performing hot work. A welder sees a barge full of crude oil? No problem, weld that sucker!
From NOLA.com here:
http://tinyurl.com/2qp4mp
without a doubt you are sooooo wrong!!!lmao again….not only is there art in a museum that has been welded, but machined, torched, as well various other methods….talk about stupid….do you know what a museum even is?….i have doubt that you do, or have been smart enough to find one.
Why did you delete the links i put on here to the GOOD, TRUTHFUL facts about welding and dangers? because you are a shameful little man….you know, as well as i do, those sites would exspose you for the idiot you are, or you wouldnt have deleted them from the post i put up…
guess that kinda shows how stupid you actually are..dumbass!!!
i totally agree with everything this guy is saying….im not a welder, but my father was. he’s retired, has a sa-weet pension…and for 70, he’s well active.
and after reading your site, and knowing, and talking to him….i would have to say, the creator of this site must have mental cramps.
what kind of person, would call someone stupid, outside of a person so stupid, he thinks he see’s his own kind, people die every day….might as well call our troops in iraq stupid, or law enforcement, oh, i know, people that die from a defect. if you ask me, i think this site is more than stupid.
bravo megalodon!!!
lay into that soaker of the taxpayers!!
Wow. This post is like cutting edge art that incites passionate responses.
Very entertaining and I can really empathize with the loathing you have for your previous career.
John C and MegalowMart- You are not only stupid you are clumsy as well. When you create a ficticious account on a blog to either argue with or agree with another of your own posts, its called using a “sock puppet.”
Both of your IP’s are 69.23.67.119, which is a cable modem belonging to Road Runner. Look dummy, if you have nothing stronger for your argument other than calling me stupid, which is a serious “im rubber, you’re glue” scenario, then give it up. Resorting to sock puppets who lie about daddies who make “sa-weet” pensions is pathetic.
Welders die every day on the job or by doing something else that is really stupid. Like charging a cop with a knife in your hand. From the Greely Trib here: http://tinyurl.com/2nawqb
fictitious account? hmm i get e-mail every day, so i have no idea what you mean..maybe all that king of the hill and other cartoons rotted your brain.
lets see….i put up what 4 links? you took them off….whats that saying?
ill tell you…its says this site is based on an idiots perception of a job he could not cut it in.
had he (you), actually thought welding was so stupid, the links for the “dangers of welding”, would have stayed, and actually, was surprised to see you didnt add more to back your claims, however, since you deleted them, shows im right. looks to me like if all you can do to prove how stupid all welders are is to exsploit dead people to try and prove a point, keep goin ….im sure some moron might actually believe you…oh im sorry, ….what 3 have, in how many years now? run forest!!! run!!!
oh….try granite wireless, for my isp…hmmmmm MORON!
Okay, I’ll show to everyone how you used a fake account. And your ISP may be called whatever, but it is still a road runner account dummy. Your IP is http://ws.arin.net/cgi-bin/whois.pl?queryinput=69.23.67.119
Here is your most recent email header:
And here is the email you created to sockpuppet yourself.
Now everyone will know you can’t hold an argument unless you create a ficticious account to support your weak position. And by listing your email addresses online I’m sure that spam bots will send you lots of goodies now.
And you have to pay me to advertise your links, chump, I won’t do it for free.
well pat you are indeed the idiot here. i cant believe i even read your site with all the b.s you posted up here. obviously you have never attended any welding school or you would know that there is a vast amount of information you have to learn to be a competent welder. the only problem with a welding career is we have idiots like you who cant cut it and then badmouth the trade and/or the idiot who doesnt take the time to LEARN the trade and says”oh yea i can weld, im a welder” the problem with the trade is there is not enough COMPETENT welders vs the “idiot” which includes you, who makes us look bad. you dont know anything, the majority of what you have stated is a matter of opinion and completely false.
Sorry Mr. Tig. I did indeed go to welding school at Newport News Shipbuilding where I was certified in many different processes. (Not tig though.) And as far as competence goes, I was very competent and skilled at what I did.
And I think its very telling that no welder can specify the length of time required before one is considered to be able to “cut it” as a welder. Is it three years? Four? Fifty? I spent over 10,000 hours running beads in the toughest conditions.
The job is not challenging other than the constant safety hazards. But I repeat that only a stupid person will waste his only God-given life in pursuit of welding as a career. Smarter people dont weld. They stay in college and make a better life for themselves. Or they realize that the job is a deadly dead end and they get out when they can.
you sound completely brainwashed, everybody cant work whitecollar jobs and someone who chooses a trade is no more stupid than the person who goes to college for 10 years just to make 100k+. just out of curiosity what is your career now pat?
so a radiology job where all you do is take a fucking xray everyday is challenging? come on now, im not sayin i wanna be buring rod the rest of my life but there are endless possibilities for welders. and if you want that big money learn a specialized welding process that not any bum off the street can do.
Radiology? No, if you read my log at http://www.belch.com/blog you will figure out what I do. And you are right, the world is wide open for welders to do anything they want with their lives. The ones who waste their lives burning rods are the stupid ones.
This poor dumb welder was crushed by the 300KG frame that he was working on. For other dumb welders reading this, its about 650 pounds. It crushed his chest. For some reason, the newspaper published photos of the poor dumb bastard lying on the floor with a sunken chest here:
http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=400085
This is another sad story. A female rescue worker died trying to rescue two stupid welders in a tank that was filled with argon gas. Argon gas is a shielding gas which keeps the welding operation free of oxygen. Welders are taught that argon gas is heavier than air, and they are taught that argon will fill a space and displace all of the oxygen. Welders are taught not to enter spaces unless they have been checked by air quality chemists. Because once you inhale argon, it is almost impossible to expel it from your lungs.
But welders are pretty stupid and they forget and it gets them killed. The first welder went into the space without having it checked. He dropped dead. The welder’s partner was even dumber since he tried to go in after him. He dropped dead. Then a poor rescue worker who probably did not know about the dangers of argon, went in to drag out their bodies and she died too. But I bet there were some dumb welders standing around who didn’t warn the rescue worker to not try to enter the tank.
From Canada.com here: http://tinyurl.com/yshqs4