Building things that weren't there
Welding & Fabrication
You join metal so it holds. Structural steel, pipe, pressure vessels, custom fabrication — the range is enormous and the pay range with it. A certified pipe welder and a guy who welds gates are doing the same verb and living different lives.
A day in it
- Shop at seven. Read the print, pull the material, check the WPS.
- Fit-up before anything gets hot. Bad fit-up is bad weld, every time.
- Tack, check for square, then run the root.
- Grind, inspect, fill, cap. Hood down most of the morning.
- Lunch, then a second piece that has to match the first exactly.
- QC comes through with a gauge and sometimes an X-ray.
- Whether it passed is not an opinion. That's what I like about it.
What it pays
- Starting out
- $38,130
- Median
- $51,000
- Experienced
- $75,850
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 (national). Starting out = 10th percentile. Median = 50th. Experienced = 90th. Annual. Georgia figures to be added alongside national. SOC 51-4121. Real numbers only — never estimated, never rounded up.
How you get in
- —Six months to two years at a technical college, or a shop that trains you.
- —The certification is what pays — AWS structural, then 6G pipe. Each one moves your number.
- —You can be working and certified inside a year if you push.
- —The Mustard Seed covers tuition, certification testing, and your hood and leathers.
What you need before you start
- —Steady hands and the patience to run the same bead a hundred times.
- —Heat, sparks, and confined spaces.
- —Eyes and lungs are the things you protect. Take that seriously from day one.
Someone doing it
Photograph, first name, age, and three or four sentences in their own words — to be supplied.
What it turns into
Certified pipe welder, then rig welder, inspector, or your own fab shop. Traveling pipeline and industrial shutdown work pays multiples of shop rate.
Want to talk to somebody doing this?
Two fields. A person reads it and texts you back.