Losing your Job

BrutulTM · Apr 27, 2017

It seems like everybody around here that gets their hands on a welder immediately starts building shit out of horseshoes. Stuff like this:

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People must buy it because you see it all over the place. The downside is that a monkey could do the welding so if you did get it to start selling somebody will probably just undercut you. Probably the biggest key to success would be finding the cheapest way to get horseshoes.

Big_w_powah · Apr 27, 2017

BrutulTM said:
It seems like everybody around here that gets their hands on a welder immediately starts building shit out of horseshoes. Stuff like this:

View attachment 135217 View attachment 135218 View attachment 135222

People must buy it because you see it all over the place. The downside is that a monkey could do the welding so if you did get it to start selling somebody will probably just undercut you. Probably the biggest key to success would be finding the cheapest way to get horseshoes.

Most of that shit looks like trash...I just wanna sell enough to make my hobby free...

Adebisi · Apr 28, 2017

S-Town level trailer decorations

BrutulTM · Apr 28, 2017

I'm not saying you have to put them in your house, just that i see them for sale a lot and they are easy to make.

Big_w_powah · May 4, 2017

BrutulTM said:
I'm not saying you have to put them in your house, just that i see them for sale a lot and they are easy to make.

Yeah, but I'm not making that super ugly shit.

alavaz · May 4, 2017

BrutulTM said:
If he's a good enough welder to work on pipelines and is set up to travel on the cheap he's probably going to make bank, especially since it sounds like Keystone XL is going to happen. Guys that have their own welding truck get paid like $175 an hour in the oil industry.

So it's there no license or certification you would need? Seems crazy that any Joe with a welder could show up and be snagged for big bucks to weld an oil pipeline.

A lot of dudes hear about these golden opportunities but don't really research them before they rush off to the promise Land. I had a buddy in the late 90s try to run up to Alaska and do the boat thing. But once he got there he found out it wasn't quite as easy to get on a boat without a connection. He had to bait hooks, help in processing plants and do a lot of drink buying before he landed on a boat. He actually stuck it out. Most other guys prolly would've just run back home.

Noodleface · May 4, 2017

My sister is younger than I so her and her boyfriend are sort of the fly by the seat of their pants type of millennials. He heard about it working out for a friend so they sold everything, bought a truck with a welding station, bought an RV, and are rolling out tomorrow. They don't have a job lined up or anything.

The sad thing is they're bringing an infant with them.

They were telling me they had trouble paying their mortgage so I feel like this is some hail Mary they're throwing.

Couldn't just live in an apartment like normal people... I mean he worked at general Dynamics as a welder and literally just walked off the job.

Adebisi · May 4, 2017

Watch it be the adventure of a lifetime.

Noodleface · May 4, 2017

I hope it is.. but I don't know

Tenks · May 4, 2017

So I guess I'm confused. Is the business plan to do like on-site freelance weld jobs? Is there really a market for that?

BrutulTM · May 4, 2017

alavaz said:
So it's there no license or certification you would need? Seems crazy that any Joe with a welder could show up and be snagged for big bucks to weld an oil pipeline.

No I think that there are definitely certifications you would have to have. You have to be damn good to work on pipelines. A lot if not all of your welds are going to be x-rayed for imperfections and if they have to be redone very often you're not going to be working there. It's entirely possible that Noodle's brother in law is a complete moron but traveling welder CAN be a very lucrative job. I have heard from people that work in the Bakkan that guys show up with their welding trucks and sleep in the cab for 6 hours billing $175 an hour just because they need them to be ready to weld the minute they are ready for them and then they weld for an hour and go home with $1200 in their pocket. I'm sure that having connections and a reputation are extremely helpful in that business if not completely necessary but there is definitely a shortage of welders in the US and particularly ones that don't mind traveling, working odd hours, and being able to pass random drug tests so it pays very well.

TJT · May 4, 2017

BrutulTM said:
No I think that there are definitely certifications you would have to have. You have to be damn good to work on pipelines. A lot if not all of your welds are going to be x-rayed for imperfections and if they have to be redone very often you're not going to be working there. It's entirely possible that Noodle's brother in law is a complete moron but traveling welder CAN be a very lucrative job. I have heard from people that work in the Bakkan that guys show up with their welding trucks and sleep in the cab for 6 hours billing $175 an hour just because they need them to be ready to weld the minute they are ready for them and then they weld for an hour and go home with $1200 in their pocket. I'm sure that having connections and a reputation are extremely helpful in that business if not completely necessary but there is definitely a shortage of welders in the US and particularly ones that don't mind traveling, working odd hours, and being able to pass random drug tests so it pays very well.

Yeah, most welders are shit. My father is a fisherman by trade but also had a business doing dive salvage work on the Oregon coast. Been around blue collar type workers my whole life. Most welders are fucking idiots and really bad at it or just mediocre. They don't get work and eventually go and do something else. On the Oregon coast its fishing or logging (to a limited degree).

Anyway, point of this is the guys you are talking about are rockstar welders. In this place it would be similar to rockstar developers who can just do it all like an aspy lunatic.

Think of it like this

Noodleface . The man who can code (any language), performance tune, database design, implement it, create APIs, and everything else to get a project up and running and fix any problem all on his own? Welding is the same way. Can you do all types of welding to a high degree of proficiency?

Yeah those guys demand huge salaries because those kind of skills are rare. Is the bro in law one of those types?

Utnayan · May 4, 2017

TJT said:
My father is a fisherman by trade

Crab? Like in Deadliest Catch? (Sorry I am honestly intrigued)

TJT · May 4, 2017

Utnayan said:
Crab? Like in Deadliest Catch? (Sorry I am honestly intrigued)

Tuna on the Oregon coast mostly. As he is old now. He used to do Salmon and Crab in Alaska for like 12 years from 1978-1990. Yes like in Deadliest Catch.

Utnayan · May 4, 2017

That's awesome. Why didn't you go into it?

Noodleface · May 4, 2017

TJT said:
Yeah, most welders are shit. My father is a fisherman by trade but also had a business doing dive salvage work on the Oregon coast. Been around blue collar type workers my whole life. Most welders are fucking idiots and really bad at it or just mediocre. They don't get work and eventually go and do something else. On the Oregon coast its fishing or logging (to a limited degree).

Anyway, point of this is the guys you are talking about are rockstar welders. In this place it would be similar to rockstar developers who can just do it all like an aspy lunatic.

Think of it like this Noodleface . The man who can code (any language), performance tune, database design, implement it, create APIs, and everything else to get a project up and running and fix any problem all on his own? Welding is the same way. Can you do all types of welding to a high degree of proficiency?

Yeah those guys demand huge salaries because those kind of skills are rare. Is the bro in law one of those types?

No idea. I don't weld so even if I looked at his work I'd probably just say "cool"

He's done it professionally got like 5 or 6 years so he must not be the worst

Borzak · May 5, 2017

alavaz said:
So it's there no license or certification you would need? Seems crazy that any Joe with a welder could show up and be snagged for big bucks to weld an oil pipeline.

A lot of dudes hear about these golden opportunities but don't really research them before they rush off to the promise Land. I had a buddy in the late 90s try to run up to Alaska and do the boat thing. But once he got there he found out it wasn't quite as easy to get on a boat without a connection. He had to bait hooks, help in processing plants and do a lot of drink buying before he landed on a boat. He actually stuck it out. Most other guys prolly would've just run back home.

When they first had the big oil boom in North Dakota some guys in the shop went up there, told me how much they were gonna make. Everyone who went was back in 6 months or less. Lot of money, incredibly expensive for anything and apparently black guys from the deep south who have lived there all their life don't really like working in sub zero temps.

I could have offered to rehire them at a pay reduction they were so ready to get out of there. It's not like they were making minimum wage before going up there to begin with.

TJT · May 5, 2017

Utnayan said:
That's awesome. Why didn't you go into it?

I worked on his boat up until I was 18 then I joined the Army. It's damn hard work and most of the people are nice... but also retards and just not my scene. It isn't a bad life though.

They are much more interesting than mill workers though. As the majority of boat crews (any fishing crew) are criminals. Even moreso in Alaska!

edko · May 5, 2017

TJT said:
As the majority of boat crews (any fishing crew) are criminals. Even moreso in Alaska!

This is 100% correct. Also applies down here. Great people, also probably ex cons and/or have outstanding warrants.

TJT · May 5, 2017

edko said:
This is 100% correct. Also applies down here. Great people, also probably ex cons and/or have outstanding warrants.

Yep. There's a reason commercial fisherman and anyone working on boats are completely cash only. lol.

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