Ironworker VS Pipewelder

By ctacker (****)

Date 01-21-2008 05:27

teacher or student, which one is smarter?

By fbrieden (***)

Date 01-22-2008 02:27

Can't say which is smarter, but they most likely know how to spell!

By johnnyh (***)

Date 01-22-2008 16:52

That is very questionable. Spelling is a lost art. Everybody is in a big hurry. Talk 2 ya'll l8r.

By ctacker (****)

Date 01-22-2008 03:06

LongArc,
That question cannot be answered, I have seen homeless vagrants that were smarter than some doctors, and many kids smarter than their parents!
Perhaps you should rephrase your question and ask how much schooling or credentials you need to be an ironworker VS a pipe welder!
any trade in the welding industry is one that you can be sure you will never know everything even with a lifetime of experience!

PS. send the payment for my .02 cents to a charity of your choice!

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 01-22-2008 05:05

I have to agree with ctacker, I am sure there are some really sharp guys as well as boneheads in both trades. My experience in the tool & die field showed Me that there were some extremely smart tradesmen and some who were about useless, and under the USWA it was somehow OK to pay them the same.

By RonG

Date 01-22-2008 15:00

Some folks would say the one that makes the most money.

By Sourdough (****)

Date 01-24-2008 14:08

How bout if the ironworker is also a pipewelder.....?

By dmilesdot (**)

Date 01-24-2008 14:23

I have been both along the way, I started out as an Ironworker and later got into pipe welding back in the Nuclear heyday. Here is my 2 cents worth. Pipe welding is a challenge unless you roll the pipe, but Ironworker welders dont have that luxury and for the most part neither do pipe welders. There are challenges to both types of welding. I dont think that either one can be classified as more critical than the other. Pipe welders are usually considered the elite bunch, but what happens to all those pretty pipe welds if the structure that holds them up falls down?
Dave
P.S. Welding is my profession, Waffleing is just a side job.

By 803056

Date 02-01-2008 03:36

I served my apprenticeship with the Ironworkers and worked at the trade for many years. Now I teach pipe welders how to weld and pass their qualification test with alloys of aluminum, nickel, titanium, and stainless. I also work with aerospace welders, welders in the ship building industry, and other trades. What does it prove? Not a darn thing, just that I may have read more books on metallurgy so that I understood the metals I was welding and that I paid attention and learned my skills from other expert welders who mentored me along the way.

Welding in itself is a skill that can be learned by anyone with the aptitude and desire to learn.

Just one thing, don't you pipe welders ever get tired of welding in circles and never getting anywhere? ;)

I don't care what you weld, as long as your welding!

Best regards - Al

By Justin O (**)

Date 02-01-2008 03:56

do you like the fuel you get

By 803056

Date 02-01-2008 04:18

The charcoal I burn does a great job of keeping the house warm! No smoke, no fumes, no money sent to OPEC!

I was looking through my "Pipeline magazine" this morning reviewing some of the pipeline project underway or planned. It is amazing how rapidly things change when the price of oil and gas gets high enough!

Thirty years ago my uncle told me of all the exploration wells drilled in Florida. He said, "there's oil in all of them, but they aren't planning to pump any of it yet". It stands to reason there should be some oil in Florida, there's oil just off the coast, but Jeb told them they couldn't drill for it and big brother George said "OK", no drilling off the Florida coast. It might just upset the tourist trade. I wonder how high the price has to go before that mind set changes and they do start pumping it out of the ground in Florida?

How do you like Florida? If my uncle was correct in his predictions, you'll be laying pipe there sooner or later.

Best regards - Al

By Justin O (**)

Date 02-01-2008 04:28

have fun driving your electric car or riding your bike to work then Lol Ill go ahead and stick to texas but florida would be nice I have a freind welding pipeline down there right now.

By 803056

Date 02-01-2008 13:49

Unfortunately I don't have an electric car. I did help a friend build a hybred back in the 70's. The darn thing had so much torque it would burn rubber everytime you engaged the drive. We never did solve that problem. We had a five horse gasoline engine driving a generator to charge a bank of lead acid batteries. The electric motor was entirely powered from the battery bank. I wonder where that vehicle is now.

Best regards - Al

By Justin O (**)

Date 02-02-2008 23:43

that would be something id like to see

By ross

Date 02-01-2008 15:02

Al,

There have been production wells in Florida since the 1940s. I've seen them just north of the boundary of Everglades National Park, about 50 miles due west of Miami. A company has mineral rights to Big Cypress National Preserve there, but it's not a big operation. Drilling off the coast is not allowed. There are also oil wells in the Florida Panhandle along the Alabama state line.

Ross

By 803056

Date 02-01-2008 16:16 Edited 02-01-2008 17:05

So, my uncle wasn't telling tall tales after all.

My uncle owned a sawmill and cut timber in much of the central Florida area. I remember Orlando when it wasn't much more than a small town with the old airport and single runway in the middle of the city.

We used to run around town in a "sceetter" that was nothing more than a car frame, engine and a seat or two on the dirt roads in the Castleberry area. It doesn't seem that long ago!

He told us that Disney was planning something big in Kissimmee. "It will change central Florida forever. Buy land, even if it is a house lot, because you can't lose. Boy did he see the future!"

Al

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 02-03-2008 02:53

you will see idiots in any trade wherever you go....you will see useless lumps of flesh in ANY trade....if you keep your eyes peeled you will find many that can teach you a thing or two. I have done Ironwork as an Ironworker, Ironwork as a welder, boiler shop work, boiler field work, all out do anything that comes rig work, Built boats in factory and custom (ocean and freshwater), Aerospace work (anything from a compressor to a coffee maker).......and one thing is abundantly clear....stupidity is everywhere, it knows no boundaries. However you can find quality knowledgeable people in ANY industry ....they are the ones keeping it afloat and functioning despite the boat anchors. Comparing the two, Pipe welders vs. Ironworkers is kinda ridiculous from my point of view...they both got there bad seeds and there good.

By 803056

Date 02-03-2008 04:27

I like to believe the are a lot more smart tradesmen then the alternative. I see the bridges, buildings, machines, pipelines through the harshest of environments, ships, and aircraft and don't believe for a minute they were build by anything less than highly skilled people. From the folks that plan and design, to those that clear the land, to those that place the forms for the concrete foundations, to the folks that put up the structures, and those that install the workings, it takes a whole lot of skill and acquired knowledge to build the society that is what it is.

I don't disagree that there may be a few boneheads, but even they have families to support and most of them are willing to pull their share of the load in what ever capacity they can. Everyone plays some part in the equation of life and we all gravitate to what we do best, it may be as an engineer, a pipe welder, a mechanic, and yes, even the politician has a part to play.

So who's smarter or more highly skilled? It really doesn't matter.

What's more powerful, a drop of water or a river? The river after all is only powerful if all the drops of water work together.

Best regards - Al