Man, you can say that 4 SURE! In the great economical paradise called Michigan, the only way you can make money is getting a scarcely hard to find union job, or work in a sweatshop factory 70+ hours a week. I did that for 5 years & had enough. I tried doing welding here full time, but no one here wants to pay squat & most contractors who are non union want your soul & then some. Worked for one guy & did 43 hours in 3 days. Spent most of it burning 1/4" 7018 inside a filthy scrap shredder. I'm not a puss, but digging my own grave is a pastime I would rather not pursue. especially at my age. I just sell welding equipment now & although I'm not getting rich, I pay the bills & am home every night to watch baseball & see my wife & kid. Really, the rig life pays good & you run your own show, but a lot of those guys put in 80+ hour weeks & are gone for a month or more at a time. I know a lot of guys doing the out of state gigs & see how often they're around. They got some hardened steel cajones & earn their money. If that's for you, cool. Most of it's pipeline stuff, structural fab  or shutdowns in mills, etc. Great money, but a lot of travel.

If the local economy supports it, & you want to stay close to home, try kitchen maintenance welding & general repair. You already have everything you need & don't have to go buy an expensive water cooled machine to go out into the oilfield with. It's clean & safe, not too trying on a fella's body either. I got me a little gig with the owners of all the local Taco Bell restaurants & get $55 per hour + materials for mostly easy kitchen & trash container enclosure repairs. I don't get called every week, but they're consistent & don't try to bag me for a cheap rate. I also would recommend searching out audio-visual/stage & lighting business that set up sound, lights & stage for shows, concerts, etc. Especially if you have a good setup for TIG & GMAW aluminum welding. I have a very good account with a company here in town & they are golden to me. Get $90/hr for emergency work & $55/hr for everything else. Don't let ANYONE kid you, those guys get some big money for setting up those shows & spend it too.

I made them some fixtures for some computer controlled lights that spin around & flash up & down. Kinda like on all those stupid reality shows, when the drama moment comes & all the lights cycle up, then down. They paid $8000+ a piece & had 15 of them. They were going to shell out $350 a piece for the fixtures without question from a catalog. I charged $300 for the pair & it took all of about a short day to do it. I got real lucky coming across those guys & they treat me right. I wish I could work for them every day. Just for comparison, the local hacks usually get around $35-$45 per hr & the BIG expensive hack shop with the $15,000 a year phone book advertisements & $12 per hr employees (with of course, NO benefits) get around $72. I fall right in the middle. Making money on custom fab around here is usually a teenager's wet dream & nothing more. Not unless you stick to commercial accounts & corporate business with open check books & blank checks. Steer clear of the family owned "larger" smaller businesses. Most of those guys didn't get wealthy by paying their subcontracted help or employees well if you know what I mean. I have personal experience with more than a few of those deals. NO GOOD! At least not around here. If all else fails, lie about an injury & go on welfare!(haha) You could always become a politician.........Anyways, that's my thought on the matter, at least if you want to call it that. Keep the faith, it'll get worse before it gets any better! Good luck! S.W.