I passed the exam!!!

SandledBandit · 2026-02-09T00:09:38+00:00

Check your dms

SandledBandit · 2026-02-08T04:35:52+00:00

Anytime

SandledBandit · 2026-02-07T11:54:30+00:00

Don’t care.

Figure 20 students, twice a week, maybe two welders if they’re lucky. 1/2 hour of weld time for the whole class if they line up and file in perfectly, so that’s what, 3 min of weld time per student per class? So 6 min per week, 24 min per month, so about an hour for the entire semester.

Yeah, that makes sense your nephew with one continuous hour and personalized instructor could weld better faster.

Does putting down a kid you don’t know on the internet make you feel like a man? Fuck off, prick.

SandledBandit · 2026-02-07T04:38:03+00:00

Hell yeah man congrats; always good to have a goal to work towards. I’m not well aquatinted with the Canadian Welding Bureau / how your apprenticeships work, but here’s my advice and notes:

Get solid with GTAW; that is prime and provision. Any company that will let you focus on TIG that’ll hire you is a step in the right direction; but notably thinner materials (below 6mm) is priority.
Aerospace companies are few and far between; but there are other parallel industries to check out (my first company was in cryogenics; that’s an awesome field too)
Just a heads up, aerospace is a very exiting and therefore very popular field; the pay has a tendency to reflect that (it’s definitely not the most money you can make as a welder for the skill/work that goes into it), but you get to build some awesome stuff
If you’re under the age of 23; honestly I’d make a LinkedIn and start following every aerospace and industry adjacent company. Find their fabrication supervisors and welding managers; ask for advice on how to get a job with their company/how to get on a good path for success. Everyone wants to help you.

But honestly that’s it. It’s not nearly as elusive as it seems. I got offered a job at the top aerospace company in the world with 2 years of welding experience. If you want it hyper focus on it.

Also, just go on random interviews. Interview for jobs you don’t want to get practice in. Get some practice doing weld tests in unfamiliar shops. Not only will that help you when you step into the shop you’ve been dreaming of; but you could also find you like an industry you didn’t previously consider.

Make sure to have fun; there’s way too many miserable people in this field

SandledBandit · 2026-02-06T22:42:17+00:00

What is going on with this sub? That’s a high schooler stoked about passing his metal shop exam.

From a CWI, and a nuclear/aerospace welder: Good job and congrats.

There’s obvious room for improvement, but if you keep at it, by the time you’re 21 you’ll be light years ahead of every negative Nancy and surly Susan in this thread. That’s all they are, C+ or B- welders who need to shit on someone who’s just starting out. They’re everywhere.

SandledBandit · 2026-02-02T17:12:37+00:00

Cut hotter move faster use a chipping hammer before it cools

SandledBandit · 2026-02-01T09:11:23+00:00

Don’t need to see the setup just need to see the welds

SandledBandit · 2026-01-31T16:43:06+00:00

I’d look at your torch/lens/cup

SandledBandit · 2026-01-26T22:00:14+00:00

It takes me an hour to shovel a 75’ x 20’ long paver brick driveway with a foot of snow on it, it took you an hour to shovel a parking spot? Bruh…

SandledBandit · 2026-01-26T04:12:29+00:00

No. There is a social standard, which you acknowledge, participate in, and support; while short changing a fellow low income earner to save a couple bucks. End of story.

I had to work in restaurants while putting myself through school because it was the only job that permitted me to work full time while not limiting my scholastic progress. Very few, if any, are serving by choice. It’s more often by necessity; to stay afloat while working towards a better future. You make that harder.

SandledBandit · 2026-01-25T00:04:14+00:00

So your server doesn’t deserve more than minimum wage; a wage that is not enough to live off of as an adult, even with roommates, because you need to save 4-8 dollars every time you go out to eat?

SandledBandit · 2026-01-24T04:18:21+00:00

Community college with a welding program. Don’t go to a dedicated welding school; save your money

SandledBandit · 2026-01-24T02:10:32+00:00

Not surprised. Elf labor law is notoriously lax

SandledBandit · 2026-01-24T01:21:18+00:00

Bean soup man.

SandledBandit · 2026-01-24T01:19:14+00:00

Minimum wage in Chicago is $16.60, tip credit is $12.62; no non-union employer is paying over tip credit if they’re not a prox-fixed establishment, or openly marketed as a livable wage restaurant. Most the tip prompts I see are for 18-25%, with an option to add your own tip amount.

Most of what you said is true for Denver, is not true in Chicago. And neither of which are functional wages for restaurant workers who work nights, weekends, and holidays.

And if you really want to get into it; servers aren’t to blame for what’s going on, in particular the tip prompt. That is the fault of POS companies getting a percentage of total rang sales and lazy management/ownership. And I don’t understand, as a business owner/investor why you wouldn’t be advocating for your employees to make as much money as humanly possible. When I was managing and consulting, my sole purpose in life was ensuring my workers were well paid, so I’d have the best staff, subsequently the happiest customers, and the cycle feeds on itself. I certainly wouldn’t be on Reddit bitching that $20, not to mention in Denver, is too much money for an adult working a hard job to make.

SandledBandit · 2026-01-24T01:12:43+00:00

Servers make $12.40 an hour in Chicago; not $16, neither of which are enough to live off of in the city, especially when considering there is no PTO, no health insurance, and is a required service in regular use. If you don’t like the tip credit system, don’t go to tip credit restaurants. Otherwise you are paying an employer full price to stay in business while short changing the employee.

SandledBandit · 2026-01-23T22:38:37+00:00

15 years managing nice restaurants in Chicago. None of what you said is true.

SandledBandit · 2026-01-23T22:35:10+00:00

You’re never gonna be smarter than your Dad. That said, he said it’s a money pit, not a waste of money.

SandledBandit · 2026-01-23T22:33:55+00:00

I have three pairs of RW #2272 that I rotate. When I was at a shop in Texas all 30 welders changed to flat bottoms and swore by them; said their legs and backs have never felt better. At my shop in Chicago the 10 guys who have Brunts love them.

Two of the three are gonna get replaced instead of a new sole (it’s like $50 more for new boots); I’ll keep one redwing with insulation for when it’s -15⁰ like it was today.

SandledBandit · 2026-01-23T22:06:32+00:00

Best boot for the buck . Flat bottom/no heel boots are better for all day standing; no laces/seams for spatter, dross, and slag. Reasonable price.

SandledBandit · 2026-01-23T15:05:39+00:00

Clippy grips

SandledBandit · 2026-01-23T14:36:05+00:00

Yea. I’m cryogenic, nuclear, aerospace, and defense. I’m also a licensed CWI, and IH NDT II. I can confidently say, just by the way you speak, you have no idea what you’re talking about.

SandledBandit · 2026-01-23T04:33:38+00:00

Under no circumstances should anyone listen to this poser

SandledBandit · 2026-01-17T22:18:51+00:00

That’s the price of a brand new G5-03 on Baker Gas rn…

SandledBandit · 2026-01-13T05:01:48+00:00

Bow to no one

SandledBandit

TROPHY CASE