What is a "Certified" welder?

[NickfromWI]

We have a portable rockwall at work. It sits on a trailer made of a metal frame. There are some spots that need work done. We want to hire a local welder to come out and fix the wall. I'm seeing some welders advertise themselves as "certified."

What should I look for in a welder? Due to the nature of the work being done, strength is a concern, but so is liability. If something WERE to happen at the welds, how can we show that we did the right thing by hiring a proper welder and not hiring a "hack" welder?

But most importantly, what do I ask a welder to make sure he doesn't F things up in the first place.

love
nick

 

[sotc]

a certified welder has to pass a weld test where they cut and bend material they weld. they can then put their stamp on welds they make. if something happens and those welds fail they can be pulled into litigation

 

[cutitup]

Something I know a bit about.

In many ways this is similar to tree work. Let me explain. There are many "hacks" out there that are not ISA certified. HOWEVER, there are also some hacks that ARE ISA certified. So what am I saying? What is more imortant is the quaility of the first impresssion as to how your 'feel' for the guy is. Just like in tree work does he show up with equipment that held together with chewing gum and rubber bands? Does he speak like he is truly knowledabe? ...or is he trying to baffle you with bullshit?
To answer your direct question to become a "certified welder" you need to weld a specific joint/part in a specific way according to the parameters laid out in the welding procedure. To your job what does this mean? not much. Because their are many AWS API codes that have nothing to do with what you are asking. So, in theory, there are "certified" welders out the that only perform that given part/joint.
Bottom line does the guy give you a "warm and fuzzy feeling"?
As for me am I certified? yes just ask my wife!
PS important note! there are some jobs i.e. pipe and building trades the MUST be done by a "certified" welder.

 

[lumberjack]

Yeah, there isn't a "certified" welder here per say. Like CIU said, they are certified for a particular weldment.

Unless there's something exotic about the framework, just about any Tom could weld it up.

I'd just take it to a local, reputable machine shop, assuming I couldn't weld it myself.

 

[Dave Shepard]

Make sure they are insured, for starters. cutitup gave a great answer, certified for what? And certs expire too.

 

[Tzed250]

One of the guys I work with said there are something like 146 different cetifications for welding. you have to be certified on the process (GTAW, GMAW, SMAW), and filler material, and position...

 

[Dave Shepard]

I had a coworker that was certified in 7018 overhead. He couldn't tack two piece of plate steel together.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Well it's good he was certified then, eh?

 

[sotc]

then he paid someone to pass him

 

[Blinky]

My brother's a welder with certs on several processes, mostly SS pipe. The union does the training, testing and certification. If he quits the union, he loses his certs.

You probably need someone that can weld mild steel or maybe chrome-moly. Simple stick or MIG would do it on mild steel. Any well established steel fabrication shop should be able to do what you need.

 

[Jonseredbred]

Dave is right, you can get certified in some processes and be a terrible welder.

I have seen some certified pipe welders try to do structural work and really screw it up bad.

Most certified welders around here are "bench" welders. Things have to be in ideal conditions and just perfect or they can't do it.

My certified welder test is if you can lay in a mud puddle on a 30 degree day and weld over your head.

Stay away from the machine shops and such and find a good fab shop or truck body builder for your project.

 

[lumberjack]

Stay away from machine shops?


Unless what you call a fab shop is a machine shop down here, your machine shops must suck royally. Body builders here aren't very common (40 minute drive) and they don't generally do side work.

 

[squisher]

Must be the term. Machine shops are where the welders are at here or maybe a mobile mechanic. No body builders around here except in the gyms.

 

[sotc]

here machine shops are the guys with mills and lathes, they do weld. welding shops have breaks and shears and punches

 

[stehansen]

Here welders are certified by the state and take a written test and a skills test. When the community I grew up in decided to build a football stadium at the local high school they found out the poles for the lights had to be welded by a certified welder. So both of the local welding shop guys got certified. I would think it's somewhat like the certified arborist certification. In that it doesn't mean that you are some sort of expert but some level of knowledge above a novice.

 

[sotc]

i did a weld test and passed but since i didnt go to work for the guy i didnt get certified. it started out with 2 pieces of steel, pre beveled that i had to weld together on a flat table. 2 more tacked to a vertical wall. when i was done they took each piece (started with 4 total and ended up with 2) and made 4 cuts across my weld. they threw out the 2 end pieces and the center piece and kept the other 2. those 2 were each bent opposite directions 180 degrees. if there was more than 3 defects or any defect opened more than 1/8" you failed. all 4 of mine were within spec. i don know how you could be a bad welder and still pass with out some corruption. this was for welding beams destined for L.A. highrises

 

[Jonseredbred]

Willies description of machine shops/fab shops is what I was talking about.

 

[Al Smith]

Most times you have to certify on the job site for construction like pressure pipe welding .

I once held cert papers for steel pipe and structural steel but that was years ago so they are null and void at the present .

Most times they use a testing process called a guided bend test .The weldment is cut in several sections on the pipe then bent in a special press which bends both the root plus the face of the weldment .If it breaks out ,no pass .

A break test the weldment is bent to the point of breaking and checked for porosity ,slag inclusion etc .etc . Of course an x-ray test is just that .

Now that mouth full said about any good welder can do the job you want certified or not .

 

[sotc]

Now that mouth full said about any good welder can do the job you want certified or not .

 

[gf beranek]

Well put, Al

Metal fabrication has always been fascinating to me. All the years in school and the service I pursued it was just the beginning. I continued with metal fad in private life when I went to building boats here in my home town. If if wasn't for the production end of the trade and the accumulative health hazards I probably would have kept on going with it.

Still a piece of metal put together by a human being can be as fine of a piece of art and a Picasso.

 

[cutitup]

That's funny Gerry!

We are sort of mirror images. I started metal working at around 12. However, shortly after I got married my landlord was a 'tree guy' so I helped him for several years on and off.
That gave me the 'bug' for tree work and I have been fascinated by it ever since. So you see your a 'tree guy' who wants to be a welder and I'm a welder that wants to be a tree guy.

 

[Al Smith]

I dunno I just picked it up by being there ,sort of .

I have said before that growing up in this part of Ohio is like nothing most people would have believed .A little rural town surrounded by huge cornfields and tall oak woods . I got exposed to it all ,the woods ,the farm and the repair shops .

I must have done okay because when I graduated from high school I trotted of to Baldwin -Lima -Hamilton ,the maker of the world famous Lima cranes and landed a job as a class one welder .Not too bad for an 18 year old kid at the time .

 

[gf beranek]

Metal Fab was my trade of choice as a kid in school and through the service, but after the service I took the first job I could get and it happened to be climbing trees.

Stuck with the trees primarily since, but dabble still in the metal fab. Both trades still fascinate me.

 

[Dave Shepard]

When I was maybe 12 or so I got a book from the 1940's called Farm Arc Welding. I got a couple of scraps of steel and hooked up the generator to the bulldozer and started playing around. I was never too good at it, until I got an old Lincoln Tombstone AC/DC welder for $25 at an auction. That really made a difference. I was really into it for a while, but now I only weld up what I need, I don't go looking for projects anymore. I had a really nice MIG, but my buddy used it more than I did, so I sold it to him. I still have the Tombstone, and a big Miller TIG for aluminum. As Jerry mentioned, the health risks were a big turnoff. Unless you wore a mask all day, you inhale a lot of various nasty dust and debris from both the welding and grinding. And let's not forget the old molten redhot slag bit in the ear routine. I don't like flaming ear hair.

I think a rudimentary knowledge of welding is a valuable asset to people doing our kind of work. Sometimes a simple broken part can keep you down for a couple of days, that sucks. Of all the welding processes, I think I like TIG welding aluminum the most, but when you finally figure out how to stick weld uphill without making a mess, that a pretty good feeling too.

 

[MasterBlaster]

but after the service I took the first job I could get and it happened to be climbing trees.

That's me, exactly!