Help a guy out with a career option crisis.
I'm in my 3rd year of Kinesiology studying to be a physiotherapist. And I like what I do, but It's honestly just become mundane to me. It's not bad but its not exciting. I like the idea of helping people. But I'm not exactly proud of the job, you know? Like its not really hard work, you just stand in a nice office all day.
I recently started getting into diy stuff as a hobby and doing some small jobs with my carpenter friend and some metal working shit with my engineer friend and holy fuck its all so cool. I mean building things and making things and fucking sparks everywhere and working with molten metal. I respect the people who do trades. They make shit we all need, they work hard and its all physical and demanding. Feels like a job to be proud of.
But when I tell either of my friends this, and that I've thought about dropping out to do trade school they tell me its just because its all new to me. That in 5 years id feel the way they do, which is how I feel about Kinesiology. Its just another day sorta thing. And that what I do(will do) is far more valuable and helpful and that at least in 20 years I won't be all beat up and in pain and that it pays better.
What do you guys think? I just feel like physio is lame now and these jobs would be so cool. I mean I guess I can still try to do this stuff as a hobby, but I feel like that way I'll always be an amateur.
>>911849
Depends mostly on you and your personality, I guess.
I got my multidisciplinary bachelor's doing all kinds of different stuff I kinda liked but had no strong feelings about. I dicked around for a while after that and I was pretty satisfied, but it still felt pretty hollow all in all. Signed up for trade school on a whim and it's the best decision I've ever made in my life by far. The more I do it the more I like it. It's the first time that I ever felt like I truly found my way. I'm missing three days of school this week because of a teacher strike and I'm legit angry.
I say try hanging on and finish your kinesiology degree, take a decision about trade school after that.
>>911870
Thanks.
Yeah, I'm just having a hard time because I already took time off after school. I feel like I wasted a lot of my life growing up playing video games and fucking around. Never gathered any hobbies or skills. I'll be 30 by the time I get my masters for physio. Not much time to be switching careers at that point. This is again why my friends advise me against it. Trades and tools and all this stuff is brand fucking new to me. I never did any of it growing up.
But you're probably right. From what I can tell you can start a trade at almost any part of your life, know a guy who started carpentry at 40. Where as its fucking next to impossible to go back into science after more than a few years off. Everything you know will be obsolete and outdated.
>>911849
>>911849
This is one of those scenarios where money really doesn't buy happiness.
I've worked in construction on site for 8 years and every day is different. There is however a ceiling to what you can make unless you're willing to take on the responsibility of labour working under you.
I've had offers to go into work in offices at a desk relating to construction and I've tried it but I simply wasn't happy.
I suppose you have to consider how invested you are in your current training and where you think you'll be in 5/10 years time. As good as the money would be in comparison to a trade and the hours worked are different, it won't always make people happy or satisfied in the long run.
>>911849
Fabrication is a passion of mine, be it welding, machining or electrical engineering.
That being said I shy away from doing any welding professionally anymore. All it took was a few idiots in charge to ruin it.
A few examples
>One day the argon ran out because one of the supervisors forgot to order it. Then he got the bright idea that since we used CO2 for the mig welders, we should try and and use it for the TIG welders. All 10 of us welders started getting perforated welds and pretty much spent the next few hours grinding that crap out trying to salvage what we could. He has only mig welded on an already set up welder and didn't know anything else besides squeeze the trigger. he never asked anyone if it would work which all of us would have told him it wouldn't.
>We sometimes worked in pairs to get out some of the larger jobs faster. Upper management got the bright idea in their head that it might be a good idea to rearrange the shop so instead of working side by side we should work across from one another on the same welding bench. I don't know if they did implement that idea or not but I didn't want to get flashed by my partner while I was setting up my jig. UV burns on your eyes feel like someone threw sand in them and if you get it good enough it lasts for few days.
>They wanted me to be the dedicated aluminum welder because I was good, yet they didn't want to increase my pay rate. I didn't want more money because its harder, but because aluminum is toxic as hell and they always complained that I went through too many paper dust masks because I used one every day when I had grind it and got rid of the oxide layer. their defense was if aluminum is so toxic why are soda cans made of it.
Granted that place was ran by idiots, but that's all it took for me to say no more welding for a pay check unless the people in charge can actually weld.
Not every place is like that, but its a risk and can kill your passion quick.
>>912007
>started welding school a couple months ago
pls don't say scary things like that.
>>912012
You are going to be jumping state to state to find work for a few years, only to be laid off and on the run again.
Or youll end up as a production welder making scraps.
That push for "we need more welders!" from 5-6 years ago?
All the people laid off from a shit economy and other trades took it to heart, and its a somewhat saturated field now.
>>912007
These are the things my dad was trying to tell me. He said he said I should do what makes me happy. But that I should think long and hard about what I want to do. And that sure a physcial and as I see it "respect worthy job" may sound nice in my mid twenties but by the time I'm 50 I might regret it. That he knows guys his age getting out of the trades anyway they can because they've been beat the hell up. Or been in accidents that they couldn't prevent due to freak chance or the incompetence of others. One has a mangled hand due to someone bumping into him from behind while he was using a band saw. That and he says Physiotherapy is far more worthy of respect. I get where he's coming from. But for me it's like when I hear someone talk about a hard day of work, I think of doing something like that. I can't imagine standing in a nice office all day and working with patients and then having the gall to come home and talk about how I'm tired or some shit. I'd feel like a pampered princess.
Then again, I also have power lifting as a hobby/exercise so, being physically fit might help in the trades but I feel like I wouldn't be able to keep it up because I'd be physically exhausted from lifting and less able to do the work I need in a trade.
>>912018
I'm a quebecfag and from what I gather it's still in high demand here.
>>912023
>I'm talking about southern Ontario here, you know anything about that?
Sorry breh, I don't.
This thread is making me even more confused and scared than I already was.
>>912012
From my experience, production welding that requires certification, I wouldn't call scraps. it may not be $50/plus an hour but its definitely a decent wage compared to other "production jobs".
>>912020
IMO it is a respectful job, it requires skill and lots of practice and there is so much to know. You could do that job 30 years and still learn something new (though that depends largely on yourself, in any trade you will meet many people who think they know everything, or get set in their ways) Realizing whats actually happening on the molecular level can make you feel godly.
That being said welding can mess you up quick, and from nothing you did but something someone else does. Exposing your exposed skin to UV light increases your chances of getting skin cancer. Burning your self badly, cast aluminum is a bitch due to silica they add to make it flow better, if you take your time the puddle can "explode" leaving you wishing you had on full leathers. Splatter from stick and mig welding can somehow work its way behind your helmet, I know a guy blind in one eye because of it. Speaking of eyes I tend to stay away from auto tinting helmets, UV retina damage is cumulative and those milliseconds add up, though you could close your eyes for a brief moment to avoid it. Depending on what you do you risk pulling muscles and damaging yourself from heavy lifting, keeping yourself fit helps though, but is no guarantee. When I TIG weld (torch in right hand) I keep my left elbow on something grounded, just so that if i get bit it doesn't pass through my whole body. When welding, if you get electrocuted, it can be so bad that you end up with black eyes like someone punched you.
Depending on what company you work for and how well they are doing, you could be replaced by someone with less experience for less pay, IMO there is no such thing as bad security anymore.
Even if you don't do it professionally IMO its a skill that makes you more valuable to society.
>>912020
It is generally up to the person. But I have a feeling that you are just romantisizing a certain situation.
A hard day at work that you can sit down from and swig some beer and feeling immense satisfaction from. The pro-trade life can kill that where even if the job is going well your client tries to fuck you over or an unforseen event changes all your plans and you come home thinking "fucking kill me now Jesus" and then drink beer to forget it.
Of course you should find some joy in your working life but you need to be able to unwind when you get home. It is unlikely that you will be able to unwind doing physiotherapy at home to take your mind off your carpentry disaster at work that you can't do fuck all about for 2 days.
Physiotherapy sounds like a field where you will have more available funds to spend on hobbies as well. And unless you own your own carpentry shop you will find your bottom line harder to meet.
Don't get sucked into the HURR MUH HARD WURK IS FOR REAL MEN propaganda.
>>911849
>I recently started getting into diy stuff as a hobby
It's different when you're working for someone else, doing their projects on their schedule. And you'll cease doing it as a hobby, because you'll be doing it all day. Keep your hobbies and jobs different.
My sister is a physiotherapist and makes very nice money. If you want to do trades FOR FUN then do NOT make it your fucking job, not least because when you get old you are fucked unless you are a machinist.
You can make MUCH more money as a physiotherapist then spend some of it on a kickass workshop with any goodies you might want. Old tradesmen or especially injured tradesman are often shit out of luck.
Happiness doesn't usually pay bills. There are exceptions. I had a pleasant USAF aircraft maintenance career and would do again but nofuckingway would I do the same job as a civilian because USAF retirement is magnificent. I retired at 47 and don't have to work so I can indulge my interests (motorcycle and truck mechanics, metalworking, building and fixing most of what I own) in my personal shop. Your tools can pay for themselves over time. Mine have freed me from taking vehicles to a shop or contracting home renovation and repair so my overhead is taxes, utilities and insurance.
OTOH you can have a nice Federal retirement with benefits by finishing your therapy training then enlisting as an officer. You get a skate working environment compared to civilian providers, a very profitable career path, and a much higher 20-year retirement than enlisted folks. Twenty years FLIES by and you can then do whatever the fuck you want.
The smart play would be to become a military therapist then get paid to travel the world (plenty of bases in Europe and Asia including Japan and Korea). Uncle Sugar will pay for your schooling while on active duty and afterwards. (I took machining and am taking CAD on the G.I. Bill.) The Air Force should not be confused with the "military", especially the medical fields! Those are chill and if you are a straight male you'll be awash in poontang.
Whatever you do, eschew being a whiny cunt and go make money. Life is a shit sandwich and the more bread you have the less shit you taste.
>>911849
Some of the best welders I know didn't go to school and were apprenticed, either on the job or by someone they know. Then they cribbed out and only took the test for certification. I didn't go to school.
Ive seen more than a few "kids" from vocational training from one school who had a stick certification think they were gods gift. Yet they couldn't TIG weld worth a shit and barely had any penetration. They would get sick of sharpening their tungsten so much that one had the bright idea to look up on the internet that 35 degree lasts longer than 20 degree. When your only welding stuff that's only .125''-.250'' that arch pattern is too much even at low amperage and you end up bluing it all to hell or bleeding through so much you warp the material.
When TIG welding aluminum welding with a newly sharpened tungsten, I put set the welder to DC pos to neg and arc (not long enough to melt the tunsten) a piece of copper so you get a barely visible copper coating on the tip Those "kid's" see me do that complain that i'll end up contaminating the weld, I had explain to them that with out it, the tungsten tip degrades faster and your tungsten contaminates the weld more, and if your after pure welds you weld with plasma.
On the rare occasion when I had to weld cast iron I had one kid ask where my temp stick was, i showed him a piece of white pine and told him about it streaking at the right temp, and if it burst into flames its too hot (my father was a millwright at a foundry, who taught me that). I'm not going to go buy something i don't need and that same piece of white pine will last me the rest of my life for how often i weld cast iron. for those that don't know the thermal shock of welding cold cast iron will cause it to crack, you have to bring the whole piece up to around 600F which is the temp a piece of white pine will leave mark like a pencil if dragged across it.
Schooling doesn't make a professional, experience does.
>>912350
True post! Welding especially requires talent, persistence and experience. School can be used as a good start but ya better study much more than they teach and own a personal welding machine to practice with. (You'll want one anyway.) The Miller forums and Weldingweb have exhaustive info from pros who learned in the field. Read them.
Welders don't tend to weld into old age. It's a young man's game and you can make bank if you are good and talented. Best bet is to spend dat physiotherapist money on a nice Miller Synchrowave and stick/TIG on your own.
>>912354
Your right with the advice, which is what I am thinking, but I want OP to make up his own mind with my horror stories in the work environment and some trade schools.
In the work environment everyone wants to be the go to guy to get the best possible weld, if you are that go to guy you come to hate it, or at least I did. Which is why I'm always willing to pass on knowledge to those who are willing to learn it, and I'm always willing to listen to others tricks and tips.
OP or anyone else. The best advice I can give is start with stick and learn the 4 stages of heat first hand from some one who knows what I'm talking about (I know it's old school, but it's tried and true). The reason I say start with stick is that the signs of the 4 stages of heat are easiest to read in the flux puddle while stick welding (impurities come to the surface and start to vibrate/dance at 3.5). At stage 4 the material becomes so hot and loses shape which is called going critical.
Once you learn those 4 stages and how to know when to start making your bead so your welds are pure, that knowledge can be applied to TIG and Plasma. This is for steal and stainless steel only though SS generally is welded with AC but stage 4 is reached much faster than with steel.
Learn to weld aluminum early, its a different animal than steel, plus its a white metal. It's like cast Iron where you really have to worry about thermal shock. From my experience people who welded only steel for years have trouble learning to weld aluminum because the puddle flows away from the heat instead of towards it.
As a hobbyist or someone who welds as a second job from his home, steel, SS and aluminum are all your pretty much going to encounter, anything exotic usually requires an oxygen free environment.
>>912384
OP here, spent a few days away from the computer. Thanks a fuck load for sharing your experience. I think my friends are probably right in that I'm romanticizing the whole thing a little. I can see from what you are saying that there can totally be situations that strip you of the joy to do these things. My best bet is probably to keep it as a hobby. I can make more money and be more flexible with my life/hours if I go physio. Which will give me more time to pursue hobbies like welding. And the cash to get a welder and set up a garage shop for myself. Though I do have a question, how good can one ever expect to get when its only a hobby? Will I forever be an amateur? Or if I spend 4 or 5 years doing home projects and shit will I actually be a half decent welder? I don't want to be that armchair ass who thinks they know shit because they do it a few times. I know people who call themselves chefs because they know 10 dishes they can make. If you get what I mean.
I actually found a DIY metal and woodworking shop in the area. Don't know if they have a welder but I'm gonna find out. I hope this might start to satisfy the itch I have. Its like the one anon said I can still weld and do hands on stuff on my own. I can't exactly go get a $40 membership somewhere to practice physio on people, and I do enjoy it, I think I would miss learning about the body.
>>912023
real red seal welders are still in demand in ontario i work in hamilton and make 100k a year for a great company that doesnt make me do anything dangerous or hazardous for my health that being said all welding smoke is toxic you should always be wearing a respirator welding not just a dust mask
>>912315
wow lots of heresay and bullshit in this post
>From my experience, production welding that requires certification, I wouldn't call scraps. it may not be $50/plus an hour but its definitely a decent wage compared to other "production jobs".
production welding is shit unless its robotic or sub arc or some other specialty the money and skills are in custom fabrication and maintenance welding
> exposed skin to UV light increases your chances of getting skin cancer
while true you know what else exposes you to UV light? the sun if your welding and not wearing long sleeves you deserve it
>Burning your self badly, cast aluminum is a bitch due to silica they add to make it flow better, if you take your time the puddle can "explode" leaving you wishing you had on full leathers
again burning yourself is typically your fault for not doing something right and you should be wearing leather anyway and the reason you have problems with aluminum is not cleaning the surface properly besides aluminum is a specialty and you wouldnt weld any aluminum in your typical production shop
>Speaking of eyes I tend to stay away from auto tinting helmets, UV retina damage is cumulative and those milliseconds add up, though you could close your eyes for a brief moment to avoid it.
is just plain wrong arc flash is a sunburn on your eyeballs that only lasts about a day while it is bad it is not cumulative or else every single welder whos been welding 20+ years would be blind and my auto darkener takes 1/10000 of a second to darken so really nothing to be worried of
> Depending on what you do you risk pulling muscles and damaging yourself from heavy lifting
you could be a secretary and still hurt yourself like this so if you worried about strains and sprains proper lifting techniques
>>912315
> When I TIG weld (torch in right hand) I keep my left elbow on something grounded, just so that if i get bit it doesn't pass through my whole body.
HURR DURR ELECTRICITY HOW DOES IT WORK
like did you even think about what you just said? trace the path from your right hand to your left elbow and tell me what vital organs you go over like your lungs and heart which is beside the point that the only way you would get zapped like that is with a HF machine or being dumb
>When welding, if you get electrocuted, it can be so bad that you end up with black eyes like someone punched you.
ya kind of like any time you get electrocuted with anything bigger then a 9v battery it can be bad if not fatal
>Depending on what company you work for and how well they are doing, you could be replaced by someone with less experience for less pay, IMO there is no such thing as bad security anymore.
I dont know what scum bags you have worked for but its insanely expensive to certify your welders so the more certs you have the more your going to get paid and the more valuable you are to the company so again your just plain wrong
>>912328
> take your mind off your carpentry disaster at work that you can't do fuck all about for 2 days.
lol o noes that 2x4 fell on my steel toe i need comp
and as trades person if you need money work more overtime go find a physiotherapist and ask them how many hours of OT they work in a year and tell me they dont look at you like an alien
>>912350
you actually think .125''-.250'' is thin? 1/8 to a quater inch? I've never even done a weld test that didnt have some kind of 16ga (.0625) and have even seen some 22ga (.03125) 304 SS as part of an interview
> I put set the welder to DC pos to neg and arc (not long enough to melt the tunsten)
so youve never actually GTAW on aluminum is what your saying because any aluminum welding is done with an AC machine so it doesnt matter whether your whip is on the work lead or ground lead and you ball your tungsten to weld aluminum and its only your tungsten that becomes contaminated not your tungsten contaminating a weld
>and if your after pure welds you weld with plasma
which would only be done on specialty applications because not having silica and manganese added to your regular mild steel during normal welding operations means your heat affected zone will be extremely brittle and prone to failure
>Schooling doesn't make a professional, experience does.
but school will allow you to learn some of the theory behind what your doing so if you try and explain it wont sound like you have no idea what you are talking about
>>912354
no going to school is going to expose you to wider variety of process and applications while also having someone to show you how to improve your techniques i mean unless your going to spend 10k+ on machine and then get a 500v hookup somewhere in your house you will never be able to weld with 3/16's rod you wont have access to pulse GTAW and you wont be able to seamless change wires or gases to go from GMAW to FCAW to MCAW
