#welding tag

[orbitaldropshocktroopers]

every guy seeing me watching these osha videos is making jokes about it. every single industrial worker knows about the osha videos. made in a lab to be as boring as humanly possible, important, and exactly the same information at every job. we are all brought together by the osha videos. no one gets boredom like we do

[winedarkseamonster]

You: welding

Me, an intellectual: high-stakes hot glue gun

[orbitaldropshocktroopers]

no one fucking talk to me about out of position welding until you have to lay on your stomach, wedge your arm into a 4" pit to reach down and weld vertical 7018 with your offhand by holding the tip of the stinger

[orbitaldropshocktroopers]

guys who dont weld are always saying shit like "this 1" gap on 12 guage steel i just spray painted, weld it. also we dont have 6010, so youll have to do it with 7018. have fun sticking your rod asshole"

[orbitaldropshocktroopers]

i miss welding...

[orbitaldropshocktroopers]

anyway welding memes are the backbone of our society, we would be nowhere without them o7

[winedarkseamonster]

I started welding school on Thursday and I’ve just been thinking about it so here are some thoughts

I love that there’s zero expectation to wear feminine clothes bc as much as I enjoy dresses sometimes it often gets on my nerves when I feel like I have to in order to be taken seriously or respected

Theres a strict dress code but it’s obviously safety oriented and not like “don’t distract the boys” or whatever, it’s literally “don’t wear torn or frayed jeans because they will catch on fire”

I’m required to wear work boots and that’s some good shit right there

There are more women than I anticipated, at least 3 (including me) in each of my classes

The welding program is at a smaller downtown campus that’s separate from the main school so there aren’t overwhelming crowds

Those herds of business students in suits that roam the campuses of 4-year schools? Not a thing. Everyone is in jeans or cargo pants and flannels and boots

There’s so much carhartt everywhere I love it

Everyone is on their own path. It’s not like intro classes at universities where most of the students are 18-19 and right out of high school

We went around and introduced ourselves in one class and there’s just a wide range of experiences. There are guys there because they got laid off or their union job got busted, a woman who was a navy mechanic, another woman who’s taking welding so she can make art with scrap metal, a guy who grew up on a farm and needs to learn welding to maintain equipment, there’s me who wants to use welding for theatre

We get lockers a-la high school, but I’m actually using mine here. It’s up in the welding shop and I’m storing my helmet and tools in it

Unlike at the universities I’ve been to, the school/administrators/teachers don’t have some bizarre expectation that everyone has a shit ton of money. There’s one textbook for all of the hands-on welding classes throughout the program, and they help you find discount options for the tools and materials you need

People are (for the most part) pretty laid back and nonjudgmental

The teachers are a lot more present than at college, and the classes are so much smaller- my biggest class is maybe 25 people

I walked into school on Thursday morning and for what might have been the first time ever, I didn’t feel like people were judging me - I felt confident walking in there with short hair and no makeup, wearing some men’s workwear, carrying a pink backpack, drinking some green tea, just being myself.

Like, I actually initiated conversations with my classmates. I never did that in high school or college.

In summary: trade school is good so far. I’m starting the actual welding next week probably

[orbitaldropshocktroopers]

any welder knows: gloves are ephemeral, temporary, gone before you know it. a welder is a beast out for blood, tame it before it kills you. but a hood? youre bonded. thats your soulmate piece of plastic, made exactly for you. even if you have several, thats your pack