Welders join metal parts together using torches and other equipment. Welding parts together creates a much stronger bond than gluing or fastening with screws or bolts, as the two metals are actually bonded together on the molecular level. Forge welding – hammering two pieces of hot metal until they fuse together – was the only known method of welding until 1886 when resistance welding using electrodes was invented. Several other types of welding have been developed since then, and the technology of welding and the work of welders and related professionals has become highly specialized.
What Welders Do
Welding is a common process in both the manufacturing and construction industries, and there are well over 100 different welding processes for specific applications. Many welders are certified in one or more welding techniques such as stick welding, MIG welding and TIG welding. Welders are frequently employed in the shipbuilding, automobile, and aerospace industries. Welders also join beams and girders and the like in commercial and residential construction. They may lay pipelines and work to build and maintain power plants and refineries.
What Welding Machine Operators Do
Some welders operate welding machines instead of welding by hand. Welding machine operators are in great demand as they have knowledge of various welding techniques and how to operate industrial welding equipment. Welding machine operators are almost exclusively employed at large manufacturing operations, often as part of a semi-automated production process.
What Solderers and Brazers Do
Soldering and brazing are similar to welding, as the idea is to join two pieces of metal, but the temperature used is lower than the melting point of the pieces to be joined, so only the added metal, such as solder, is melted, not the pieces themselves. Brazing is often used in plumbing and construction applications, and is also used to give parts coatings to reduce wear and prevent corrosion. Soldering is used in manufacturing processes, including producing electronic circuit boards such as computer chips. Soldering is also common in plumbing and the repair of electrical devices.
What Cutters Do
Some cutters work by hand, using arc torches or plasma and oxy-gas welding cutters to divide metal into pieces or trim a piece to a certain size. Other cutters work as cutting machine operators, using large cutting machines much like those used by a welding machine operator. Cutters often dismantle large metal objects, including cars, ships, railroad cars, automobiles and aircraft, turning them into parts for reuse or scrap metal for recycling.
Welding Career Pay and Prospects
Welders, cutters, solderers and brazers earned a median annual income of $40,240 a year in May 2017, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The median annual pay for welding machine operators was somewhat lower at $37,190. Job prospects for welders, cutters, solderers and brazers are expected to be close to the U.S. average, with 6 percent job growth projected between 2016 and 2026. This compares to a decline of 10 percent for welding machine operator jobs during the same decade.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook -- Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook -- Metal and Plastic Machine Workers
- GoWelding.org: Introduction to Welding
- Calumet Welding Center: Understanding the Welding Industry
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: 51-4121 Welders, Cutters, Solderers and Brazers
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: 51-4122 Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators and Tenders