Lets have a trades thread

Lets have a trades thread.

I'm a millwright, also known as an industrial mechanic, and made a thread here a week or two ago. My work is pretty specialized in the area of industrial automation and also requires me to be a licensed journeyman electrician and certified welder because my work demands a lot of skills.

I'm from Texas, have never been to college, and make a solid six figures. My company flies me all over the US and Canada to do jobs because there are so few people who can do what we do. We're now halfway through the year and this week was the first week I've had two consecutive days off, if we exclude days spent at airports.

We're so damned busy that we need to hire 35 more people who can mechanic, weld, and electrician well, but there are very few people who can do any of these even halfassedly. If you can do one of these well and not be a fuck up 80% of the time or better my company would be happy to pay you 50-60k. If you can do 2 of the skills well and not be a fuck up 90% of the time, my company would be happy to pay you 70-80k per year. If you are completely reliable (as in you can work 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, for a month straight) and can mechanic, electrician, and also weld, you can easily earn 90 - 130k at my company.

Yet there are so few young men who can do any one of these skills and also work very hard. Have young men given up on doing hard work?

>blue collar
>good pay
>high social standing

kek
Enjoy your brainless job

I am apprenticing for a guitar repair store while getting my electrical engineering AA. my girlfriend is a union apprentice plumber. We live in California and hadn't met any other conervative folks until we got into the trades, and we make and are saving a kind of ridiculous amount of money even while living in an expensive city. Very satisfying, economically and socially rewarding. Just takes a love of hard work.

Oh please, Mario, do tell us your salary.

What do you make in piss poor Italy, $12k USD while you live in mamminas spare room?

I do hardwork which earns me the respect of my peers, earn well into six figures, and own several rental properties.

>I am apprenticing for a guitar repair store while getting my electrical engineering AA. my girlfriend is a union apprentice plumber. We live in California and hadn't met any other conervative folks until we got into the trades, and we make and are saving a kind of ridiculous amount of money even while living in an expensive city. Very satisfying, economically and socially rewarding. Just takes a love of hard work.

Sounds good. Have either of you considered heading to Texas? There is a big time shortage of plumbers here and the houses are dirt cheap compared to Cali.

>girlfriend
>plumber
She must be ugly as fuck

I'm a tradesman who has worked alongside Millwrights (industrial mechanics aren't the only kind of Millwright, either, OP) at factories and it really just comes down to being a troubleshooting process as well as decent hydraulic/pneumatic, programming and mechanical knowledge.

>My company flies me all over the US and Canada to do jobs because there are so few people who can do what we do.
This is flat out horseshit, Industrial Mechanics are a dime a dozen and the industry is flooded with them.

>We're so damned busy that we need to hire 35 more people who can mechanic, weld, and electrician well, but there are very few people who can do any of these even halfassedly. If you can do one of these well and not be a fuck up 80% of the time or better my company would be happy to pay you 50-60k.

Seriously? Welding is fucking easy as tits and electricians are also a dime a dozen. Decent ones, too. I have no clue why welding is so praised, it's quite literally the same shit day in, day out.

>If you are completely reliable (as in you can work 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, for a month straight) and can mechanic, electrician, and also weld, you can easily earn 90 - 130k at my company.
>16 hours a day
>7 days a week
"just fucking sell your soul and destroy your personal life senpai"

>Yet there are so few young men who can do any one of these skills and also work very hard. Have young men given up on doing hard work?
Basically. They look down upon it. But these are the same people getting generic degrees in accounting, economics, etc and bitching about debt and not finding work - all while shitting on tradesmen, who make decent coin and who don't have debt. Kids these days have a stupid sense of entitlement, as if they're worth a lot more than they actually are.

Machinist reporting in; 29/hr at a small job shop making custom, prototype and one-off parts for industries such as nuclear, robotics and defense

No where is putting on apprentices because it ultimately devalues the labour of everyone working. Non construction trades are an old boys club, they are useless, can't get fired and due to an artificial shortages of workers they get paid too high

Just finished 180 hour 2 week stint. The whole time I didn't even really work, just told Mexicans and white Mexicans like you what I wanted done.
>mfw not blue collar Kek
>mfw independent consultant for oil and gas
>mfw I charge $120/hour

Ger an education and order these hard workers around. I just made 1/5th of his salary in 2 weeks.

>This is flat out horseshit, Industrial Mechanics are a dime a dozen and the industry is flooded with them.

Nope, buddy. We specialize in industrial automation and there is no shortage of people who can do what we do. However, my company requires its experienced staff members to be both millwrights and electricians and there are very few people who can fulfill both roles well.

>electricians are also a dime a dozen

Electricians who can do motor controls well are not a dime a dozen. They're at least $30 an hour.

>"just fucking sell your soul and destroy your personal life senpai"

>being so desperate for work that you go out of town to work 5 days a week, 8 hours a day

>Machinist reporting in; 29/hr at a small job shop making custom, prototype and one-off parts for industries such as nuclear, robotics and defense

What company do you work for? I'd be more than happy to pass your contact info on to our sales team so we can come in and automate your job too.

A mans employment does not define him, at the end of the day You are bragging about being a member of nearly the lowest social class. Not that I care, but fuck, you sound boring as fuck, do something with your life. You're living to work, nit working to live

>Machinist reporting in; 29/hr at a small job shop making custom, prototype and one-off parts for industries such as nuclear, robotics and defense

Would that be the unemployed or unskilled workers?

Because in my country I am considered to be a skilled worker, which places me in the same socio-economic rung as the likes of teachers, nurses, lawyers, and physicians.

I work in site analytics and we can never find enough people or train them fast enough. I didn't finish college either. Usually at 2 years a competitor will offer double your salary just because you have experience. If you live in the states and you're unemployed you deserve it.

>I'm too lazy to work so I will blame unions

apprentices don't devalue the labour of skilled tradespeople because apprentices aren't fucking skilled, that's why apprentices get paid fuck all.

>16h/day
>7 days/week
>can easily earn up to 130k!

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA holy shit. That's still only ~ 25$ an hour, moron (assuming 4 weeks off a year).

I guess you can easily get slaves if the chains are made of gold.

No.

I'm not going to even talk to you if you think you are in the same social class as a lawyer. You are a vagrant worker

But apprentices become tradesmen in 4 years. They will be young, fit and willing to work for less, they are a big threat to the status quo. You've got your head in the sand

>Nope, buddy. We specialize in industrial automation and there is no shortage of people who can do what we do.
If there's no shortage, why the fuck are you "getting flown around the country"?

>What company do you work for? I'd be more than happy to pass your contact info on to our sales team so we can come in and automate your job too.
>dude automation will replace u all lmfao

This just shows you have no clue what you are talking about. For someone who has claimed to have worked in automation to say that prototypes, one off jobs, etc can be automated any time soon has no knowledge about robotics, programming or the mechanics that go into it.

>Because in my country I am considered to be a skilled worker
All I see is a grade A bullshitter tbqh

Power Engineer, 2nd class.

I run a panel now and spend 95% of my day surfing the net. 5% making adjustments to a gas power plant.

I earned more in overtime than the GDP/C of Alberta.

I work 7 days at 12hrs a day then get 7 days off.

Why do I have the feeling that this picture was taken at the equator?

>I'd be more than happy to pass your contact info on to our sales team so we can come in and automate your job too.

you were a snotty cunt in your other thread too. you're obviously not happy with your life and you're bragging about working....disgusting. your lifestyle is nothing to be proud of, you fucking drone.

Should have stayed in school
>PhD in math
>300k starting
>any job I want

Is farming a trade.

>the police union doesn't let knew people become police officers because that will make police officers paid less

reality shows you are wrong.

Considering I am a fucking tradesmen that works with union and non-union labour I can safely say you are a fucking retard that hasn't worked a single days hard work in his life.

I bet you are either a uni student or on the dole.

Fuck you faggot.

Are you mentally ill? I never said anything about police, policing isn't a trade, and finally it's a government ran service. You have no idea, you don't even have a head to be hiding in the sand. Too much zinc fumes

Computer engineering. Hardware primarily

>I'm not going to even talk to you if you think you are in the same social class as a lawyer. You are a vagrant worker

You're smoking crack if you think the Social Security administration doesn't consider both electricians (which is one license/certification I told) and attorneys to both be skilled workers.

>why the fuck are you "getting flown around the country"?
Because there aren't enough reliable local contractors who can do the job.

>For someone who has claimed to have worked in automation to say that prototypes, one off jobs, etc can be automated any time soon has no knowledge about robotics, programming or the mechanics that go into it.

Oh. Yea. you're that one guy in the whole country who is important enough to spend 100% of his time doing pilot work. Nope, you're not one of those working slobs at all.

An electrician is still working class, which unless you go into a oddly specific class system is nearly at the bottom

Civil Engineer, currently unemployed

>Oh. Yea. you're that one guy in the whole country who is important enough to spend 100% of his time doing pilot work. Nope, you're not one of those working slobs at all.
What in the fuck?

Give me a quick, simple green text about how my job can even possibly be automated.

I'd love to pick your bullshit apart, piece by piece.

it's cool
are you really a nihongus? why aren't you on 2chan?

Brilliant argument there, bud.

Your problem is you've already reached your wage ceiling. Nobody's going to pay, say, 280k+ for a blue collar, no matter how skilled. In addition, the amount of work is going to wreak havoc on your body and social life. By the time you're in your mid-forties you'll have to fold somehow, and you'll take a pay cut. Meanwhile white collar careers (and I mean actual careers and not keyboard pushing) start with shit pay but have an almost unlimited ceiling. That is, if you're smart and know how to plan it.

I'm sure you think you're very clever having escaped the debt trap of higher education, but you've only managed to cut off your future short.

fuckin millrats. this scab mother fucker said come to work in Texas. What he didnt say is that you'll pipefit, work boilers, do sheet metal, insulate, labor, run equipment, run more equipment, rat on your own contract, weld everything in sight.

>mfw

>An electrician is still working class, which unless you go into a oddly specific class system is nearly at the bottom

I don't know about your Chinese ridden, welfare promoting country, but in my country most electricians earn middle class wages and are thus considered to be middle class people.

Are you trying to take the piss out of people who who perceive to do manual labor? If so, you might be surprised that the percent of manual labor you do exceeds that of a journeyman or master electrician.

Off with his head.

So...
You want us to work ourselves to death doing more than expected because either:
1. You boss can't manage properly because he doesn't know the job and cannot staff the project with the right skills;
2. Your boss can't bid the job properly and is now stuck exploiting workers to make his bid;
3. Your boss is a fucking profiteer who is screwing your ass by paying you 1/3 of what he makes on the job.

Capitalism just screws workers. Pride in work should come from quality, not quantity.

And why should the person who organizes things get paid more than the one who actually does it?
How much do you think you let your boss makes off your life?


Slave...

>Give me a quick, simple green text about how my job can even possibly be automated.

>a computer reads the autocad file for your project and then machines it from stock placed in the machine by a $10/hour employee
>machinists are no longer needed because engineers and millwrights have no created fully automated milling machines
>your next job is shining fruit at the local Wal-Mart store

I drive forklift 25USD/hr. Good bennies, good retirement, fun and organized work environment. It's good for a non college grad.

>I drive forklift 25USD/hr. Good bennies, good retirement, fun and organized work environment. It's good for a non college grad.

Your job has already been automated.

i bet you're ugly as fuck

>a computer reads the autocad file for your project and then machines it from stock placed in the machine by a $10/hour employee

>trusting default autocad, ever
>nothing needs to be edited
Autocad spits out some dumb shit tbqh.

Say it's a lathe here. Who puts the jaws in? Who bores them out when needed? Who loads the tools? Who replaces broken inserts/cutters? There's only 12 positions on a turret.

Who makes sure it won't crash? Who makes sure all the reference points, speeds and feeds are correct? I assure you, it isn't any CAD/CAM software.

What if it's not feasible and should just be done manually in a fraction of the time, not even having to boot up these CNC machines?

Who makes sure everything is zeroed correctly? The machines themselves are completely different between start up and mid cycle. What happens if something is out of spec?

What if something smashes and the machine doesn't fault out? Does it continue running and smash even worse after the fact?

What if the machine doesn't have the tools in the machine already? There's only 12 positions on most lathe turrets, how can that be automated?

What about all the other processes? Not everything is done in one operation, it would be a financial disaster to have a program and a CNC machine do everything when the whole thing, or parts of it, be done manually.

>machinists are no longer needed because engineers and millwrights have no created fully automated milling machines

Those are called CNC machines, and they are only "automated" in production mode, IE making the same shit every day.

You have no fucking clue what you're even talking about.

Yeah bullshit. Average salary is way lower.

I respect blue collar people but I am unable to get those skills. I tried to learn them but was so bad the teacher recommended I quit the course.

that works out to 23.50 an hour
for 7 day a week 16 hours a day 50/52 weeks a year
For 3 certifications and working 16 hours a day

Yeah I'm just lazy not doing basic math

sure

Tricked into university.

I fell for it, too. "Oh user, the sky's gonna fall if you don't get a bachelor's"

Signed up for HVAC training that starts in August.

>implying anyone in oil and gas who does field work makes as much as top hourly positions

Yeah no.

t. driller who makes more than my pusher and any company man I've worked under

Whats the millman happenings?
tell me!

OP has no clue what he's talking about and this is coming from a tradesman

teachers are professionals

sure

Tool and die maker
It pays well

Or.... you could just get a easy sot on yer ass power plant job with those skills. Fuck living 90% of your life on the road and for only... $130k? Dude I make that with a max of 15% overtime.

I'm a carny. I make $500 a week to move a mini-coaster. The job's half using lasers to level shit and line it up right and half busting your ass lifting up heavy track. I love it, traveling and such.

No, seriously. Salary only consistently makes more than hourly in the oilfield about two or three rungs above the guys who spend significant time in the field. The tradeoff is more money for shittier conditions and less security or less money for far better conditions and more security.

Or just inherit money, that's even easier.

I'm currently doing a pre-apprenticeship for electrical/HVAC&R what should I specialise in to make bank and slay poon?

This makes me reeeeee so much I have a law degree and can't find a job! I wish I went into trades so much. Is it too late to start? How did you become a driller? What courses did you do?

>trades thread

ok,

Second Year Pipefitter/Welder Apprentice
$35/hr + full benefits
at 22 years old
Weld pipe ranging from carbon, stainless, chrome, and incoloy.

Males who overlook the trades are straight retarded.
>pic related chrome spool.

whatever kind of refrigeration labs use. I don't remember the name properly, but in the US it's apparently a bitch to find enough skilled workers and they get to charge through the roof -- something to do with how they have to use older systems because they're what the USDA approved and the approval process is enough of a bitch that they'll keep repairing the old stuff for as long as possible. I imagine y'all have a similar situation.

>what should I specialise in to make bank and slay poon?

Depends, will you make decent money and like your current company? Stay with it then, banter with the lads and have a good time and a good living.

If not, I'm sure you meet some people in trade school, and I'm sure a lot of them are less than thrilled about their workplace, too. Talk to them about starting up your own shop or even asking around if anyone needs a worker. That's the beauty of trade school, people can see first hand how competent you are and if they'd work with you or not.

But for gods sake, just keep your current boss under the impression that you want to be there.

wait until oil gets to $100/barrel, get on a rig, then don't get fired for around five years.

It actually makes a lot of sense. Rig life is terrible, especially when there's a super high demand. I've worked 452 out of 455 days before...and that's 12 hour days working with a liberal amount of 16-36 hour shifts thrown in. Now it's a lot more chill though, 30 on, 30 off.

Chiller technicians are a niche community. A lot of mechanical contractors would like to break into chiller work but don't have the qualified workers. If I went into the service side of pipefitting instead of construction, I'd definitely choose chiller tech.

>stainless pipe spool

Holy fucking shit my sides. I'm not the other Canadian poster. I am however, a Journeyman Millwright.

You are partly right about machinists slowing dying off because of CNC machines, however you fail to say that machining is become more common instruction for millwright courses as well. The common machinist at a local mill or plant is not as needed as it once was. Most places opt to get their parts machined from CNC shops like you say. The small stuff just gets done by a lathe or milling machine in house by a millwright.

Even with all of that said, someone needs to run those CNC machines. Someone also needs to know how to fix them. So jobs don't magically vanish in the log term.

The one good thing about being a millwright is that not only do we repair and maintain machines, but we also Install them and fabricate pieces of said machines.

By the way, where I work in a unionized USW mill I make around 110k and don't have to sit in airports and I usually only work 5 days a week. Enjoy living to work OP.

Fuck you retard! I would join trades but it is hard.

How much is pay?

welding is the best trade
Can be directly an art form

Plumber here 100k a year plus overtime.

Good life start early home by 3.30pm cash jobs on weekends life is good

>How much is pay?
As much meth as you can smoke.

>Millwright.
Pilebuck here. Your welds are okay.

you just proved you considered the trades, therefore, you did not overlook them.

agreed famalam.

>incoloy spool

That's only if you work for Cyclone or workover.
>pay
Depends on who you're working for and where you're at. 15-22/hr to start

What compay do you work for? Alberta oil sands worker here, cannot find a job anywhere I just wrote my interprovincial red seal, and journeyman exam, certified structural welder with SMAW, proficent with TIG, MIG Flux core and OAW, on mild steel, stainless, cast iron, nickel alloys...can fabricate and do repairs and equipment, not afraid of heights, Confined spaces, and I have certifications for safety such as h2s and such others, not afraid of a hard days work and can not fuck up most of the time....just no damn jobs here in alberta thanks to the oil price dying...

Carpenter here, 23yrs old. Currently making 17/hr doing foundation work. I am a hard worker with some skills, have all my own tools, and am learning to read plans. I know I havent reached the top yet but I feel like I make good money for someone my age and I dont want for anything. I live decent.

5 years from now? I want to be running my own show.

That's true i've always been bad at practical stuff tho.

>.just no damn jobs here in alberta thanks to the oil price dying...
MOVE

Seriously, the only reason I'm still in ND is that I haven't been laid off yet. The moment I am, I'm gone to a place that has jobs.

seems like it poses a health risk
how's your retirement plan?

Props brother, keep working hard. And always remember, bitches love a rugged handyman.

I study EE and I'm almost done.
I'd like to learn how to weld. Any tips?

I am a composer and music theorist. I have consumed the last thousand years of music history, theory, philosophy, and composition.

I can tell you anything you want to know about music. I can also transcribe music by ear as easily as one transcribes speech. I am a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and I tour semi-annually. I published my first journal article when I was 21.

You've never met a person that knows more about music than myself.

Just go to BC. It's not a long drive. You'll want to be close when the oil price picks up again anyhow. Just find a place to rent.

Way in the spectrum bro

I used to do what you do but worked on the generators attached to those turbines. Good ass money but hard as fuck on your body.

I do computer shit now and make a similar wage. I enjoyed working in plants but no way I'd want to do that shit when I'm 50 years old like my coworkers were.

Point is, hard work is fun when you're young but that shit sucks when you get old.

>inbefore youre a pussy

I was thinking I might have to do that, currently in edmonton I wrote. My exams yesteray so i start the job hunt on Monday, hopefully can find something....it's so tight out here right now

Start doing odd job repairs for family and friends, become that guy they know, and you will keep. Jsy with referral jobs.

What does Sup Forums think about dentistry? In the USA it's undergrad + 4 years, has a trade element to it.

Well you just have to find a line of work where your strengths are. I was more talking about the average guy who goes into school for business to be a souless corporate drone while having the mechanical aptitude to do something more fulfilling. Good luck on your search though man.

It can be depending on the metal and weld process you're using at the time. You can effectively eliminate the risks by using fume extractors, fans, and respirators. Retirement plan is excellent. Our wage and benefits package includes vacation pay, health, pension, and supplementary pension. It is not unheard of for lifelong pipefitters to retire with 600k - 800k in the pension.

>fat chrome weld

I'm 22 y/o journeyman electrician.

They just cut back our wage from 38$/hr to 35.50$/hr canadian.
I like my job though i'm never bored. I want to run my own company in a few years, i'm pretty good with money so it's doable.

Both you an Michael Angelo Batio are far enough in the spectrum that you will die alone and without children.

I dropped out of uni in December and have done fuck all since, thinking of getting a welding apprenticeship anyone reckon that would be worth it? My grandad was a welder which is why I've gone for welding lol

>Slave peon threatened with the fact someone could be smart enough to make money mentally instead of as a brute lifting shit.

see:

21 year-old fag here, have high school education only. got a land surveying job in South Florida, making 110 a day plus occasional bonuses. Just got 1,100 for one week of work, mostly involving plotting points on a chart for 10 hours a day in the blazing Sun. I'll soon be taking contracts on my own (possibility of making around 1,000 dollars a day.) feels good man. (Fun fact: George Washington was a land surveyor)

>dat suicide rate
Based otherwise

what grade is that steel?

Yes of course, we're barbarians compared to you.
Some people enjoy scribbling down non-sensical shit, other people don't. Get over it.
I'm sure you have lots of friends because of your snobby pompous personality.

>STEM becoming oversaturated because everyone shilling for it on Sup Forums

God damn, looks like the trades are next. You're supposed to keep this shit a fucking secret.

I'm having a really hard time writing a song. Every time I link two notes together, my mind wanders and finds songs that fits those notes. Any tips on clearing my head?

just regular 304L stainless steel if I remember. Schedule 40 though so it did take some time to make each weld for sure.

Who's your favorite Baroque composer

Shitposting about your hobby on Sup Forums is a good start. Learn from his posts.