What does a welder helper do?

Ship fitters are civilian or enlisted people who work on materials like high yield strength steel and high-tensile steel. These people fabricate, assemble, and build structural parts of ships. They are the ones who coordinate a fixed tank working on ships and submarines, as well as the sonar dome work. They serve as part of a team composing shipbuilders. It is their duty to lead and assist in welding copper, PVC, flange piping, and steel. They should also refurbish the older rigs with advanced technologies.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a welder helper are more likely to require skills like "grind welds," "grinders," "perform routine maintenance," and "pipeline construction." On the other hand, a job as a ship fitter requires skills like "hand tools," "tack-weld," "math," and "cranes." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

A Maintenance Welder diagnoses and repairs a variety of metal work including construction vehicles and equipment. They cut, fit, and weld metal using gas and electric welding equipment.

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, welder helper responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "grind welds," "grinders," "pipeline construction," and "pry bars." Meanwhile, a maintenance welder has duties that require skills in areas such as "hand tools," "gtaw," "aluminum," and "preventative maintenance." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Combination welders are the ones who prepare the welding materials to weld together metal components and maintain their equipment, such as a welding torch, grinder, or thermal cutters. They should know the various processes like oxy-fuel welding, arc welding, etc., to weld various metal components. Before starting their torches, they position the metals to stay in place using clamps. These welders work to fabricate or repair cracks, holes or increase the size of metal products like machine parts, plant equipment, automobiles, etc.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a welder helper is likely to be skilled in "grind welds," "grinders," "perform routine maintenance," and "pipeline construction," while a typical combination welder is skilled in "tack," "minor maintenance," "gmaw welding," and "engineering drawings."

The job of structural welders is to design, layout, and fabricate the metal framework for industrial and commercial buildings. They work for a wide variety of industries, including manufacturing, shipbuilding, and construction. Their duties and responsibilities include testing welding and safety equipment, cutting, assembling, repairing building components such as girders and beams, and checking for gap and angle allowances. They either use manual or automated equipment to perform some of these tasks, such as power saws for cutting metals. Structural welders are also responsible for assessing the condition of the equipment.