› › Welder Fabricator Jobs

Welder Fabricator Jobs

Welder fabricator is a rather general concept, and in some contexts refers to a person that not only welds, but also shapes the metal. In this context pipefitters would be fabricators, as will be boilermakers. We will however define this to mean a Welder that sells a service rather than just his/her time. This could be delivering welding based manufacturing services from a small workshop, or it could be a Welder that operates his/her own rig to perform field installation and welding work. I believe that in the near future this is going to be the mainstream way in which most artisans / journeymen will do their work. In essence it means that you will be self-employed.

 The WelderDestiny Compass: Weekly e-zine Subscription

You can take a look at "The WelderDestiny Compass" back-issues by clicking here.

It may appear that the only difference between an "ordinary Welder" and a "Welder fabricator" is that the fabricator has some equipment and facilities that the ordinary Welder does not. While that is a difference, it is however not the main difference. The main difference lies in the systems that the Welder fabricator needs to have in place to be able to sell a self-contained service rather than just selling their time.

Weld Repairs on Ball of Ball Valve

Being a Welder Fabricator is a Business, Not a Job

In most developed economies these days, it is not too expensive to have your own multi process welding power source and some other minor tools needed to provide a “stand alone” welding service. In other words, the barrier to entry to become a Welder fabricator is not very high from a financial point of view. In developing economies this statement may be less true, but as interest rates decrease internationally, this truth is becoming more universal.

The main barriers to entry for you to become a Welder fabricator are the skills needed to run a business. These skills are typically:

  • Financial skills: When you are running a business, you need to have a reasonable handle on the financial aspects. One example is knowing whether investment in equipment will give you a reasonable return on your capital. Another example is knowing the tax implications of everything you do.
  • Marketing skills: Setting yourself up to do the work is probably the easiest part of establishing a business. Convincing people that they should pay for your services rather than pay somebody else for the services can be much more difficult.
  • Systems skills: All businesses run on systems. The most obvious are the administrative systems to keep track of planning and financial aspects. These days there are so many free or low cost systems available to do this type of thing that this need not be a big obstacle. You will face a bigger systems issue if you want to be involved in regulated Welding work. This involves any welding where meeting the requirements of welding codes are mandatory. Seeing as this is where the real money lies, you will probably want to get into this type of work. In this case you will need a Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA/QC) system that is auditable on a basic level.
  • Technical skills: This is rather obvious, but needs stating. Not only do you need to know how to handle a welding torch, but you need to have a reasonable idea how to go about doing the job in the first place. Keep in mind that many applications you will be welding on will be safety critical. Getting it wrong could cost lives. This skills requirement therefore tends to be one of the barriers to entry that means most Welder fabricators tend to be experienced hands, rather than newcomers. The newcomers will have to first “learn the ropes” on less critical (lower paying) work, before they can reasonably market their services for more critical work.

It is not the intention of this website to give you all the administrative and financial tools to run your own business. There are many websites and consultants that focus on these aspects, and that can help you with the more general aspects of establishing a business. If you want to become a Welder fabricator, then please do your homework in this regard. Every country will have its own peculiarities in this, so this sort of thing needs to be focused to your particular situation. You need to use resources with a local focus for this.

Having said this, here at WelderDestiny, we will certainly want to help you with the more technical and life skills aspects, so keep looking around the website, and subscribe to our newsletter to get assistance with these aspects of your journey. Over time we will also expand our website to deal with more of these aspects, as we get feedback showing that it is needed.

Return Navigation:

› › Welder Fabricator Jobs

 The WelderDestiny Compass: Weekly e-zine Subscription

You can take a look at "The WelderDestiny Compass" back-issues by clicking here.