Fabrication Welder

Most man-made objects require some form of welding to assemble. Welding is the process of joining two or more metals using an electric or gas-fed flame. The welding program at the Bristol, PA, campus of Pennco Tech prepares students throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania with ample, hands-on experience in fabrication welding. This training, coupled with our student career services, helps graduates gain the confidence needed to apply for entry-level positions in this field.

What Do Fabrication Welders Do?

While fabricator welders manipulate many metals, the profession may also require them to craft other materials into usable products. For instance, they may need to create and install fixtures made from malleable metals like aluminum. In short, they need versatile skills to make an item from start to finish.

Fabrication welders are often responsible for creating the metal objects or machines needed to keep their employer’s company running smoothly. They may also have the job of custom-crafting equipment for a different business or enterprise.

In addition to welding, fabrication welders will likely need to know how to solder and braze metals and materials. A skilled fabrication welder generally works within a team and knows how to use different equipment to get the job done. Fabrication welders might be called to:

• Interpret and execute engineering and design specifications and blueprints
• Cut, weld bend, and braze metals, using appropriate machinery for each
• Cast, stamp, and punch metals using appropriate equipment
• Grind and finish completed products and quality check final items
• Set and install fabricated products and fixtures, and sometimes maintain them
• Repair and maintain work equipment

These are just a few of the responsibilities of a fabrication welder. They may also have to support organizational, management, and operational duties.

Fabrication Welder & OSHA Training

While a career as a fabricator welder can be highly rewarding, students must recognize the profession poses several safety risks. To ensure students have complete knowledge of the threats to safety that come with welding and how to mitigate them, Pennco Tech offers OSHA training as part of the comprehensive, career-focused curriculum.

This instruction enables graduates to stand out among other job applicants and gives them additional on-the-job confidence to adhere to industry standards. During classes, Pennco Tech students are required to wear, at minimum, safety gear that includes welding helmets, earmuffs, heat-resistant gloves, protective clothing, and steel toe work boots.

Career Options for Fabrication Welders

Welder fabricators can find career opportunities in industries like construction, manufacturing, transportation, maritime, and aerospace as these sectors rely heavily on customized metal parts and equipment. A company or contractor may hire a fabrication welder to design and make:

• Machining parts and customized large equipment
• Large and small home appliances
• Knives and fine cutlery
• Hand tools
• Architectural and landscaping equipment
• Residential light fixtures
• Public signage and traffic lights
• Industrial commercial kitchens
• Bolts, nuts, pipes, fittings, and screws
• Railroad lines and joints
• Handrails, catwalks, and pilings for construction sites
• Fire escapes
• Mezzanines for local gyms or theatres
• Metal artwork for community initiatives

With experience, a fabrication welder may teach the vocation or perform supervision and oversight duties of others in the trade.

What Do Fabrication Welders Earn?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), the median annual wage for welders and affiliated occupations such as cutters, solderers, and brazers is currently around $48,250 in PA and $56,720 in NJ. This amount can vary with experience, location, industry, and employer. Most welders — 64% — work in manufacturing, and only 7% work as specialty trade contractors, though they generally earn slightly more than the median income.

Find a Quality Welding Program at Pennco Tech

Pennco Tech is a preeminent institution for trade programs. We understand what topics and classes are necessary to prepare students to be qualified fabrication welders at the entry level. We teach the fundamentals of a variety of machinery that fabrication welders may need to know, such as: 

• Plasma cutters

• Drill presses
• Oxyacetylene systems grinders
• Flux core arc welding
• Gas metal arc welding
• Shielded metal arc welding
• Gas tungsten arc welding

Our instructors have years of experience in the welding trade and understand how to prepare students for the working world. In addition to hands-on technical experience, Pennco Tech provides professional support through student career services.  

Aspiring fabrication welders can enroll in Pennco Tech’s welder program in Bristol, PA, to begin their journey toward a rewarding career. For additional information about this or other exciting trade programs at Pennco Tech in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, contact us today.