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A typical day

In a fabrication shop: 7am start, read the drawing, tack the pieces together on a table, weld out, grind, repeat, mostly MIG (metal inert gas) welding on steel. Loud, warm, standing all day. On a construction site: welding beams and connections, sometimes on a lift or scaffold, in whatever weather it is. On a shutdown or pipeline: 10 to 12 hour days, every weld checked by X-ray or ultrasound, then weeks off between jobs.