Welder

Summary

Use hand-welding or flame-cutting equipment to weld or join metal components or to fill holes, indentations, or seams of fabricated metal products.  Fabricate, and repair metal and other weldable material by applying appropriate welding techniques.  Interpret blueprints, specifications, diagrams, or schematics to determine appropriate welding process.  Inspects completed welds to determine structural soundness.  Familiar with a variety of the field’s concepts, practices, and procedures.  Rely on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals.  Perform a variety of complicated tasks.  Work under general supervision.  May lead and direct the work of others.  Typically report to a Maintenance Supervisor or Maintenance Manager.

Examples of Work

Job functions are specific duties that would be included in the essential functions of the job description.  These functions are not all-inclusive nor do they cover the full extent of the duties performed.

• Weld components in flat, vertical, or overhead positions
• Operate safety equipment and use safe work habits
• Lay out, position, align, and secure parts and assemblies prior to assembly, using straightedges, combination squares, calipers, and rulers
• Examine workpieces for defects and measure workpieces with straightedges or templates to ensure conformance with specifications
• Recognize, set up, and operate hand and power tools common to the welding trade, such as shielded metal arc and gas metal arc welding equipment
• Weld separately or in combination, using aluminum, stainless steel, cast iron, and other alloys
• Clamp, hold, tack-weld, heat-bend, grind or bolt component parts to obtain required configurations and positions for welding
• Select and install torches, torch tips, filler rods, and flux, according to welding chart specifications or types and thicknesses of metals
• Ignite torches or start power supplies and strike arcs by touching electrodes to metals being welded, completing electrical circuits
• Connect and turn regulator valves to activate and adjust gas flow and pressure so that desired flames are obtained
• Determine required equipment and welding methods, applying knowledge of metallurgy, geometry, and welding techniques
• Monitor the fitting, burning, and welding processes to avoid overheating of parts or warping, shrinking, distortion, or expansion of material
• Operate manual or semi-automatic welding equipment to fuse metal segments, using processes such as gas tungsten arc, gas metal arc, flux-cored arc, plasma arc, shielded metal arc, resistance welding, and submerged arc welding
• Analyze engineering drawings, blueprints, specifications, sketches, work orders, and material safety data sheets to plan layout, assembly, and welding operations
• Mark or tag material with proper job number, piece marks, and other identifying marks as required
• Chip or grind off excess weld, slag, or spatter, using hand scrapers or power chippers, portable grinders, or arc-cutting equipment
• Remove rough spots from workpieces, using portable grinders, hand files, or scrapers
• Prepare all material surfaces to be welded, ensuring that there is no loose or thick scale, slag, rust, moisture, grease, or other foreign matter
• Signal crane operators to move large workpieces
• Preheat workpieces prior to welding or bending, using torches or heating furnaces
• Develop templates and models for welding projects, using mathematical calculations based on blueprint information
• Position and secure workpieces, using hoists, cranes, wire, and banding machines or hand tools
• Guide and direct flames or electrodes on or across workpieces to straighten, bend, melt, or build up metal
• Detect faulty operation of equipment or defective materials and notify supervisors
• Clean or degrease parts, using wire brushes, portable grinders, or chemical baths
• Use fire suppression methods in industrial emergencies
• Cut, contour, and bevel metal plates and structural shapes to dimensions as specified by blueprints, layouts, work orders, and templates, using powered saws, hand shears, or chipping knives
• Repair products by dismantling, straightening, reshaping, and reassembling parts, using cutting torches, straightening presses, and hand tools
• Fill holes, and increase the size of metal parts
• Check grooves, angles, or gap allowances, using micrometers, calipers, and precision measuring instruments
• Estimate materials needed for production and manufacturing and maintain required stocks of materials
• Operate metal shaping, straightening, and bending machines, such as brakes and shears
• Join parts such as beams and steel reinforcing rods in buildings, bridges, and highways, bolting and riveting as necessary
• Set up and use ladders and scaffolding as necessary to complete work
• Gouge metals, using the air-arc gouging process
• Hammer out bulges or bends in metal workpieces
• Dismantle metal assemblies or cut scrap metal, using thermal-cutting equipment such as flame-cutting torches or plasma-arc equipment
• Mix and apply protective coatings to products
• Operate brazing and soldering equipment
• Melt lead bars, wire, or scrap to add lead to joints or to extrude melted scrap into reusable form
• May operate University of Florida (UF) vehicles
• Perform other duties, as assigned

Education and Experience

Completion of an approved apprenticeship program in welding; or a high school diploma or equivalent and four years of relevant experience. Appropriate vocational/technical training may substitute at an equivalent rate for the required experience.

Licensure and Certification

Florida Class E operator (driver) license (if required to work at remote locations)

Supervision

This position may include supervisory responsibility.

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