There is definitely tests for welding jobs. And then their welds are regularly tested to maintain certifications.

The tales I heard from my father were X-ray scans of their finished, grinded, polished welds and they had to be perfect. Not a hair-sized infraction would be permitted.

I can't imagine anything but xray for the entire ship, every mm of weld. Given the forces involved, it seems like a completely new level of perfect is required.

AFAIK it's uncommon skill, you need the steady hands of a surgeon to have a chance. Definitely not work I could do, I know that.

My dad did this kind of work in the oil industry for 30+ years as a pipe fitter. His specialty was stainless and they had to be x-ray perfect welds. He recently retired but was always very proud of his work. It took me a long time to understand why.

I wish he could have gotten into the space industry vs oil refineries. The latter is much harder on a person.

> was always very proud of his work. It took me a long time to understand why.

I'm a mediocre amateur welder and I totally understand why.

Was he prudent in maintaining good work habits? I hear the industry can be quite hard on people if they are not careful in how they work[1]

[1] https://www.thefabricator.com/article/safety/the-invisible-r...

Ahaha absolutely. He's as square and as prudent as it gets. I mean to an extreme. My siblings have always laughed at him for it [outside of the workplace and in everyday matters where he carries those habits on].

It's hard on people regardless. And the oil industry is not known for being prudent in looking after their workers' health.

They got real pissed when he filed a workers compensation claim for a hearing aid before he retired. Thankfully he had support from his union.

And the number of stories he's told me where he was nearly killed...

I've no sympathy for the industry.

I've no sympathy for the industry.

puts sunglasses on

Yeaaaahh!!!!!!

Yeah, having learnt the (very) basics of welding recently it has become very clear to me how much of a skill/art it actually is. Even at the basic level it is a combination of a lot of senses; sight, hearing, touch. And there are multiple movements which need to happen both simultaneously and smoothly, and be adjusted based on the aforementioned senses.

I used to wander around the reactor auxiliary building at the nuclear plant I worked at and take pictures of the piping welds. They were works of art. The skill was obvious.

There's always https://www.reddit.com/r/Weldingporn/top/?t=all for nice pictures of welds.

And the NSFW equivalent https://www.reddit.com/r/goneweld , with naughty captions of welding seams.

> I used to wander around ... the nuclear plant I worked at and take pictures

DHS would like your location...

Sooo...it's rocket surgery for real?

That's the best description. "Joe over there? Oh, he's a rocket surgeon." Now I can't help remembering a sketch from Mitchell and Webb.[1]

1: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=THNPmhBl-8I

My Dad tried to teach me to weld. It definitely takes a lot of practices to be average at it.

Somehow my Dad managed to swipe that thing around like he was painting or something. It was impressive.

Best internet resource that goes into the detail of this?