Arc Junkies

What should a student know before walking into welding school on day one? In this episode of Weld Wednesday with AWS, I sit down with Josh Wolfe, welding instructor at Laurel Oaks in Wilmington, Ohio, and host of the Speaking of Skilled Trades podcast, for an honest conversation about what it really takes to succeed in welding education. We talk about why safety rules in a welding lab are different from the arbitrary rules students may be used to, how quickly one careless decision can change a life, and why PPE and safe habits have to become automatic. Josh and I also discuss the importance of attitude, grit, accepting direct feedback, and using every available minute in the booth. Nobody looks back and wishes they had burned less rod.

For more information on AWS Click Here

Josh Wolfe on Instagram: @wolfe_cte

Speaking of Skilled Trades podcast: Listen on Spotify

Arc Junkies Podcast: arcjunkies.com

Weld Wednesday with AWS: aws.org/podcasts

Arc Junkies Instagram: @ArcJunkiesPodcast

Daryl Peterson is a SCWI and the District Director for District 5 of the American Welding Society. This week we hop in the way back machine to revisit a very controversial topic in the welding Industry. We often hear about welders claiming to be "Certified" and then getting called out on social media as being "Qualifed" not Certified. Well, Daryl has done some deep digging through the different codes and standards and has come up with an answer that will hopefully settle this debate. For more information on the AWS and their programs, check out their website AWS.org

In this episode of Weld Wednesday with AWS, host Jason Becker sits down with Anthony Nighswander, founder of APT Manufacturing and one of the top FANUC integrators in the country. Anthony breaks down the real difference between traditional industrial robots and collaborative robots (cobots), why welders — not controls engineers — make the best cobot programmers, and how schools can bring automation into their programs without blowing up an already-packed curriculum. They also dig into FANUC's education grant structure (up to $400,000 in matching software value), what a robotic welding cell actually costs, the difference between a certificate and a certification, and how to build an apprenticeship pipeline that keeps students employed and industry staffed.

For more information on how you can get involved with AWS Click Here

AWS Automating the Future of Fabrication Webinar Click Here to Register

Sean "Dabs" Flottman — welder, fabricator, educator, and bracelet-shipping hustle machine — joins Jason on this month's Weld Wednesday with AWS to tackle one of the most debated topics in the trade: the six-figure welding salary. Is it a myth? Is it achievable? And more importantly, what does it actually take? Dabs brings nearly 30 years of experience to the table, starting at $6.30 an hour and working his way through sheet metal, fabrication, and eventually into welding education at a trade school. He and Jason break down the ingredients required to reach $100K — from the top-10% mindset and willingness to travel, to union packages, financial discipline, and surrounding yourself with the right people. They also dig into what nobody talks about: how to keep that money once you make it, why chasing happiness beats chasing dollars, and what welding school students are doing (and not doing) to set themselves up for success from day one.

For more information on how to get involved with the American Welding Society Click Here

Think fresh-out-of-welding-school means starting at the bottom? Landon Earlywine (19) and Jackson Settler (18) are about to change your mind. Six months after graduating from the Kentucky Welding Institute, these two are working 60-hour weeks doing TIG stainless pipe fab for data center infrastructure up in Logansport, Indiana — earning $38/hr plus $120/day per diem. In less than seven months, they've pulled in $95,000 combined, started Roth IRAs, bought reliable trucks with big down payments, and are on track to blow past $150K in their first year. Jason sits down with both of them to find out how they got here — from a high school ag teacher who flashed some money at them sophomore year, to grinding the third shift at KWI, earning their golden arm certifications, and landing a stainless schedule 10 TIG test in Indianapolis the morning after getting the call. They talk about the real curriculum at KWI beyond the booth — financial management, CCO rigging, CPR, and OSHA 30 — and what actually separates the students who land good jobs from the ones who don't. Plus: a totaled '92 Sonoma, a story about driving from Kentucky to Texas at 82 mph at 6 AM, a job box that survived a crash, and why they're not going anywhere until they hit the $100K wall at school.

Topics covered:

• TIG stainless pipe fab for data center infrastructure — the new pipeline boom

• Working 5x12s and 6x10s fresh out of welding school

• $95K in 7 months at 18 and 19 years old

• The golden arm at KWI — what it takes and what it means

• Financial literacy in trade school: Roth IRAs, principal payments, and smart money moves

• CCO rigging, OSHA 30, CPR, and the full KWI curriculum • How a wrecked '92 Sonoma led to the job of a lifetime

• Why 7 KWI classmates are all on track to hit $100K in year one

• The $100K wall — and what you have to prove to get your hood on it.

🔥 Support the Arc Junkies Podcast Sponsors

The Arc Junkies Podcast is made possible by the companies below. If you enjoy the show, please support the brands that support the welding community.

Supporting these sponsors helps keep the Arc Junkies Podcast free and independent.

🎙️ Arc Junkies Podcast

• Website: https://arcjunkies.com
• Instagram: @ArcJunkiesPodcast
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@arcjunkiespodcast9253
• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn (Jason Becker): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-becker-45407b72

🧢 Arc Junkies Merch:https://shop.threadmob.com/arcjunkie/shop/home

🏭 Underground Metal Works

Hands-on welding education for hobbyists, makers, and professionals

• Website: https://www.underground-metalworks.com

🤝 Friends of the Show & Sponsors

🧰 BattlBox

Premium outdoor, EDC, and survival gear delivered monthly

• Website: https://alnk.to/90Chh6D
• Instagram: @BattlBox
• Promo Code: ARCJUNKIES
• Offer: Save up to 30% off your first BattlBox

🏛️ American Welding Society — Conferences

Stay current on inspection, code updates, and industry leadership

AWS Inspection Expo & Conference

• Event Info: https://www.aws.org/community-and-events/conferences-and-events/welding-automation-expo-and-conference/
• Promo Code: ARCJUNKIES
• Offer: Free gift at the event

🧤 Outlaw Leather LLC

Handcrafted welding hoods and leather PPE built to last

• Website: https://outlawleather.com
• Instagram: @outlawleatherusa
• Promo Code: ARCJUNKIES
• Offer: 15% off all in-stock leather goods

⚡ Everlast Welders

High-performance welding machines without the high price tag

• Website: https://bit.ly/37xJstI
• Instagram: @everlastwelders
• YouTube: Everlast Welders
• Promo Code: ARCJUNKIES
• Offer: Free Nova Foot Pedal + TIG Torch with qualifying machine purchases

🎧 ISOtunes

Certified hearing protection designed for jobsite communication

• Website: https://shop.isotunes.com/arcjunkies10
• Instagram: @isotunesaudio
• Promo Code: ARCJUNKIES10
• Offer: Save $10 on your purchase

Don DeCorte spent 46 years in resistance welding, including 31 at Roman Manufacturing, and now teaches the AWS Certified Resistance Welding Technician (CRWT) certification through his consulting company DTS Technical Services. He sits down with Jason to pull the curtain back on the welding process most arc guys never think about — but interact with constantly. From the 1,300+ resistance-welded products hiding inside your local Home Depot, to the flash welds on every commercial jet's front landing gear, to the butt-welded steel wheels under every 18-wheeler and state trooper car, Don makes the case that resistance welding is everywhere — you just can't see it. We cover the four core processes (spot, seam, projection, upset), the physics behind Force, Current, and Time, why aluminum welding took off thanks to chromate treatments and Elon Musk, the codes and standards that govern it (C1.1, D8, D17.2, J1, J6), and what it takes to earn your CRWT. Don also shares the story of how an $8 roast beef dinner in Detroit in 1980 turned into a lifetime with AWS — and a friendship with Amos Winsan that changed his career.

Sean "Dabs" Flottman — welder, fabricator, educator, and bracelet-shipping hustle machine — joins Jason on this month's Weld Wednesday with AWS to tackle one of the most debated topics in the trade: the six-figure welding salary. Is it a myth? Is it achievable? And more importantly, what does it actually take? Dabs brings nearly 30 years of experience to the table, starting at $6.30 an hour and working his way through sheet metal, fabrication, and eventually into welding education at a trade school. He and Jason break down the ingredients required to reach $100K — from the top-10% mindset and willingness to travel, to union packages, financial discipline, and surrounding yourself with the right people. They also dig into what nobody talks about: how to keep that money once you make it, why chasing happiness beats chasing dollars, and what welding school students are doing (and not doing) to set themselves up for success from day one.

Topics covered:

• Why $6.30/hr and a TIG welder changed Dabs' life

• The "ingredients" analogy — not everyone can make a Michelin-star weld career

• Why geography, unions, and willingness to travel matter more than skill alone

• What separates the top 10% from everyone else in welding school

• Multiple non-competing revenue streams and financial smarts for welders

• The "locust" approach to career growth — be the best in the room, then find a new room

• Why happiness beats the six-figure chase at the end of the day

• FabTech Vegas, Chicago, and the road ahead for Dabs and Jason

For more information on how you can get involved with AWS click here

Stephanie Hoffman is back on the show, this time as the new Director of Industry Development and Engagement at Miller Electric. Jason and Stephanie catch up on her time away from the industry, what pulled her back, and the work she is now leading across education, business development, national accounts, customer experience centers, and process training for one of the biggest names in the trade.

The conversation covers Miller's Instructor Conference happening this July at the Appleton, Wisconsin headquarters in partnership with Fox Valley Technical College, and why Miller is approaching CTE programs as true partners instead of just placing blue boxes in the corner of the shop. Stephanie also breaks down the data center boom that is about to reshape welding, the shift away from wind energy, the role of small modular nuclear reactors in powering AI, the real difference between renewable and clean energy, what tariffs are doing to American steel, and why the next ten to fifteen years are going to make this industry almost unrecognizable.

Stephanie also opens up about being the first female to graduate from her welding program in New Jersey, the realities of a trade still under ten percent female, the mental health toll of being a national spokesperson, and what it took for her to step back, regroup, and come back stronger than ever.

🔥 Support the Arc Junkies Podcast Sponsors

The Arc Junkies Podcast is made possible by the companies below. If you enjoy the show, please support the brands that support the welding community.

Supporting these sponsors helps keep the Arc Junkies Podcast free and independent.

🎙️ Arc Junkies Podcast

• Website: https://arcjunkies.com
• Instagram: @ArcJunkiesPodcast
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@arcjunkiespodcast9253
• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn (Jason Becker): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-becker-45407b72

🧢 Arc Junkies Merch:https://shop.threadmob.com/arcjunkie/shop/home

🏭 Underground Metal Works

Hands-on welding education for hobbyists, makers, and professionals

• Website: https://www.underground-metalworks.com

🤝 Friends of the Show & Sponsors

🧰 BattlBox

Premium outdoor, EDC, and survival gear delivered monthly

• Website: https://alnk.to/90Chh6D
• Instagram: @BattlBox
• Promo Code: ARCJUNKIES
• Offer: Save up to 30% off your first BattlBox

🏛️ American Welding Society — Conferences

Stay current on inspection, code updates, and industry leadership

AWS Inspection Expo & Conference

• Event Info: https://www.aws.org/community-and-events/conferences-and-events/welding-automation-expo-and-conference/
• Promo Code: ARCJUNKIES
• Offer: Free gift at the event

🧤 Outlaw Leather LLC

Handcrafted welding hoods and leather PPE built to last

• Website: https://outlawleather.com
• Instagram: @outlawleatherusa
• Promo Code: ARCJUNKIES
• Offer: 15% off all in-stock leather goods

⚡ Everlast Welders

High-performance welding machines without the high price tag

• Website: https://bit.ly/37xJstI
• Instagram: @everlastwelders
• YouTube: Everlast Welders
• Promo Code: ARCJUNKIES
• Offer: Free Nova Foot Pedal + TIG Torch with qualifying machine purchases

🎧 ISOtunes

Certified hearing protection designed for jobsite communication

• Website: https://shop.isotunes.com/arcjunkies10
• Instagram: @isotunesaudio
• Promo Code: ARCJUNKIES10
• Offer: Save $10 on your purchase

Jason Marburger of Fireball Tool returns for our annual conversation — and he's not pulling punches. We dig into the public feud between Fireball, Sigmund, and Quantum Machinery over fixture table claims, why "world's strongest welding table" needs data to back it up, and Jason's push to standardize testing across the industry. He also walks us through the grinding disc performance guide his shop spent months producing, the surprising winners (the $2.50 Steel Savage, the new 3M Cubitron 3), and why pressure — not RPM — is what most welders are getting wrong. Plus a preview of what Fireball is rolling out at FabTech Vegas, including a 1,800-pound blacksmith vise, theft-proof service truck vises, and the new Mystic Square.

A wide-ranging conversation with Jason Marburger, founder of Fireball Tool, covering fixture table testing, the abrasives industry, tool design philosophy, and what it takes to back up your marketing claims with real data.

Topics covered in this episode:

• The Sigmund / Quantum / Fireball Instagram beef and why "world's strongest welding table" needs proof
• How Jason tests fixture tables — flex, deflection, three-leg sag — and why every table company should publish numbers
• 3D printing scale models of fixture tables so customers can flex-test before they buy
• Why BuildPro set the bar for value and how Fireball's Pro Kit table competes at $500-$600
• The made-in-USA vs. overseas manufacturing struggle for tool companies
• Fireball's new 1,800-pound blacksmith vise — 30-inch throat, $7K-$8K, built to last 100 years
• Drilling 800 holes in a Fireball vise to handicap it against a Wilton (and why marketing is the hardest part of the job)
• The Ultimate Grinding Performance Guide — 65 flap discs tested, charted, and ranked
• Why the cheap Steel Savage discs outperform mid-tier name brands at $2.50 a piece
• Cubitron 3 first-look: 3M's 50% claim is real
• The 4-to-8-pound pressure sweet spot every grinder operator should know
• The myth of slowing the grinder down to save the disc
• Mill scale removal — Walter strip discs vs. 3M's new offering
• How to deglaze a flap disc with a propane torch (do this when the boss isn't looking)
• Gloves around rotating equipment: the case for situational awareness over blanket rules
• A pitch for a head-to-head welding glove comparison series
• FabTech Vegas preview: new sawhorses, the Mystic Square, theft-proof service truck vises, and the blacksmith vise on the load cell

Find Jason at fireballtool.com and on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook @fireballtool.

🔥 Support the Arc Junkies Podcast Sponsors

The Arc Junkies Podcast is made possible by the companies below. If you enjoy the show, please support the brands that support the welding community.

Supporting these sponsors helps keep the Arc Junkies Podcast free and independent.

🎙️ Arc Junkies Podcast

• Website: https://arcjunkies.com
• Instagram: @ArcJunkiesPodcast
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@arcjunkiespodcast9253
• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn (Jason Becker): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-becker-45407b72

🧢 Arc Junkies Merch:https://shop.threadmob.com/arcjunkie/shop/home

🏭 Underground Metal Works

Hands-on welding education for hobbyists, makers, and professionals

• Website: https://www.underground-metalworks.com

🤝 Friends of the Show & Sponsors

🧰 BattlBox

Premium outdoor, EDC, and survival gear delivered monthly

• Website: https://alnk.to/90Chh6D
• Instagram: @BattlBox
• Promo Code: ARCJUNKIES
• Offer: Save up to 30% off your first BattlBox

🏛️ American Welding Society — Conferences

Stay current on inspection, code updates, and industry leadership

AWS Inspection Expo & Conference

• Event Info: https://www.aws.org/community-and-events/conferences-and-events/welding-automation-expo-and-conference/
• Promo Code: ARCJUNKIES
• Offer: Free gift at the event

🧤 Outlaw Leather LLC

Handcrafted welding hoods and leather PPE built to last

• Website: https://outlawleather.com
• Instagram: @outlawleatherusa
• Promo Code: ARCJUNKIES
• Offer: 15% off all in-stock leather goods

⚡ Everlast Welders

High-performance welding machines without the high price tag

• Website: https://bit.ly/37xJstI
• Instagram: @everlastwelders
• YouTube: Everlast Welders
• Promo Code: ARCJUNKIES
• Offer: Free Nova Foot Pedal + TIG Torch with qualifying machine purchases

🎧 ISOtunes

Certified hearing protection designed for jobsite communication

• Website: https://shop.isotunes.com/arcjunkies10
• Instagram: @isotunesaudio
• Promo Code: ARCJUNKIES10
• Offer: Save $10 on your purchase

Chad Doucette, foreman at Ace Welding in Oceanside, California, joins Jason Becker on the Arch Junkies Podcast to talk about going from a random job offer on the street to running a structural steel shop — all in five years.

Chad breaks down the real path to growth in this industry: why the helper position is the most underrated opportunity in any shop, how attitude and work ethic matter more than your cert, and why he's now setting his sights on the CWI. He also gets candid about where he came from, how welding changed his life, and the mindset shift that made all the difference.

If you're early in your career, thinking about the CWI, or just need a shot of motivation — this one's for you.

Topics covered: Starting as a shop helper · Growing into a foreman role · What Chad looks for when hiring · Pursuing the CWI exam · Running a structural solar canopy shop · Mindset, health, and building a life you love in the trades.

🔥 Support the Arc Junkies Podcast Sponsors

The Arc Junkies Podcast is made possible by the companies below. If you enjoy the show, please support the brands that support the welding community.

Supporting these sponsors helps keep the Arc Junkies Podcast free and independent.

🎙️ Arc Junkies Podcast

• Website: https://arcjunkies.com
• Instagram: @ArcJunkiesPodcast
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@arcjunkiespodcast9253
• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn (Jason Becker): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-becker-45407b72

🧢 Arc Junkies Merch:https://shop.threadmob.com/arcjunkie/shop/home

🏭 Underground Metal Works

Hands-on welding education for hobbyists, makers, and professionals

• Website: https://www.underground-metalworks.com

🤝 Friends of the Show & Sponsors

🧰 BattlBox

Premium outdoor, EDC, and survival gear delivered monthly

• Website: https://alnk.to/90Chh6D
• Instagram: @BattlBox
• Promo Code: ARCJUNKIES
• Offer: Save up to 30% off your first BattlBox

🏛️ American Welding Society — Conferences

Stay current on inspection, code updates, and industry leadership

AWS Inspection Expo & Conference

• Event Info: https://www.aws.org/community-and-events/conferences-and-events/inspection-expo-and-conference/
• Promo Code: ARCJUNKIES
• Offer: Free gift at the event

🧤 Outlaw Leather LLC

Handcrafted welding hoods and leather PPE built to last

• Website: https://outlawleather.com
• Instagram: @outlawleatherusa
• Promo Code: ARCJUNKIES
• Offer: 15% off all in-stock leather goods

⚡ Everlast Welders

High-performance welding machines without the high price tag

• Website: https://bit.ly/37xJstI
• Instagram: @everlastwelders
• YouTube: Everlast Welders
• Promo Code: ARCJUNKIES
• Offer: Free Nova Foot Pedal + TIG Torch with qualifying machine purchases

🎧 ISOtunes

Certified hearing protection designed for jobsite communication

• Website: https://shop.isotunes.com/arcjunkies10
• Instagram: @isotunesaudio
• Promo Code: ARCJUNKIES10
• Offer: Save $10 on your purchase