What is my fitness for the work?
How about the necessary equipment?
The locality should be such as to give you ample opportunity to make good. It might be hard for you to go against much competition at the start. Likewise, to act as a pioneer of the industry in some locality which knows nothing about the work, might not be desirable.
In placing retrained welders, local demands will be carefully considered to the end that no man shall be placed where he may have work coming in which he is not capable of handling efficiently.
What if You Do not Take Training?
You will not be a real welder; probably you will not get a chance to try your hand at manipulating the torch at all. If you do get a chance you may get hurt or hurt others trying to weld without training for the trade. Train for it, and then go to it, and if you fail come back for more training or for training in some other trade.
Industrial Applications
Some idea of the wide range of application of the oxy-acetylene processes may be gained from a brief survey of their uses in several industrial fields.
PLAN No. 1140. STEAM RAILWAYS
Oxy-acetylene welding is used in the shops of practically every railroad in the country as a means of reducing cost of repair and of reclaiming worn parts. Each craft usually does the welding of metals that originates in its department: Blacksmiths handle wrought iron and steel; boilermakers, boiler plates and flues; machinists, cast iron; coppersmiths, brass pipe work.