Doctor misdiagnoses and people who work in the Trades...

[Nochowderforyou]

hey all,

I just got back from my doctor. I go see one every few months to keep eye on Parkinsons I have in my hands, well back in Alberta, I had a doctor I had seen for many, many years. I have shakey hands, and he diagnosed me with parkinsons deseise (sp?).

After a few visits and blood tests and such here in BC, the doc. has confirmed I don't even have parkinsons, I have something simply called Tremors. That is great news, but I am a little angry because I used to get meds. that I paid with out of my own pocket, that were not useful, but the good thing is my muscles won't break down to worthless nothing, but the shaking is still there.

Now, onto my question. I have an opportunity to go back to college, and I have had my eye on welding. I did it in HS with a 85% year end mark, so I really enjoy it, but my question is for people out there who Weld. My hands are shakey, not like really really bad, but they can be unsteady, so before I pay for this course, I want to know if it is possible to weld at all with slight shakeyness of the hands?

I already held something equiv. to the weight of a welding handle thing, and my hands aren't that bad when I'm holding onto something.

I guess what I want to know is do you have to have 100% steady hands to weld? Like I said, my hands aren't so bad that I can't hold a spoon, but it does shake when I hold onto it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! :)

[JunkYard]

I'm not a welder, but I imagine you could pull it off. You probably wouldn't create perfect welds, but they don't need to be 'perfect' do they?
They just need to stick!

I say go for it; welding is a great field and not bad money...


Junk~

[JunkYard]

btw, congrats on the mis-diagnosis, bro. That's good news!!! Tremors aint so bad, imo.

[SwirlyMass]

Actually it depends on the type of welding, if you're doing Arc welding then the shaking might help you a little because of the slight agitation or circles you need to create while making the weld.

If its Mig (its most likely this one, does it have the welding gun, then a small wire coming out when you press the button on the handle?)
If it is mig then you can usually rest your hand on something like if you're doing a corner just rest one of your hands on something, you could even weld yourself a little portable stand to do this!

I say go for it buddy, but remember that even people who dont shake will start to shake a little after holding that gun in the welding position for too long.

I also kicked ass in my high school metals class, i took 4 classes in 3 years (almost got in trouble for taking 2 in one year.) i did it mostly for the knowhow to do it myself if i ever could afford a welder.

Think about all the neat things you could build. I was planning on getting a pipe bender and a small Gas-shield Mig welder and building myself the frame for a sand rail.

But there are many more things than that, you could build your kids a jungle gym. or a greenhouse ;)

[Skink]

I think only you know this answer... We don't know the amount of control you have over the shaking,,,I mean can you stop it in certain instances??? does it seem to be getting worse with age??? Welding is a good paying trade and I would think there would always be something you can make money at,,,even if it came to repetitive spot welding in a factory... I personally can't weld for shit without shaking,,,LOLz... Welding is a gift to be good at it and if you got the gift that is most of the battle...

[SwirlyMass]

Haha skink, its not a "gift" all good welding comes with practice.

In my first class we got a little 2X4" peice of scrap iron that was only 1/4" thick and had to continually weld beads on it until we got good enough to pass the teachers inspection. I turned mine into a paper weight for dictionary writers.

At the end its dimensions were 2X4X6", thats a lot of fucking welds. And it still took 3 other classes to get to the point where i could make a weld look professional.

I say you should go for it chowder, and if you dont succeed at least you gave it your best! We all have our calling, you just have to find yours, and remember nobody was born with the knowledge to do something perfectly.


With the one exception of Skink and Moderating.

[Nochowderforyou]

Thanks for the replies people! :thumbsup:

I can stop the shaking of my hands completly when I brace my holding hand with my other hand.

Sometimes it's bad, sometimes it isn't. This is a $5000 course, so I want to be sure I can do it. I'm not looking to become a pro welder, just something I enjoy doing that brings in a livable paycheque. I like fire, I love being creative, and I'm good with my hands, so I thought this would be the thing for me, plus I kicked ass at it in HS.

The good thing is, if I find out I can't do it, there is a 2 week window where I can drop the class and still get my money back.

I knew some welders who were heavy drinkers and they'd get the liqour shakes, and they were 2nd and 3rd year journeyman.

Anyways, thanks again for the advice. I just registered, but haven't paid yet. I think I'm going to give it a try.

[Skink]

Haha skink, its not a "gift" all good welding comes with practice.

In my first class we got a little 2X4" peice of scrap iron that was only 1/4" thick and had to continually weld beads on it until we got good enough to pass the teachers inspection. I turned mine into a paper weight for dictionary writers.

At the end its dimensions were 2X4X6", thats a lot of fucking welds. And it still took 3 other classes to get to the point where i could make a weld look professional.

I say you should go for it chowder, and if you dont succeed at least you gave it your best! We all have our calling, you just have to find yours, and remember nobody was born with the knowledge to do something perfectly.


With the one exception of Skink and Moderating.
it's a gift to anything good,,,practice only makes u better...

[Jderringer]

Dude go for it! I have tremors also, but I'm also one hell of a crack-shot with pistols and was semi-pro in trap shooting... If you are holding on to something, and your focused, the tremors usually go away... mine do anyway.

[notransfer]

i have tremors but im kinda like you...i imagine mine arent quite as pronounced but if i hold my hands out straight in front of me they quiver..when im holding a glass or something though everythings fine..and when im just sitting and relaxing nothing happens...its from lithium i take for bipolar...

i wanna say go for it, i think you could adjust and be really good at what you want to do