Tommy Ngo
taught myself to weld in my uncle's chicken barn, now guys with certs come to me
$32/hour , set by Tommy Ngo.
Nobody taught me. I burned rod in my uncle's barn outside Lufkin, Texas until I quit blowing holes in everything. Got hired at a fab shop in 2004 by lying a little, kept the job by learning fast.
First pipe test I ever took, I failed. Bent the coupon and it snapped like a cracker. Drove home two hours without saying a word. Took it again five weeks later and passed, and I've passed every one since, 6G included.
These days I run night classes at a community college and do one-on-one, video or in person. A session with me: you show me your beads, I tell you what your hands are doing wrong, no sugar on it. Then we fix one thing. One. You don't fix six things at once with a torch in your hand.
More background
What I know: stick, MIG, flux core, TIG on carbon and stainless, pipe joints, weld test prep (3G, 4G, 6G), reading a WPS sheet, and enough shop etiquette to keep you from getting run off your first week. Also the self-taught road itself: what to buy used, what to never buy used.
Who I'm for: beginners with a machine in the garage, career changers prepping for a test, apprentices getting chewed up at work. Who I'm not for: engineers wanting code consultation, or anybody welding on stuff that holds pressure or holds people up without proper inspection. I won't sign off on anything. I'm a coach, not your CWI.
Video sessions work better than you'd think, set your phone on a bucket. Nights and Saturdays only, I still work days. Between sessions you send photos of your welds, front and back, and I mark them up. Don't send me the one good weld you cherry-picked. Send the ugly ones. That's where the money is.