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Mississippi Welding Licensing Exam — Practice Test & Study Guide

What This Practice Exam Covers

The Mississippi Welding licensing exam consists of 60 questions answered in 120 minutes, with a passing score of 70% (42 correct). The exam spans 8 topic areas drawn from oxyacetylene processes, blueprint reading, brazing, pipe welding, materials science, SMAW, GTAW, and testing and inspection.

This site offers two practice options:

• Free practice exam: 10 questions per attempt, pulled from a limited question pool. There's no cap on retakes, so you can use it to get a feel for question style, phrasing, and difficulty before committing to full preparation.
• Full practice exam (paid): Mirrors the real exam exactly — 60 questions, 120-minute timer, drawn from a pool of 217+ questions. Because questions are randomized from that large pool, every attempt produces a unique exam. No two sittings are identical, making it a genuine study tool rather than a memorization shortcut.

Both options reflect the exact topic weightings provided by the official test provider.

What You'll Be Tested On

Oxyacetylene Welding and Cutting — 11 items

This is the heaviest single topic on the exam. Expect questions on equipment assembly (torch bodies, tips, regulators, hoses, check valves), cylinder safety (storage position, cap requirements, securing), and regulator/gauge function. You must know all three flame types cold: a neutral flame has a balanced oxygen-to-acetylene ratio; a carburizing flame has excess fuel and produces a feathery secondary cone; an oxidizing flame has excess oxygen and burns shorter and hotter. Torch startup and shutdown sequences are tested procedurally — order of operations matters. Backfire and flashback causes, symptoms, and correct responses appear here as well. References include material from Oxyfuel Gas Welding Equipment and Supplies (Sections 12.1 through 12.8) and Oxyfuel Gas Welding (Sections 13.1 through 13.8).

Blueprint and Plan Reading — 6 items

Questions focus on AWS welding symbol anatomy (reference line, arrow side vs. other side, tail, weld symbol placement) and the five basic joint types: butt, lap, corner, T-joint, and edge. You need to read groove weld dimensions — root opening, groove angle, depth of bevel, and weld size — directly from a symbol. Fillet weld leg and theoretical throat dimensions appear here, as do the position designation systems: 1G/2G/3G/4G for groove welds and 1F/2F/3F/4F for fillet welds. Orthographic and multiview drawing interpretation is also tested. Source material includes Chapter 3, Sections 3.1 through 3.5.

Brazing — 5 items

Brazing questions test fundamental distinctions: brazing uses capillary action to draw filler metal below 840°F (450°C) into close-fitting joints, while braze welding does not rely on capillary action and uses wider joint clearances. You must know AWS filler metal classifications, flux types and their application methods, and base metal cleaning procedures (mechanical, chemical, pickling, degreasing). Joint clearance tolerances are critical — too much or too little gap defeats capillary action. Flame adjustment for brazing (typically soft and slightly reducing) and torch tip sizing are also covered. See Chapter 17, Sections 17.1 through 17.10.

Pipe Welding — 6 items

Pipe questions address joint preparation geometry (bevel angle, root face dimension, root opening), the four pipe positions (1G, 2G, 5G, 6G), and uphill vs. downhill directional techniques. The keyhole method for root pass welding and GTAW root bead procedure for pipe both appear. Tack welding, fit-up alignment, and feathering of tack welds before subsequent passes are tested. Intermediate and cover pass sequences, electrode selection, and weave pattern selection round out this topic. References include Pipe Welding Procedures, Chapters 4–6 and specific pages 10–14, 85–90, 138–139, and 145.

Materials — 10 items

The second-heaviest topic. You must know ferrous metal classifications by carbon content (low, medium, high carbon steel — see Chapter 28 of Modern Welding), the iron-carbon phase diagram, and microstructural constituents: ferrite, pearlite, austenite, martensite, and cementite. The SAE/AISI four-digit numbering system and ASTM designations appear. Stainless steel types (austenitic, ferritic, martensitic, duplex, precipitation-hardening) and their weldability differences are tested. Nonferrous metals — aluminum, copper alloys, titanium — carry distinct preheat, filler metal, and shielding gas requirements. Physical and mechanical property definitions (tensile strength, ductility, hardness, toughness, brittleness) are fair game. Sources: Modern Welding, Chapters 21, 22, 28, and 29.

SMAW — 9 items

Electrode classification is a high-yield subtopic. The AWS E-XXXX system encodes minimum tensile strength, welding position, and flux/covering type. Know which covering types require DCEP, DCEN, or AC, and how polarity affects penetration (DCEP = deeper) vs. deposition rate. Arc striking, arc length control, and travel/work angle technique questions appear. Weld bead types — stringer, weave, whip-and-pause, Z-weave — are tested by application. Defect identification (undercut, porosity, slag inclusion, overlap, incomplete fusion) and their causes close out this section. References: Modern Welding, Chapters 5 and 6.

GTAW — 9 items

Matched in weight to SMAW. Polarity effects are critical: DCEN gives deep penetration with a concentrated arc; DCEP provides cleaning action but overheats the tungsten; AC balances both and is standard for aluminum. Tungsten electrode types are identified by color code — pure tungsten (green), ceriated (gray), thoriated (red/yellow), lanthanated (gold/black). Tungsten preparation method (balled, pointed, truncated) depends on current type. Shielding gas selection (argon vs. helium vs. blends), flow rates, and their effect on bead profile are tested. GTAW root bead procedure for pipe is shared with the Pipe Welding topic. Sources: Modern Welding, Chapters 9 and 10.

Testing and Inspection — 4 items

Covers both NDE (visual, magnetic particle, liquid penetrant, ultrasonic, radiographic, eddy current) and destructive methods (bend, tensile, nick break, impact, hardness, macroetch). Know which NDE method detects surface-only vs. subsurface defects. WPS, PQR, and welder performance qualification terminology appears here — understand what essential variables are and why a PQR supports a WPS. Common pipe weld defects and their root causes tie back to earlier process topics. Sources: Modern Welding, Chapters 30 and 31.

Worked Sample Questions

Question 1 — Oxyacetylene Welding and Cutting

A welder notices the weld pool has a dull and dirty appearance with soot. Which flame condition is indicated?

A. An excessively carburizing flame with too much fuel gas
B. An oxidizing flame with excess oxygen
C. A neutral flame with poor quality base metal
D. A neutral flame with excessive heat input

Correct Answer: A

A sooty, dull weld pool is the textbook sign of an excessively carburizing flame. When the fuel-to-oxygen ratio is too high, unburned carbon from the excess acetylene deposits into the weld pool, creating that dirty, darkened appearance. An oxidizing flame (B) would produce a rough, porous bead — not soot. A neutral flame (C or D) would produce a clean, bright pool. Per Oxyfuel Gas Welding, Section 13.3.2: "If the flame is excessively carburizing, the weld pool has a dull and dirty (sooty) appearance."

Question 2 — Materials

When welding austenitic precipitation-hardening (PH) stainless steels, what type of filler metal is required?

A. A nickel-based filler metal
B. A high-carbon steel filler metal
C. A filler metal matching the base metal composition
D. A copper-based filler metal

Correct Answer: A

Most PH stainless steels do require a matching-composition filler metal — but austenitic PH grades are the exception. Their metallurgy makes a matching filler impractical, so a nickel-based filler is specified instead. Options B and D have no technical basis for this application. This distinction between austenitic PH and other PH grades is exactly the kind of nuance the exam tests. Source: Modern Welding, Chapter 21 (Special Ferrous Welding Applications).

Question 3 — SMAW

In horizontal (2G) pipe welding, the side angle of the electrode must not deviate more than how many degrees from the horizontal plane when welding the root bead?

A. 5 degrees
B. 20 degrees
C. 15 degrees
D. 10 degrees

Correct Answer: A

In 2G pipe position, maintaining the electrode within 5 degrees of the horizontal plane is essential during root bead deposition. A greater deviation redirects arc force away from the joint centerline, promoting undercutting — particularly dangerous on heavy-wall pipe where undercut can initiate cracking. The other options (10°, 15°, 20°) exceed the allowable tolerance. Source: Pipe Welding Procedures, Page 138.

How to Read Your Score

The passing threshold is 70%, meaning 42 out of 60 questions correct on the real exam.

Treat your first practice attempt as a diagnostic, not a verdict. A first-attempt score tells you where your knowledge gaps are — not whether you'll pass. Most candidates have strong areas (often their primary trade process) and weak areas (often materials science or blueprint reading). A topic-by-topic breakdown is more valuable than your total score alone.

As a general rule: if you're scoring below 75% on practice, you need more targeted review before the real exam. Scoring near the 70% cutoff on practice typically means you're not ready — real exam questions may use different phrasing or test subtopics you haven't seen in a limited practice pool. Aim for 80%+ consistently across multiple full practice attempts before scheduling your exam. Because the full practice exam draws from 217+ questions, repeat attempts will surface material you haven't seen yet, making each retake genuinely productive.

Where Candidates Lose Points

Flame type misidentification is a frequent error on oxyacetylene questions. Candidates confuse carburizing and oxidizing flame symptoms — soot vs. porosity, feathery cone vs. short cone.

Electrode classification errors cost points on SMAW. The AWS E-XXXX code is tested digit by digit. Candidates often misread the third digit (position) or confuse covering type numbers (e.g., E7018 vs. E7016 polarity requirements).

GTAW tungsten color codes trip up candidates who memorize one or two types but haven't learned the full set.

Blueprint symbol arrow-side vs. other-side placement causes consistent errors. A weld symbol below the reference line means the arrow side; above means the other side. Reversing this changes the entire meaning of the symbol.

Materials topic — specifically the iron-carbon phase diagram constituents and the distinction between austenitic, ferritic, and martensitic stainless steel weldability — is where candidates who "know how to weld" but haven't studied theory lose the most points. With 10 items, this topic alone represents one-sixth of the exam.

Time management is also a real factor. At 120 minutes for 60 questions, you have 2 minutes per question. Candidates who spend too long on materials or blueprint questions often rush through pipe welding and GTAW, where careful reading matters.

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