The CWB Association Welding Podcast
The CWB Association Welding Podcast
Episode 236: Tickets, Tools, and Testing with Jesse Wilson
The CWB Association brings you a weekly podcast that connects to welding professionals around the world to share their passion and give you the right tips to stay on top of what’s happening in the welding industry. Subscribe, listen, and stay connected to the people who keep the world welded together.
Are you a young welder, looking for advice to move ahead? This episode is for you! Jesse Wilson is a 20-year old third-year apprentice Welder from Moose Jaw, SK, and we dive into how pre-employment training at Saskatchewan Polytechnic gave him a real edge to succeed and how theory matters on the shop floor. If you’re mapping a welding career, this conversation is loaded with practical insights: tickets that matter, tools that stretch a budget, tips for passing tests, and why math makes stairs and handrails less scary. Jesse’s mantra is simple and sharp - ask questions until you’ve got the answer!
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Welcome to the CWB Association Welding Podcast. I'm your host, Kevin Wat. Let's flip up the lid and spark some conversation. Attention welders in Canada. Looking for top quality welding supplies? Look no further than Canada Welding Supply. With a vast selection of premium equipment, safety gear, and consumables, CWS has got you covered. They offer fast and reliable shipping across the country. And here's the best part. Podcast listeners get 10% off any pair of welding gloves. Use code CWB10 at checkout when placing your next order. Visit Canada Weldingsupply.ca now. Canada Welding Supply, your trusted welding supplier. Happy welding. Welcome, welcome, welcome to the CWB Association Welding Podcast. As always, I'm your host, Kevin, and I have tonight with me Jesse Wilson. How's it going, man?
SPEAKER_03:It's going pretty good. How are you?
SPEAKER_01:Good, good, man. Uh, so Jesse, let's start all the way at the beginning, man. Uh, you're from Saskatchewan, right?
SPEAKER_03:I am, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, where were you born?
SPEAKER_03:I was born in Moose Jaw.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, yeah. Is that still where you're at? Yeah, I'm still here. Moose Jaw born and raised. Right on. Um, so when did you get introduced to welding?
SPEAKER_03:Oh man, I was young, probably like eight or nine. Dad had a welder in the garage, and some set it up one day, and all of a sudden I was setting it up and just welding scrap together.
SPEAKER_01:Very cool. So, is was your dad a welder?
SPEAKER_03:No, no, he's a locomotive engineer.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, sweet. So, did that ever interest you? Did you ever want to get into trains?
SPEAKER_03:No.
SPEAKER_01:No, so you got the bug for welding pretty young. So, um, when you got to high school, is that something that you kind of pursued, or it kind of fell to the backdrop?
SPEAKER_03:Definitely. I went to like a school that kind of specialized in a lot of tech programs. So they had lots of shop shop classes like welding, auto body, woodworking. And so I kind of I really leaned towards the welding and was in every welding class I could be in.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, what school is that?
SPEAKER_03:Uh Peacock Collegiate.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, yeah. Yeah, Peacock does a lot of cool stuff with the trades. So you got there in grade eight or grade nine? Grade nine. Grade nine. So you took welding pretty much every year that you were there?
SPEAKER_03:Uh yeah, from grade nine to grade twelve.
SPEAKER_01:Cool. And how did you do? I heard uh I heard you did pretty good.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I did. It um I really involved myself with the class and tried to learn everything I could. And by grade 12, I was really excelling in it, and I happened to get one of the highest grade 12 averages in welding, and I got an award for that at graduation.
SPEAKER_01:Very cool. Well, congratulations. Uh thank you. So, yeah, during high school, were you also working anywhere as a welder, or were you messing around a little bit in the garage, maybe?
SPEAKER_03:A little bit. I was um I was making metal roses, and so I was doing quite a bit of that. Probably started when I was in grade 10, just selling them on a s on the side a little bit.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And then I was also working at a feedlot where we were building lots of like corral panels and stuff for cows.
SPEAKER_01:Mm-hmm. Yeah, there's a big feedlot just outside of Moosha, hey.
SPEAKER_02:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01:Cool, man. Um, so you had this bite for welding, you did really good at it. Is that really kind of where your focus went? You wanted to be a welder at that point?
SPEAKER_03:Well, I didn't know really, I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I saw that I was able to learn quite a bit doing it. And I like I like building things, like having a final product that you can look at and hold. And so I think that's really what kind of catered me towards welding.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, I definitely, yeah. It's it's something tangible, right? Like you're using your hands, your your mind, and and your skills to build something, and you can actually see the product at the end of it, and it's super rewarding.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so did you you pursued your career in welding after that? Like you pursued schooling?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I went to SAS Polytech for their pre-employment course.
SPEAKER_01:Was that also in Moose Shaw? Yeah, it was.
SPEAKER_03:Who was your instructor? It was Cal Shaw.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, yeah, big shout out, Cal. Uh hit or miss, but you know, you can do what you gotta do. How was that for you? You took level one and level two, so that's pre-employment.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I really enjoyed it. Um, I liked lots of the book work more than the actual practical stuff. I found the theory quite interesting.
SPEAKER_01:Wow, yeah, I don't hear that too often from welders.
SPEAKER_03:Well, I found I could um take the theory and apply it to what I was doing, and it seemed to benefit me quite a bit.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, yeah, I can see that. Yeah. When you understand how the process works, how your machine works, I think you're a step ahead when something goes wrong or when you're trying to set something new up, right?
SPEAKER_02:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01:So when did you take level one and level two? Can I ask you how old you are?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I'm 20. I just turned 20 on the weekend.
SPEAKER_01:Oh my god. Oh, I'm old. I'm old, I'm 40.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I um oh I think it was 2023. Oh yeah. Yeah, it was kind of I was on the fence about going to school for that. But I was 17 at the time, and not a lot of places wanted to hire just a kid, so I figured that would be my best course of action.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, good plan. Good plan. I mean, you can't you can't jump out of high school with 10 years of experience, right? So you have to have something back in you.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01:So, where are you working now? Are you doing the apprenticeship program?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I'm doing the apprenticeship. I'm a third-year apprentice. Uh working in a shop here in Moostra. We do a lot of oil field work.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So lots of like structural stuff is what I mainly do with a little bit of helping out pipe welders.
SPEAKER_01:That's super cool. You must be getting a lot of experience then. Absolutely. So, do you like the structural side more or more of the piping side?
SPEAKER_03:Uh, I like the structural side right now because I'm able to weld it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, that's fair. That's fair. Uh so welding structural, obviously, you gotta have some certification. Do you have do you have any tickets?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I have my all position stick and flat and horizontal flux core.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, yeah. I I've got my all position stick and I've got a hardwire flat and horizontal just because that's all I need at my shop. So it's it's it's basically the same thing, right? If you can rotate it, all you need is your flat and horizontal.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01:Do you have uh aspirations of getting your pressure ticket when you have enough hours? Oh, likely, yeah. But but for now, yeah, you can't, right? Not enough hours. Uh when are you due to go back to school for your uh journey persons?
SPEAKER_03:I am going back to school in March.
SPEAKER_01:Coming up pretty quick.
SPEAKER_03:Once again, here in Moose Jaw.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you never get to leave Moose Jaw. Is Moose Jaw treating you pretty good though?
SPEAKER_03:It is treating me pretty good, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, for those of you who don't know, I'm just 40 minutes away from Jesse and Regina, and you know, it's it's kind of funny how there's a rivalry but a camaraderie as well with Moose Jaw, right? A lot of people come in from Moose Jaw to work in Regina, and a lot of people leave Regina to go work at Moose Jaw or, you know, Bell Plain and the industry that's out there.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah, just started at the place I'm uh um about eight months ago. But before that, I was working in White City at a military and aerospace shop. It's kind of what they specialized in.
SPEAKER_01:Well, so you just completely skipped Regina and went to the other side. Yeah. Yeah, so you must have been working for uh Demur then.
SPEAKER_03:I was, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you can't say too much about what you do at Demur.
SPEAKER_03:No.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Well, that's cool, man. So after you get your your journey persons, do you think you'll be staying with the shop that you're at?
SPEAKER_03:Or um, I'm not I'm not too sure to be honest. I would kind of like to go my own route and maybe open my own shop eventually. But I definitely need to gain the experience to do that, so I'll probably stick around for a while.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, for sure. Yeah, it's it's really hard to to jump out there, especially and right now I've just noticed you know, industry's a little bit slow, you know, the world's kind of uncertain. But uh to start up your own shop, you must be interested in a little bit of of custom fab, then.
SPEAKER_03:I am, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Do you work on anything like that, like on your own time?
SPEAKER_03:I do lots of that stuff on at home. I'm uh I'm building a truck right now.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, really?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, so I kind of started doing that because I wanted to do a little bit more fabrication, and I really enjoy the thinking part and the fact that you can be a bit creative and not have to follow like things to to a T. Yeah. What kind of truck are you building? It's uh 06 Silverado, it's a regcab short box.
SPEAKER_01:Sweet. Yeah, I've got a thing for GM and Volkswagen. Oh, really cool. So, what kind of stuff are you doing to the truck? Any like custom bodywork or framework?
SPEAKER_03:I'm doing a little bit of bodywork, learning that. I'm trying to learn how to like shape sheet metal and do all of that stuff because it seems to be a skill that not a lot of people have.
SPEAKER_01:It's kind of a dying art. Have you uh gotten any tools, like specific tools for doing that?
SPEAKER_03:I have a shrinker stretcher, and I have uh one of those mini English wheels.
SPEAKER_01:Both very necessary, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And then just hammers and dollies.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So doing all that, like we touched on the fact that you were making metal roses when you were pretty young. Um what else are you really doing? Like, you you're an artistic guy. I remember, and the reason I started following you, or I found you, was because there was some beef online that you didn't even know about. So I had a few messages, like a bunch of people DMing me, like, there's this guy in Moose Ja, for sure copying your style, like you gotta tell this guy, and like honestly, no one owns art, no one owns design. So I went and checked you out and I saw your lilies, and like, yeah, like awesome, awesome job with the lilies. And right then and there, I knew like I gotta get to know this guy, and like I put you up on my story, like I I gotta show all the artists love because uh I I keep telling people, like, I don't hate this guy, like, there's no way I could hate this guy. He does a great job.
SPEAKER_03:Well, thank you. I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01:I don't think you even knew me at that point, you were just going off on your own.
SPEAKER_03:No, I didn't. I was I noticed my roses were there's a lot of interest in those, so I just googled different flowers and tried making them.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, no, it's kind of a it's kind of a progression too. Like, I think roses they're fairly easy, and I say that with a grain of salt, of course, right? So then you start with roses, you get those, you kind of master your style, and then you move on to the next. Like I went to Lilies After Roses too, and you know, I've done some tulips, I've done some um I think they're called hydrangeas, and those didn't turn out the greatest. The the customer liked it, but it's like they weren't my best. So do you still do that quite a bit?
SPEAKER_03:A little bit. I've kind of slowed down and focused on work in my own like just other projects. But I do do it in my spare time whenever I'm feeling the itch.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah. It's always finding time, and I feel like the further you get in your career, the further you get in your job, the further you get in life, it feels like you have less and less time unless you prioritize, right?
SPEAKER_03:I also found you have to kind of be in the mood for art, or else it just doesn't turn out right.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, if you're doing it for the sake of doing it, or like just trying to make a buck, then your heart's not in it. And it it's gonna sh it's gonna show in your art for sure.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely. Like you can follow a blueprint and make what's on the paper pretty easily, whether you want to or not, like if you're in the mood for it or not. Right when it comes to art, I find you really have to be into it to and enjoying it the whole time for it to turn out good at all.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I've done I've done some, like I've had orders, which I'm you know, I don't outwardly sell, and it's I don't have a website and stuff like that, but like I'll get some orders, they start piling up, it's like, oh, I really have to get this done. And I did a whole order of roses, which was six roses, and I was like trying new things, and I did one like inside out. I use stainless steel, so one side's nice, one side's not so nice. And like I inverted all the petals on these things, and I go to color them, and they're just not coming out like I want to, they're not popping. It's like, oh my god. I start twisting them up, and they're this looks like garbage. So, yeah, call call the customer and say they won't be ready tomorrow. Like, please give me some time. I'm not giving you these, it's just the just the worst. Have you had any situations like that?
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely. There's a I'm kind of the same as you. I don't like outwardly sell them, but people do come to me. And I um somebody wanted to order something like 15 of them, and the first five or six did go alright, and then after a while they're just not turning out. I had to set it all down and take a break to work on something else.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, you get kind of tired of it, it gets monotonous, right?
SPEAKER_02:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01:So with the art stuff, you know, we both make flowers. Have you gone off and done different things or tried to like make statues or little sculptures?
SPEAKER_03:I've made a couple guitars, not working, of course, but little smaller scale guitars, and they they turned out pretty good. I really enjoyed making them because it's something different. Also, made I made a couple of diamonds out of aluminum.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, did you get a kit or did you do those all yourself?
SPEAKER_03:No, I'm uh I was trying to teach myself how to how to do CAD and so uh drew those up on the computer and then had them plasma cut.
SPEAKER_01:So you were able to create like a DXF file and and send it right to the machine?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, from start to finish, it was all me.
SPEAKER_01:See, there is hope for the next generation because I don't have that skill. I haven't been able to learn that quite yet. So good for you, man. So learning CAD, is that is that something you'd want to pursue just to kind of give yourself that other skill in your in your future business, or do you want to keep on the tools? You want to be more hands-on?
SPEAKER_03:Um, I'm not really sure to be honest. I kind of want to learn it all and figure out where I want to go from there. And short term, it seemed to help me quite a bit when I do need it. So you can have exact parts and all of them be exactly the same for way less time than it takes to hand cut everything. So that's kind of why I started learning it. And now I just kind of use it when I need it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you're absolutely right. Nothing beats you know a program and a machine that cuts it for you. Like I I hand cut everything still to this day, and I'm sore after I do it, like just hand shearing everything, so I might have to get smart pretty quick. So you do all this stuff at home, right? Or is is it your house, your your shop or garage? Uh yeah, it's my my parents still living at home, but yeah. Hey, listen, I'm not mad at that. If I could live at home still, I would, okay? Uh what kind of welding machine do you use? Did you did you buy that yourself?
SPEAKER_03:Uh yeah, I have a prime weld 225. I bought that a couple years ago because I wanted to have a TIG welder at home. And it's been a great machine. And then I also have an e-sub MIG welder. I can't remember the exact model, but I actually won it on Instagram. No way.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Whose contest was it? It was ESABs. Oh, good for you. Honestly, um, 75% of the tools that I have in my garage, welding related or otherwise, I've won on giveaways. Or or, you know, like bought off of an affiliate code or whatever.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I mean, why not? Why if you can do it, why not?
SPEAKER_03:Exactly. It's most of the time it's free to do, you might as well take advantage of it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I had somebody tell me it's a local, uh, local construction company, a home builder, and they had a giveaway for a chainsaw. And like, local, I wanted to support them, and I did through over 380 tags on their posts, and there's only like about 420. So they're like, if we gave it to anybody else, it'd be weird.
SPEAKER_03:I think it was quite similar with uh Esab's contest.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, after the after that I had to chill, I think. Okay, so the prime weld, like, I mean, to most people, prime weld would be considered, you know, like uh a secondary brand, right? But you had no issues with it.
SPEAKER_03:No, I was I was looking for kind of a more budget machine because I couldn't afford a red or blue one. And so I did a little bit of research and everybody online was raving about the prime weld, so I bought one and I love it.
SPEAKER_01:It's it does what it needs to do. Yeah, no complaints, right? Have you ever hit the duty cycle on it? No, yeah, yeah. And consumables are easy to find?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, absolutely. It's just it says CK torch.
SPEAKER_01:Nice. Yeah, I got a CK torch at home too. And a CK hat. Right on, man. So you're on Instagram and you're on TikTok. Uh, you gotta tell me what being on TikTok's all about because I'm not on TikTok.
SPEAKER_03:Honestly, I don't even know. I just sometimes when I'm doing stuff in the garage, I record it and then put it all together and post it and don't really think about it. And the videos seem to do quite well.
SPEAKER_01:Sweet. I might just have to get on there and start some drama for you too.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I find too, like being being on social media and having like a platform and being in a trade, like you're gonna get some haters out of nowhere. Like, you're you're a young guy, you're still going through school. Have you had to deal with haters?
SPEAKER_03:I've dealt with a few haters, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, can you like you want do you want to share a beef?
SPEAKER_03:Well, with you, first of all.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, all that support I gave you. Yeah, it's funny.
SPEAKER_03:I don't know. It is kind of difficult being young in the trades, I find because people look at you like you're a little kid, and honestly, I kind of am. Right? And half the age of lots of these guys, so nobody takes you seriously. But I found that every place I've been, there have been a few guys who kind of took me under their wing and respected me and taught me everything I want. To know, so that's been really nice.
SPEAKER_01:That's really good to hear because you know, like when I was starting out my journey in welding, uh, I had a few guys at the shop. Same thing, I was young, I didn't know anything. I knew what I learned in school, right? I was good at welding six inches at a time, yeah. Um, you know, like oh, you you can't whip a 7018, and the gap that gap's too big, and basically it's just you shut your mouth and you go stand over there, and I'll just do the work. And so it's good to hear that people are helping, people are opening up their their minds to to helping the next generation because for a while there no one was helping nobody. So you found you know a couple people to help you out. Has there been any like cool tricks of the trade that you've learned that it's always gonna stick with you and that you share with people?
SPEAKER_03:Um I don't know, it's kind of hard to think of stuff like that right off the top of my head. Trying to think, just different ways of measuring stuff I found quite interesting. Using levels to make sure things are square and I don't know, pretty basic stuff. It's just stuff I never thought of on my own.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, starting to think outside the box a little bit. Oh, that's cool. Do you ever use any kind of uh like YouTube or or any any like Instagram videos? Do you ever use any of that to kind of help you learn?
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely. Um, there's a guy on YouTube called Pacific Arc Tig Welding, I believe.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, Dust.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah, I've watched lots of his videos. He's taught me quite a bit.
SPEAKER_01:Um yeah, his his name comes up quite a bit whenever I ask that question, so that's good. I'll have to give him a poke, get him on the podcast.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, absolutely. I would listen to that.
SPEAKER_01:Awesome. Yeah, so you learn quite a few things. He's a he's a pretty amazing like aluminum, he's an amazing TIG welder, just to begin with, but like I I even learned some stuff with aluminum.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I've watched lots of his videos, especially when I was in school. They on the period of time they teach TIG welding and in pre-employment isn't really enough to learn anything, just kind of grasp the basics. And I wanted to know more, so kind of turned to YouTube, and he's who I found.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, how much time do they spend in pre-employment on on Tig?
SPEAKER_03:Oh, I think we spent two weeks on it, maybe.
SPEAKER_01:Is that like one week on aluminum, one week on stainless? Pretty much, yeah. Yeah, you learn how to turn the machine on and maybe throw down some garbage, but pretty much, yeah. I think I think maybe I don't know because I'm not a program director and I don't know too much about what's going on in the school, but Tig is pretty specific. Tig is specialized, so maybe they focus on you know the stick and the MIG quite a bit more.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, that's definitely seemed to be what they did focus on. And honestly, like out at work, I haven't really ran into a whole bunch of times I needed to TIG weld much. And most of it has been stick, mig, and flux core. So I I understand why they teach you most of that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, no, for sure. Being in a in a structural slash pipe shop. Unless you're you know running a TIG route in some pipe. I don't see Tig being pulled out a lot on some structural no. Certainly not. So I saw the the diamond, the aluminum diamond that you did. Do you do a bit of aluminum at your home shop? I do, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Um, I don't know, just kind of whenever I want to, I guess.
SPEAKER_01:Have you built any like fuel tanks or anything? Little fuel cells?
SPEAKER_03:No, not yet. I have plans to, though.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, cool. So you'll turn that truck into a bit of a street rod.
SPEAKER_03:That's the plan, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Cool. I think we'll uh take a little break here. We're gonna hear from our podcast sponsors, so hang tight. JosephGases.ca, your one-stop welder superstore. Whether you run a welding shop or are just starting your welding journey, JosephGas, the Welder Superstore, is the best place for everything related to welding. Come to the site and browser topics of welders, helmets, and welding supplies specific to your industry. Even filter out the items eligible for manufacturers' cash rebates. Our intuitive search tool puts everything at your fingertips. And checkout is a breeze. Pay securely with your credit card. If you are ready to streamline your welding supply shopping experience, visit josephgasses.ca. That's Joseph with an F, as in family. Start filling your cart with welder confidence. And we're back with Jesse Wilson, TIG artist, third year apprentice, working on some structural. So what is what is next for you? Uh, we talked about your going back to school to get your journeymans or your journey persons. Um, what do you see yourself doing after that?
SPEAKER_03:Uh continue to learn.
SPEAKER_01:Is there a certain is there a certain process or certain procedure that you're looking to get into?
SPEAKER_03:I would like to get better at TIG welding. And I think that'll just come with time and different projects I come across. And so I I don't really know to be honest. Hard to see.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and you you said you cared more about the um you know learning aspect of welding the the book work. Is that you are you thinking you know, going on the inspection side? Like what are you thinking of because if you like the technology, there's so many avenues you could go into.
SPEAKER_03:I mean, I've definitely thought about the inspection side, but I I enjoy the work too. So it's I like the theory because then you can kind of put yourself in any situation and still be able to figure it out if you really understand what you're working with.
SPEAKER_01:Have you had any situations out there where you were kind of left stranded, left like, oh my god, what am I doing here?
SPEAKER_03:A few times, yeah. Usually that's just when you need to take a quick break and reflect on yourself a little bit.
SPEAKER_01:Is this what I really want to do with my life? Start throwing hammers.
SPEAKER_03:All the way across the shop.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Can you share one of those stories where you kind of felt a little out there?
SPEAKER_03:Uh well, just the other day I had to grind out a weld like four times because it wasn't grinding deep enough and there's still porosity in it. So I just took a breather and really looked at what I was doing the last time and went through all the variables, made sure I had good gas flow and everything was clean, and it ended up working out.
SPEAKER_01:Good, good. Does your stuff get inspected since we're talking about it?
SPEAKER_03:It does, yeah. Everything is VT'd, and then most things have like five or ten percent of the welds have to get magged.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, yeah. So for those of you who don't know, it's visual, right? Visual inspection. Yeah. And then mag is mag particle, where they throw a magnet on there and then throw some iron powder or some liquid iron on top and and see if there is any cracks or porosity. Uh, how do you do? How how have your welds gone?
SPEAKER_03:Well, like little visual things here and there, obviously, but I haven't figured I haven't failed a mag yet.
SPEAKER_01:Good to know. Good to know. What kind of cool projects have you worked on? Like, is there something you could point to in Mooshjaw or around Moose Jaw and say, hey, like I built that or I was part of that?
SPEAKER_03:Well, I I haven't been there for super long, like eight or nine months. Um lots of stuff at the Moose Jaw Refinery I had a part of, so it's kind of nice when you're able to drive by or go onto site and see some stuff that you did. But nothing super specific, mostly just little stair sets or platforms.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, there's something to be said about stairs and handrail. Like it it takes it takes a certain mind to do them and to do them properly. I know that some complicated ones I still get hung up and I gotta walk away for a bit. Was it easy for you to pick that up?
SPEAKER_03:Uh honestly, yeah. It hasn't been too difficult. I'm not terrible at math, so it seems to work in my favor most of the time.
SPEAKER_01:Mm-hmm. You hear that, everyone? Get good at math. Life is triangles.
SPEAKER_03:Life is triangles.
SPEAKER_01:Right, you know that, right? I do, yeah. Yeah, you could basically work your way out of 90% of fit up issues or figuring out angles, distances, if you know your triangles.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So what so when you go, um, do you get to do any installs of the stuff that you do or go out on site and run run a truck?
SPEAKER_03:Uh, lots of the times I have been a part of installs. Lots of our stuff is um, well, actually, the vast majority of stuff is all prefabed in the shop, and then it goes and bolts right up on site with a little bit of welding here and there. I haven't gone out and run a truck alone quite yet, but worked with a crew doing doing some installs.
SPEAKER_01:That's okay, that's how you gotta start out. You can't just jump out there and yeah, I know what I'm I know what I'm doing.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I would be pretty lost at times.
SPEAKER_01:I know I've been in that situation early in my career when I started going out on the trucks for the company that I work for, and it was basically I don't wanna say fake it till you make it, but you only have one choice, and that's to get it done. Right? You're there, you they expect you to get it done, so you gotta figure your way through it.
SPEAKER_03:I think that's one of the reasons I I do kind of enjoy the theory aspect because if I can think about what I do know and what has worked, usually I'm able to put stuff together.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. So being in that shop, you haven't really had to mess around with uh like repair jobs to not a lot, no. Okay, that's fair. Repair is one of the most rewarding things for me when something comes in just completely broken, and then when it leaves, it works and it looks like a piece of a brand new piece of equipment. It's crazy. Like, I I so far to this day, I haven't had a young welder on the podcast, somebody just starting out. So, like it brings it brings me back.
SPEAKER_03:That is fair.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, there's a bright future in welding. I mean, welding touches everything in life, right?
SPEAKER_03:For sure. I see it progressing quite a bit in the future as well. Like I haven't ran a laser welder yet, but I do want to look into that and find a place that does have one because I think that would be pretty cool to learn.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I've been lucky enough to have it in my hands just a couple times, and you kind of have to unlearn how to weld. Do you to learn how to laser weld? Yeah, it's weird because the wire is underneath the gun, and the wire feed speed is what controls your hand, basically, and then the laser wash over the wire. So if you're used to like pulling or pushing or manipulating, you can't. You just you have to let the wire do the work. Well, that's interesting. Yeah. Do you know anyone out in Moose Jaw that has a laser?
SPEAKER_03:I do not.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. Well, might have to bring a laser out to Moose Jaw then. How's the uh how's the welding community in Moose Jaw? Is there like do you guys get together? Do you guys hang out? I know in Regina we have the Regina chapter, the CWB Association.
SPEAKER_03:I'm not too sure. I have a couple buddies who are into it, so on weekends we sometimes hang out and just tinker around on stuff, work on each other's projects. But other than that, I haven't really seen a whole ton.
SPEAKER_01:That means that I gotta do a better job. Yeah, honestly, like if if if you want to get a laser welder out there, I'm definitely gonna make that happen. So we're putting that on the list.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that'd be cool.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, we always talk about getting Moose Jaw more involved with events and stuff, and like being 40 minutes away, I I get it, it's a challenge for most people, but uh, has there ever been anyone like it like come to Mooshjaw and say, like, hey, let's let's go to Regina or let's do this?
SPEAKER_03:Not really, no.
SPEAKER_01:We're just selling out the whole Regina chapter tonight, everyone.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. I think this is where the beef comes from.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, here we go. Why does Regina get all the nice things? So, your buddies that are into welding, do they work with you at the same company?
SPEAKER_03:Uh, one of them does, yeah. He's kind of going off and starting up his own rig here, doing doing work on the side and on weekends. I have another buddy that he went to school for welding but didn't pursue it, but still tinkers around in the garage, so we hang out.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I mean, once you learn how to weld or at least the basics, it's always with you, and it is a cool skill to have in your back pocket.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_01:There's always something that needs to be fixed.
SPEAKER_03:Always. I always wonder how other people get by when they don't have access to a welder, the skills, or anything like that.
SPEAKER_01:If they get somebody's phone number like Jesse's, right?
SPEAKER_03:Oh man. Luckily I haven't had too much of that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Yeah, at some point, like it's weird because your friend that's going and starting up his own rig, it's you're working every evening, you're working every weekend, you're working during the day at your other company. Like, you gotta find that balance, and then eventually you get pushed one way and time to jump in with both feet. Yeah. So do you um do you have any siblings?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I have a younger brother.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, is he interested in the trades at all?
SPEAKER_03:I think he's still kind of trying to figure out what he's interested in.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, how old is he?
SPEAKER_03:He's 17.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, oh yeah.
SPEAKER_03:He's just in grade 12. He's definitely been asking questions about a little bit of everything.
SPEAKER_01:So do you have uh a significant other?
SPEAKER_03:I do, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. And how do they feel about your your welding and your garage work and your art and uh part of me thinks she finds it cool, and the other bigger part of me thinks she probably just doesn't care. Indifferent. Yeah. Does she get uh all of your prototypes, all your first works?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, she has lost the flowers I've made.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, same thing with with my wife, is I give her the first thing that I make, and usually it's the creepyest version of like, here you go, honey. I learned lots making this. So being from Moose Jaw and living your whole life in Moose Jaw, um, have you traveled at all?
SPEAKER_03:Uh, not a whole ton. Like, um, nothing tropical or anything like that, but kind of around Canada, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, so you've left the province. I have, yeah. That's great. I mean, I've got friends that have never left Saskatchewan. I've barely left southern Saskatchewan. That's crazy to me. Once went to Saskatoon for vacation once.
SPEAKER_03:What?
SPEAKER_01:So you have you been out west? Have you been to the mountains?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I have. I went there a couple years ago. I've been there quite a few times.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I used to live out there. I lived in Golden for a while, lived in Kidamat, British Columbia for a while, and uh I moved I moved to Saskatchewan from British Columbia, so it was a bit of a shock for me.
SPEAKER_02:Why'd you move?
SPEAKER_01:My dad uh was RCMP, so we spent, you know, either two years or five years in a different town. So whenever the family would move, I would move. Uh I moved to Regina when I was 16, basically. And I haven't left since then, so we're doing the same thing.
SPEAKER_03:You miss waking up to the mountains every day.
SPEAKER_01:Uh I do, yeah. It was bad. Like when I was in my teens, uh, I was pretty angry at my parents for moving here, right? Like, there's there's nothing here. The first time I went snowboarding in Saskatchewan was at Mission Ridge, and it was minus 40. And literally, like, it took you five to six minutes to go up the hill and about 20 seconds to go down. And when you when you got down there, like the lips would be frozen, there'd be snot all over your face. So yeah, I do miss waking up in the mountains. You know, I go back every one or two years, and it's you know, just the air smells different, and the scenery is obviously different. Yeah.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Do you do any kind of sports like snowboarding or anything?
SPEAKER_03:Uh no, not really. I've gone a couple times, but didn't really fall in love with it.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Are you a motorsports kind of guy?
SPEAKER_03:Uh yeah. I had a dirt bike a couple years ago that I rode a lot, but I don't know. Then I got my license and the cars kind of took over.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Is the truck that you're working on your first car?
SPEAKER_03:No. No, I've had quite a few.
SPEAKER_01:Did you blow them up or crash them or just bought a bunch of shit boxes?
SPEAKER_03:Uh I haven't crashed one, but I have blown a couple up.
SPEAKER_01:What did you have? What did you have? Like I'd I had a Volkswagen. My first car was a Volkswagen, and I fell in love with Volkswagen. I'm still there now.
SPEAKER_03:I had a 81 Camaro Z28. It was filled with fiberglass and Bondo. Like I did not know how to do any metal working. Um I had that when I bought it when I was 15 and sold it when I was 15. Motor blew up on me.
SPEAKER_01:Yep, I had a buddy with a Firebird same year, and yeah, revved it too hard one time. Why why is it knocking so bad? I've like I've got like no power.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, same deal with mine. Mm-hmm. And then I had uh 86 Mustang. It was just a four-cylinder car. Ended up taking that ice racing when it was my daily driver and smashed it up. That's co that's cool. Yeah, it was cool.
SPEAKER_01:Got into ice racing.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, out in Fort Capel there. The Sask Drift has a big event there every winter, so and after the first year the car wasn't really good for the street anymore, so then it just kept going back there.
SPEAKER_01:It's gotta get trailered in now, but Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And I had a Thunderbird TurboCoup for a little while.
SPEAKER_01:Those are actually fairly quick.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, it was. It was quite a bit of fun to drive.
SPEAKER_01:Got in some trouble with that maybe. Not a whole ton, no. Okay. Cause I know there's some roads around Mooshaw that are pretty straight and there's not a lot of traffic on them.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, never got caught.
SPEAKER_01:Just trying to trip you up here, get you some charges.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Then after that, I I bought a truck. And then I blew the truck motor up when I was commuting. It made me lots of money getting to and from work, I guess.
SPEAKER_01:I like when I I started out, I bought the Volkswagen. Volkswagen, I kept dumping. Money into. And then I went to welding school and I had to get back and forth to welding school. So a friend of mine, he uh he had an old Volvo GL, a 1985 Volvo GL, and his mom wanted it gone. Like, I'm calling the kidney car foundation tonight, so it's gone. And he's like, It mom, it runs, it drives, it's just pretty rusty. So he calls me up. He's like, You give me 50 bucks for this thing and come get it. He lived out in Crono. You come get it and you can have it. So I bought a Volvo for 50 bucks and I drove it. Nothing wrong with it. I drove it the whole time through a welding school. Uh, there's just one time it wouldn't turn off, and I saw some smoke coming out of the hood. Well, it turns out like all the ignition wires had melted together and become one. Yep. So I opened up the hood, I turned everything off, disconnected the battery, and I like was cutting all the wires apart, duct taping them off to the side. Started right back up. Like, oh, thank god. So, I mean, you do what you gotta do.
SPEAKER_02:Good to go again. What can you what can you expect for 50 bucks?
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. And I sold it for like 550 bucks the next year. Probably one of my biggest regrets. I should have just kept driving it, but the body was falling off of it. It was more spray foam than it was steel at that point. Yeah. So, Jesse, I know you're young and I know we touched on a bunch of things, but if you weren't welding, what would you be doing?
SPEAKER_03:Well, that was kind of the issue. I didn't really know what else to do. And I thought about it quite a bit, and I still don't know what else I would do.
SPEAKER_01:I think about it too, actually, is like I wanted to be a mechanic, but then I spent so much time working. Like, I took my pre-employment mechanics in Moose Jaw. And uh yeah, I spent like three months working at a shop and it just wasn't my thing. I'd go there, work on people's junk, and then I'd come home and work on my junk, and it's just like completely frustrating the whole time. And like the way they pay mechanics, it's like, well, if you don't get your job done in this amount of time, well, the rest of the time is free. And what what kind of structure is this? And I gotta buy my own tools? What is this? But yeah, I wanted to be a mechanic, and when I took my mechanics, there's like two weeks of welding in there, and I was really good at that, right? So I kind of I kind of fell back on it. Kind of similar to you, not falling back, but like, hey, I'm good at this, so I'm gonna get into it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and I kind of always thought that I wanted to make something, like make a career out of that, and welding just seemed to be the place where it happened.
SPEAKER_01:Making something with your hands. Yeah. Yeah. Do you plan on buying a different machine? Like you're you're getting into bigger and better things, right?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, but not at the moment. I haven't really found myself outgrowing the machines I do have. So I don't know, I'm nothing against buying tools. I like buying tools.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you you gotta start like a little company just so you can write off the all those expenses. No doubt. Yeah, maybe get dad to start one up out of the shop, just a hot rod shop.
SPEAKER_03:Start writing off all my tools.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So yeah, I I got to thinking like making making your art, making all these flowers, like have you I know that I've made some custom tools for myself. Have you done anything like that?
SPEAKER_03:Uh yeah, I made a I made a fixture table. Oh, cool. Which has been a huge plus and really benefited me quite a bit at home here.
SPEAKER_01:So you made your own table?
SPEAKER_03:I did, yeah. I found a company online that was selling the DXF files for it. Wow. And so I sent it off to a I bought the DXF files and then sent it off to a shop and had all my parts laser cut. And then basically just picked it up and put it together at home. That's pretty sweet.
SPEAKER_01:How big is your table for? It's two feet by four feet. I mean, that's enough for doing what you're doing.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and you can't take up too much space in dad's garage.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I've got I've got basically uh, you know, it's like a three foot by almost five foot table in my own garage, and like I'm glad this thing's on wheels because if it wasn't, I'd be in trouble. Yeah. Have you uh so since you do handrails and stairs at work, have you ever tackled anything on your table in the in the home shop?
SPEAKER_03:No, I haven't, not really, you know.
SPEAKER_01:To be honest with you, like, yeah, you can make some money making lilies and and roses, especially if you charge what I charge. But uh like doing doing handrails is is huge. Like if if you're gonna be a welder and like make a career at it, handrails will touch your life at some point.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I saw on Instagram you do some pretty cool stainless handrails.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I've I've done a few of those. They're they're cool, but they're a headache. Stainless is a headache. I love it. I love it when I'm making art. I love the colors that I can bring out in the art. But when you're doing a stainless handrail, you gotta get rid of all those colors, and you gotta get rid of all those welds, and then you gotta bring the grain back into things. Like there's so much more that's involved.
SPEAKER_03:I don't know. I enjoy seeing some of that stuff. I like the learning how to blend stuff out and doing all that. I'm pretty interesting.
SPEAKER_01:Oh man, well, I appreciate you checking my stuff out. I did do a yeah, I did do a video uh with the CWB Association of blending some stuff out. Have you seen that one? I'm sending you a link right now.
SPEAKER_03:I haven't seen that one. I will watch it though.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, sweet, yeah. And you know what's funny is like we were doing that video and it was it was like getting really late, and I totally forgot to to bring out the palm sander. The palm sander is like the absolute last thing you do, it brings everything back nice and flush, and it's like powder coat ready finish. And I forgot to put in the video. And there came the haters.
SPEAKER_03:There came the haters. This guy's keeping secrets.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah. He's he's he's uh what's it called? He's uh uh gatekeeping. Gatekeeping. No, I I try to go the opposite, which is kind of one of the reasons I got involved with the CWB association, is like I wasn't seeing this stuff and no one was kind of teaching it. And I'm the foreman at my shop, so I don't really weld at all during the day anymore. So, like, how can I how can I show people? How can I help train people? And this opportunity came up, and here we are.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, that's awesome. I've I've definitely learned quite a bit just looking at your Instagram.
SPEAKER_01:Cool, man. Appreciate that. That's what it's there for.
SPEAKER_03:Trying not to copy everything you do, but no, it's all good.
SPEAKER_01:It's inspiration. Like, honestly, I I've reached out to a lot of people learning. Um, like when I started to Tig Weld, there's nobody at my shop to do it anymore. The guy who was training me, he went somewhere else, and then it was just like, okay, Kevin, you're the guy. Like, uh, okay, well, what am I doing? And it was the same thing. I found some like guys that were doing really cool, like, you know, started following weld porn, and they feature a bunch of people. Well, they used to anyway. And here we are. Who's this guy? Shoot him a DM. How did you get this to work? How does this how does this look so good? And you got some people that are all like, no, delete, like, I don't want to talk to you, and other people that would share. And just from that, I got better and better and better. And then I started doing that for other people.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, that's awesome.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's weird where welding will take you. You still have so much more to go.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I like I feel like I don't have a whole ton to talk about because I haven't seen a whole ton quite yet.
SPEAKER_01:No, that's that's fair. Like, people need to know, and like, especially young people coming up in the trade, they have to know that there's so many other people out there just like them. And you know, if you want knowledge, it's out there. If you want a support system, it's out there, you just gotta go out and find it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_01:So being so young and inexperienced, I always ask this question of people um, do you have a piece of advice for people in your situation for people coming up?
SPEAKER_03:Ask questions until everybody in the shop is annoyed.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's true. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:I don't know, it seemed to work for me. I I pick up on quite a bit now because I just keep asking questions.
SPEAKER_01:I think too, once you start annoying people, they're just like, just just tell them the answer. So he just stops. No, that's really good. Like knowing knowing that you don't know everything and being teachable is something that comes up quite a bit.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, most things I don't know. Continue to figure stuff out, I guess.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, no, work hard, stay humble, be hungry, and and just go out there and get it. And lastly, do you have, you know, like one of your favorite moments throughout your your short welding career that's just about to take off? Like, do you have a story or something that really sticks with you, a memory that you have?
SPEAKER_03:I don't know. Anytime I sell something that I made at home, and like you have somebody come and pick it up, or you drop it off, and they're like looking at it and they're like, Well, this is awesome. I don't know. Every time that's happened, it's just always a good feeling, and I feel like I'm getting somewhere, you know.
SPEAKER_01:For sure. You're getting you're putting some money in your pocket, and you feel you feel proud of what you did. Yeah, absolutely. Making somebody happy is a a pretty small joy in life, but it's huge for people. Okay, well, Jesse, it's been awesome getting to know you. I'm glad we squashed the beef. The non-existent beef. And yeah, it was really great talking to you, and I appreciate you sharing your your story, and I wish you the best with your welding journey. Uh, you're you're you're almost there. You're gonna get your journey persons, and then like I just see the world opening up for you.
SPEAKER_03:Well, thank you. Thanks a lot, and thank you for this opportunity. I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01:Thanks for saying yes, man.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, of course.
SPEAKER_01:All right, well, thank you for listening to the CWB Association Welding Podcast. We've got episodes dropping weekly, so please stay tuned.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks.org to learn more. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions of what you'd like to learn about in the future. Please subscribe and thank you for listening.