The CWB Association Welding Podcast
The CWB Association Welding Podcast
Episode 237: Building a Steel Business with Dorian Giles
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.
Dorian Giles traded a future in computer science for the smell of burning metal on the shop floor. In this episode, the owner of Allwyn Steel and DMG Fabrication shares how early fabrication challenges sparked a journey into precision work, apprenticeships, and building a modern job shop. From serving local builders with specialty steel to pushing into advanced technology and custom automotive projects, Dorian reflects on hard lessons, evolving leadership, and why learning fast and owning mistakes matter.
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Welcome to the TWB 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 to another episode of the CWB Association Welding Podcast. I'm Kevin Hua, and tonight I have the owner of Allwyn Steel and DMG fabrication, Dorian Giles. Hi, how's it going? Good man. How are you? I'm good. I wasn't sure if it was Giles or Gillies or however Giles is correct. Yeah. Nailed it. So tell us a little bit about yourself.
SPEAKER_02:Uh so I am uh the owner of Allwand Seal as of 2022. Uh I have been employed there since 2012, on and off before then, uh throughout high school. Uh it is a family-run business. Uh so grandpa owned it in '94, dad owned it in 2009. I own it now. So I took over the in 2022. From there, um, I am implementing a few changes, but what I wanted to mention was that I uh started welding and fabricating in 2013. We the first thing we did was buy a piece of equipment about a CNC plasma table uh to get us kind of into that field, um knowing nothing about it. I didn't have anybody to teach me welding, I didn't have any to teach me how to use anything. I pretty much kind of rolled into it from there and it's it's taken off a bit, I would say. I mean, I'm doing a lot more now than I ever have. And uh the whole reason why I even got into the industry was it was an out from the current uh job that I was working for.
SPEAKER_01:So okay, so uh so yeah, what were you doing before getting into welding?
SPEAKER_02:Uh so I was actually in university for computer science, uh programming. Um and I was in the middle of a course at the time, and I was sitting in a lab uh and I just hated it. I just didn't want to do any of it. Uh it was soul sucking. Yeah, soul sucking. It was soul sucking. My wife and I talked about it. We were like, uh, maybe it's you know, maybe you should do something else. So I went and worked as a as a computer tech for a bit, and that sucked. Uh, I spent maybe three months doing it, and I was like, you know what? I need to do something else. And uh my dad had offered me a position, said, Hey, you can come work for me if you want to just like you know, an in-between job, you already know it. Like, you already know steel, like come by. So I was like, All right, cool. Um, so my first experience with like actually doing any sort of fab or welding was oh, we got to put together these shop grates type thing, and this really terrible jig that we had lying in the back corner of our shop with a old power mig Lincoln welder and uh trying to keep the thing straight. And I was like, you know what? This is this is entertaining. I I like this.
SPEAKER_01:This is a challenge.
SPEAKER_02:This is a challenge, this is fun. Um, but yeah, it was just one of those, like, oh, you know, we're not doing a whole lot of it, but sure, let's try it. Um, so then we decided to purchase a CNC plasma table, put in a heated section of our shop, which my dad and I spent like a month and a half doing, and then uh this thing showed up, put it together, started to use it, and failed miserably. We had no idea what we're doing. So we I spent a little bit of time um trying to get it to do anything. Eventually I did, did start to work, and uh I realized one of the things I actually learned in school was a little bit of programming, and I had to actually figure out how to get that thing to do what I wanted it to by making my own uh post-processing software. So I was like, Oh, hey, I guess university didn't suck all that bad.
SPEAKER_01:It didn't fail me all the way.
SPEAKER_02:No, not all the way, but it did uh certainly not go the way I wanted to.
SPEAKER_01:So you did you did pick up something, but there's something else in you that that knew that you needed to work with your hands, right?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and I I I realized that a lot later than I would have liked, but whatever. I feel like even getting a late start into the trade was not a bad thing.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I agree. Like my brig my biggest regret uh in my career is not starting earlier. Like I I messed around a little bit coming out of high school, like I could have gone right into welding, but you know, I took three years to kind of figure out my life before I jumped in. So I guess the important thing is you got started.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and I I mean that's about the same amount of time it took me. It's just I spent I I really thought that's what I wanted to do, and and and it had more to do with the end goal of it or the end process versus any the any of the stuff in between. Whereas with welding uh or fabricating, the whole process is enjoyable, um, from start to finish. Thinking of an idea, designing it, writing it out, putting it into a computer software program to uh draw post-process it, cut it, uh, and then see that piece of metal turn from flat or a tube or whatever into you, whatever you want.
SPEAKER_01:So, yeah, no, that's very true. So, is that when you went into computer science, is that was that your mindset also? What was the goal of going to university and and getting that degree?
SPEAKER_02:Uh, I really wanted to get into more so of the uh software engine development for um things like video games. I you know, I grew up playing video games, and I was like, oh, I really want to make one, that would be really cool. And the the whole process of it was not even close to as enjoyable as I was hoping. Um and it takes a certain type of person to do it, and I I think it takes a certain type of person to love welding or love any sort of aspect of any career. So the what I did gain was uh an understanding of what I wanted to do, and that's you know, from 2013 on, I kind of realized oh, this is a good idea.
SPEAKER_01:So when you started working uh for dad there, you know, doing the odd part jobs, is that when you got your love of welding, would you say? And then is that when you wanted to kind of keep it going? Did you want to go to school at that point for welding?
SPEAKER_02:We actually had that discussion of like, let's maybe let's order another welder, like maybe you get into TIG. Um, because we had that old MIG and it worked, but it's it had no adjustability. It's the ones with the ABCDEF dialed, right?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, like it's yeah, I'm pretty familiar.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, there's no real actual dialing in your weld with that stuff, and at least from my experience with it, I kind of got rid of it after a certain period of time. And we so we bought a TIG, and I was like, Oh, let's learn how to do stuff with aluminum, let's learn how to do stuff with stainless, let's you know, and from there I was like, you know, I am in all also interested in another hobby, which is cars. And yeah, I didn't need to go through an apprenticeship program to build parts for that. I didn't need to go through any sort of testing to start building these things, but I had nobody to teach me how to use these uh tools, so I figured I I should go through something, whether it be the apprenticeship program or just you know, find somebody that's willing to teach me. So the apprenticeship program kind of fell into our lap. It was uh somebody from Sask Apprenticeship that came by and said, Hey, you should you should do this. You guys offer some welding. So maybe consider it. And it's like, well, I don't have a journeyman to work under. Like, oh, you don't need one. Like, what?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, how does what is that? How does that work out?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so it's like uh oh well you just need your dad because he's the owner. Um he just has to sign off in your hours. It's like oh okay, sure. So figured out how much uh time I was putting in. Uh I spent a lot of weekends, a lot of extra time uh just practicing. So the the amount of effort that I put in right off the beginning was massive. I was like, I really want to do this, I really want to get into it. And um I think the apprenticeship program really was a good learning opportunity for me because I had no experience in the structural world. I had no experience with a lot of the uh industrial side of welding, aside from a few frames I've built here and there with our racking and stuff like that. And then that's when we started talking about stuff with you know structural CWD plates and learning how to uh make something that's not gonna fall apart in too many, you know, a couple months.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, to tail light warranty, right? Yeah. So uh we touched a bit uh about allwyn steel. So allwind steel, is it more of a steel supply company? Were you kind of the person that that took it into the fabrication side?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yes. So we started off as a I should say, we um back when my grandpa owned it, it was a steel brokerage. So we were brokering material from uh the US uh into Canada. And then once my dad took it over, we started to move more towards the uh retail steel. So we'd sell to anybody. So anybody off the street can come in, buy whatever amount of material they need, and that's been our whole thing for a very long period of time. We want people to uh buy steel and do their hobby and build whatever they want to build because uh that's interesting, and it's helpful to anybody that's wanting to get into the trade or is in the trade and needs some material just for a quick thing, uh, and they don't need to buy bundles of steel or full lengths or have to have a 40-foot truck just to be able to haul a piece.
SPEAKER_01:I was just gonna say, like, speaking personally, working for I'm I want to say competitor, maybe not direct competitor, but anytime that we need a chunk of steel that you know it's it's an oddball thing or we can't find it anywhere, you call allwind and they got it. And like, you know what, you can buy a foot of it.
SPEAKER_02:Yep. And you know, I I know like we aren't I don't want to be a direct competitor with JRs, right? But at the same time, it's like we do some stuff that you guys do, and we know that, and you guys know that got yeah, we're still a steel a steel supply uh place mainly. Uh I'm the only one that does our fabricating still, um it's ever since we first started in 2013.
SPEAKER_01:So yeah, I was actually gonna ask you about that. Like, how many how many employees do you have, if you don't mind sharing? And then I was gonna get into how many are actually welding.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's so it's just me welding. Um, but I do have three other employees right now. Since it is family run, my brother works for me, my brother-in-law works for me, and then I have another guy, and we currently run a uh uh four tens, so we're open five days a week, though. So it does kind of make a little bit of an awkward uh scheduling, but we're uh I did have a couple of guys before that I did try to have as welders. One guy ended up leaving um for another reason, and uh it was something that he was dead set on doing, and it's fair by all means. I'm not gonna stop somebody from doing what they want to do. And the other guy, um, you know, he would have he does definitely need, I would say, a bit more time uh behind a torch. Um, and it's really hard to get that time when we're constantly cutting material and we're constantly uh seeing people walk in and asking for things to be built or uh designed or cut or whatever. So it it is a little bit complex in that sense, um, because I don't necessarily have enough uh work to keep another guy on, but I probably would benefit with a guy right now because of the amount of work that I am doing, as well as being the owner, as well as you know, having a family.
SPEAKER_01:So, yeah, it's uh it's hard to find a balance. Like, I think that's for everybody. Um, but you mentioned four tens, and like four tens is the way to go. Like, I work five days a week, like it'd be amazing to have a three-day weekend every weekend, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And that's the only thing that I am kind of leery on is we don't have a fixed day off schedule because we're open five days a week and there's four of us, we do have to rotate uh our days off. But it's every second week, I I allow you know, you get a three-day weekend, it's kind of nice. So yeah, and you the other day, the other weeks you get a split week, so it's not that bad.
SPEAKER_01:Not bad at all. Any day off of work is a good day.
SPEAKER_02:Pretty well. I I've had that, and I'm the owner.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so being being the owner, being the fabricator, you're obviously on the floor every day, you're part of the action.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and I'm constantly reminded of how efficient we need to be all the time because of uh the way that we're operating right now. So the amount of work that we get to do, like we have one band saw, so that's our only ever cutting our larger material, um, 40-foot lengths or you know, stuff you're not gonna put on a cold cut or dry, you know, whatever saw. Um, and then our plasma cutter is used pretty well every day uh for a good amount of time, and then we have a shear. So there's only four of us, so you can't use every single one of those pieces of equipment at all times every single day with only four people, but we do a lot and we do have to be efficient. There's 10 hours in the day. Let's get it. Like, that's just how it is every every day. It's like we we gotta get this through. Uh otherwise we're kind of kind of hooped, especially for our local deliveries, too. Like, we bring stuff to people.
SPEAKER_01:That's another thing that we do. So that's that's a that's a big one. Like offering that convenience is huge. I know that uh I appreciate it. You know, the the all wind truck shows up and it's got I mentioned it like one foot of five-inch shaft on it. It's like, oh thanks, guys.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, no problem. That's that's what we're here for. And uh, I I mean we can we can make do because we're really the main place around it that does that, uh, especially around being in Regina. So the uh that's not gonna change anytime soon either. Like we're if anything, I'd like to all be able to offer more stuff because you can never have too much material uh in in what we do. We're all constantly being like, ah, I don't actually have enough. So I gotta get some more in, like, but it'll be here in a couple days. It's yeah, you know, it's not here right now, but I can get it and it'll be here real quick. So yeah, we're constantly bringing stuff in from out of province, we're constantly bringing stuff in, um especially in specialty materials that we know that not many people will stock around here, and uh that's kind of what we've been treasuring along with as long, you know, for as long as I can remember.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's good, it's good to be in an in a niche market. Yeah. You mentioned um you know the fabrication side of things, getting into more structural stuff and getting um some CWB tickets. So what kind of what kind of work do you tackle right now for fabrication?
SPEAKER_02:Right now it's a little bit weird. Um I the last thing that I was required to have my CWB tickets for uh was for some racking. And I did that before the start of the summer. Um I had an ankle surgery uh in summer. So I couldn't actually I had to finish at a certain point. Right now we're doing a lot of tube fabrication for shipping supplies, so it's all protect protective equipment. Um basically, another company local builds some uh agricultural equipment and they ship it all around the world. So they need to protect their material when it is on a boat or when it's on a truck or when it's wherever, because there's been times when they their package gets to their customer and it's dented or damaged or whatever. So uh a lot of that, uh a lot of what I do as well, which is some automotive parts. Um, I'm currently building uh a bunch of that. It's kind of all over the place. Like it's I I've I've built transitions, uh, gates, um, railing inserts, um you know, stuff for cottages, stuff for local houses, stuff for backyards, um, decorative. And um, I'm currently doing a parts for a customer of ours uh that's doing a waterfall feature, and uh he wants a full stainless basin with uh a steel uh like crack cut out big sheet. So it's it's you know it's all over the place.
SPEAKER_01:And I that's what I yeah, I think I know that customer. You probably do, so you're kind of a a job shop, you're not really afraid to take on a challenge.
SPEAKER_02:No, I I I mean I've got a piece that I looked at the earlier this week that was why did they bring that? It's broken. Like it's uh I was like, oh well, I guess I gotta fix it. Uh but it's like a piece that's uh it's the turbine out of a grain back and it's worn down to nothing so stuff like that so it's uh I will take on as much as I can as long as I physically can do it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah no definitely so you mentioned your car that you make car parts now some of some of the listeners may not follow along with you but what are you building?
SPEAKER_02:So what I sell through Alwyn is uh a lot of bolt-on stuff for um again it's protective pieces so under trays for a few different models of vehicles and they are sold through a supplier out in Toronto and I do sell some through my website as well uh I do also make some aerodynamic components um and heat extraction components as well uh for anything like cust a lot of stuff is custom made uh through another company that's uh in Calgary. So that's what I sell through Alwyn. Uh I have a hobby of building custom parts and I have my own car. I'm sure you I believe you've seen it a few times.
SPEAKER_01:I I have seen it yet I have been I've been following along yeah I really like your uh do one thing a day every day.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah it's and I'm gonna be there right after this I'll be honest so the uh so that thing is gonna be a uh full race car it's um it's a lot of fun building it uh I am building it to take around a circuit and it's not meant to be a drag car it's not meant to be you know going sideways it's it's meant to go around a corner uh and around a track as fast as I possibly can make it so that one has a lot of custom components that I'm testing and I would like to make it as efficient as possible when it comes to the actual aerodynamics as well. It's a complete gamble on a lot of what I'm building. I don't want to use that word totally but at the same time that's I don't really have the fullest of uh understanding of whether or not it's going to do what I want. I I am building it in a way that should make sense. And mathematically and geometrically everything works but you can do all the math and geometries you want but as soon as on track it you don't know what it's gonna what it's gonna do. So that that's my passion project um I do build parts for other people that are completely custom that you cannot get anywhere else as well. Typically people will drag a car to us I'll put it in my shop and they'll ask me can you build this thing that I can't buy sure can you fabricate an exhaust up for this thing that goes around this new component that uh doesn't fit anywhere else sure can you you know bolt this transmission up because it doesn't work otherwise sure like yeah you know that that's a lot of what I do and uh I I have a lot of fun doing it it's uh it's a good project for this uh for the in-between the big structural jobs or the big production jobs or um that kind of stuff that's really cool man it sounds like you're living the dream but listen we're gonna take a small break here we're gonna hear from our uh podcast sponsors so we'll be right back 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 josephegasses.ta that's joseph with an F, as in family start filling your cart with welder confidence.
SPEAKER_01:And we're back with Dorian Giles owner of all windsteel and DMG Fab. So we were talking about your car um but you never did say what it was or what kind of motor you put in it because it's kind of crazy.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah it's it's a Dotson uh 260z it's from 1974 uh single model year car and it has a Honda K Series engine from a 07 Civic SI with a BMW transmission a Nissan uh rear end with upgraded axles and a custom drive shaft that uh I had a local company make for me and I have put a massive turbo on it you aren't kidding you're just like teaming up all these parts and making it work yeah I mean if you look at my brake setup too it's a Cadillac brakes uh for because they're just good and cheap.
SPEAKER_01:So yeah and I mean they had some big brakes they put large motors in some smaller cars. Yeah you gotta make sure those things are stopping.
SPEAKER_02:Exactly so a lot of this car is handmade a lot of this car is something you'll never see on anything else again and that's what I really like about it.
SPEAKER_01:It's gonna be pretty unique. So when's the um when's the projected finish date? What's what are you thinking?
SPEAKER_02:Well never but the idea is to have it driving in springtime ideally mid-May but the the whole reason I'm doing my do one thing a day is to make progress um I had a surgery in June and that put me out from working on anything for months. I basically had an ankle ligament uh get rebuilt or reattached properly and uh it was a planned surgery but it sucked and I just you know you can't sit there and go out to the garage and work sit there and hammer on your leg or something like that uh a piece of metal to shape and it's it basically I ended up saying you know what I can't I can't take any more time off this car. I I gotta do something so we're gonna continue this until I either drive it or I go on a vacation where I'm not gonna be at it for multiple weeks.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah man that's gotta be really tough being out of the game for somebody who cares obviously as much as you do.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah it's it it was a little rough um I was on the phone with the guys at the at the shop quite frequently being like hey how do we do this like oh okay I'll here's what you do here's the exact numbers that you need here's the exact uh setup that you need go and it's you know working from home is pretty much impossible in that instance um and I yeah I just you can't weld from home it's just it's not possible yeah you can weld some parts from home but you got to be out in the garage doing it yeah it's like working from home was not a possibility for welders uh sure sure yeah during that time we don't speak of anymore exactly and so that's that's the main thing there but uh and I do think that that during that time it gave them a lot of respect or a lot of uh you know understanding that it's not the easiest to sit there and be fabricating or cutting or designing or any of that kind of stuff every day.
SPEAKER_01:Um I think a lot of people got were very understanding that I was getting a surgery as well and which was helpful uh because we still got jobs we still were working and we were still doing uh what we could to get uh customers their their parts or their components or their metal yeah no it's tough when you have a small crew and you know a major player isn't there for for an extended period of time so it's good of you to to be available and to you know sacrifice and get things done because the j like the business has to stay open the business has to keep going.
SPEAKER_02:Yep you can you cannot shut down even when you're when you're retail you just can't um and even if you're even if you're just doing odd jobs here and there or that kind of fab and you've promised people a date it sucks you still got to go in and do it um I've experienced that a lot with uh some of my customers and it's like we're not gonna get this done for Monday I got to come in I gotta do this over the weekend it's whatever just go in and do it like I'm not gonna sit there because now that I'm the owner it's like well hey I gotta do it. It's gotta get done like you know some some customers are understanding like uh can it be Tuesday can it be Wednesday but you know some of those other customers that you want to please you want to keep you go all out for yep and I've done that so many times in my career now that I it doesn't really phase me at this point. Uh I'm glad to do it.
SPEAKER_01:I just I prefer especially now that I got kids uh that are older it's nice to be able to do the things uh that they want to do on the weekends because when you're working tens you don't see them very often yeah how old are your kids uh turning nine and seven oh well yeah I got a 12 and 10 so we're we're right there we're right there yeah yeah it's uh it's tough the work life balance is extremely difficult i i every time i talk to somebody about it i still don't have it figured out and like i'm a I'm a yes guy right I'll say yes to an opportunity and I'll figure out how to do it and like it all really boils down to my wife and how she can help me out like there's only this many hours in the day kids got sports they've got school activities they got band and yeah like we're we're working all the time yeah and yeah I'm we're not at the band point yet for arts but it's uh yeah that's exactly how it is and my wife is a teacher so she is always doing something and it's uh yeah that work life balance for her or me is like we really do try uh the best we can um and I'm not gonna tell her to not work she can do what she wants because she's allowed to I I mean she loves teaching and I'm glad that she's a teacher because a lot of kids look up to her I've seen them in grocery stores and those types of things um and they're like oh miss so good to see you like you know what are you doing it's like oh and it it's awesome to see I've I just her job is also incredibly tough uh and I respect every single teacher out there um that's my rant for that yeah I've I've got huge respect for teachers um it is a tough job it is a very hard job and the teachers that are passionate that are doing it for the right reasons to literally shape and mold the next generation of people um like so much respect for teachers in in all aspects from from kindergarten all the way up to to post secondary it's just insane the work that teachers do yep and especially any instructor that's out there um that I had you guys were awesome you can shout them out we've had some people throw their their instructors under the bus but you got all all love for your instructors definitely shout them out hey Rick Thibault at SAS Polytech in Moose Job great guy absolutely fantastic um he was he he really gave me uh a lot of uh of the push to to do welding um especially my first year so he was uh that that first year if he if I didn't have Rick I don't know if I would have uh continued on with it I'll be I'll be honest it was tough but yeah great guy awesome man thanks for sharing that yeah rick rick is an institution he's been there for a while and he's seen man rick was teaching when I was going through school that is awesome so what do you think uh makes a great fabricator now that you're you're dabbling in all these different projects what do you think makes a great fabricator uh somebody who can admit and fix their mistakes the biggest thing that I experienced uh for making me better was I made massive mistakes uh but was able to fix them um the one instance that really sticks to sticks out was this was is maybe during my second year uh or be in a second year the uh I had a customer bring a a unique aluminum extrusion for skis and he wanted to cut a certain shape out of it so it would fit um on his sled and this uh I made a jig to hold these in my plasma table and to cut the profile and it ended up cutting three of the four without any issues but on the fourth one it dropped and it cut through the base of it and I remember calling the customer off and being like you know I don't I know these are like not made anymore what are the chances we can still find one he's like that's a$1200 ski I was like oh my god oh your heart sinks it was about$300 into braces but yeah it was it was still not a good time because it took you know probably six hours of work but it's still definitely like that experience was worth more to me uh than you know just buying a new one yeah because I think that's I think that's a lot of it you gotta fix what you can and um if you do make a mistake do it you know do what you can fix it don't don't sit there and be like oh we'll just buy a new one no no this is fixed yeah you're absolutely right that is that's a huge part of being a fabricator um like we all make mistakes everybody makes mistakes you know and it's how you fix it that makes you a better fabricator I always tell people it's like it's it's not a mistake it's not a it's not a I was gonna swear there so you haven't messed up unless you know I don't want to say you can hide it but if no one notices and you can fix it was it ever messed up did you ever break it if if if you're still on pace to get your stuff done or you're still within budget who cares right as long as it worked out in the end and it's still gonna be as strong as it needs to be or it's gonna pass uh whatever inspections it needs to go through great right on so how do you think that relates to like being a business owner um I have to deal with uh mistakes all the time so I shouldn't say all the time because we are pretty accurate in our cutting and our in our providing of it's like guys yeah the guys are gonna listen to this and they're gonna be like what okay we're not coming yeah exactly um but it it is something that I do have to deal with and I've I I I don't like when mistakes happen because I am the one that gets involved um and it sucks it's a sucky feeling every single time you go through and you're like why did this happen?
SPEAKER_02:What screwed up why you know what what's the problem and you know you start to dissect it and you go okay this is how we can fix it. This is the easiest way for us to fix it. It's definitely not the most cost effective for us but we can fix it. And I've done that uh a few times and uh it usually boils down to just a a little bit of user error right off the bat or a little bit of prep that could have been avoided or that would have avoided the situation and you end up with a maybe not the best product in the end but at least the customer's happy that's I I don't like to always use that analogy but it's still it's something that happens every day every everywhere. You never get uh a perfect outcome on absolutely every job that you do but yeah we our ability to fix it and our ability to go through and uh deal with it is is great. I just I hate doing it but it's possible and or I've I've done it enough that I'm good at good at it now.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah no I completely agree with that like being foreman uh I deal with mistakes all day every day right and it's it's one of those things you got to figure out how it happened and how you can move forward and how you don't do that again right it could be as simple as you know a chicken scratch piece of paper that somebody couldn't read properly so well we got to fix that. And then okay well it's in metric did you convert it or did you just use metric because if you convert it you're not going to hit your measurements and you know so on and so forth are they inside measurements outside measurements why'd you bend this wrong it like it's it's a day in day out thing so exactly you got to figure out where it happened and and find the best way to move forward and build build your team up right like the the more they know the better they'll be exactly and it it's easy with three people in my opinion with a team or a you know a full shop with as a foreman I'm sure you've got it much worse than I do well thanks for commiserating with me yes there are good days there are bad days absolutely every time yeah so after more than 10 years in the game um and you know working at all since 2013 um you know like what kind of challenges are you facing and where do you see allwyn kind of progressing or where do you see allwyn um you know in the next five or ten years?
SPEAKER_02:So that's a great question because I am entirely behind in my opinion on equipment um the the way that things are progressing technology wise are insane. I built my plasma table in 2018 uh the current one that I've got I used my old one that I bought built a new one that's bigger um and that entire process of building that led me to believe that it's not the best uh piece of equipment that we have and so I bought a laser oh good for you so that's supposed to be here before the end of the year but that's one of the one of the things that I I feel I want to get more into higher precision work. The the amount of stuff that I do currently I love it. I love what I do. I do think that I can do more. And I do think that I can do things better. And um with the rise of online cutting companies and online fabricating like component companies. If you I I feel like it's hard to not justify buying some of them or some of that cut type of equipment when that's the type of work that I do. Um I want to get better parts out there. I want to get better um, I I I want to do more. And that's in that type of industry. We currently work with a lot of large companies, and a lot of what they send us is small, or it doesn't have to be super accurate, or it's okay if it's a plasma cut. And you know, it I there's nothing against plasma cutting. Plasma cutting is a great tool, uh, especially if you need to make really quick uh brackets or lugs or uh any sort of um component that might be a little bit more difficult if you were to do it all by hand with a grinder or a torch. So but the customers that we've been getting have been like, hey, what kind of quality you got for your cuts? It's like well, yeah, it's a plasma.
SPEAKER_01:I was gonna, yeah. How thick do you want? Like I'll I'll show you how belled out my old my holes are.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and and that's something I've been fighting with, you know, in my mind since um probably 2020. I was like, uh I think I think a laser's the way to go. Uh not that's not saying that the Bosma is not capable, it's just it's not as good. It's that's the main thing.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, you really can't beat a laser. Um, have you have you uh ever seen or had your hands on a laser welder yet?
SPEAKER_02:I may have ordered one of them as well.
SPEAKER_01:Oh he's going straight into the future.
SPEAKER_02:I'm trying. Um and and and the I think what I'm doing currently with all this tube fabrication, it's all thinner than one-eighth wall anyway. It's that's the exact reason that I want it for. Um, it's gonna it would speed up the process immensely. Um, a lot of the aluminum parts I make are eighth inch or thinner, and that would speed up the process with that immensely. And I've seen how these things can run, and they're clean, they're quick, they don't really care if there's a little bit of grime underneath of them. They there's you don't have that uh grounding issue that you know you knocked your ground off and suddenly you can't weld.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, no, it's uh yeah, I mean laser cut parts are super accurate, and I've I've only been able to use a laser welder uh twice now in my life, and it's been demos. Um, but yeah, I can definitely see the benefits, and they can weld way thicker than one eighth.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, they definitely can, but uh it's we'll we'll see how how they go. I I I think that they're great. I think that they're they'll be they'll be awesome. I've seen a lot of demos where they're welding quarter inch thick and it's really hard to break the weld. And I'm like, that's really cool. But and and they're and they're easy to learn on. Um, I think that's the main thing is it's it's something where if I do need to have somebody um pick it up, as long as they're trained on how it works, I see no reason why somebody can't pick it up and weld with it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, no, for sure. It's kind of it's kind of a weird thing to pick up though, you know. Like when you when you learn how to weld with MIG and then you pick up a laser, it's kind of reverse, right? It's it's it's got a bit of a learning curve, but I agree with you. You know, once you get once you get some experience with it, it's actually fairly easy.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. That's that's all I can ask for, right? Um, but even speaking of other tech too, like there's a lot of things that I want to get a little bit better with. Anyway, I have a 3D scanner uh right beside me, but uh I've used it for a few things, and they're extremely interesting.
SPEAKER_01:That's really cool. So so your piece of equipment, the 3D scanner, you basically pointed it apart, you move it around a whole bunch, and it basically creates uh a file or a profile for you, right?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and you well, it doesn't create the profile, but it creates the piece in a three-dimensional space that you want to make a profile for. So if you were to say somebody brought you a uh an awkward-shaped piece of material that's maybe a cast piece, and the um the faces aren't exactly at the same level, you can scan that, take your measurements directly off of it, design something that's gonna work. And I think that that's the real benefit um of going to a lot of the more digital tech that's coming out. Um, and it's it's so attainable now, it's really not that expensive to get into. Um, and uh you can either get something that's gonna be super high accuracy, or you can get something that's gonna be it's gonna work. Um and it just depends on how much you're willing to spend or how much you're willing to learn.
SPEAKER_01:So yeah, that's crazy. So where do you see yourself with with all of the additions that you have coming to the shop? Do you still see yourself just being in the action or being more of a leadership role?
SPEAKER_02:I within the next five years, I would like to not have to be the one in the shop uh all the time. It's you know, I've had the ankle surgery, uh, I I'm not physically incapable of doing anything, um, but it it just being in the shop uh is pretty hard on a lot of things. Um I I do my best to make sure that I'm you know got my respirator on, I've got things uh when I'm lifting, it's not gonna hurt me. Um, you know, I've got tools that move things around, forklift skits to your uh walking tables, um things like that. And I don't have a crane, so that's kind of on me. Uh but uh it it's one of those like you know, it gets really hard on your body when you're when you're doing a lot of this stuff. So as the owner, I do think that it would be a better role for me to be as the leadership physician, um, being the ones that are they're kind of guiding everybody. And within the next five, you know, three years, realistically, I'd like to, I'd like to definitely be more in that role. Uh, I still like the weld, like I I love welding. I would still continue to do things um when I can uh if that was the case.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so you got your journey persons, right?
SPEAKER_02:I did I did, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So do you ever consider taking on an apprentice?
SPEAKER_02:Uh I have before, um, twice. And one was my brother, yeah, because he was he wasn't sure what he wanted to do. Uh, and the other was a guy who he was the one who left for doing something else. And I think I would do it again. Like I do want to have uh an apprentice again. Um it is just tough with the amount of work that we that we have to. I I don't I'm I'm in a I'm in a weird spot where I have a lot that is very specific that I have to do, and then a lot where I could probably have somebody do uh via teaching them uh using those components because they're not super super critical. Um but it's it it is still a bit awkward with the amount of moving around that I'm doing. And again, I'm not there consistently uh um with us with our 410s and having to pick up like I take turns with my wife picking up and dropping off the kids for school, so yeah, I'm not always there all the time. So it it it does kind of get a little weird. Um, and I I do want to do it again because it's fun. It's uh I I like it. I like having people uh to to learn under or to have underneath that learn. And yeah, it's it's a great time. And I just yeah, it's it's kind of an awkward situation right now.
SPEAKER_01:I'm hoping that's fair that the as long as you're willing, because you you seem like a super passionate guy, you've got a lot going on, and you're in you're touching a lot of different industries, so yeah. I mean, if you can figure it out, cool, but otherwise, like just the fact that you're willing to is is showing a lot.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and I yeah, exactly. It's the the multiple different industries is the hard part because some people don't understand agriculture, um, like I didn't when I first started, like at all. Um I've got a good feel for it now. Um but man, 10 years ago, and somebody would tell me that they're what they're building, I'm like, that's really cool. Yeah, I don't know what that is.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, what is what is flighting? I don't understand. What's what's a con concave? What are we doing with that?
SPEAKER_02:A concave, yeah, exactly. And so yeah, sorry, go ahead. I was just gonna say it's like I've had so much more experience with that because of the uh agricultural customer that we got, and they're like, Yeah, can you build uh demos for these concaves? I'm like, sure, can you build you know what would it take for you to build this uh this press tool for uh forming discs? I'm like, a lot, but yeah, let's do it. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, if you if you want to spend, we're gonna make. Yeah, exactly. Uh speaking of projects, like what is what is a huge project that sticks with you? What's some of you're super proud of?
SPEAKER_02:Uh I built um some towers and walkways for a uh seed processing plant in 2017. And they were 38 feet tall towers uh and 90 feet of walkway that they sat on top of these towers. So it was six 38-foot-tall towers, uh, 90 feet of walkway, uh, in three sections, two that were 35 feet and one that was 20 feet, and that was just where their uh towers went above their bins. And um when once I like I built the entire thing, uh again, I didn't have a welder at this time, so just me again. And I built the entire thing. We got it loaded up for them, took it south to uh to their plant. They're like, I didn't hear about it until after uh, because this is right when I was going for my third year, like I had to finish it right before then. And uh I was like, okay, well, I'm gonna finish these and then I gotta go. So uh I didn't hear about it until the next year, and they're like, Yeah, we only had to drill out one hole, the whole thing went together. I was like, that's sweet.
SPEAKER_01:Like, wow, that's uh that's actually a pretty good record. You know, I've I've seen some stuff where guys are moving clips, um, you know, drilling out multiple holes. Uh, so that's a pretty good record you got there.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and they yeah, I the uh every support went together nicely, every uh you know, every single um they had these drag lines that were on top of them as well, and then some like that we built everything that they had. So it was drag lines, valves, all kinds of stuff. Everything bolted in. They the um only issues that they had was the one hole above was just like an eighth off, and the bolt wouldn't go in. So they're like just brought their mag drill up, put it in, drilled it out, and we're like, yeah, it was fine. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I guess they never heard of a pin bar before, but okay. Who knows? That's awesome. And you did this as a second year.
SPEAKER_02:I did that as a second year, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:With with no one really above you teaching you what you're doing.
SPEAKER_02:Correct.
SPEAKER_01:Well, you got yeah, I wow. So that's pretty impressive. I'll I'll tell you that right off the bat. I was I mean, I was a good welder coming out of school, but I wasn't that smart of a fabricator.
SPEAKER_02:I spent a lot of time. Uh I'm also like, I I do think that the university stuff was uh worth it as far as the logical processing part. Um I am case, like I I when I'm designing something or going through the process of going through and building something, I can kind of picture it in my head as like a CAD drawing. So if I have the idea and I've thought of the idea, or if I've designed uh the part or I know what the part looks like, I can usually kind of figure it out from what I want to do uh first and then go from there into the actual design process. And you know, I might have to tweak a few things here and there, like on those towers, they were the cross braces were uh a couple of degrees that had to get adjusted just due to uh spreading the load properly. Um, and when the engineer signed off on our design, it was like, okay, cool, let's start up. Like let's get it, let's get these things started. Um, get all the material in. It was, you know, we're talking uh like 600 feet of five-inch tubing and another 400 feet of four-inch tubing, and like just tons of material that we're putting together with these things, and it's all heavy, and I don't have that big of a shop. I could fit 38 feet with six inches on either side from door to door. So I'm welding these things on the ground uh flat, and and I have to flip them over outside. I had to, you know, with two people with forklift and skid steer driving it out, flipping it over, bringing it back in, and welding the backside. It's like this is this was a whole operation, but I had to like I was the only one that really knew how to weld, and my dad's like, Yeah, well, good luck.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, here you go, kid.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_01:Well, that's awesome. And like ordering that much material, like that's a lot of overhead, so a bit of stress comes with that too, right?
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely, because like if anything messed up, you you know these main parts are 36, they were uh 36, 37 feet, something like that, uh, with angle cuts on them. So if you if the guys, if anything got screwed up there, you're out a length. Well, yeah, we're not out of length, because we'll sell it later.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, but I know what you're saying. Yeah, you you've got one shot at making this part right. Yeah, that's crazy, man. Well, good for you, good for you, man. That's that sounds like a really, really cool project.
SPEAKER_02:It was fun. Uh, it was stressful, but it was fun.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So I guess we're we're running out of time a little bit here. So do you have a piece of advice um for people getting into welding or in the trades in general?
SPEAKER_02:Mainly don't be afraid to fail and uh don't be afraid to ask for time to practice. Uh, I think a lot of people don't want to take the time to learn something. And that's one of the if you if somebody shows initiative to want to learn something, they're gonna get put on stuff um that is uh in in relation to that skill. TIG welding is a main thing. You know, a lot of people probably won't want to learn on super thin stainless steel or suit or you know, take uh uh an exotic metal like uh in canal or uh titanium and ruin it. But that's part of the game. Learn it. Yeah, like yeah, I think that's the main thing. Just don't be afraid to fail. Ask for uh time to practice. And if you want to learn a skill, ask for somebody to teach you. And everybody's so willing to teach. I'm willing to teach so many people. Um, I could ask questions all the time about how something should maybe get welded or how it should be made, and uh I don't mind. It's you know, if somebody's doing it on their own, great.
SPEAKER_01:That's an awesome piece of advice. Um, you know, like sometimes the the thought process is like people, you know, they wanna they want to get paid to learn. They wanna, you know, they want the big money up front, they don't have the skills to back it. But when you take time out of your day and and actually just do it, and the more you do, the better you get, right? There's no faking it. You have to practice.
SPEAKER_02:You have to, and that's exactly it. Uh, even if you're even if it's a break, even if it's a lunch break, even if it's after work, if you ask to practice, I think you'll go far.
SPEAKER_01:Perfect. Well, thanks very much for that piece of advice, and thanks so much for being my guest tonight, Dorian. It was awesome talking to you. Um, I think you got an amazing thing going on and a great attitude. So onwards and upwards, man.
SPEAKER_02:Thanks. I appreciate talking to you to you, and thanks for inviting me on.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you. Thanks very much, everyone, for listening to this episode of the CWB Association Welding Podcasts. We've got episodes dropping weekly, so stay tuned. Make sure you subscribe and share this with everyone you love.
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