In 2004 to 2006 the North American economy was in an upswing. Especially in Fort Mcmurray, and Northern Alberta.
I was an apprentice at a small steel fabrication, and repair shop far from there, Lower mainland BC.
I heard radio adds looking for trade positions at projects like "Horizon" . I never had any idea what a Horizon was...
When a customer walked into our shop one day, this was the first time I heard the legend about the money that was flowing through this part of the country. " Did you know welders get 100$ an hour up there?"
This can't be true I thought, and easily dismissed it. I made about 15% of that at the time.
Sleep on that thought for a night, and then wake up the next morning... "I wonder if it is true", I asked my Mentor/Boss Rob Murphy. We work in this industry everyday, we should know about this, we asked ourselves. Hardly gave it a second thought.
The welding bug, is fueled by curiosity at this point, and I head to the city to ask the instructors at one of the largest Polytechnical schools in Canada (BCIT) to see if they could shine a little Arc light on the subject.
They tell me I need a "B-Pressure" .....
( If your not a welding person, you may not know what this is or how to get one. But there will be More on that later, and in future Posts)
Meanwhile , back at the old welding shop. I'm confused but there is one phrase that wont leave my mind.
I tell Rob,
" We need B-Pressure" - Me
Whats that? - Rob
"Its a ticket, they tell me" -Me
How do we get one?" Rob
" Beats me , but when we do, then we can get 100$ an hour" -Me
The B pressure Certification is a practical test where a successfully tested candidate becomes certified to weld on pressure containing devices, and or piping according to code requirements, meaning regulated work.
These individuals are considered to be highly skilled, and subsequently paid well for there skill set.
It took me 4 years to complete the welding apprenticeship, and get this certification.
When I arrived at my first contract welding project, the demand in industry was for this skill set, a contract welder, fully tooled, was making 250 to 275 K per year gross revenue. Its no exaggeration to say, things were wide open! we had a conservative majority government, money got spent. The trick was to work as many days as possible, like 250 if you could. I did this for 10 years, had some good years, and some bad years. But I can honestly say that amount of earning would be an appropriate average. Its tough work, that demands travel, physical fitness, and durability. Welders have a shelf life of their working career that is fully dependent on eye sight, which can last in your prime, about 5-10 years.
Economic down turns, and inflation has since pushed this earnings ratio lower over the last decade, and now rates seem to be lower that what they once were.
I've been out of that game for a while now but still work in industry. I'm now certified as a welding inspector, and Examiner. My business is now accredited to certify Pressure welders, and I've been doing that for 3 years, and we also develop welding procedures, and test them.
There are so many small doors in the welding industry that can open up to very large rooms, and life long careers.
My goal is to post articles , valuable tools, and resources to anyone working in this field of technology, and share my experiences with other people who also work in the industry.
If you have what it takes to be a "6G" Welder, there's money to be made on the job, and if your smart enough to read a construction code book, there's a career in it for you afterwords.
Follow my posts, and I tell you what you need to know, and answer technical questions as I can.
6G weld test assembly Fixture (Thats a 45 degree angle)
Test candidate performing a test weld
6 Candidates testing at one time
Samples of completed test specimens, put into tension until possible failure
