The CWB Association Welding Podcast
The CWB Association Welding Podcast
Episode 233: The Welding Philosopher with Philip Garland
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.
Sparks definitely weren’t flying when Phil Garland bought his dad a welding machine they couldn’t even plug in, but that “useless” machine kicked off a journey he never expected. From a curious mind to becoming Fronius Canada’s National Product Expert, Phil’s path shows how networking conversations can become career-changing connections. We're not gatekeeping any secrets in this episode, so put on your PPE and get ready to level up our welding skills!
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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 to the CWB Association Welding Podcast. I am your host, Kevin Roi, and tonight I have with me Phil Garland, also known as the Welding Philosopher. Phil, how are you? I'm good, Kevin. You not too bad. I'm kind of fighting a head cold right now, but uh the show must go on. Uh I see, I see. So, Phil, tell me a little bit about yourself. Um, you know, what do you do for work? So currently I'm uh employed uh with Fronius Canada as a welding applications technician. Uh I'm also the national product expert for Tig and Plasma at Fronius. Um so it's uh a very um dynamic and interesting role. Uh I get to see a lot of interesting stuff, and uh yeah, there's no shortage of uh of new things to see. Yeah, Fronius Tech is insane. I just came uh just a few weeks ago from an event we had with the Regina chapter, and we got to test out all the latest Fronius tech, and the stuff's is just amazing. Yeah, yeah, it's uh it's pretty groundbreaking. Um it's actually I remember when I first got my hands on on a Fronius system, uh, it was at my in my previous uh employment. Um somebody came to do uh to do uh a training with us, and it was uh a TPSI, CMT. Uh that individual was none other than uh Mr. Ivan Wright, who uh who's been on the uh CWB podcast before in the past. Nice. Um he um yeah, he came and uh you know we chatted and stuff. He trained us on the system. I was a lead welder at the time. And uh yeah, I just got to use the system for like a year and couldn't believe you know how well it worked, uh, how stable the arc was, the uh controlled heat input, uh, etc. The list goes on. And um yeah, so like a year later, I guess I guess I left an impression on on Ivan and and you know he contacted me, said, Hey, we're looking for somebody, and I think you might be the right fit. And all I thought was, well, here's an opportunity to grow my my skill set, uh, grow in in the industry that I love. And selfishly, I get to figure out how these damn things tick because my brain couldn't wrap my head around around that arc stability. So yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm I'm sure there's a lot of technical stuff that the people using the machines don't necessarily need to know or want to know, but for for for those that care, uh yeah, it's uh it's absolutely crazy. So before you were with Fronius, what were you doing? Um, so I um I started so I guess I'll back up to kind of growing up. Um so I grew up on a on a Yeah, sorry, let's let's back all the way up. Yeah, how were you as a toddler? Rembunctious. Okay, carry on. So um yeah, growing up, uh I grew up on a horse farm. Um, so we uh we had uh you know on on farms as there are, there's always things to weld, but um my father didn't really have any implements to weld, didn't really know how to weld. We didn't have an oxyacetylene rig, we didn't have any electrical type welding. And back in those days, like you know running on 110 wasn't as common if if at all, and uh multi-voltage was definitely wasn't a thing. Yeah, we didn't really have the ability to weld. There was always stuff breaking on the farm, and we never had something to weld. So uh one year I went out and bought my dad, or technically my mother bought my dad for for Father's Day, uh a Lincoln uh MiG Pack from Canadian Tire. Oh yeah, that's a classic. Yeah, yeah. And and you know, unbeknownst to to myself and my mother, we didn't realize that um the uh the welder needed needed um 220, right? We couldn't we couldn't uh hook it up to to to to power uh because of what we had on the farm. So uh it sat in a box for years, and we never uh never got to use it. And uh yeah, that was the my my exposure to welding uh as a child. There wasn't really I knew welding was a thing, I just didn't know anything about it, right? So you you bought a machine, couldn't plug it in. Well, I guess that's it. That's it, right? So, you know, we'll fast forward years and years later. Uh my then girlfriend uh had to move to to um to Guelph here in Ontario, and uh so I said, okay, well it's time for me to to to grow some ring wings and and and you know move out and figure out what the world has to offer. So her and I moved in together and moved far away from home and I started working at different jobs. I worked um I was a CNC mill operator, uh, started dabbling in programming as well. Um, so that was that was educational. Uh worked at uh pneumatic robotic bagging facilities, um uh different different things that I did here and there. And then finally I I happened upon a place that was making electrical enclosures. And I started on the assembly line. I hated the work, but the money was decent. Um I did that for two years there, and I kept seeing these flashes of light in another department, and I was drawn to it, right? It was like, well, what's that? And like a moth to a flame, like a moth to a flame, right? And uh as this as the saying goes. And um, so and actually I knew it was welding, but you know, and I talked to my father-in-law at the time, and he said, Well, what kind of welding is it? I was like, I don't know, only melt metal, like and so he, my father-in-law had had he was a heavy diesel mechanic and he did various different things, uh, you know, mechanically inclined, had done some welding uh certifications back in the day with with stick and a bit of MIG, and um, but uh like old school, right? So he knew of TIG and MIG and Stick, but he didn't really know too much of TIG. He he he he asked about it, but he didn't really know the process. But anyway, yeah, like back back in the day it was called Heliarch. Like yeah, yeah, exactly, right? So, you know, fast forward a little bit, I said I'd like to I'd like to move to that department. So I started off as a metal finisher and uh you know, grinding, polishing, and understanding what made um a good weld in the sense of the necessity of doing the metal finishing, right? Oh yeah, and I always tell people and I joke around, like, do you have your grinding ticket? And I I say this all the time, but like grinding and polishing is is a skill, it's an art. And you're right, like you get to spot every little imperfection. So yeah, so yeah, carry on. So you knew exactly how to make a weld look good. Yeah, yeah. So and and I knew when a weld would make my polishing job more difficult, and that was a thing, you know, I I learned over over I did that job for like a year and a half, two years. Well, technically I did it for longer than that, but uh get into that in a second. But essentially I just knew when I looked at a weld, I'm like, okay, this is either gonna be really easy to grind and polish, or this is gonna be really hard to grind and polish, right? So I came to get like frustrated with the bad welds and and appreciative of the good welds. So finally they were uh they I asked this one guy who was who's a good welder at the time. I said, hey, you know, I'd really like to try it, and it was TIG welding, right? Stainless TIG. And uh he said, sure. So unbeknownst to us, he he gave me uh a welding hood and just try it on break, right? And uh we didn't realize that the hood had a dead battery in it. Oh no, so yeah, so I can't see anything. All I see is the white light, and I'm looking for Jesus, can't see him, I can't see nothing. And um, yeah, so I'm trying to uh trying to dip the rod in the puddle. I don't know. I have and he's like, what are you doing? I was like, I don't know, you're supposed to tell me what I'm doing. And uh it didn't go well. It really didn't go well, and um so that was it. I put this down, I said, Oh, this is really hard. It's not for me. Still not realizing he didn't know that the battery was dead, and I didn't know. So like a year went by, carried on thinking I'm never gonna learn how to weld. That's okay, I'll just keep metal finishing. I enjoy this, just listen to my tunes and podcasts and whatnot, and move on with my day. And uh an opportunity came up a year later. They were looking for an official backup welder on the production line, and I said, Okay, maybe I'll give this another shot. And I was uh respected member of the team, you know, I worked hard, had good work ethic, showed up every day. So they they picked me um and they said you could pick whoever you want to learn from. So I picked a guy, his name was Keith. So great welder. Um, welded there for years on stainless TIG. So, you know, he said, Okay, I got a an eight-hour crash course with him. So I sat down in the in the cell with him, and he's he just said, Yeah, you're gonna watch me for a bit and just keep an eye out. I'm like, okay, here comes the bright light, right? And then did they give you a helmet that worked this time? Well, that's just it. This time I had a a a I bought a cheapy off Amazon. That's okay. Yeah, it worked. 50 bucks, you know. I put it on and I look, and then when when the arc got lit, I was my my my helmet went dark and I went, oh and I realized I connected the dots, right? It was like, oh okay, this is a whole year. Yeah, for a whole year you're just yeah, completely dumbfounded, and here we are. Yeah, yeah. I would say in the dark, but it was quite the opposite. So eyes hurt. Yeah, exactly, exactly. So um, but yeah, so then I got an eight-hour crash course, and um then I started just getting into it. Nice. Like I fell in love. As soon as I saw the arc, I fell in love. Um you know, uh you hear welders talk about it all the time. It's therapeutic, yeah, um, it's calming. Um you know, there's just so many different things about it. Um there's quote n not quite anything like that, you know, you can see your progress just instantly in front of you. It's not like you go to the gym and you work out, it can take you know weeks, if not months, to see progress at the gym. But when you're welding, you can see progress in real time as you weld, as you get better and better, right? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So so I I welded the production stainless sheet for for you know a while as a backup welder. And um then uh we also did some aluminum welding, so I I I dabbled in that, started doing that, and and I got more proficient. And now I was you know, I was welding one to two days a week for for a few years. Um so over the course of that eight welding or eight-year uh uh welding time frame, uh I eventually got the opportunity to become a full-time welder. Um I got that position through some some hard work and a few other things, which I won't get into, but um knee pads. Uh no, no, no, no. Let's just say uh let's just say I had to fight for the position that that I was already rightfully in for for years and somebody else took it. So it yeah, it was uh it was a hairy situation. Um, but uh, you know, uh it came out on top because I had the the the skill and but long story short, basically once I fell in love with with the Tigark, I said, what else is there? What you know there's more to this than just just this, right? So then I started doing research. I found out I had a passion for research. So I did a deep dive. I spent probably three years um, you know, reading articles, watching videos. Um, so you know, weld.com, uh Arc Junkies Podcast, um uh welding tips and tricks with Jody, uh Justin the Fabricator. Yeah, like really the the last episode that I did, yeah, like Jody came up during that. Weld.com came up. Um, like getting online and doing that research is something I don't think a lot of people are doing. And I think if you're in a trade, it doesn't have to be welding, you have to you have to do these deep dives. You have to step outside of your eight hours and actually get that knowledge and and start I don't know, not like caring more, but maybe caring more, you know. Yeah, yeah. I've always said that, you know, if if if you are a person who and that's the thing, the so like I never went to school, right now, um some people get surprised by that being uh with the position that I'm in, but um I always say like a person who has passion but that maybe doesn't have a formal education is more dangerous than somebody who has no passion but has a formal education. Oh, for sure formal education will only get you so far. Um now, if you have a person who has formal education and a passion, now that's somebody that's a dangerous person. That person can go even further, right? And I had stumbling blocks in my in you know in my self-teachings. I I spent long time chasing uh uh things that I didn't understand. Like I give an example when I was learning how to pipe weld. Again, being self-taught. Now, Instagram obviously was uh was a big help. I had a lot of people I can lean on there, but um in person there was nobody there showing me, and everybody said, Oh yeah, you need a uh this you know 37, 36 and a half degree bevel face, right? Yeah, and uh that was from the face, I was beveling it from the side. So in fact, I was trying to weld a knife edge 75 degree bevel. Yeah, I can't, I I was able to do it, like I did it just like after a while, but I'm like, it shouldn't be this hard. Yeah, and that's crazy. I'm so sorry to interrupt you. I dealt with this today at work, so we have a bunch of guys going for their pressure ticket, and our machinists did the exact same thing. So instead of doing the 37 this way, 37 from the other side, so yeah, we got this huge sharp angle, and it takes like four or five passes to put a cap on this, say, like, this isn't right. Like, I've been in that booth, I I got my pressure ticket, and like it should take I don't know, two, three passes max. Like, so yeah, I I I know I hear your struggle. Not to mention, because it's on such a uh a sharp bevel, your knife edge has less meat near the point. So now your heat, it's it's really easy to blow off the the the edge of the pipe and have a blowout. And it kept happening to me, and I couldn't figure out. So eventually I could say at the end, I was like, okay, well, now doing a 37-degree bevel is like a cakewalk. Um, and I can do uh a 70 degree if need be. So yeah, it's honestly if it's perfect every time and you learn nothing, that one day that you have a terrible fit up or you have something that you're not used to, you're I don't know, you're gonna die, right? Like it's the worst day in your life. But if you have that experience of working with poor fit up or what you dealt with, then you become a better person, better welder afterwards. Well, that's just it. And it's a great point that you bring up. So for me, like welding in the in the industry that I was in with it with the sheet metal, right? So I was it was a very narrow uh focus because you know, sheet metal. So sheet metal, you can't really apply sheet metal to you know welding uh say inch thick eye beam, like it just doesn't translate. Oh no, don't so me being in the booth, what did I do? I mean, I once I mastered stainless Tig with with you know sheet metal and and some some thicker stuff, but and and aluminum, I was like, okay, I gotta start challenging myself. So what did I start doing? I started putting my my electrical enclosures in all sorts sorts of wacky positions. I would sit on the floor, have the pedal, you know, rocking on the side of my ankle, uh, weld overhead. I'd put the box past the table. It did just do the dumbest thing I could come up with to make it feel weird, get uncomfortable. Because you know, the ABCs of welding, always be comfortable. But at the end of the day, and I did a post on this a long, long, long time ago. The fundamentals are ABCs. Once you've got the ABCs down, now it's time to get uncomfortable. Because that's how you excel. You excel when things are hard. So and and I started bringing things into work that you know were not sheet metal. Like I started practicing on my own stuff. I started bringing stick electrodes in. I started uh um uh MIG welding on stuff that you know we didn't necessarily need to MIG weld, but I wanted to learn, and uh everything outside of TIG, I had to just kind of scratch my head. Like MIG was a long process. It took me like a year and a half on every break I had. Oh, yeah, yeah. Like here's the thing is everyone thinks MIG is so simple, you know, like a monkey can do it. You hear that all the time, but it's not, it's really not. Sure, you know, like if you don't know what the knobs do and how they relate to each other, you are going to struggle. If you don't know what that weld is supposed to look like or even sound like, you are going to struggle. And I I just did a video with the CWB. Um, doing the MIG flat test, so the structural test, right? It's often overlooked, right? Because all MiG's easy, flat is the easiest position. It's failed by like 90% of people first time around. Yeah, no, it's true. Um some people take some things and they think, oh, it's and like make you said MIG is a prime example. So if you have um, you know, I always look at it like stick is kind of like a marrying between TIG and MIG in the sense of you need to have a bit of knowledge, and you know, there's uh a hand-eye coordination and skill. Mig, not to say that there isn't any hand coordination and skill, there is, but when you compare it to something like Tig, it's it's different, a different league, right? Um, however, when you want to know how to do MIG properly, you you need to have more more uh knowledge uh necessarily than skill so that you can set up the MIG welder properly, right? Or or GMAW, if however you want to refer to it. Um there's just more to know. Where TIG is just, you know, you need to know your amperage and the and the material, and then the depending on the material, you need to know your polarity. Like, is there a lot of knowledge behind TIG? Yes, but it's more on the metallurgy side than the setting side. Uh, and then knowing you know, thermal conductivity of aluminum to copper to stainless, and so on and so forth. Yeah. So being and being skilled, hand eye with Tig, a hand eye and foot with TIG, right? Where MIG, you know, you are pulling a trigger. If you're if you're set and you know what you're doing, you know, MIG is easy, you're right. But at the same time, you know, get out of position. If you're not doing that flat weld, you're going vertical up. Uh like to this to this day, I've got you know journeymans that I work with that uh you can't put it down. Like it's yeah, no, and that's the thing. You you you uh I always say it's like it's uh another example is like learning if you want to learn the basics of a process uh versus learning the advanced version of the process. And what do I mean by that? So uh to learn the uh basics of TIG, I find, and this is my opinion, and people might disagree with this, but I find the basics of TIG, the fundamentals of having an arc, uh especially with high frequency, and uh just uh dabbing a rod and and making a weld, in my opinion, uh is easier than learning how to stick. And we're talking the basics here, just the fundamentals of being able to strike an arc and lay somewhat of a bead. Now, once you get the uh fundamentals and the basics down, mastering the process is a different story. Tig's learning curve is a lot steeper, it takes a lot more dedication and time to master the TIG process. Whereas stick, it's easier to master but harder to start. That's how I've always viewed it. And again, some people might might differ on that opinion, and that's when you s yeah, when you started that train of thought, I thought I was gonna have to fight you, but uh you bring up an absolutely good point. Because yes, like once you have the basics down, uh stick is pretty simple. Right. But TIG, there's a lot more involved. So yes, you're right. It's it's a way steeper learning curve. Yeah, and and again, I don't want to take any anything away from any one of the processes, they're all difficult in their own right, and and they're all a skill set. And anybody who has any one of these skill sets, like if there's a welder out there who's who just does MIG, uh this is not, I don't want this to in any way take away from what they do. There is still a a fundamentally important um uh uh gap that mig fills, and it and and it's still a skill that requires that most of the population can't get. If you take a person who's never welded before and you give them a MiG torch, they're not gonna just lay a bead down. It's not like a hot glue gun. There's a lot going on. There's heat, there's sparks, there's there's every well, sparks depending on what process you're running, but you get my drift, right? So it's wait a minute. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, we'll get on the Fronius stuff later. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So so that's the thing, right? It's not it's not just like a hot glue gun. So there is still a lot of skill involved. It's just, you know, if you you start comparing processes, right? And well, welders always do this, right? They start measuring and saying which which which is better and all that, and they all have their place. They all have their place. Absolutely. Yeah, you can't knock anyone for like I support all welders. If you if you are laying down a weld with an arc, no matter how you're doing it, like you're my people. Yeah, that's right, that's right. And then and then you go into the oxyacetylene side of things, and that's that's just fun. Ah, we lost the arc. You know what? Screw those guys. No, just kidding. I actually I think so. They don't teach as much oxyacetylene welding in welding schools as they used to when I went through. And I found it uh that oxyacetylene was the best way to learn uh puddle control and heat input as well as adding filler because you really learned you gotta bring the flame in, okay, you get it nice and molting, you're manipulating, you see it dropping out. Oh, I gotta pull that flame back, or I have to add filler in. And it's the same thing with TIG, I think. Yeah, so that's a great point. Um, so I can always A, when I can always tell when I'm training somebody if if they're an old oxyacetylene welder, always because the first thing they they do is they they just do a little motion with their TIG torch, right? It's a little circular motion because they're trying to manipulate the puddle, right? And it's it's it's it's cool to see. It's cool to see the knowledge carry forth because you're right, they're very, very similar. Um and I would say oxy oxyacetylene welding is very similar to how uh a lot of Europeans weld because foot pedals are not common in Europe. Um very few very few people in in Europe use foot pedals. Um, and then of course we have our our our our our rigs here in in North America with with scratch start and things like that, where they're they're not using a foot pedal either. So how are they manipulating their their heat, right? They are doing the exact same thing, they're changing their speed, they're backing up, they're they're doing what they need to do to control that that puddle. So um pedals, and I hate that pedals and puddles sound the same because I mix them up all the time, but pedals are great tools, they definitely have their place. But the second you take a TIG welder who's used to using a pedal and you take it away from them, and they only have uh an on-off essentially, it's a it's a completely different skill. Like it's almost yeah, it's almost like they forget how to weld. Uh yeah, yeah. You know, for many years at my workplace, I was the the dedicated dedicated TIG guy. And I never used the foot pedal. We had a thumb control, an ab troll. Right. So I would always max out the machine and control everything with my thumb. I hardly uh last time I used a foot pedal was in welding school, which you didn't go to. We'll get into that as well. Um so when I got to use a foot pedal, it was completely different to me. I didn't really know what was going on. Now take it a step further. I got a machine at home that I take, you know, to different job sites, and I don't like using the pedal. Like let's say I'm in some stairs doing a handrail. Now I'm using the 2T or 4T function, right? And learning how to use that, not just the on off, but setting the down slope and double tapping to use the down slope as also I can cool the puddle down, but then I can amp back up. Kind of like I was doing at work with the thumb controller, but it takes time, it takes practice, takes diving deep into what those processes or remotes do, right? That's just it. I remember so um I remember when I was at my my former employer, and uh I I got to the point where I was kind of the unofficial lead welder essentially. We didn't really have a position, but um, I got called on to do any any specials or rework. There's a lot of rework. Uh um, but uh so the other the other great thing about about my role there was I got to train all the new people. So even though I had the least amount of seniority, I was training the new hires, I was training the new backups, I was yeah, so it's I think this is a good time to touch on that. So no real formal training, just on-the-job training. Now you're the go-to guy, you are the guy that fixes what people screw up. But so how how how did people take that? How did you take that? Um people didn't take it well. Um like I was mentioning earlier about the full-time position coming up, um, you know, and I didn't get it. The other person essentially, and I don't wanna, you know, uh um, I don't know if he's gonna listen to this podcast or not, but essentially somebody lied. Let's put it down that way. Um said they could do something and and they couldn't. Um so uh we we had a a a test essentially, and and and yeah, so what what comes down is as we had a lot of experienced guys who thought it was weird that this kid on the block, new kid on the block, was was was training new employees and in doing interviews too. Like when we interview a new welder and we had to do a weld test, and it was a very rudimentary weld test, like lay a tick bead on aluminum and stainless. That's it. And it wasn't anything formal, there was no destruction testing, it was just a visual inspection. It's like can you can you turn the machine on? Can you set your settings? Can you lay a bead? Exactly. That's nice, that's 90% of the battle, really. Yeah, it is, it is. So and so I was the one that was chosen to do to do those tests because I knew what I was looking for, and I also kind of changed the game a little bit with with with how things were welded there. So uh the guy who taught me, Keith, he had uh a little bit of that passion in him, right? He saw somebody using a larger Fuhrer cup, and he noticed that the welds uh represented better visually, right? Had had more of the chromatic colors and things like that. So he um he he uh invested in some cups. They the company didn't want to purchase them, but uh, you know, the argon tanks were full, so uh drift uh so so you know his welds came out better and shinier. People you know commented, it's like, hey, this is easier to work on, so on and so forth. Um then I just took it a step further and I started learning how pulsing worked. Nobody pulsed any of the stainless, so we had a lot of oil canning issues. I would then uh uh pulse the stainless and and you know eliminate oil canning. We had some uh this is a fun one, actually. We had one specialty product uh a year before I left, actually, which was a special hygienic product, and um we were dealing with warpage issues, so they sent it out to uh get laser welded. And they how long ago was this? This is about two and a half years ago. Two and a half years ago. So lasers were just becoming a team, right? Yeah. And uh so they actually sent me to do to go do a demo uh at a facility that sold the laser equipment, uh not far from where I currently work, actually. And uh so I I went to do the the demo, like I got to participate in the demo, I should say, and try it out. And I s and they asked me what I thought, and I said, listen, um, at the end of the day, our issue is is is training, and I know you wanna you think this is a magic bullet and it's easier to run than TIG. And in some ways it is, but in other ways it's really no, there's still a skill involved, it's not point and shoot. Um, so it really depends on how you wanted to look at it. But anyway, I digress. Um, so they sent these parts out to get laser welded to that same company. And um what happened was uh they said, okay, well, let's put our our welding, our our best welding up against this laser welding. So I did my damnedest to take the and the issue was was warping. We had oil canning on the top, the bottom. We even had thick, thicker plate. And what what in my world at the time was thick plate, it was uh uh uh a 10 gauge stainless plate for the bottom of the enclosure. And some of some people are like, God, that's heavy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Some people are laughing right now. It's like, boy, you don't know what thick is. Um but uh but for at the time for sheet for a sheet metal enclosure, right? So um, and then and then the rest of the enclosure was 16 gauge, but it was the base plate because of the orientation of the welds and and and the directional uh welds weldments and the shape, it the odd geometry, it would just buckle the bottom like crazy. So I I did, you know, I this is and people are familiar with my pulse work on on Instagram. Like it's just I have a high, high uh peak current, and uh so I managed to put uh that kind of weld on and went head to head with the laser welder, and the laser welder actually had more oil canning than my pulse weld. We ended up not getting the laser welders because I said it's it doesn't serve the purpose if we just pulse weld all of our uh hygienic enclosures. So wow man, like uh you hit a lot of points there, but the reason like I started following you many, many years ago. Um, and the reason that I started following you was your sheet metal work, like there was no one in my shop that could teach me that. Like I was the guy and I needed to uh figure things out, I needed to branch out and the stuff that you were doing, which is insane, the stuff that you can do with 16 gauge, because I just got through a stainless steel countertop job recently. And if anyone has ever welded 16 gauge or 18 gauge, even 14 gauge countertops, butt welds, you will understand how difficult that is to keep flat. It will humble you as a welder like nothing else will. Like, oh, I failed an x-ray. Yeah, but can you weld 16 gauge stainless countertops? Like, so yeah, like uh bringing pulse in. Um, so do you fuse weld your countertops? Like, I'm being super selfish right now. No, it's all good. Uh yeah, so it all depends on on what I'm doing, the fit up. Um, so you know, there's a lot of caveats to it, a lot of nuance, right? So yes, you know, if you're if you're autogenously fusing something, um will put in uh will technically warp apart more than if you are uh welding with filler. Now, the reason for that is the filler adds material, so there's less pull, right? But in order to melt the filler, you need more heat. So then your pulse is a stronger pulse, so therefore more heat means more pull. So there's really a uh a lot of nuance to it, right? It really depends on the settings. So yeah, for me, like, and I saw and I saw that that stainless countertop, which you did a beautiful job with, by the way. Uh thank you, thank you, but you do not have to say that, you know, like I I squeaked by, you know, the health inspector said you're good, and that's okay, I'll take it. But yeah, so for for me, like if I'm doing uh a butt weld on a counter, um, it would all depend on the geometry and the thickness. Um, if I can overlay uh sorry, underlay copper underneath as a backer, um, you know, so on and so forth. So um I think I mentioned to you, like I'd probably, you know, lift up the lips just a little bit, uh, just to kind of give a raised impression, and then and then pulse it with a high peak. Um, and and I'd probably move around the part too, and you know, do an inch here, an inch there, cool it down. I might hammer and dolly a little bit too, um, just to kind of help flatten that down, polish. I'd probably do the polishing first. It or the grinding, sorry. It all depends on on on what I'm seeing. Uh I'm gonna I'm gonna let the metal speak to me, right? Yeah, oh absolutely, because at at one point, so I had a L shape, right? So 24 inches of weld. When I was done welding that thing, and I ran out of gas for about three inches before I started seeing the little sparks flying off. It's like, oh my god, flip my lid up. Oh, I destroyed this thing. Anyways, was able to fix it, but when I was done welding it, it had, I swear to god, like a three-inch bow upwards. I'm glad it was upwards and not down. But like it was just absolutely ridiculous how bad this was. And I I was gonna go home, like just that's it, I'm done. But I let it cool, I ground it a little bit, and you could tell too when you're grinding, it heats up again and moves again, and then like oh, your discs, whatever your abrasives you're using, start responding differently. So stop exactly, go do something else, jump to something else. As soon as I did that, you know, it kind of came back down, ground a little bit more, came back down again, and eventually I got it super smooth and flat, but like it takes a lot of patience, and you really do have to let it speak to you and listen when it's speaking to you. Yeah, yeah. That's a thing. Stainless, like for those who who don't really ever get to weld stainless, stainless pulls like a motherfucker. Oh my god, does it ever? Yeah, and and it uh it can do some serious damage, like depending on on the orientation of of of things and and what you're welding and and the and the thickness and and things like that. So uh and then the problem is like with sheet metal, we're kind of fortunate because it's you know uh us mere mortal men can you know bend that back a little bit, but if you're welding like something stainless that's like heavy half inch wall or something, yeah, you're not bending that back. It's yeah, it's never coming back. I remember doing um a surround for a fireplace and big, big long miter joints like six, eight inches long, and it was one eighth thick, so I was feeling pretty confident. Um, I even tied the bottom together, try to keep that opening square and the dimension it needed to be. Whatever, put some aluminum backer on there, suck the heat out, welded this thing up, took the brace out of the bottom, and it shrunk an inch and a half just after like releasing it. So I learned also fit up is key, you know, fit it, fit it a little bit loose as you're tacking, it tightens up. Start with a little bit like an eighth of an inch gap over that eight inches. By the time I'm done tacking, that's tight. Now I have my my overall dimension that I'm hitting, and I haven't built stress into the piece. Yeah, that's that's exactly right. Like it, you know, when we say fit up is key, it doesn't always mean uh ideally what's perfect fit up for the joint in that position. It also means that you have to think about down the road this how this part's gonna weld. So, like on a pipe as an example, making your gap bigger or smaller depending on where you're gonna start, right? Because as you're welding, things are gonna tighten up. So you don't want to make your gap a perfect eighth of an inch uh gap all the way around and then use an eighth of an inch rod. And then when you come up near the top, you find, hey, my eighth of an inch rod all of a sudden is getting stuck, right? So so learning, and I and I remember learning that like I think I was two or three years in. So um welding on the enclosures, right? Because they're square boxes and they have a lot of folds, and then they don't tend to warp or buckle too too much, like oil canning is the biggest problem you have, and that's not really the end of the world. Um, but it as far as dimensional tolerances, you know, you could just give it a bang on the table and it's square again, right? Not a big deal. Yeah. Um, but with uh with with those dimensional tolerances and things like that, like you learn, like, oh, if I tack this, like you said, a little loose uh and weld it, it'll pull in my favor and do exactly what I want. Like overbending and then and then applying heat, you know, all these tricks of the trades for for for for stainless. And then aluminum will pull too, but you know, there's it's different, uh less so as well. The warping behaves differently, and and and there's tricks around that as well. I always find welding hot and fast uh eliminates a lot of the unwanted warping. Um I completely agree. And like it's kind of um it messes with your mind a little bit, but welding hot and fast, you are putting in less heat into your piece if you're just gonna hang out there in your one little inch of weld and you're there for like two minutes. Like, think of the amount of heat that you're putting in, or you could blast through that in like half a second. And well, that's just it. So um, the first video that ever pieced uh this together, so like we were mentioning, you know, I I did the research and watched a lot of videos. So weld.com, there's a lot of safety stuff I saw there. Uh Jody Collier, there was a lot of uh on on tips and tricks, there was a lot of uh uh welding knowledge, metallurgy knowledge, aluminum, things like that. Um, but the one video that I saw that really hit it home for me for stainless was the fabrication series. So Justin was doing a uh video and he showed time versus amperage, and all he did was just do a spot weld with Tig and let the arc go at a certain amount of time. And basically his goal was to reach a weld size with a given amperage, and you see, like, oh, if you were at a higher amperage, you reach that weld size a lot quicker, and then it that visual representation just clicked for me, and all of a sudden I'm like, I I can't weld low, I gotta weld high and I gotta move. The other the other tip that helped the most in my stainless welding was Jody's comment of you need to start the arc, and when you start the arc, you should already be moving. So this ties back to uh me mentioning, you know, starting to train the newer welders. I had uh one of my friends that I I worked with. Um I taught him how to weld, he became a backup, and now he's a full-time welder there. He's still working on the line, um, you know, and he got to to to enter into the into the career that way. Um, but I remember he was struggling with his lap welds the one day, and he and he is he was first learning and and you know he was trying to get the gold weld right, and he just you know struggling and and and and couldn't get it, and he couldn't figure it out. Um I watched him and I'm like, okay, I'm gonna do something. So I went to the machine and I uh basically made the I changed the T mode so that the pedal act like an on-off switch as opposed to a pedal, right? Yeah, uh it was an old Lincoln Precision Tig 275. So you you kind of set up a little pulse situation for him. No, the quite the opposite, actually. So what I did is I said, I want you to start the weld, and it's going to feel too hot. And I told I told him, I was like, your first 10 welds are gonna look like garbage, but you're used to welding, so he would set his machine to like 80 amps, right? So what I did is I didn't give him a choice. I set the machine to like 95, 100 amps, I can't remember what, and I said, when you touch the pedal, it's just gonna turn the arc full force, you're not gonna have any control. And I want you to get good at starting your weld and moving. And it took him, it took him a while, right? Like, yeah, you start with that much heat, you're not used to it, and and the start of the welds kind of look janky. But um, by the end of the day, his welds look like mine. Like he was like, Holy crap, what a difference that makes. I was like, Yeah, you gotta move because that time you spend trying to get that puddle established is very different than aluminum. But that's yes, yes, that that time you spend wasting trying to get that puddle to to form and to move, that's time you could be welding. Like starting hot and moving. Yeah, so you went from you know putting uh these boxes in uncomfortable positions, learning how to make yourself uncomfortable so you could become comfortable. Maybe the guy who's supervising you was like, this guy's crazy, uh, to becoming the guy who's training people and showing these little tricks, which is pretty awesome because you know, like if I had somebody like you showing me that stuff, I would have progressed way faster. Yeah, that's the um that's the thing I always get. Um, you know, it it took me years, and I've got everybody's got them, right? Pictures of their of their some of their first welds, and I've got some of those those pictures on on my phone. And you know, it took me a long time to get to the the ability where I'm at where I can you know lay it lay a bead uh uh in in such a fashion. And it it it was a struggle for the first couple of years. Now I had I had people I could lean on, like I had you know the the the the welder I mentioned, Keith. My lead hand was also helpful, but it's not like I had one-on-one, you know, day in, day out. Like I asked them a question, they could spare a few minutes and and talk to me about it, but that was pretty much it. And then when it came to aluminum, there was one guy that was welding there. He gave me, you know, he said, Oh, you have to set the machine to AC, and you usually uh usually use a smaller cup. And that was it. He never showed me how to weld aluminum. So my aluminum is completely self-taught on my own. And you know, uh it it was a struggle. Um, and then eventually I got to the point where I was like, okay, now I can share what I've learned and and and and help progress. And then so you fast forward eight years of me welding there, and here comes my wife, who then starts welding, right? So she she starts at the same facility, and yeah, so I said, Okay, well, let you want to learn how to weld. She said, Okay, so work was kind enough to let us stay late on Friday, so we'd we'd stay late for an hour or two, and I show her the basics, right? I said, you know, this is the machine, this is how you be safe, you know, this is the polarity, the on-off switch, the the basics, how you put a torch together, because a lot of people don't put their TIG torch together correctly. Um, you've got to do some shorts on that soon. Um but um so um yeah, and uh so slowly over time I I you know taught her and and she progressed really fast. And I'm always like, it's insane how how fast you're learning. I was so impressed, and she kept keeps reminding me. She goes, Well, and you're teaching me. If you had somebody teaching you the way you're teaching me, you'd probably be the same way. I still don't think that's true. I think she's a natural, natural learner, and as we all know, women typically make better welders than I was just going to mention it. Yeah, they have more more patience, more attention to detail, uh, more retention. But um, hey, listen, we got to take a short break here for our podcast advertisers. Uh, we'll be back in a few with our boy uh Phil Garland. 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. Welcome back. I'm here with the welding philosopher. So we were talking before the break, teaching your wife to weld. Now, uh I'm sure my wife will listen to these episodes eventually, but I tried to teach my wife how to weld a couple times, and it didn't go so well. Uh, you have a different experience. Well, um it didn't uh it didn't always go smoothly, as as one can imagine. Um, you know, uh there was some ups and downs, and there were some points of almost quitting and and things like that. Um, but um, you know, I kept I kept urging her because like urging her on because she was doing such a good job and she was learning at such a fast rate. I was very confident, though at the time she didn't see it happening, I said, this girl's gonna be welding like full time soon, or if not in a backup position, you know. And um, you know, time progressed and and she got to the point where I was confident that she could do some of the basic stock items that we had there. And um, it came a point where we were we were short-handed. We we we didn't have enough welders, people were calling in, you know how how the story goes. Um all too well. Yeah. So I mentioned to my supervisors, like, hey, you know, my wife's been learning how to weld, and I'm confident she could do uh these few positions on the line. And they they like looked at it at me like, really? And I'm like, yeah, yeah, she's she's quite proficient. So supervisor leaves and goes to the other department to go get my wife because she's working in the same assembly line that I started in. And uh I text her and I was like, hey, by the way, you're you're you're you're getting called up to the to the front lines here. You're getting called up to the big show. Yeah, yeah. And uh she's like, What do you mean? And I was like, Oh, you're they're gonna ask you to weld. She's like, No. And I was like, Yeah, she goes, Oh no, no, I'm too scared. I'm not good enough. I was like, no, no, you I I told her and she didn't realize those pieces of scrap that I and I say scrap with hyphens, yeah, or that that you've been welding on. Yeah, that for the last week, though those weren't scrap, those were actual product pieces. I felt confident enough that you were, you know, you were not gonna scrap parts and stuff like that. And uh so yeah, so and then I mean to say the rest is history. I mean, it's uh yeah, she she started welding, she became a backup whenever we needed her, and then eventually she um she uh she became a full-time welder. And uh so her and I welded together side by side on on the production line for a year and a half, a year, something like that. So and then I left. Is she still doing that right now? She is indeed still doing that, yeah. She's uh she's she's now considered like the the the the the same role that I was in essentially that that de facto unofficial lead welder. She's she's now in that in that position. So she does all the fun work. Yeah. You trained your replacement perfectly. Well, it's funny, actually. So not only did I train my replacement, but she trained my actual seat because she was a full-time welder while I was a full-time welder. And when I left, my seat opened up, so a full-time position was open. And then a welder from a different department who could do TIG, um, and and and and MIG, but he wasn't comfortable with the stainless portion of it, but he really wanted to learn. Um, well, he applied for the position, and his name happens to be Phil as well. It's kind of funny. So he got my seat, and then my wife trained him. So it's uh didn't even have to change the name tag on the booth. It was just exactly this is easy. This is yeah, yeah, it was meant to be, it was meant to be. So yeah, so it's generational, right? Like I I left there having taught, I think half the department was was trained by myself. Um, and then now my wife uh Lee is is carrying the torch and and and continuing that on. So that is awesome. Yeah, training is so important. Uh I I see it, you know, at my company that the the the less you train or the more you gatekeep knowledge, the worse off you are as a company. So it's it's always good to have um that willingness to learn and that willingness to teach is a big one. I teaching for me is a passion. Ever since I started teaching people how to weld at that uh in that role, uh I've grown to love it. And you know, that's sometimes part of my um my um uh position now at Fronius is is is teaching uh sometimes. And um it's it's something I just I have an incredible passion for. And I like to teach hands-on welding uh with newer welders, experienced welders, doesn't matter. Um and it's something I want to I want to pursue in the future uh privately as well. Um yeah, let's let's get into um what you do with Fronius, what your position in with was sorry, what your position is with Fronious. Uh you mentioned that you were a Tig and Plasma expert. Yeah, so I'm a I'm I'm the national, I'm the NPE, which stands for National Product Expert for Tig and Plasma. So um basically in Canada with with through Fronius, if there's any questions that come through that pertain to TIG and Plasma, uh they basically get forwarded to me and I take care of them. Um so we have a lot of different processes, advanced processes, um, you know, with with with Tig uh and Plasma Um that are unique. Um so uh, you know, as an example, something that some people have never heard of before, we have something called Arctig. So ArcTig is a very are you are you familiar with ArcTig? Just recently, because of the demos that I was able to have, but but for the listeners, yeah, lay it on us. Okay, so arctig is a specialized process. Actually, I shouldn't even say that. It isn't a specialized process. The process itself is just plain old Tig. But powered through the iWave, um, we uh also have an auxiliary chiller, and that super cools the tungsten. So it's a special 700 amp torch, and by super cooling the tungsten, it focuses the arc to a very narrow arc column. Now you might ask yourself what that might do to a weld. So with conventional TIG, your penetration is limited to about three millimeters uh give or take. With arc tig we're able to penetrate up to 10 millimeters on stainless. Wow. So let's paint a picture. Conventional Tig, okay? Just plain old TIG torch. Manual or robotic, usually manual in this sense, but you're you're on a pipe and you're welding a pipe. What's the first thing you gotta do? You gotta grab your grinder and or you're you know, cutting, whatever, laser, however, however you do it, oftentimes hard rock, and you're grinding your bevel. And you're grinding and you're grinding and you're grinding and you're grinding. And eventually you have your bevel, and then you start doing your open root. You have to use rods, lots of filler, etc. etc. Arctig, that makes that a thing of the past. So it's in a robotic application. So, you know, this is for for pre-fit up, pre-fab, things like that. But basically, what we can do is we take two ends of a pipe with no bevel prep, we butt them up tight, tight with no gap, and we get 100% penetration at the 10 mil thick. That's insane. That is absolutely insane. And like 10 millimeters talking three-eighths wall pipe, you know, for everyone listening. Yeah. How is that possible? And also another question I have is has certification caught up to that technology? Like, can I go out there in the field and weld a stainless steel pipe joint like that? So we have customers that are are running this process. Now, the the thing the the key thing here is because the process itself hasn't changed, it is still conventional TIG. When you turn the iWave on and you want to run Arc TIG, you're just selecting TIG on the system. So as far as the process is concerned, there isn't a special like as in the I'll use um, you know, uh uh uh pulse versus conventional, right? For uh for for GMAW. If you're certified to conventional, you can't use pulse, right? If you're certified for both, you can use both. That's great. But sometimes you're beholden to either pulse or conventional. Well, if you're certified to TIG, you're technically also certified to Arc TIG. The difference being is is there a uh automated feeding system? So, you know, that's sometimes a criteria in in these certifications. In this case, there would be, yes, an automated feed system. The other thing too to keep in mind with this process is you're um using less filler material because it's a butt-to-butt joint, uh, you're not having to fill a groove. So there is a filler wire, but it is uh, you know, usually um an 035, maybe an 045, but at a relatively slow wire feed speed, only enough to give reinforcement on the cap and reinforcement on the root, should you need that. Right. I was gonna ask about you, yeah, you're getting penetration, but what does the root look like? Is it like a conventional TIG root? Um, it looks more like a uh like a GMAW route in the sense that there's less rippling. Traditionally, when you're when you're manually TIG welding on on stainless pipe, you tend to have a little bit more of a ripple effect in in the pool because you're agitating the puddle in and out, the rods maybe coming undone and then cooling and stepping as you move the torch. This is a constant process, so the the the penetration profile is more uniform. It's more like a wetting band, uh uh smooth uh smoothness, basically. Um, and maybe a little bit more. And you can set it however you want, if you want more or less penetration, that's all dependent on the parameters, right? And you can use this process on basically any material that you would use TIG on, right? And you'd also you'd have to purge those that you'd have to purge, right? Correct, correct. So the the the one thing, so because of the thermal conductivity of stainless to mild, um, some people don't think that there's much of a difference. There is, right? So stainless is less thermally conductive than than say a carbon uh steel. Um, so what does that mean? Um your arc goes a lot further on stainless because the heat doesn't get pulled away. Now the difference isn't like aluminum to mild, of course. Aluminum pulls way more heat, but it's still enough that uh uh uh say I'm gonna use a generic amperage, let's say 100 amps, actually will travel further for a stainless part than it will on carbon, because carbon pulls a little bit of that heat of the way so that the the arc won't bury as much. So, you know, there's just little nuances like that that that come down to the middle of the metallurgical side that matter. Um, but yeah, you're right. You can use it on on any any material uh that you would conventionally use, usually carbons and stainlesses. Arctic wouldn't really work for like an aluminum pipe, say, but um we have other processes for that. So yes, you do. Yeah, I witnessed uh jumping a one-inch wide gap on a 10 gauge plate, so one eighth thick, um, around I want to say 10 volts with 035 wires with the CMT process. I'm throwing a bunch of information at people right now, but to jump a one-inch gap with aluminum MIG or GMAW is insane. Like you're never gonna do that, it's impossible. But with CMT, it's possible. So CMT is cold metal transfer. Can you get into that just a little bit? Yeah, sure. I actually did a crash course on this today for so for some students that came by the lab. So um the biggest difference. So for those out there that know uh the the science behind GMAW, when they pull that trigger and they're in a short circuit, right? A traditional short circuit, the wire comes down at a certain rate, uh depending on what you have it spet to, wire comes down, resistance builds, voltage spikes, you have a small explosion for lack of a better word. That's your short circuit, and thus you have a weld, right? The key there is your voltage spikes. Now, because your voltage spikes, that's heat input, right? What it what is cold metal transfer? What what is it what is what defines cold metal transfer that's different from short circuit? So CMT is a modified short circuit process, so it is limited in thickness up to three mil. Uh now we can hybridize and mix processes with pulse processes to to further increase that range. So we can actually mix short circuit and pulse together to get different ranges. Um, so we can do some pretty advanced things that. That way, but uh back on CMT. So essentially, when the wire comes down and touches the plate, what's happening is that wire is only getting enough um basically uh heat in the wire so that the wire starts to have a pinch effect. The keyword there is starts, so that wire gets soft enough, and then what we do is with our high torque motor, we actually rip the wire away from the part. So we leave the droplet behind. Uh one of my colleagues refers to this as a sewing machine, as one of the apt ways of putting it. So that wire is stabbing the part, but it's not stabbing. So with short circuit, that wire is constantly going down, and the only thing that's making it back feed, and again, I'm hyphenating that, um, is is the short circuit itself, right? Is it's that's what's causing the wire to shorten. With CMT, we're mechanically retracting the wire back and forth. So when we rip it off the part, the droplet that detaches gets left behind, so there's no voltage spike. That's how we can weld so cold with CMT. It is the coldest process on the planet. That is crazy. Like you really have to enjoy the science uh behind welding to really uh understand what is happening. But uh like just seeing it in person, and you mentioned this earlier, having it in front of you and and witnessing something, just like learning how to weld and seeing the bright lights, you have to witness it to to really uh get a taste for it, a love for it. But I'm really glad that you you broke it down like that because uh I didn't really know, I hadn't I had an idea, but so dropping that that little droplet and ripping the wire away, how does that droplet then fuse, or is it does it fuse when it touches at first? So it's a any conventional, so so how would I put this? How would I put this? So imagine you have a a a dropper of water, okay, like a like a like uh an eyedropper, okay? And and I've never used this analogy before. I just came up with this now, but I think it's gonna work. So you have an you have an eyedropper, right? And you squeeze out just enough water that you know you've got a drop that's suspended there. Short circuit would be you come near a surface of water, you touch, and the water is still touching the the surface tension, right? But it's also still in the dropper, and then you push the dropper, you or you squeeze the dropper, which forces the water into the water, yeah, the droplet into the water. Thus you get your short circuit, right? Um with CMT, what we're doing is that that droplet is uh coming out of the dropper, it's touching the surface of the water, and then it's touching it enough that the water is kind of connecting, and then you rip the dropper away, as opposed to squeezing it. Right. So you're not adding more voltage, you're you're ripping it away. Now the the droplet is soft enough that it is sticking to the part. There's enough heat that that that wire is soft enough, right? It's in a molten state just enough that it sticks, right? And then you can change that with with your given um your given uh parameters on on how uh and again I hyphenate this, sticky the wire is um so um yeah, that's that's that's a science. I think that was a great analogy, actually. Made me understand it a little bit better. Yeah, yeah. Some sometimes I have these bright ideas. Yeah. So with your with your position with Fronius, do you do a bit of traveling? You do trade shows? Like um do you like do you ever leave the Ontario region, the Greater Toronto area? Oh, is that what they call it? The Greater Toronto area? Ooh. Ooh. My drive was an hour and a half home tonight, so I don't know if greater is the right word, but uh anyway. We're gonna call it the WTA from now on. So um my position is is um uh pretty uh multifactorial in a sense. Um so uh there's three three or four main roles that I have. So um one of them is doing demos. So going out and showcasing what our equipment can do. You've you've seen those demos firsthand. Um I think a tech in your region is Johan, I think. That's right, yeah. Johan is is the man. Yes, to Johan. Yeah, big shout out to Johan. The dude is a genius uh with welding, yeah. And like big shout out to Dave for a guy who like jumped into that position, uh, filled some pretty big shoes. Uh, amazing guy. Yeah, and he's very he's very friendly to me, so I can't I can't hate, you know. Yeah, Dave's great. I I have the utmost respect for for everybody here at Feronius Canada. Um uh we have uh a really strong team, um uh so and a lot of strengths uh across that team. Um so that'll touch kind of on my next point. So um there is less traveling than there used to be because we now have techs established in in um every province. Uh it used to be the Ontario guys used to travel out of province quite a bit, but not as much anymore. We're actually hiring a new applications position in uh Quebec. So for those of you who are interested uh and want to work for Fronius as a an applications technician, uh such as myself, um uh you can apply uh uh uh for for for for Quebec because we're we're looking more for more. And and Quebec's industry is very, very diverse. We've got aerospace, we've got military, we've got oil and gas, we've got everything in Quebec. So there's so much to see. Um being that I'm more in the TIG side of things, I get to spend a lot of time in aerospace and nuclear and things like that. So that's a lot of my ballpark, heavy vessel manufacturing. It's it's it's quite interesting. Um, but yeah, so so uh another aspect of the job is the training, of course. Uh so I get to either when we sell a system to to to uh uh a new uh uh uh client, we uh we then train them on the system and how to use it and get the full potential. Um so I get to go out and do that. Uh that's a favorite part of the job. So there's traveling involved with that, right? I get to go to places. Um so far, the farthest I've gone is basically Ottawa, so not crazy far. I'm actually from the Ottawa Valley, so you know, got to visit some family when I was down there. But um that's good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the reason I asked, yeah, the reason I asked about that is is just speaking for myself, is ever since I started going to to events or shows and things of that nature and like networking, actually going and speaking to people and and hearing how passionate they are about whatever product they have, like uh it's open it's opened up different pathways in my career anyway. So how do you feel about those those networking opportunities? How how important is networking basically? Um, I think it's very important. Um, you know, mm the first little bit I uh chance I ever had to network was with Ivan, actually. As as silly as it sounds, like you know, Ivan and I talked, and I, you know, I I said, you know, I was so interested, and I I was a welding nerd, right? I just it's I eat, lived, and breathed welding. So talking to Ivan, and that that was a mini type of network, right? And then you know, him and I exchanged contact information and we stayed in touch a little bit, you know, here and there, and he saw what I did on Instagram, and and that's how I came to be working at Fronius. I still had to go through the application process and everything and and beat out the other people, uh it was a lot of work, and there's it's it's it's it's a process to get it to Fronius, so they don't just take anybody, um because they they they they want to have some good representation, right? And so yeah, so um, but yeah, so their networking I think is is is really important. Um, and then uh over time I've gotten used to you know meeting people from Instagram. So you run into people like I remember the first time I met somebody at the lab, somebody came in for a demo and they recognized me and they said, Are you Phil? And I'm like, I I am like who like how do you know who I am? And they recognize me from Instagram. I'm like, holy, like that's the first the first time that happened, I was shocked, right? But since since since kind of experiencing that now, now going to uh you know Canada Well and Supply just had their grand opening. So I got to see a bunch of uh um uh followers uh for from Instagram, which is which was a a great, great time. Um, but networking, meeting them, um Daniela, right from the CWB, of course. That was uh I think my second time meeting her. Um shout out to the boss lady. Yep, yeah. Um, so so yeah, I think networking is important because you don't know what opportunities are out there until you meet people because it you know, they'll always say, like, oh, you can't get in there, you gotta know somebody, right? That's the old expression. It's like, well, then meet somebody. Like, yeah, you're not gonna see anything or learn anything if you don't network and you don't meet with people. And I I'll be the first to admit my networking skills are not the strongest. Um, you know, I I lead a busy life and and and job, career. Uh, you know, uh, we just bought our first house uh uh last December. So um, you know, I have uh I have I have that to contend with. There's a lot going on. So um I know I know I have the same struggles. Like I'm so busy and I'm doing so many different things, but anytime there is something like an event with the CWB or whatever show there's going on, like we just had Skills Canada here. Like I'm gonna book those days off of work. I'm going to make time for that because you're exactly right. You don't know who you're going to meet, you don't know what kind of conversations you're going to have and what could lead from all that. And like it's crazy how how small the welding community is, especially the online community. It almost seems like everybody knows everybody, right? So, you know, you may you may say something or show something to someone, that person goes and talks to that person, and all of a sudden there's somebody in your DM saying, like, hey, there's this opportunity, or hey, you help this person out. Can I get some help? Like it's I think networking is just huge. It's super important.
SPEAKER_00:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01:And and it's it's important for career development. It's also important for for for for for knowledge and and just learning, um, learning what you can. Um, there's some stuff that you'll only learn through networking. Uh like an example, right? You're learning on a on a on a metal alloy that is never welded on. So as an example, um, I networked with somebody who had happened to weld on two inch thick titanium. Oh, that's expensive. Yeah, yeah. And it's like you you ask yourself, how do you even weld that? Right? And it's like when you when you get to to to meet and talk with that person and get a rapport, it's like that's that's somebody you can fall on. If you ever come across something that's unique in the future, you go, I know a guy or girl that has done this before. And you can call them up and say, hey, I'm running into something either the same or very similar. Can you run me through that uh how you how you did it? And the great thing is, you and you touched on this earlier, gatekeeping, right? Gatekeeping is slowly becoming a thing of the past, I think, and for the for the for the betterment of of the industry and all industries. Absolutely. Yeah. And nobody wants to gatekeep anymore. And I and I was the first one was like, I want to share everything I know. I want everybody to be up at the same level so that we can be stronger as a team, right? And let's be honest, doing rework is no fun. So if everybody's good, there's less rework, right? Yeah, yeah. You never want to be put in the corner like you're only gonna be doing this, right? I think the more you know, the more experience that you have, the more valuable you are. And you know, you'll have those days where you're short a couple guys or whatever, or girls, sorry. Um, and okay, well, now's your chance. Like you've had a a little bit of knowledge, a little bit of time to learn. Like, let's go do it. And you'd never do that unless somebody had taught that person or showed them a thing or two. But I I think the trade, all trades really right now, you know, I I kind of see it bouncing back, but all the trades were kind of struggling, and the age gap, the knowledge gap that we have is just crazy, right? So if these older folks aren't training the younger folks, then we're in huge trouble, right? And you never know, like you you can't you can't uh uh put a hundred percent of what you know into somebody. There's just no way that that person is going to become you or be as skilled as you. So you can only hope that you put half of what you have into those people. If those people then are training other people and only transferring half of that, now we're down to 25%. So the more you can put out, the more you're willing to put out, I think is is for the betterment of the trade, the community. Yeah, and and and I think and uh to bring up uh another subject on that matter, um, it's becoming harder and harder to find skilled, um, skilled tradesmen and and tradeswomen. Like, um and I think that's something that Fronius is is seeing, right? They're they're they're they're seeing this often is the biggest question. It's like, you know, getting the welding equipment is easy, getting getting getting what we need to do the job is easy. Getting the people to do it is difficult. You know how many times I get job offers because they see, oh, you're a tech, right? And yeah, they think a tech is just is just the guy behind the computer, the guy that knows the welding machine. But when they see that you know somebody can actually weld and and weld well, they're like, oh, like are you looking for a job? I'm like, no, I'm quite happy where I am. But uh thank thanks for the thanks for the thought. But um it happens often. So Fronius is seeing this first hand, and that's a lot of the push behind our innovation is is is to make welding easier to pick up and learn, right? So you know, the whole idea behind synergic welding and and you know, being able to set your parameter just from your plate thickness and one easy dial and everything is set for you. Um, we have something new coming out. I don't know if you've heard of uh of Velo yet. Um yeah, it's uh Dave touched on it when I was trying out the machines. Also, the weld wizard I enjoyed. You know, like I consider myself a pretty proficient welder, um, but just going in and putting in everything that I knew about what I was doing, and at the end of it, you know, getting to choose my position, showing me travel speed, making those little suggestions uh made me an even better welder, I want to say. Yeah, so I'm gonna take that a step further. Now, if you put Velo on the weld wizard, so for those who don't know what Velo is, is basically, and I I don't want to keep selling Froneyus features, but I'm passionate about this stuff and and I like to share it with people so that they understand what we have to offer, right? Um, but Velo basically is imagine a nozzle on a MIG torch, and that nozzle has a secondary feeder just on the side of the nozzle, and that feeder is feeding a small filler wire, much like a MIG wire, same same thing, but at a slower pace. And that wire is acting as a feed rate mechanism for your travel speed. So, much like the handheld laser systems, if people don't know those those wires push the gun along, this will push your MIG welding torch along. All you have to do is maintain torch angle and work angle, and that's it. The the wire does the speed for you. So when you couple that with a wire with a with the weld wizard, that will track and determine your welding speed. Take it another step further, you put that on a welding uh uh tractor system, like uh we have our um flex track system. So we offer uh uh tractor systems as well. People don't know that, but um we have very robust tractor systems that and then you set the speed. So if you use the weld wizard in conjunction with that, you set the speed perfectly and you have a perfect weld every time. Every time. That's that's crazy. That's you know, like, and I'm sure the diehards, the old heads will say, Well, that's cheating, that's not real welding. That's the complete opposite, right? Like the easier and the more efficient you can make your process, the better off you are, right? Yeah, because it's gonna come a point in time where you know it used to be we have, and you know, there's less and less people that are wanting to get into the trades. I think it's changing over time. If you see more and more people getting into it now, but there's gonna be a time where there's just so many welders that are needed that before when you had two positions that were filled by two guy two two people, right, to do the welding. Now what's what it's gonna look like in the future is one guy is gonna have two tractors or two buggies, however you want to refer to them, the flex tracks, whatever, and you're gonna have two torches and you're gonna set the one torch and it's gonna go, and then you're gonna set the other torch and you're gonna monitor both welds, and you're gonna do the work of two of two men, and you're gonna get paid more for it because you know how to set up the system, you know how to set up the automation, and and it's and it's easier on your back. You don't have to like I were doing vessel welding at this one facility, and guys were walking on their hands and knees, uh sorry, crawling on their hands and knees, welding the the this vessel closed, and you just give them a buggy, and all of a sudden, you know, less WSIB claims, less short-term disability claims, because now they can just walk around with their controller and and control the buggy from a distance and be more comfortable in the in the work environment. And while you're setting those two buggies, you are going to load up your cobot that's just over in, you know, just yep, yep. It's just it's crazy what is happening with welding technology and the introduction of all these new processes. Um so we're we're getting a little short on time here, Phil, but like you've been awesome and I've really enjoyed this conversation. Um what is a piece of advice that you would uh instill in the next generation of tradespeople coming up? Whew, that's a good one. Um yeah, so not not to be uh specific on the welding industry, but just as a broad, right? Um ask questions, open a dialogue, um, talk with uh anybody and everybody and and don't be so um single path minded, like listen to everybody's opinion. It doesn't mean you have to take it, but sometimes you'll get some grains of uh of truth in in what people are saying. Uh so you always want to have open dialogue uh and discussions and and look for conversation, look for information. Um, you know, you're uh and I use welding as an example, you're uh uh a stainless pipe welder, and that's all you do. Well, learn about aluminum stick. Who knows? You might who knows, right? You might one day be stuck and you have to stick a couple car batteries together and light up an arc on a on an aluminum electrode. You never know. I I really like how you mentioned just like the the welding process, like just yeah, aluminum stick, everyone's favorite. Yeah, yeah. I had to put it in there somewhere, but yeah, no, it's it's I think it's important to just open dialogue and and have conversation, meet people, discuss, and you know what? Instead of doom scrolling some days, like we all do, look up a random process. Look up look up something, whether it's whether it's welding, whether it's carpentry, how how to put in a truss on a roof, uh, you know, plumbing, how do you put in a sink, whatever. Just you know, expand your knowledge base, um, and and and talk with the people that have been around and doing it. When they say, hey, you know, this could save you a lot of time, or just just listen to these guys because they've been around a long time and they've seen a lot. And yeah, there might be newer technology and better ways to do things, but that old experience still speaks a lot to to to today's environment, right? It's important. Absolutely. Well, thank you very much, Phil. Um, you can look for Phil at the welding philosopher on Instagram. Do you got any more handles, any more uh social media that you use? No, that's pretty much it. Uh, I think I might eventually uh jump on the YouTube bandwagon here at some point, but uh yeah, uh it's been a pleasure, uh Kevin. Thanks for thanks for for for you and CWB for having me on. I really appreciate it. It's uh it's been a pleasure, and uh yeah, it's been fun. Well, thank you very much. So, yeah, please uh subscribe, like, share this with whoever you want to. We've got episodes dropping weekly, so make sure you stay tuned. Thanks very much.
SPEAKER_00:You've been listening to the CWB Association Welding Podcast. If you enjoyed what you heard today, rate our podcast and visit us at cwbassociation.org to learn more. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions on what you'd like to learn about in the future. Please subscribe and thank you for listening.