Paul W Cameron - CWI
I know enough about welding to be dangerous. Go ahead, ask. Diary of an “Unstable Work History”
I stumbled into Welding completely by accident.
At Duluth Area Vo-Tech I signed-up to attend Carpentry Class, I was required to add a second choice on that application, I chose Welding. I completed the 9 month Welding program and immediately went to work at a local manufacturer, Clyde Iron Works (my Grandfather had worked and retired from there about 20 yrs earlier). Clyde Iron was the first in a series of 2nd & 3rd shift jobs this young Welder
08/27/2024
https://gofund.me/a8047efa
Brent Boling is a very active AWS member and a friend. His son, Trent was found in his travel trailer. He had suffered a heart attack while working out of town on an inspection project. They could use your prayers.
Peace.
PWC
Hey there! I just wanted to share this GoFundMe for Trent Boling's (Brent Boling's son) family; they really need our help after his sudden passing. Each donation can make a huge difference in supporting his wife and eight kids during this tough time. If you can, please click the link to donate or share it with others. Thanks so much!
Donate to Support for Trent Boling's Family, organized by Anne Gould Late on August 23rd, Trent Boling suddenly and unexpectedly went to be with his Lord a… Anne Gould needs your support for Support for Trent Boling's Family
08/26/2024
Do you ever experience that feeling you get when you think your thermos is empty, but find there is still 1/3 a cup of coffee left? IK,R?
08/23/2024
Wrapping up a Great week in Texas. Good group of future CWI's. I also got to share dinner with one of the welding industry Greats, Larry Bower (probably talked more fishin' then weldin').
08/18/2024
If there's one location I LOVE teaching, it's Texas. It's Good work if you can get it.
07/29/2024
Trying something new tomorrow; teaching an online AWS/CWI class from the camper. Is it wrong to pray for a strong cell signal? (I already prayed the fish would be biting before class). 🎣
07/02/2024
Spent the day on Prickly Pear Creek and the mighty Missouri. You shoulda seen the one that got away (technically, they all got away). Enjoy your Independence!
Listening to Charlie Cross and Padraic Bean from Lincoln Electric discuss WPS's/PQR's and Welder Qual docs on Arc Junkies Podcast with Jason Becker. Great Stuff!
09/22/2023
Dianne got me this simply for mentioning, "It's the perfect shirt for the Army guy who's had a less than stellar exit from active duty."
08/31/2023
ASME PQRs on a Seamer. Stainless Steel, gas backing.
08/08/2023
The PQR to API-1104 continues.
07/28/2023
Me, after teaching an 1-week online WPS and a 2-week online CWI Seminar. (I know there's nobody around. It's 90 and humid here in MN. They're all inside) At least It's a wet heat. Cheers!
07/14/2023
Spending a lot of time in a steel shop UTing FCAW connections. I see Welders clean their Flux-core gun the same way... beat it against the column fl**ge.
06/27/2023
PQRs to API-1104 (19th Ed.) It's good work if you can get it.
06/17/2023
Our travels give us the opportunity to hear and tell old "Welding War Stories". Yesterday, we swapped stories with Eldon. A Farmer and Fabricator at Winnebago Manufacturing. In his 57 years on this property he only managed to burn down 1 outbuilding... a 120 footer while welding a skid plate to an ATV. Not bad. Eldon is a lover of old Farm Impliments and I LOVED hearing about them. Thanks for the parking space my New/Old Friend.
05/22/2023
Happy to be at Northeast State Community College. I really think I could a been a driver if I could a just made weight.
05/10/2023
Just hangin' around.
03/31/2023
Favorite work day of the year, API Welder Requals. They're ready to go back to work.
03/19/2023
I get the chance to travel a lot training CWI's. This week took me the farthest east I've ever been, Boston and New Hampshire. It's good work if ya can get it.
02/21/2023
Putting up Structural Steel on a "Big Box". Ya gotta open and close the roof the same day. This is the definition of a "Hold Point". Usually we do this in the middle of the night.
02/04/2023
11/15/2022
The Podium at an Ironworkers hall... always a minimum 100lbs.
11/09/2022
Yesterday in Toledo I had the best API-1104 seminar I'd ever had the opportunity to teach. Why? 'Cause I had all the time in the world to teach it. Next up: 3 days of Part-B. We Got This.
10/21/2022
My favorite Instant Messages to receive. Now go do good things.
10/17/2022
CWI training in the Motor City. Shout out to my buddy JP and Crenlo do Brasil for dressing me for success.
09/30/2022
AWS D1.5 Welder Qual afternoon.
Don't cut your coupons from 4" bar stock. It screws up your "direction of rolling". There, I said it.
09/15/2022
Enjoying the art show along the Mighty Mississippi.
09/02/2022
Making good on a bet.
08/22/2022
So, maybe like 70-80 years ago this would have been where Grampa's lathe and work space was. When I worked here (about 40yrs ago) my best friend Randy "Wags" dad was the forman in this shop. Me, I worked nights as a Welder 2 buildings over. Tonight, I'm having the Walleye and a Cream Ale from Castle Danger (beats burritos from the rod oven). If you find yourself in Duluth, MN check out . I LOVE it's history... but I'm a smidge biased.
08/11/2022
1-Week in-person seminar at Today's day 5, Code book test day. Tomorrow, Hands-On Part B. Then on to Saturday. Thanks for hosting.
07/15/2022
online seminar this week and next week. This is Command Central. No, that's not a portrait of my wife looking down on me... she's actually looking over me. No, she does not like the sun blocker in the window. And yes, that (Hobart) poster is the one I've hung in my office since Huntington, WV. ❤️
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My Story
I stumbled into Welding completely by accident. At Duluth Area Vo-Tech I signed-up to attend Carpentry Class, I was required to add a second choice on that application, I chose Welding. I completed the 9 month Welding program and immediately went to work at a local manufacturer, Clyde Iron Works (my Grandfather had worked and retired from there about 20 yrs earlier).
Clyde Iron was the first in a series of 2nd & 3rd shift jobs this young Welder would have between 1980 and 1996. During this time welding took me from Duluth, MN to Billings, MT then to Sheridan, WY and eventually to Denver, CO. In each job I was presented opportunities to learn something new about how the craft I had learned as an “at-risk teen” could be applied.
Working alongside “The Old Guys” who taught me to read a drawing, lay-out a weldment, shear parts to their proper size and get the bend lines right on some of the worlds heaviest lift equipment was my starting point. From there I moved on to repairing mining equipment on some of the largest broken parts imaginable…
• Removing worn teeth using Oxy-Fuel & Carbon Arc equipment on a Cat Grader Blade Ring Gear
• Using FCAW to re-install the new teeth and using SAW to re-surface the entire ring.
• Re-surfacing the worn portions of a Dragline chain one link at a time.
• Repairing and Hard-surfacing a snapped “Ripper Shank”.
• Learning why and when to apply Pre-heat and Post Weld Heat Treatment.
Then I was off to Denver, as a new husband and father, to learn the art of Pipe Welding. Working for some of the most creative and skilled “Fitters” I learned…
• To bevel a pipe when cutting it to length.
• How to bend tubing so it comes out at the correct length.
• How to thread a pipe.
• How to put in a root pass using SMAW and GTAW in any position.
• How to “Walk the Cup”.
In 1993, as a 3rd shift Pipe Fitter and father of 4 under 6 I was given the opportunity to take the AWS-CWI exam. Passing that exam almost immediately changed my life. By 1996 I hung up the Welding Hood and moved my family to Huntington, WV where I started a new adventure as Welding Engineer for America’s oldest Rail Car manufacturer.
After Huntington it was on to Rochester, MN as Welding Engineer for a ROPS (rollover protective structures) manufacturer. Then Dodge Center, MN to build Cement Mixers and Trash Haulers. Then off to Hager City, WI as the QC Mgr for a Power Pole manufacturer. Each opportunity allowing me to meet and learn from many of “The Greats” in todays (and yesterdays) Welding industry.
Today I’m an ICC Structural Steel Inspector, Level II NDE Technician (Braun Intertec) and an adjunct instructor for the American Welding Society’s CWI Seminars. Welding has allowed me to raise and educate my 4 kids in some of the most beautiful parts of our country. Welding allows my wife and I, as empty-nesters, to travel the country with the AWS and hopefully, be that agent for change in lives of others in this industry hoping to take the next step.
Thanks for listening.
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