Bouchie's Welding Services Ltd.

For 18 months, welder John Bouchie honed his skills in Fort McMurray’s oilsands, working on massive fuel storage tanks, 90 feet high and 190 feet across. Now, Bouchie has returned home to Nova Scotia, optimistic that the economic downturn can actually translate into increased demand for his homegrown business. 

“With the economic times the way they are, people will be more apt to repair what they have rather than buying new equipment,” he says. “People are using equipment everyday and people need repairs. All this stuff gets broken—somebody’s got to fix it.”
 
Bouchie is well-positioned to do just that. His company, Bouchie’s Welding Services Ltd., is based out of Ardness  a scenic coastal area between Antigonish and New Glasgow. In two hours or less, he can be in Truro to the west, Cape Breton to the east or Guysborough County to the south.
 
Of course, being in the construction business, he is willing to travel farther afield if the right project comes along. “In this industry,’ he says, “you have to travel.”
 
Bouchie can take his mobile welding unit to where it’s needed, and using his Lincoln Advantage 300—a powerful diesel welder—he can take on a variety of jobs.
 
Bouchie says the kinds of businesses that need temporary welding services are broad. “Repair work is the biggest calling,” says Bouchie. “That could be for trucking companies, forestry or commercial fishing equipment, storage tanks, trailers, highway or snow clearing equipment, or new commercial construction,” says Bouchie. “Anywhere where they use lots of steel.”
 
Welding, on the surface, seems pretty straightforward: Join two pieces of metal together using heat and a filler metal, making a joint that is both neat and strong. However the variables involved in the process are many.
 
To join two different kinds of metals, you have to contend with different melting points. You have battle gravity and awkward angles with overhead or vertical welds. And in the field, you have to factor in the physical environment like cold, wind or rain. Bouchie says working with stainless steel is particularly tricky as there is a narrow window between heating the metal enough for a good weld and burning through it or warping it.
 
The unique factors that make up each job mean that a welder needs to have the experience to know the right materials and techniques that will work with that job.
 
But the variety of situations and challenges is one the reasons Bouchie likes welding. “With travelling and work in the field, there are no two jobs the same,” says Bouchie. “Seeing different places give you a different perspective. You learn a lot.”
 
Bouchie has been welding since 1985 and has a wide range of experience. For more than 12 years, he worked as a welder, then welder/lead hand, at Trenton Works where he and his team built several types of rail cars and wheel assemblies.
 
In 2007, after going back to school to upgrade his certifications, he joined Atcon Group, a New Brunswick firm doing construction in Alberta.
 
Bouchie’s certifications, often called “tickets,” cover various welding processes and materials, including stainless steel and 2-inch pipe welding. He has tickets in stick and wire welding, and well as TIG (tungsten inert gas). Because of his range of experience, number of hours in the trade, and completion of a provincial exam, he is also Journeyman Certified, which allows him to work in any province.
 
In the immediate future Bouchie is looking forward to mobile welding work, taking on projects in the field, and renewing his relationships with suppliers, customers and colleagues. In the future, he hopes to expand his operation and perhaps have a staff of his own. “It’s a line of work where you have to make good contacts,” says Bouchie, “keeping as many doors open as possible.”