SCWI study material

By rhorton Date 08-07-2008 13:59

I am currently working in the Midwest as a Welding Engineer and I need to take my SCWI exam again. I had to let my previous SCWI expire do to a change in employment where I was not involved in the welding industry.

I am going to take the SCWI part A and part B open book test this fall and the format has changed since I took the exam in 1999. The original exam had a two hour fundamentals portion and a two hour open book to B2.1. There was also a seminar offered prior to the exam.
The new exam has a part A and a part B that is both open book with no seminar. They have a list of self-study material which consists of a number of AWS publications and a list of exam subject weights by percentage. There are no practice exams available and I am concerned about what to study for. Is there anyone that has taken the current SCWI exam that could shed some light on this subject?

By csdenny (*)

Date 08-07-2008 17:52

The SCWI exam is tough. The one thing that I wasn't used to was the open book testing. I fell into the trap of looking up answers for questions when I already knew the answer, just to be sure. The proctor called out 30 minutes left and I was only half-way through the fundamentals test.

For the Fundmentals portion, Know all of the elements of ISO 9000, there were 50 - 60 NDE questions, you need to know at least a little about 9 - 10 different methods, know D10.4 (25 - 30 questions) and know B4.0, mechanical testing.

For the Specific, know B2.1, B4.0 & ASNT-TC-1A for NDE certification.

I passed with a little room to spare, just a little. Good Luck.

By rhorton Date 08-08-2008 12:13

Thank you for your input. I am getting a feel for the fundamentals and the specific portions of the test and I can now focus on what it is I need to prepare for. I use B2.1, B4.0 and ASNT-TC-1A often in my current job. The fundamentals portion of the test is just a matter of review and studying the material like I did the first time I took the exam.

Why did they stop having the seminar for the SCWI? Did the original two instructors retire and they had no one to replace them?

By csdenny (*)

Date 08-11-2008 11:12

Prior to taking the SCWI exam in March '07, I called the AWS and asked about a seminar and was told that they were working on it. There may be more to it, there are not that many people taking the SCWI exam, it might not be cost effective to put on a seminar for just a couple of people.