Dear all,
I am almost a freshman of AWS D1.1, and trying to learn it as much as possible to get my CWI examination in next month prepared. What I am looking for is a Guidebook of AWS D1.1 that can do the trick and save time.
Does anyone have this kind free book(Whatsoever it will be) to kindly share with me? Please advise!
Thank you for your time! Allen.
By 99205 
Date 02-27-2011 19:11
Edited 02-28-2011 01:55
Personally I don't think there are shortcuts to the codes. The code portion of the test was, for me, pretty stressful because of the time constraints, less than a 1 1/2 minutes per question to read, understand what exactly is being asked and find the right answer is not a lot of time to deal with. The CWI tests your ability to find the MOST correct answer as quickly as possible. Test day is going to be the longest day of your life. I wish you luck with your test next month.
Welcome to the forum Allen
The AWS.org website has suggested study material.
Honestly, if you are a freshman at D1.1 you might want to think about pushing your test date back a year or so. The CWI exam is pretty comprehensive and requires thorough knowledge of D1.1, hands on visual inspection, a process based knowledge of about a dozen welding and inspection processes.. and code research accuracy under a stopwatch.
There is a week long seminar befor most CWI exams that is of great benefit.. But even this is only ment to prepare test takers with YEARS of code quality experience. It is a test that sends professional engineers home with failing scores and migraines if they don't take the time to prepare.
Thank you, as you suggested, I plan to delay the examinaition, even though there are some colleages of mine passed this examination.
Allan,
It's probably a good idea you have. We are not trying to intimidate you at all.. But experience has told us that this is a very tough test.
Talk more to our colleagues and find out what study materials they found most useful and BORROW THEM!
Come to this forum regularly and look at the code sections.. People bring very interesting questions every day to this place... go to your codebook and try to find answers.. Even if you don't respond to the poster you will get great experience and you can check your answers against some of the best pros in the world.
WELCOME TO THE AWS WELDING FORUM!!
I am going to make a dangerous assumption.... Supposedly you have experience in Codes or you wouldn't be qualified to take the test.
Now, as Lawrence stated, AWS makes a recommended list of reference materials. They will assist you to a degree in your preparations.
The AWS D1 Code Clinic Manual will help guide you through some study of D1.1 so you can find things quickly.
But having this background is not as valuable as having a working experience with the Code.
Just keep going through the Code book getting familiar with where different parts are.
I also agree with Lawrence's recommendation of the seminar. It is well worth your time and money. You will be taught much about using the codebook to find the answers. Not just in tabbing, but in learning how to break down the information and know which section to look in for the answer. Also get familiar with the index AND Table of Contents. Once you get an idea of what information the question is asking you for you can better find out where it is by using both of them.
Don't try to memorize the code. Know how to find the answers in it.
Have a Great Day, Brent
I have to agree with all of the above. Upon listening to the experts on this forum, I took the seminar and then gave myself a couple more months of study time. The seminar is worth more than you will pay, but there is so much information that you cannot absorb it all in a week. There were many people taking the seminar that couldn't absorb everything, and then got stressed out. This made it even harder for them to take it all in. I was more relaxed because I was on less of a time constraint and this allowed me to pay more attention to the material, and less on what I may have missed. Give yourself time to learn everything, and you will do well. As stated earlier, the test is not easy, but doable. Good luck
Chuck
I was told to read D1.1 three times in preparation for the CWI examination. The first reading was to acquaint me with the general layout of the code and where the information was located. The second reading was pick out the key words and key concepts. The third reading was to develop a question for each clause I read. You have to read the clause closely and understand what it is saying to write a reasonable question that gets to the kernel of information contained in the clause.
If you are using a workbook with questions, make sure there is an entry in the index of D1.1 that will get you to the clause that contains the answer. There are a number of clauses and tables that are not included in the index. One example is F numbers for the SMAW electrodes. Another one is "fit-up". What we commonly refer to as "fit-up" is not to be found in the index. Add to the index as necessary to help you navigate.
Best regards - Al
It may be hard to see at first but there is a sequential logic to D1.1. This manifests in the Article order and within the individual Articles. Familiarize yourself with this logic so that even if you are asked a question of which you are ignorant of the answer, (of which in my test there were many), you still know how to quickly find it. The test will be open book.
Also, I do not believe in the tab system they teach. For me it just got in the way.
One other thing, to be comfortable and confident in the test, I do not see the possibility of short cuts.
There are so many requirements and limitation inside about the joints, base metals, filler metals, positions,.....Really difficult to catch what is the important points if lack of application experiences (to prepare WPS or conduct PQR test...and so on!)
And your suggestion is very good! Trying to find out the logic by many times reading of the Code to make myself familiarized.
You will not be able to retain all of the requirements in the code. I've been working with it for about 10 years now and still constantly refer to it. I'm sure some of the guys that have been using it far far longer than me will concur.
Spend more time thinking in terms of HOW to find what you need, where the information should be, as opposed to the details of what is in it.
My suggestion seems to be a "radical" approach - or at least that's what I've been told by some wannabe inspectors....
1) Get a set of practice Code questions.
2) Use your copy of D1.1 to find the actual answers to the questions.
The Index works very well, the table of contents does also; mark it; tab it; whatever works - but you need to open the book and use it.
As Chet says, you can get some practice questions. Doing a search on this site should give you several results as I know this has been covered many times in the past 3 yrs.
Have a Great Day, Brent
All, thank you for your good suggestion, I think I need to make sure three times carful reading before CWI examination. I have to delay the examination.
Pay close attention to key words in the code and/or question...ie. Shall, Should, etc... some words mean something is manditory and must be done, other simply suggest what could be done.
