Doug has been metalworking since he was a young boy with dreams of becoming a blacksmith. His first business was making and selling custom knives at the age of 15. By 19 he was foreman of a crew of five weldors, designing and building prototype water cleaning equipment. He attended welding school at Fairview College and won the Alberta Construction Association’s W.A. Kermack Memorial Award for earning the highest marks in the province in his first year. He finished welding school at the age of 23 and became a journeyman weldor, earning his “B” pressure ticket shortly after. Doug is not only a weldor; he has the unique ability to create and design almost anything out of metal, whether a client has an idea on a napkin or engineered blueprints. After managing shops in Calgary and Peace River, Doug founded Hell ‘N’ Back Welding Ltd. with his wife Susan in 2004 so he could go into business on his own. The business started with a single portable welding truck, and has since expanded into custom fabrication and CWB certified structural welding. Doug has also given blacksmithing demonstrations at museums across the province, including Fort Calgary, the Sexsmith Blacksmith Museum, and the Grande Prairie Museum, as well as private demonstrations and workshops. Doug’s steel art is also in the private collections of former Alberta Premier Ralph Klein and Order of Canada recipient Mel Hurtig, and has been in art shows across Alberta. Doug is a master metalworker with a knowledge of techniques from over 100 years ago through to the most cutting edge welding techniques of today. Doug is an artist with metal. He is also a master of fire, performing professionally as a fire eater, fire breather, and whip specialist. He builds unique fire props for the family’s performance troupe, Circus of Hell. Doug’s family is the true light of his life, and he has worked hard to build the company so he can be home with his wife Susan and two daughters.
