The Fabricator Podcast

Greg Davis of Red Beard's Garage joins hosts Josh Welton and Rafael Guerrero to talk about his wildly popular YouTube channel , which he uses to teach people how to build and fabricate small engine vehicles like go-karts, minibikes, and side-by-sides. He shares how he started this venture by wanting to build his daughter a go-kart without any prior fabrication and welding experience. He also talks...

In this episode of The Fabricator podcast, sponsored by Schuler Group , host Dan Davis interviews Chris McMahon of Schuler North America about tubular hydroforming and how it serves the manufacturing industry. McMahon explains that the metal forming process involves loading a tube into a die, closing the die, and using water pressure to shape the tube. He highlights the advantages of hydroforming,...

Nikita Adickes, a fabricator and project manager at Orange County, California-based architectural fabrication shop CTEK, discusses her passion for metal fabrication and her nontraditional journey in the industry. She shares her experience working on various projects, including architectural art installations with the likes of Frank Gehry and James Turrell. Nikita also talks about the challenges sh...

After starting his metal fabrication career in 2008 and working through some personal demons, Matt Tyler came out on the other side with his own business: Matt Tyler Designs. In this episode of The Fabricator Podcast, Matt discusses the growing pains of small business ownership in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and specializing in architectural metalwork, with a focus on engineering and fabricati...

Shanen Aranmor says she was once described as a life coach under a welding helmet. She's taken that philosophy and run with it, and now identifies herself as Chief Wellness Welder with all the various initiatives she's involved in. In our first episode recorded from FABTECH 2023 in Chicago, Aranmor joins host Dan Davis and co-host Rafael Guerrero to talk about her Yuma, Ariz.-based program Weld Li...

Mitch Kraemer was working in the restaurant industry in Denver when friend and fabricator Tim Omspach approached him with an interesting career opportunity. Omspach had just launched Vvolfy Metal Works and acquired Ludwig Goppenhammer's business model of fabricating aerial equipment. Even though Kraemer didn't have any fabrication experience, he took on the challenge. Fast forward a few years late...

Kevin Cartwright had a very nontraditional path to becoming a welding instructor. The longtime Detroit-based multi media artist, working under the name Nivek Monet, spent years painting before turning his attention to metal sculpture art. That led him to working in various metal fabrication shops to learn how to weld. Eventually, he became the lead welding instructor at Randolph Career and Technic...

Myron Elkins joins The Fabricator Podcast to talk about his journey of being a factory welder from small-town Otsego, Mich., to becoming an touring Americana recording artist backed by Nashville producer Dave Cobb and Elektra Records. From ages 17 to 21, Elkins made his way through a vocational welding program at Allegan Area ESA Tech Center in rural Western Michigan and worked as a welder for Lan...

Since starting The Detroit Bus Company in 2011, it's been nonstop movement with a purpose for Andy Didorosi. After getting DBC off the ground, he has launched a number of other Detroit-focused initiatives, including The Detroit Student Race Team, Mutiny Racing, and The Arsenal of Clean. And housing all of those projects is a old 55,000-square-foot multi-purpose factory that he recently bought righ...

This week, Jessica Considine – a welder, fabricator, and artist based in the Detroit-area – joins The Fabricator Podcast. She's the creative force behind Sculpted Roots and a full-time fabricator for the Department of Defense with Navistar. In short, Considine exemplifies what a metal fabrication career can look like for the next generation of skilled tradespeople. Also joining the podcast as co-h...

What efforts are being made to reinvigorate apprenticeship opportunities in the manufacturing industry and the United States? One major manufacturer, Bühler Group, has been making strides to grow its welding apprenticeship program in North Carolina and Minnesota. Program director Michael Taylor joined The Fabricator Podcast to discuss what Bühler is doing make apprenticeships more appealing to sta...

This week on The Fabricator Podcast, we speak with the creative geniuses behind Chicago-based Vector Custom Fabricating , including co-founder Steve Mueller and partner/fabricator Seth Goddard. Mueller, along with Barry Hehemann and Mike Wilkie, started Vector in 1978 with a focus on blending artistic sculptures and architectural/structural metal fabrication. Mueller talks about the history of Vec...

Ron Dyrcz of Ronders Wood & Metal Works joins us on the The Fabricator Podcast to talk about his Chicago-area custom furniture business that combines metalworking and carpentry. A self-described maker, Ron discusses how he went from building furniture on the side while working at a production fabrication shop to getting laid off and starting his own small business. He also goes into how he's battl...

In this episode of The Fabricator Podcast, we speak with Antigone Sharris, Chairperson of the Engineering Technology Program at Triton College in River Grove, Ill., and Krystal Santaniello, Industrial Technology Teacher at Crystal Lake South High School in Crystal Lake, Ill., about emphasizing the skilled trades in the U.S. education system. Sharris talks about her more than 25 years of teaching t...

Andy Billman joins The Fabricator Podcast to talk about his career in manufacturing, the idea behind Arise Industrial, what he looks for when investing in metal fabrication companies, the importance of good culture within a manufacturing business, battling stage-three brain cancer, his college football career at Miami University, and his book Setbacks Into Comebacks: Say Yes! to Overcoming Challen...

Lisa Wertzbaugher joins us on the podcast this week to talk about small business management in manufacturing and her strategy behind developing a metal fabrication shop in Iowa. Lisa discusses how growing up around manufacturing and helping run her parents' tube fabrication business led her to small business consultation in the industry. She also opens up about how, after several years away from m...

The founder and owner of Las Vegas-based Precision Tube Laser, Jordan Yost, joins us to talk about his approach to building a metal fabrication shop for the next generation. Yost opens up about how he went from owning a car rental company to starting his own manufacturing business with a focus on tube fabrication and laser cutting capabilities. He also discusses unique challenges and opportunities...

Adam Hickey of Hickey Metal Fabrication joins the podcast to talk about navigating and progressing a multigenerational manufacturing business. The Salem, Ohio-based company is 80 years old and now on its fourth generation of family ownership. Hickey talks about how the company transitioned from construction-only to manufacturing metal products. He also goes into detail how Hickey has grown its cam...

Dr. Chris Kuehl, an economist with Armada Intelligence and a contributor to FMA's Fabrinomics e-newsletter , joins The FABRICATOR editors Dan Davis and Tim Heston to talk about how the futures of metal fabrication and manufacturing are expected to be influenced by several trends, including advances in technology, changes in customer preferences, and global economic factors. Also, what can watermel...

Justin Merrill of The Fabrication Series and Weld Metals Online joins The Fabricator Podcast in Las Vegas, Nev. Justin talks about how working in an auto shop let him to striking his first arc as a welder, the early days of making how-to welding videos, the concept behind Weld Metals Online, being an entrepreneur and business owner, and the real reason he changed the name of his YouTube channel. J...

In Part 2 of our conversation with Cristian Sosa, the owner of Las Vegas-based Sosa Metalworks talks about his unique process of using welding rods to design frames for his custom motorcycles; how he's developed an aesthetic/style that customers seek and trust; how he's integrating more CAD and other technologies into his work; how he's created an truly immersive experience for those who register...

Cristian Sosa of Las Vegas-based Sosa Metalworks joins The Fabricator Podcast to talk about his wild journey from junior high school dropout to starting his own metal fabrication and custom motorcycle shop. Cristian opens up about his early life in Mexico, growing up in Las Vegas, and how his love of lowriders and working with his hands sparked an interest in welding and shaping metal. This is the...

The mother-daughter duo of Ginny Wendt-Vecchio and Jeanette Vecchio from Chicago Rolled Metal Products join The Fabricator Podcast to talk about the legacy behind their multigenerational family-owned business. They talk about operating the company through four generations in a Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood, deciding the future of the business on a coin flip, and using a mix of old-school an...

Brothers Rob and Anthony DiVito of iRcustom, a Chicago-area furniture designer and maker, join us to talk more about growing a following through Instagram and Pinterest; battling copycat manufacturers; sourcing wood, metal, and other materials; powder coating steel frames; buying equipment from auctions and questionable private sellers; and scrounging through miscellaneous bins for random parts an...

How did two Chicago-area brothers go from having zero fabrication background to creating a business designing and building customized metal and wood furniture? Rob, a graphic designer, and Anthony, a stockbroker, DiVito join The Fabricator Podcast to explain how they put their day jobs on hold to start iRcustom and focus on making one-of-a-kind office furniture. They talk about they learned how to...