The Fabricator Podcast

In this special episode of The Fabricator Podcast, Josh Welton takes over as host and sits down with Luis Varela-Rico, Ivan Iler, and Frank Ledbetter. These three wildly different artists from the hit Netflix show Metal Shop Masters talk with Josh about metal art, artificial intelligence (AI), laser welding, 3D printing, and mixing old and new technologies in art. They delve deeper into discussion...

Tiffany Orff joins The Fabricator Podcast to talk about Welding Women Syndicate , Exploratory Academy, and her efforts to empower and train more women to pursue careers as leaders in the welding and metal fabrication industries. Orff also goes into detail how she transitioned from a career in real estate to metal fabrication, which includes working in custom automotive and structural fabrication,...

After serving prison time, Michael Brandt pursued a metal fabrication and welding career that helped turn his life around. He went from being a self-taught fabricator to starting his own business, Garage Bound LLC, and mentoring younger people in the manufacturing industry. Learn how the ‘Project King’ of Chattanooga built partnerships with Miller Electric and Baileigh Industrial and collaborated...

Nate Bowman and Josh Welton join The Fabricator Podcast during FABTECH 2022 in Atlanta. The Weld Scientist and Welder Assassin nerd-out on everything from welding cobots to vintage welding machines, and discuss Josh turning into a metal fabricating cyborg, Nate's welder tattoos, and developing a show called This Old Welder. Jump to 7:41 to get to our talk with Nate and Josh And while scrolling thr...

In the second of our two-part episode with Adam Heffner, the owner and founder of Nashville-area shop Maker Table Metal continues his conversation with The Fabricator Podcast live at FABTECH 2022 in Atlanta. Heffner talks about wanting to create more locally-focused large-scale art installations, breaking ground on a bigger shop, and emphasizes why it's important for tradespeople aspiring to own a...

In the first of our two-part episode, Adam Heffner, founder of Nashville-area shop Maker Table Metal joined The Fabricator Podcast live at FABTECH 2022 in Atlanta. Heffner talks about how, after a career as an ironworker, he and his wife built up Maker Table to small fabrication business bases around architecture metals and home décor, from custom hand rails to furniture. Check out Part 2 . He als...

Welding instructor and artist Sean Flottmann joins The Fabricator Podcast live at FABTECH 2022 in Atlanta to chat about how he got his "Dabs Wellington" nickname, his rise to fame on Instagram, his early career as a welder in a job shop, his TIG welding art, his transition into welding education, his take on growing the skilled trades, and his brief stint as a drummer in a ska band. Jump ahead to...

In the second of our two-part episode with Rae Ripple , the Texas metal artist and welder continues her conversation with hosts Dan Davis and Jim Gorzek at FABTECH 2022 in Atlanta. In this edition, we to talk about more of Rae's sculptures, her creative process, her children's book "When I Grow Up" , her growing influence as a role model to young girls, and the fact that she secretly bought an ent...

In this first part of our two-part episode, metal artist and welder Rae Ripple joined hosts Dan Davis and Jim Gorzek at FABTECH 2022 in Atlanta to talk about everything from her massive metal Armadillo sculpture, her love of stunt bike riding, the dangers of hot dogs, her goal to create art for Burning Man, and her clever methods for handling and forming sheet metal. Jump ahead to 11:49 to get to...

Guest Meaghan Ziemba of Mavens of Manufacturing joins hosts Dan Davis and Jim Gorzek (jump ahead to 11:00 for our conversation with Meaghan) to talk about her efforts to not only urge more women to consider careers in manufacturing and the skilled trades, but also empower those women who already work in the industry. Ziemba talks about her own career working in various sectors of manufacturing and...

Guest Emily Wilkins of Marketing Metal joins hosts Dan Davis and Jim Gorzek to talk about how job shops and other small metal fabrication and manufacturing businesses need to step up their game when it comes to marketing, social media, and an overall digital presence. After working from a number for fab shops, manufacturers, and marketing companies, Michigan-based Wilkins decided to start her own...

Guest Colin Cosgrove of Chicago-based S&C Electric Company joins hosts Dan Davis and Jim Gorzek on the first episode of The Fabricator Podcast to talk about the importance of growing the manufacturing workforce through urban development, inner-city recruitment, and communicating more industry success stories. Cosgrove, the VP of U.S. Fabrications at S&C, also tells the story of how he moved from I...

Tune in to the Fabricator Podcast to hear editors of The Fabricator magazine talk shop. We speak with industry leaders, small business owners, and creators about metal fabrication, welding, and manufacturing. Episodes are uploaded on Tuesdays and produced by the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association . The Fabricator Podcast: We Shape The Conversation Around Metal. Subscribe on your favorite pl...