A Quest to Create: Pete Watkins and Dexterous Engineering
Look up the word “dexterous” in the dictionary, and you’ll see that it means nimble and skillful with the hands and the mind. It’s an apt description for Pete Watkins’s work—and a fitting name for his shop, Dexterous Engineering. From Watkins’s perspective, “metal is metal.” Which means he tackles all kinds of projects without allowing…
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Passionate About the Craft: Mike Wagner and Cornfield Customs
Mike Wagner of Cornfield Customs Ltd. has made a name for himself with masterpieces on wheels. He’s a metal shaping star on social media. But the craft is its own reward for this self-described introvert. “I like to work, but the only time I really feel free is when I’m shaping metal,” he says. “I…
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Keeping the Craft Going: American Metal Customs
Hot rods. Motorcycles. Whisky. Rock and roll. American Metal Customs builds, modifies, and services epic bikes and cars while celebrating the mystique that goes with them. American Metal owner Chris Bishop and lead builder and shop manager Josh Allison have teamed up to exemplify the best in American craftsmanship and, as their website promises, “build the…
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Wheel Guy: Austin Paruch and Paruch Automotive Craftsmanship
“I never have any days where I’m worried about getting up or not going to work and enjoying what I do,” says fabricator, restorer, and coachbuilder Austin Paruch. “Life and work are one and the same. This is what I do. This is what I was intended to do, I believe.” At Paruch Automotive Craftsmanship,…
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Punk Rock Spirit: Bob Bleed and Midwest Fabrication
“I never once when I was a little kid thought, ‘I want to be a fabricator.’ I just wanted a hot rod,” explains Bob Bleed. “Everything about life is perspective. And my perspective on everything is through this car, through this windshield.” The car love goes way back for Bleed. He tinkered on his first…
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A Chopper Class Like No Other with Bound for Flames
When Daniel Twigden got the call to create his own class at the Manteca Adult School in Manteca, California, he organized one of the few chopper building classes in the country to his knowledge.
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Live Off Road: A Baileigh Biography of Camburg Engineering
Jerry Zaiden leads Camburg Engineering as they craft some incredible works of off-road racing art. Step inside this Huntington Beach-based fabrication shop to get an up-close and personal look at the technical side of fabrication as Jerry walks us through some of the high-end off-road race vehicles his team is building.
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Historic Fabrication: Restoring Classic Continentals with Devious Customs
A broke kid with ambition and desire to build customs. That is how Jeff Davy, owner of Devious Customs, says he found his passion in fabricating and restoring custom cars.
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Respect Tradition, Challenge the Future: A Baileigh Biography of Hollywood Hot Rods
Troy Ladd leads the incredibly talented group of coach builders, fabricators, metal shapers and hot rod visionaries at Hollywood Hot Rods.
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Tour a Baileigh Industrial Dream Shop at Cornfield Customs
Step inside Cornfield Customs, a Baileigh metalworking haven. Specializing in 1926 to 1934 Ford hot rods, street cars, and sheet metal shaping, Mike Wagner’s shop sits just outside of Cincinnati and is filled with Baileigh metalworking machines.
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