A Relationship with Metal: Josh Freeman and Freeman Fabrication
Some people seem to light up when they talk about their passions. Josh Freeman is one of them. Watching and listening to Freeman in his Denton, Texas shop, Freeman Fabrication, you can’t miss the joy and contagious enthusiasm for metal fabrication. As Freeman explains, “The ‘less is more’ doesn’t work for me. I like to…
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Moving Metal in Style: John McGraw Jr. and Flashback Kustoms
John McGraw Jr. started down his career path early in life, to say the least. “My parents told me that I knew how to tighten and loosen bolts before I could talk,” he remembers. McGraw’s father raised him around the dirt cars he raced. “As far as metal shaping background goes, it leads back to…
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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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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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Preserving WWII History, one part at a time
Vultures Row Aviation in Cameron Park, California specializes in the restoration and reproduction of World War II Warbirds. Many have been shot down or recovered from oceans and jungles. All being rebuilt or repaired with surgical precision, newly fabricated parts or hand shaped panels. President, metal shaper and visionary Chuck Wahl is a rare breed.…
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Azure Armoury Creates Historically Accurate Armor with 21st Century Metal Shaping Tools
“It’s much easier than the old-fashioned way, I’ll tell you what,” jokes Dez Armstrong after shaping a steel elbow cap on his Baileigh planishing hammer. As the owner and founder of Azure Armoury and armorer of the Texas Renaissance Festival, Armstrong crafts exquisite period-correct recreations of plate armor. He regularly shapes steel by hand with…
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