As a child I was always fascinated by all things metal. I started by melting anything aluminum around the house and this got me in a lot of trouble, however, it did not discourage me from pursuing a career in metal. During my teenage years I learned blacksmithing from Brian Brazil in Brandon, MS, the late Richey Crew of Pontotoc, MS, as well as other local smiths. I learned to forge blades and other trinkets from these people and my passion for metal work continued to grow. At some point in my early teens, I grabbed my dad’s Lincoln stick welder and started welding everything together that I could find, this again, got me into lots of trouble. I taught myself the craft this way until a local business allowed me to work the summer in their shop. In this shop, I was taught primarily how to manufacture ornamental iron and staircases which provided me with measurement and layout skills for projects along with increasing my welding experience.
A few years later, I picked up a job at a construction company where I did structural repair on assembly line machines for Cooper Tire in Tupelo, MS. This taught me skills I continue to use today such as how to weld heavy iron out of position or in other unconventional positions. I also learned how to weld while being suspended in mid-air at Cooper Tire. I later started working at a fabrication shop, building and automating assembly line systems. There, I learned how to read plans and electrical diagrams, manufacture and repair complex hydraulic systems, how to operate lathe and end-mill machines within 0.001″ tolerances, single phase wiring, 3 phase wiring 5v to 575v, as well as how to program ladder logic PLCs. Once I acquired all of this experience, I developed an interest in mobile welding, as I felt that it was the next step for my career. I still hold this interest, although I now work for a paving company where I repair their equipment from total rebuilds of buckets, to hydraulic system rebuilds. This job has taught me much about heavy equipment operation and repair. I strategically took the positions I did in order to develop my skills in such a way that I now have the abilities to pursue my passion in welding without being held back by lack of experience.
Throughout my iron working career I have had the opportunity to learn a wide variety of skills in an even wider variety of applications. This has resulted in me learning how to re-design or reinforce a project to better withstand the forces being applied without over expenditure or under engineered projects, keeping costs down from material or downtime. My mission is to produce work that is recognizable by quality and fashioned with care.