All MetalShaping - New to the forum from Waco, TX

Hi all,

I've been poking around metalmeet/metal artists forum for a while, and recently discovered yet another metalshaping forum. it's nice to see metalshaping flourish with the internet :)

I'm a 4th generation body man, my great-grandfather (grandma's dad) worked in detroit bumping cars and got my grandpa a job. in the late 60s, my grandparents moved to northern MI, where my grandpa bumped cars at a few dealerships until 79, when they moved to northport and he started his own collision business. My dad went to kendall for 2 years, but decided to come back and work for my grandpa at the shop. he slowly got more involved in restorations and 'long-term' projects. about 8 years ago, my dad went into business for himself doing mid- to high- end restorations, mostly imports. I've worked for either my grandpa or my dad since I was about 10 in the summers.

Recently, my fiance got recruited to teach 6th grade beginning orchestra at district outside of Waco, TX. after about a month of looking, I was put in touch with a guy who had a bunch of old 60's Saabs that needed a bunch of work. his wife is also an orchestra teacher, my fiance met her, they got to talking, ect... and I lucked out :)

I now work for Owl Creek Ranch restoring a veritable fleet of Saab 95s and 96s from 1963-1971. we've talked about continuing the partnership after I get all of my boss's cars done, if the market looks favorable. I'd like to be able to tap into the markets in Austin and Dallas, if I can.

My dad has a big Ewheel he bought from kerry a few years back and we had an old chicago pneumatic fender iron that was my great-grandpa's, a MB bead roller, 4' box/pan brake, mig/tig welders, spray booth in a nice, clean, insulated, well lit shop...

it's been an experience starting over with no money and a handful of shaped railroad spike dollies and a POS harbor freight flux core welder in a mostly enclosed barn with 3 high-pressure sodium lamps.

I'm slowly making progress at building up tools again. my boss loves harbor freight, but... he's buying the tools, so I make do with what I can for now. I work on a ranch, though, so I have access to prime liveoak for forming stumps. I made one with a 5" depression at about a 10" radius and a flat edge for tipping panels on. I oiled the top with my first texas oil-change, which seems to be holding up well.

My fiance and I also recently bought our first house, which is keeping me plenty busy, but it has also afforded me the luxury of bringing light metalwork and filler sanding home, saving me a 40-mile drive to and from the ranch 3 days a week.

I'm interested to see what everyone here is up to, and I'll try to take some pictures of progress, ect. I have a bad habit of forgetting to contribute, but I'm getting better :)