An amazing guy:
 

I've been meaning to post this for a while but finally got a day at home to get around to it. A friend who is a sculptor and a welder lost his studio space so my generous friend who owns the building where I work on cars decided to give him a corner of the warehouse to use. We are all pretty close friends.

I wasn't sure how it would work out having a third person there but it's turned out to be a positive all-around. He's a great guy and an extra person watching over the space, which is in a rough neighborhood near USC. None of us are there full time and the main guy/owner is out of the country for several months every summer lately. He is also about a 10 on a scale of 10 welder and super generous about teaching us, which the original two of us have been meaning and wanting to learn forever. :cool:

Anyhow, let me tell you about this guy. He is an eastern European immigrant almost 70 years old and he is strong as an ox and works harder than two dogs glued together. He works full-time days doing construction/installation of custom metal work in high end houses and then comes over to the shop after work and goes into the night. He built out his shop in the corner in record time with high metal and glass walls so that his welding and grinding would not spill out into our work space where engines are sometimes being built and other "clean work" on motorcycles and cars. I think that most of it was dismantled from his old shop and then transported over in his PU truck, then re-assembled at our place.

A few photos of him building it:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1755811685.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1755811685.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1755811914.jpg

The last photo gives some scale of the size of his space, not very big.

He quickly finished it and moved all of his tools and tables in, I could only dream of ever being this well organized:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1755812070.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1755812070.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1755812070.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1755812070.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1755812070.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1755812070.jpg

Oh yeah, I made a claim about his welding abilities. Here are a couple of custom metal doors he just completed and installed for a client, these are sheet metal over square tubing frames and then finished with patina: :eek:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1755812475.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1755812475.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1755812475.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1755812475.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1755812475.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1755812475.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1755812475.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1755812475.jpg

These were taken a week ago, he just showed me pictures of them installed in the house and they are *perfect.* Better gaps than a new Porsche and open and close with light touch.

He is pointing out the screws that are not yet shaved and counter sunk.

Very cool, master craftsmen like him are disappearing too rapidly and new ones are not taking their places.

Love this!