Okay. Josh Weber, metal transformations. Thanks for coming in today. Excited to talk to you. We spent some time yesterday learning about you, but take a minute, tell me about who you are and what metal transformations does. So I'm Josh Weber. I started metal transformations in 2021 and I got into it because I wanted to bring a faster way of building stuff to the farm. So that was kind of what got me started was being able to build production style parts for the farm industry because that was one thing that we don't have. Why the farm industry? I mean, is that your background? Yep, so I came from a farm a family farm. I am third generation We farm about 6 ,500 acres and we're a completely Cornwheat and beans farm We also brought in cattle a couple years ago 6 ,500 acres, I mean, I think of an acre. I know it's not exact, but it's roughly a football field So you're talking 6 ,500 football fields that you guys just kind of casually oversee it, right? Yeah, it's all irrigated to so there is a pivot on about every piece of ground. So I've kind of grown up just around all that. So Okay, so metal transformations, tell me about the name. I really I wanted a cool logo. And I was like, there is a There's a good way to tie in the M and the T to it to make it look like a plasma cutting head Yeah, well, that's it right there, right? Yeah. Yep. So I went in and Found that one. I was like, yeah, I think I'm just gonna stick to that Good. I like it. So you're you grew up working on the farm. Yep third generation 6500 acres and then you move on to I mean where we are today and I know there's a lot done packed between these two points but today you're the owner of metal transformations where you're the initial projects for sort of turbo charging you know farm equipment or creating new tools that could be used around the farm. Yep. And what was the first project that metal transformations cranked out? The very first thing I did was a Um, I wanted one, I mean, just driving equipment down the road, um, we take a lot of big stuff down the road. So we would occasionally smack a mailbox. How often we talking like once a month? More often than I'd like to admit, and was it like, okay, we got to get off and at least try and tilt it back up or, oh no, usually it was, uh, it was gone. Okay. If it's stuck on the spike of of the piece of equipment we were taking down the road. - Okay. - So, I wanted one that was going to hold up to that and so I made one that was sat on like a spring so it acted like a punching bag. It would always come back up to center. - Okay. Did you not want to be standing where it was? I mean, would it-- - Oh yeah, it would double tap you on the way back up. - It would, okay, gotcha. - Yep, they weight about 300 pounds. So I mean, they went over a force and they came back up with force. What kind of like if you'd put something, could you use it as a catapult if you cranked it down? Oh, yeah, kind of sort of. Yeah. Yeah. So it was a it was a learning experience. Actually, the very first mailbox I made I did with an open ended spring. Okay. And I was like, I'm I guess, you know, make sure everything still works. And I went and tipped it all the way over and I let go. And it went back the other way and the, the opened into the spring. Sure. Straightened out. And a mailbox just dropped all the way down to the bottom of the ditch. I was like, that is why I upgraded to closed in springs. Okay. So how much did you test? How much force it did take to push that thing down? You could tip it over with one finger. You could. Yeah. Okay. So it's really well balanced. Yeah. So if you like, pull up too close to it with like a vehicle mirror, it would just turn off to the side. Okay. So that way even a vehicle mirror wouldn't, wouldn't damage, get damaged. How'd you set him in the ground? Uh, so there's a three foot concrete cylinder that goes down with a, with a anchor that's through the concrete. Okay. So it's not going to go anywhere. It's a big counterweight. - Yeah, okay, so how many of those did you make? And how did you make them? - So I did all 13 of them by hand. They're out of a six by six post, and then I would hand plasma cut all the arches in them, and then all the triangles to make the peaks, and then like the top was a trailer hitch ball, so it kind of looked classy. And then the bottom was just all sheet metal, So I kind of looked like crown molding going up. Okay. So, but it was built like a brick shit house Yeah, it was no go anywhere. I like that. So do you have any of those still around? Yeah? I've actually got quite a few of them in Halstead That are being used by people in town. They're in service. Yeah. Yeah, and then I've got a couple in which taught you Is there actually any I don't know the answer is this does the Postal Service care what they put? Nope. As long as they throw it on the ground if you want. Yep. So as long as it's to the correct height, it can be anything that you want. What is the correct height? That's what I thought. I want to say it's like 42 inches or something like that. Yeah. Nothing. As long as it's close to that window, I don't think they really care. Yeah, like a yard and a half somewhere. Yeah. Yeah, something like that. Something strange like that. Okay, so you started making mailboxes, but I want to wind it back, so we know that today you've got CNC capabilities, you guys have sophisticated drawing systems and we'll talk more about that, but tell me, how do we get here? So you're currently, you're coming up on 30 years old, so you've got some good life behind you. Where did you start with metals and how did that all unfold. Oh, can you expand on that part? Sure. So you were probably in high school in Halstead, right? And so when did you first kind of intersect with in like, you know, begin the relationship with metals? So when I was, I want to say nine or ten years old, my grandpa taught me how to weld. And during the day I would get all the metal cut and then at night I'd have to have someone help me weld it because I had no idea. Once he taught me how to weld, it was game over. I was ready. Okay, so you're 9 to 10. What do you cut in the metal with at that? You just band saw, see the margarita? Yeah. Okay. So band saws was what I did everything with. We had a torch, but I wasn't very good at it. I've actually cut off three of my fingers, tips of my fingers with the band saw. Seriously? Yeah, Yeah, so I'm gonna look out for I had lots of experience on that So there's actually still currently a sign hanging above our band saw that says Josh is used with caution Yeah, I think that's good advice. Oh, yeah When you cut yourself like that, it's one of those cuts that it Well, I cut my hands that bad that little super glue. Yeah. Yeah, it's not a big deal We'll finish the cut and we've already wrecked the hand so let's just push it on through a glove. I'm in some logical tape So, okay, so you're learning how to weld what kind of welding are you doing? So I did stick welding. I didn't own a mig welder until I want to say 2016 So everything I done was was with stick welding. I could do it eyes closed behind my back. I got really good at it So good at it. I I actually went to a welding school and the teacher was trying to teach show me a different way of welding and I was like, no, I know my way works. Yeah, you're too late. I've already got my stuff figured out. And he told me that we're going to do a weld test and if mine passed and he would just quit and give me static about it. Yeah. So we did a weld test and mine passed and his actually broke. Really? So he didn't He didn't give me how good did that feel? Oh, I seen it was pretty good. Yeah, I was like, yeah, my grandpa didn't know what he was talking about So, okay, so you're you're nine or ten years old You're welding you're cutting and what sort of so are you making what at that time? Just boxes and things or no So I built up Built my house. Okay, so when I got into high school, I took an act construction class and I needed a project to last me the year and I saw I bought the metal and I Couldn't get a whole lot done during class. It was only an hour long So I asked the teacher if I could take it home over the weekend and cut it well when I Brought it back Monday morning. I already had it all cut and welded together and was a teacher like are you shitting me yeah he was he's kind of irritated because I was already on my third or fourth project so far that semester and so he was really wanting me to like lock in on something but I just I can't drag out a project that long something like that so you you were working on stuff at school and you were telling me yesterday that you built the house and it's stick built, it's like structurally looks like wooden framing, but you used steel. Tell me about that decision. So I built my house in the floodway and so we were trying to make it so it was all serviceable. So steel is gonna be the easiest thing to use, you know, you don't have to worry about it rotting. You know, it takes a while for it to rust away. And I was going to use foam board insulation inside. It's going to be nothing fancy. It was just going to be kind of a hangout place at the river. Well, we got that far and a few hiccups down the road and we decided I'm gonna make a full -blown house. And so that's where it kind of exploded and got a lot bigger. Would you classify that as like scope scope creep Like what? Creep or like you're like I'm gonna do this and then you ended up doing that. Yeah Well, we'll put throw a second floor on it or yeah the drawing of that house was actually on a On a cardboard box that the shower came in that was what I designed my whole house on Yeah, and so it went from just a sturdy built kind of building to a full blown house. Yeah, it started off serves like a vault. Yeah. Right. And just became like a bigger one. Yep. And so you showed me the pictures and, and maybe we'll be able to throw some up, but it's a nice looking house into a fabulous job. Thank you. And how long did that take you to do? So I started on that my junior year of high school, and I finished in 2018. So it took, it took a few years. It was four years in the making and you guys your time trying to remember you guys got caught up in some red tape on the house Yeah, so we got a cease and desist letter and they said that we can't do anything Anything to the property because we were building the floodway and they didn't issue permits there So that put us on hold for about a year and a half of that four years So what you I mean, I suppose you just went on other things you weren't standing there in the yard waiting for the permit No, I started doing Tree work clear not trees because it was about 20 feet back in the trees when I first started that existing foundation Oh, it was so it wasn't right on the right on the river I'm the the river is actually a hundred feet behind my house. So my house is on the bank So there's a lot of trees to kind of clear out and make it look like it could be a yard. So have you had the water come up on you? Oh, yeah. Yep. I've had, um, you got to see both floaties on. Uh, so the first week that I moved in the house, it flooded and kind of a welcome to the neighborhood. So there's a dyke that goes around Halstead and they had shut the gates of the dyke, so I'd parked my truck up on top and I'd walk across the bridge. You mean around the whole town. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So the only way to get into town is from the south side and you'd have to go all the way to Wichita to go all the way around. It's like the kingdom of Hallstead, if you got to get inside the castle. Yeah. So funny story on that one is, so I didn't get my jeans and boots, but I'd just take my pants off on the road and walk into the house. Keep it simple. Yep. It's not overthink this. Yep, it was. Did you keep your kickboard in the bed of your truck? Get up to the house. Yeah, we had pulled a John boat up to the house one day. I had a bunch of railroad ties in my front yard, and I didn't tie them down. So a lot of those were floating away already. Oh, really? So you, those are going to be I -beams eventually, I suppose? Uh, maybe. We'll see. Something like that. Yeah. Or just get rid of them. Yeah, we'll, - Yeah, I'll probably end up topping off with concrete when everything's said and done. Maybe when I get married, I'll let that decision be up to her. - Don't wanna do it again, right? - Nope. - So you're starting to, you got the house getting built and you got to finish, you got the permit. You had the flood, maybe another one after that. And then you said in the beginning that you guys where you were farming, you were doing cows and stuff like that. What's where do the cows fit into all this? So when we graduated high school, my cousin's I, we didn't go to college and our dad told us that if we didn't go to college we had to bring something back to the farm. So we decided to bring cows. We started with eight cows originally and a couple years went by and we got up to about 130 cow -cows, It was a cow -calf operation and this is on the farm proper on the 6 ,500 acres. Yeah We're okay. Yeah, and we had we kind of had our own grass that we would keep them on too And then during the winter we'd put them on stalks and So that was kind of all in addition But we had bought a set of cows from New Mexico and we had fought black leg when it came back here What's black leg? Black leg is a disease that they would get and they just, there's really no way to stop it once it gets started. - So it's gonna plow through the entire herd. - Yeah, so we lost out of those 35 cows that we bought, we lost all the calves and a couple of those cows. And I was like, I can't afford to put my money into cows when I can have metal sitting on a rack 'cause it was metals, what I enjoyed. And that was kind of my side gig at the time. So I sold out my share of the cows and decided to put metal on a rack because I can keep it there a whole lot longer and not have to worry about it dying. So is that when you kind of got started really getting into the metal? Yeah. Okay. The cows are getting sick. I'm selling out. I need to get something that's gonna be a little bit more healthy. Yep. Yep. Right. More long -term Even if you buy a high it's still gonna hold its value. So you can sell it for something So what year is that when you're going from cows to metals? 2021 okay, and you got a piece of gear around that what that's when you were like I'm doing this So what would you what'd you get? So originally I I was doing it on nights and weekends nights and weekends kind of turned into Nights weekends mornings And then afternoons and then it turned into hey, I'm gonna do this all winter So it slowly started building from the nights and weekends to doing it for the winter time when we were slow Okay, and then it turned into winter times into spring and About that time I was like dad. I can't afford to come back to the farm. This is I'm doing way too busy. Did what were what were his thoughts on that. He was he's supportive of it. He knows that I always end up coming back to the farm. Sure. But I wanted to get this metal business going to be able to I wouldn't call off -farm income. Yeah. And that's about the only way to farm right now is to have off -farm income. Is that right? It's it being most if not all or supplementing. Yeah, the industry get in pretty tight. So is that is that industry consolidation that's occurring or how is it just sort of a bad like weather better than a bad run of weather situation or all the above? The market's just been rough with with just prices. Okay. All your inputs are so much higher than what you're able to sell it for. So If you can't supplement it with all farm income you can't Cover the half, you know that the farm isn't gonna cover sure understood so How did you okay, so you're getting off the couch and going into the mud what what's your first move? I know you're making mailboxes and you're you're getting more busy You know nights become days and days become you know, and you Now you're telling your dad you're going to go do this full time. You probably had that moment that money do, like once you said this is what I'm doing, you're like, oh, shit, what am I going to do? So there's really no turning back after I got a CNC plasma cutter. That was the turning point. For the uninitiated, what is a CNC plasma cutter? It is a computer -driven table That runs a plasma cutting head so you can draw whatever you want and It will go and cut it out. So and it's cutting like sheets of metal. Yes, and you think just runs And goes over it so it can go. I mean I've cut to 140 inches a minute down to four inches I'm gonna cut in one inch Not one inch two and a half inch on that table. We're cutting out teeth for a clamshell bucket for a bridge crew. And it's cut. It cuts slow and there's a lot of sparks on that. Yeah. But we'll cut it all the way down to 28 gauge stainless on there. So it is, it is ripped through it. And so what you bought the table when and. That was, uh, I think I got it in July. I want to say July of 20 is when I got that table. What brand did you go? I did boss C and C out of Calmar, Iowa. Okay. I'll tell you the customer service there was and you can't even compare it. Okay. So I can call them any day of the week, anytime, Sunday afternoon, somebody will answer and they will get me going. Okay. It's just amazing. Travis Travis's the guys the owner's name awesome guy got it. And so top -notch. Oh, yeah on that front Now I'm gonna assume the gears great. Oh, yeah, I'll probably never go to a different brand. There you have So tell me a little bit about what's it like being an owner of? Metal transformations or other shops like it like what's the day like? How do you? You know if you like a lot of other owners like you wake up and the first thing you think is holy shit, you know, like, like what I'm back and it's what's going on and what's not going on. You know, when it's busy, it's awesome. You can kind of keep everybody moving. But oh boy, when it gets slow, it's it's scary because it's like there's nobody else that's backing me up. So it's like, I've got to have something moving through the doors. And When they get when it got slow about November this last year I was like, I don't know how much keep it going because I'm not a stat I wasn't established enough to be able to make it through six months of slow Yeah, and now we're rolling up on that four or five months mark and it's like okay We got to figure out something right and so that's when you got to kick it into sales gear Yeah, the owner go go bang on the doors and see what's going on. You've got to figure out where you're able to make up in your margins and where I found this material. All right. So tell me about that process, which is, you know, what's brought us together is that you are a user. I'm Brian, so as we talked about that and reached out and wondered if you want to come talk. So I think this might be where we start to enter your story is where I think, I mean, you tell me, but maybe the market's leaning out a little bit for you, and you're having to say, kind of take a step back and say, how am I going to, how am I really going to do this? Yeah. So tell me about kind of that chapter of you figuring out your path forward there. So I was buying from one Um, since day one, I never question it is who I bought the material from to build my own house and I was buying one inch plate at the time and the price of it was just, it was $2 ,000 at the time for one five by 10 sheet and I didn't know any different. I would just. Sounds good. Yep. We're going to get it coming. And Like I told you yesterday, I wasn't getting these jobs and I was like, how's everybody else doing this? Okay. So you're using, you're getting a bill or a job you can quote to a customer and you're like, okay, I'll be right back and you go work up your quote. And so your material cost inputs are coming from so high, one supplier, they're high. You're working up your number and saying, here you go and you're not getting any jobs. Nope. Couldn't do it. And did you how did you understand in the moment? What was going on there? Are you kind of like why am I am I just like out of the circle here or I mean since I I was never in the Metal industry before like this. I mean I came from a farm. So I probably didn't price around like I should have But when I got started with the briseus the that the was just, it was day and night difference from what I'd been buying. I was like, okay, what's going on here? And I ended up calling back to that supplier and I was like, Hey, did I buy a two sheet or did, did you charge me for two sheets? Cause I'm getting it from half price. I mean, I, it was just day and night difference. And was there a response that they're like, Nope. That's just what your price is. And there's no, I was like, I just can't afford to do it through you guys anymore, right? So so you're cutting your teeth here. Like you're you kind of being like, oh They're totally okay doing that. Yeah, it was a learning experience. That's that's for sure. Okay, so the other thing you know when we were making brides as we were Thinking about what is buying? And I've got this soapbox I can stand on about but I'm not going to, I'm going to simply just sum it up by saying that a buyer is thinking about the time associated getting it, or just pricing it, just time. What are they going to pay for it? And what's the quality of it? Meaning like, are they going to get what they want, do they have to upgrade, downgrade, substitute, whatever? So time cost and quality. And so we were price and we're like thinking, you know, this isn't an undercut the market exercise. This is the price just needs to be good because if we can turbo charge speed and make it like just offensively fast, that's really important. And so these are assumptions we're making. How does the speed of what we're doing play into what you're doing? So not only is it fast to get, I mean, even get material in. But where I focused on was being fast as well on cutting or sending out the door. And also for bidding, bidding jobs. Just like just having the app where I can just fly in and say, Hey, I need this material. I already know the time and what's going to take and my inputs on that. So I know this side, but I didn't know the material side and getting it fast. That is where you guys excelled. And that's what was a turning point for me, is to be able to do it a lot faster. Yeah, so you've had an experience where you were relatively new to the metals world at this time. And so you didn't have what I would say a super long -standing relationship with anyone vendor, your actually first experience was was kind of off -putting. Yes. Which is like, kind of like, what a dick. Yeah. Yeah. And so, and then how did you even hear about prizes? I mean, up to the to this date, we've been really iterating different versions to really to optimize the speed, you know, the quality, all the stuff we talked about, But haven't really leaned too hard into marketing yet. So how did you come around to it? So I had a friend of mine that is a supplier back at home and I was always bought, like I was always pricing through him. Okay. Tell me, like just like you're just banging them every day or whatever. Oh yeah. I was, I was calling them, calling them, texting them, Hey, sending them emails at night. Hey, I need a price on this. Can you get this to me? And eventually I went there on Sunday afternoon and I was cutting some of my own metal there. He said-- - So there's a pallet too. - Yeah, yeah, that was a pretty, I'd say he's a really good friend now. And he said, "I'm gonna set you up with one of my suppliers." - Okay. - And so he got ahold of one of your guys here and got me set up and that was the turning point. That was awesome and you said he said something to you when he did it. He said let's keep this between us. This is It's a good deal Yeah, yeah, we do it's so that's such an interesting dynamic and something that You know, we're heads down and hear a lot trying to figure out when you look at our user interface It's very simple but anyone who's been around the metals industry is that there's a lot of wiring going on in the back to get it to work the way it does. So we sit here and we just create scenario after scenario after scenario. And one of the dynamics is that we've noticed is that it actually works so well for buyers that they don't want other buyers in their area to actually want to know about it because now with prices, they're getting their quotes really fast. Yes. So they're a quote to sale ratios going up as well because you're getting those deals. Yep. So if you can't get it fast, it gives them time to think or look elsewhere. It's like, if you're that very first person that sends them back a quote, and I'm like, "Oh man, we just don't have to look anymore. This guy, it's a good price." A good nap, right? Yeah. They're just going to go for it because So and I that's where that's where I like to excel. It's like hey, I'll have this to you tomorrow Yeah, I keep a fair fair amount of material on hand for overnight stuff But for like bigger jobs two days. I have material in on truck So so let's swing back to metal transformations. You said I have material on stock if something's a rush job or So tell me about what it is that metals transformations does specifically like are you guys a custom fabrication shop or what are what are they called rapid prototyping if you need something kind of in your hands you want to see how it works you can you can cut out the pieces get it welded up so if it pretend I I were someone else and I like hey I got this project what do you guys do so So that's kind of where I like to focus on is one -off stuff. I don't want to go do a hundred parts and it gets boring, my ADHD kind of takes over. >> Yeah, it starts to get. >> Yeah. So that's where I like to do is like a guy will come in and say, "I need one of this or hey, can you build me one of this or two of this?" >> Uh -huh. >> Oh, yeah. I'll definitely do that because it's fun. >> I'll do two, not three. So that's, that's where I got started. Um, I originally just wanted to do flat work. So I just wanted to CNC cut or eventually get a CNC press break and be able to bend and just send out parts. So I'm thinking flat CNC, I'm thinking of like signs or like grills and like something that is, uh, it's, it's not a complicated thing, but it's a dimensional thing. Like it's going to be flat and yeah, or, uh, Anything you might want to you were talking about you get standouts because you want to mount something on a wall That's flat. Is that am I on the right track of that and like a I didn't mind doing like commercial parts Even if it was quite a few parts that came out It was material moving and that's that's where that's where you make your money is material moving Okay, so I don't mind cutting out a hundred of one part that's fine because it's a table doing I don't have to sit there is it a set it and forget it yep you got a baby sit a little bit you got a kick at everyone's mom yeah yeah we have our days so yeah I started doing that one -off projects is really where I like to focus that's one thing that big machine shops won't do or even just Pretty decent -sized well chops. I gotta put you on the spot real quick. Okay. What are your three favorite things that you've made? Admetal transformations. Oh and Setting apart the we're gonna get to bumpers and things It flew my doors off So like other than that like you think back over the projects you've done and I'm not you know Not even how much they made you didn't make you. What was just something you're like? That's cool. So I had, I had a customer in Wichita. He wanted me to build him a deck on the backside of this building. And it was 18, 18 feet deep, 65 foot long, completely out of steel. Before you continue, is that because you knew about your house? Yeah, it was actually, yeah, one of my, one of my good friends, uh, his dad was a contractor. So, like this guy makes Like yeah, he didn't he had no idea I did on site welding and so when he figured that out He's like hey, I'm gonna have you do this And so we spent about two weeks of that job Which is about 45 minutes from where I live which was it's not a bad deal But yeah, we that's a massive Structure. Oh, yeah, it was awesome So kind of I'm thinking you've got cantilevers going on. Is it what How high up are we? About 14, 14, 15 feet. OK. And I'm not I'm not one of those OSHA people. So I should. Yeah. So we're like hanging off the thing like monkeys with our suitcase welders. And we're just kind of going to town up there. Any any lanyards in sight? Or it's just like, I don't know, you know, a sissy. Just nothing to it. It's not the fall. It kills you. It's the landing. That's something I'll remember as I'm falling. That's Stick the landing. Yeah, so that was that was probably one of the coolest big things I'll I like things that people see so I'm thinking like you've got the deck part and then you maybe have are you doing like Triangle cantilever kind of things or how do you affix it to the so it is in the I can't remember what the district is called But like they couldn't add anything onto the building, they couldn't add anything on the concrete. Everything had to be built with what's there. Okay. And so like we're driving anchors to the concrete to be able to hold the, the deck up against the building. And then it was an old railway station is what it was. Okay. So we had angle on across the face side of the concrete. So everything got welded on there. That's like your ledger board, basically. Yeah. Okay. So every, every piece was a different height all the way around. I'm getting all that level and then And did you have to treat like is this old rock kind of stacked? I'm thinking like train station where it's kind of jagged or do you have a nice smooth surface smooth ish Did you have to like chisel out or like basically a channel to get that in there or no that part was that part was pretty flat Okay, and then we would go up top with the boards and so the boards would kind of fit around stuff. And the board's meaning the decking? Yeah. Okay. Your choice, like basically you're framing the whole frame is out of steel. And then all the stairs were steel and concrete. So we did sea channel kind of upside down, filled up every step with concrete going down. So yeah, you're talking big like sea channels like this. Yeah, it's a 14 inch 12 12 to 14 inch. I can't remember right now what the exact size of it was, but okay. Yeah, it was that was one of the cool projects just because the the people the people gonna see it. That's like a that's like a piece of art. I mean, that's serious. Yeah. I mean, it has to the structures got to be there. But I mean, where do you go to learn? I mean, like the farm? Yeah, exactly. That's where that's where where everything came from. Kind of a saying if it's not overbuilt, it's underdone. Right. And so anything I build, it's going to be heavy. You're just like you didn't tip the whole fucking bill. So I didn't really need to engineer for this. I'll figure it out. Yeah, let me know if it breaks. So okay, so I asked you for three. So that's one. What's the second one? Well, I'm going to say - Bumpers is probably the other one. - All right, well, shelf that for what's number three. - I built a lot, a lot of just stuff from all over the place. I say staircases. Staircases are probably one thing I like just because there's a lot of little pieces in 'em. And if you do 'em well, a lot of people look at 'em. I mean, you walk up a staircase everywhere you go. So somebody sees good quality on there. They're like, "Where did that come from?" - Like you notice like you need to put a hand on a railing and it doesn't move. - Yeah. - All right, that's pretty good. I've been like the guy that, you know, you go somewhere and you look at somebody else's welds and you're like, "That's rough." How do they do that, you know? I like to be the guy where they go and look at that. I'm like, "Oh, that thing's not coming apart." - Right. - Way overdone. So you're walking around kicking railings just commercial places. Oh gotta judge Field trip or something I did this I did this air duct in the in a college building. It was a repair. That's what it was It already Passed inspection. Mm -hmm, and I get there and the thing looks like it was well together with popcorn And he told us it passed the liquid test. I was like, there's no way I'm literally looking at a gap right into the tube pieces of all -thread blocking holes. I mean bugger it up Not good. Yeah, it was on a kitchen duct in a in a commercial kitchen for work where they would do TV shows That's great. Yeah, so we we had to lower this whole duck down. It was like 600 pounds And we did it just overnight It was while the building was shut down So we had to lower this down flip it around because they'd put it on backwards where it was smoke suck in the smoke towards you instead of away. Yeah, okay, and Yeah, we got up that got up in the ceiling and it's just it's a mess We ended up take weld in everything upside because we couldn't have smoke in the building. So right big welder stick weld it Got it. And yeah, that was another another cool one just because you're like, hey, you know look above - Yeah, that's something I did. - That is cool. So, and this is all in the Halstead or Halstead area. What town is Halstead near? - We are 30 minutes northwest of Wichita. So a lot of my work is actually in Wichita. - Okay, so if you're in Wichita, give Josh a ring, okay? - Yeah. - So we got to talk about bumpers because this was like, you've opened my eyes to an entire world that I hadn't thought a lot of time hadn't spent a lot of time thinking about candidly. Uh, so you, you demolition Derby was just, you tell me what's going on here. So I had a, I had a neighbor come across the street and asked me if I could build one bumper for him. Like they saw you sparking away in there and they're like, maybe he builds bumpers. Well, the Neighbor to Demlos and Derby, he knew that I kind of liked it. I liked going to the shows and watching it. So he asked me to build him a bumper. Well, I got on and I got all cut out. And I was like, well, I'm gonna make a couple more of these. - Did he come to you with a, like, did you know enough already, like you knew exactly what he was talking about? - No, I had no idea. - Did he show you a picture, hand you some plans? - Showed me a picture and there's some files out there that everyone in the uses, um, but nobody can change him. Everyone only wants to deal with the files. So that's, it's one size kind of fits all. And so I went in and I was like, I want to make something different. So there's like six different styles that I started out with. And I was just going to build one of each style and take it to the show and sell out and be done, make, make a little bit of money on it. So, so just so like we're all on the same page. Typically, you think about a bumper as something that is maybe plastic, maybe dense, a little, maybe, you know, it's, it's kind of just to ease the impact in some way. It's a bumper. Yeah. No, these are not a, this is, I wonder when to think about the front of an old steam locomotive. Okay, this thing is not about softening anything. Okay, this is a weapon. These are, uh, well, most of them are fully, um, fully three eights, three eights, but thick bumpers. And there's a grid in there that's every three inches going all across the bumper, horizontal and vertical. So there's no way that these are, these are denting, being bent. I actually had my first one break. It sheared, it sheared off. Were you in tears or what happened? It It was kind of funny because there's there's a lot of other competitors out there that build these bumpers But this car was up against one of my own bumpers Wow, and I knew it was gonna be one or the other one was gonna break because I know I build these things very stiff It's like two elder ones The so had you you'd never seen one of them You've seen them bend and No, no, like usually they break I mean these are very stiff bumpers So the what what from what you showed me and I think it was called Blizzard bash. Yeah, okay? 2024 when we watch go watch this we'll put a link. This is something else to see if you haven't seen it so you've got maybe 50 cars in In an arena and they all start sort of like really organized, kind of pulled in like parking spaces and the horn or whatever goes off and everyone just starts milling around in these things. Yeah. And these bumpers are just designed to pierce, break, you know, anything that's in front of it. Yeah. So these bumpers, they have actually have a 14 inch point. So that's maximum the rules. So if there are rules. Yeah, yeah quite a few but The point of these is to be able to reach in as far as you can get So like if you hit a car on the side, especially like the driver's side You can knock a wheel off and then you get into that engine compartment Okay, you can do some damage with one of these bumpers if they get reached into an engine what if you don't hit Between the bumper and the a post and you hit between the a and the b post I mean these things gonna pierce through a door and cave in a femur That is actually that has actually happened. It's they've sent a lot of people to the hospital some of them in Very rough shape Okay Yeah, there's the spores not not There's a lot of dangers with it, but it doesn't stop people people know it comes with the territory Yeah, so I one of the rules you were explaining to me was how this, like, how do you win, which is last man standing, right? But there are also rules along the way, which is one fire per car is okay. Yep. But if you go and have a second one during your out, so I thought that that was interesting to have. What other sort of disqualifiers exist? No driver's door hits. There is stuff that it does happen, but depending on if it's very intentional. They'll just they'll take you out They'll they'll walk out there break your flag and you're done Okay, and that I mean that must occur because that's a shit show going on I like there's no way it's and there's some that aren't intentional and then there's also some drivers that They'll put the driver's door right there. So They're using as a tool. They are yeah, so it's like hey I'm up at my door right here right where they're coming. So they they either have to stop or they're gonna get out So they use the driver's door offensively. Yes. Yeah That's a risky move. Oh, yeah. Yeah, they're these doors. I mean the framework inside of these They're using like one inch by four inch steel bars To make their their protection are they in are they they're in a cage effectively yeah yeah you could say that yeah well I saw they're not using five -point harness no no this guys are just like buckling up and yeah you're lucky to have a waist strap and a pillow bolted or a duct tape to the to the armrest so when it when is your derby career gonna start I mean it sounds like you're pretty close this have you not gotten dragged into the driver seat my mom mom. Everyone here knows the feeling. Yeah. So she's just not in favor. That's the thing. No, no. I mean, it's I built these bumpers to try to get into it to be able to afford it. And then now I'm like swamp before every single show. And it's like the time I would be working on a car. I'm building bumpers for other people. Yeah, it's kind of like, would you rather be the guy in the town making the shovels for the? I think you'd rather be selling the shovels, you know, because on average, you'd rather be selling the shovels. Yeah. So it looks in the vendor hall while the rest of them are doing that, but it's really fun to watch. It's not a lot. You meet a ton of good people there. Yeah. You were saying that you guys did a fundraiser most recently and were able to raise basically $90 ,000. Yeah. So for a cancer patient or survivor Yeah, so the very first year I went to the show There was a benefit auction is the very first year that someone had actually came out of the bleachers as an auctioneer to auction stuff off Mm -hmm, and it was just like They originally just passed around the hat and said hey, you know if you can donate money There you go, and a lot of people did it was really cool to see that and then vendors started bringing out stuff to to donate. And that was the first year I'd ever gone. I was like, I want to be a part of that. Like that was anything else to give you chills. That topped it off. And it was just like, that's something I'd be proud to be a part of. And that's the, I'm gonna call it, that's the Derby community right there. Yeah. And the next year I went, I went as a vendor. And I donated a bumper and that bumper would normally sell between $900 ,000 $900 ,000 nine nine hundred two thousand dollars. Yeah. Oh, I'd love that. Yeah so yeah, so That bumper sold for $4 ,500. Oh, wow, and I was like, that's awesome. This is something I'm Whole reason for it was one of the highest things to sell that auction. That's cool. So this year I did another bumper, but this time I had everybody that came by my booth sign it because I wanted everybody to be a part of it. And that bumper sold the first time for $4 ,500 and it was donated back, sold again for $1 ,800, donated back, sold again for $1 ,500, donated back, and it sold again for $1 ,300. And that's like five Recycles that was the only thing at that auction that went for over $1 ,000 And so I I told myself I'm gonna do this every year because that is something I want No, that's how I did it was awesome because I know it's a little bit of time, but it That's that's hardly the point right yeah material money is nothing but help helping out somebody that's that's where towards that that's that's and that ties into another one of your pastimes it sounds like a really similar community which is this volunteer fire oh yeah community that you've been a part of which is something I've got experience with in it you've described kind of how that was which is it's just a really family oriented community oriented group and so Are you still part of the, I know you've got, you know, all this stuff spooling up that you're busy with, but to the extent you can, are you, are you still involved with that? Yeah, 100%. I always wanted to be a part of something that you, that people never saw, behind the scenes. Yeah. And I figured out in that, you see people at their worst. And most of the time, they won't remember you the next day if you see them out in public. And it's, I don't care to be Right, you know, I love I just love it. I love doing it. Yeah, you guys have a good crew Do you guys every I mean? I know you it's volunteer and you guys are out doing your stuff during the day And then you'll get a ping on your phone or otherwise and you guys all converge on the Yes, I've urged down on the on the station or do you guys go direct? There's a lot of both so And depending on the calls, some of us will just go straight to the scene, or if it's going to be like a big fire or a grass fire, we'd all go to the station. So it's a, it's very entertaining to see all of us pull up and I mean, four wheelers, trackers, high loaders, I mean, we're just, everyone's there. Okay. What do you guys have for a, for a pumper there? Like what are you guys rolling with? So we've actually got a a Pierce engine and a Pierce Quint. And then we've got a couple of Ford trucks for squads and then we've got a, oh, it's old military cab over truck for our brush truck. And then a couple ambulances and a Kenworth Tender, so. - I remember when we were in training, we had this, you know, where all the hoses are in the bed. - Yeah. - And the first time you stand behind the panel. You know, if you have all these lever, it's like you're in the fucking cockpit. Oh, you're very overwhelming. It's very overwhelming. And the whole thing's like, like, going like that. And you're turning up the throttle of the pump, right? Yeah. You know how you had like the thumb, like you crashed out. Oh, yeah. So you're, you're, you're going like that. And the throttle's coming up in the hole. All the gauges are going. Yeah, you hope you don't open the wrong valve. And - Once the hose bed opens up, yep. - So we have a kid on the two inch, he, you know how the levers, you screw them back to loosen them and then you pull them down, right? - Yep. - And so this guy's in the whole fucking, the hose and the bed, just went in the way that looks, like when that thing's charged in the bed. - You're not the favorite person that day. - No, we're like, clean clean this shit up. You know what I mean? And we had a guy that and it's totally unrelated but a guy that was on the fire department that you know those those deer platforms that you plug in your receiver for your car so we got a call and everyone's hauling ass it's so we had beepers right and so everyone's coming from around this guy's running across the parking lot comes tied around the back of a car at night that has one of those and he as His leg was coming forward put his shin right in one of those deer platform like one of those. Oh, yeah And it's the world stopped turning for this guy. I mean he was in so much fucking pain He started throwing up Only imagine we're see where hitches are rough that that would be even worse. I mean it's just hit a sharp corner I mean, it's there and there was there was no give the only thing that gave was like his skin and his shin. - Yeah, that's rough. - That's like one of those times when you fuck yourself up and you're just waiting for the pain to come up to your brain. - I'd probably be laying there for a while. - Yeah, back you guys. - Yeah. - I'm not even gonna catch up. - I'm gonna sit this one out. - Yeah, when that kid charged that hose, we were all like, huh, maybe he shouldn't be here. - Yeah, yeah. - But I know that I remember that feeling of like you're kind of grabbing those and you're like up. No this one Yeah, it's like which one do they have out right now wouldn't kill him to like label. Yeah Yeah, they're just like banking on everyone like memorizing. Yeah, what's going on there look out the side of the truck? It's like which one was that again? And not to mention all the fun shit that is and all the cabinets and stuff on oh, yeah Yeah, well and a lot of storage and a lot of good, good toys in there. But so let me kind of try and pull us wrap us up here a little bit, which is metal transformations. I just want to bring home again one, one more time the idea of what can people reach out to you for and how do they find you? So I am on Instagram and Facebook, metal transformations is my name on both of those. Um, Um, I want to do one -off projects. I want to do kind of anything that's not in like, I don't want to do 20, 20 things. But like, you have something that wants to be built of anything you want. Like, if I come to you, I want the most kick -ass barbecue smoking thing. I'll figure it out. You're on it. I have, I very rarely say no. Okay. So yeah, it's About anything anything you come up with I will try it. Okay, so I'm gonna repeat that back your phone numbers on your shirt But Josh Weber Metal transformations Facebook and Instagram Instagram, and if anyone has like a metal Custom job. Yeah, it's cutting welding. They should reach out to you. Yes, and that includes the Wichita area Yeah, which the hutch pretty much Anywhere within about a hundred miles. I'll go to that's perfect Actually, I went out about a hundred fifty miles here a couple weeks ago to build a whole building. You did. Yeah Okay, so you have a good radius. Yeah on what you're doing. Yeah We'll reach out to josh if if you've got a project that's brimming and and you need to get it built But uh, thanks for coming in at josh. Thank you. Thank you for having me you bet (logo whooshes)