For me, everything started with metalworking. Initially, my friends and I planned to build a go-kart. I was tasked with buying a welder while they were supposed to handle the engine and frame. However, when they didn't follow through, I was left with a welder and endless possibilities. This unexpected turn of events led to my first apprenticeship and set me on the path of crafting and creating. It was the beginning of a journey that has since defined my professional and personal life.
Metal Working
Hand Forged Silver Ring
Crafted from a single one-ounce coin of silver, I hand‑forged a personalized ring symbolizing enduring compassion, melding jewelry aesthetics with material science. Through repeated hammering and shaping on an anvil, I honed skills in normalization, stress concentration, and fatigue behavior. The final piece serves as a wearable testament to both my relationship and the physical lessons I absorbed in the forge.
Starting from a solid coin, I annealed the silver to regain malleability, then drew the inner diameter using controlled hammer strikes on an anvil horn. Each iteration taught me how metal flows, work-hardens, and reacts to heat—crucial insights into the interplay between form and mechanical properties. The end product is a clean, minimalist band with subtle patination, embodying both emotional weight and the structural integrity required for daily wear.
Backyard Metal Foundry
Inspired by Grant Thompson, the creative force behind The King of Random, I built a backyard foundry from scrap materials to melt down aluminum cans into reusable ingots directly feeding future vehicle restoration parts. I mastered green sand casting with a homemade mix of motor oil and kitty litter, designed casting molds, and navigated alloy behavior during cooling. This project yielded raw materials while offering deep exposure to casting principles like draft angles, porosity, and alloy selection.
Over months, I collected and prepped aluminum feedstock before refining it in a charcoal furnace. I experimented with sand preparation, mold gating, and riser placement, evaluating shrinkage and impurity effects on ingot quality. The process taught me to predict and troubleshoot casting defects—laying a foundation for future metalworking and part fabrication. Though the ingots were crude, they represent a resourceful and instructive first step into metallurgy.
This video showcases my very first attempt at ingot casting when I was just fifteen years old
Backyard Metal Forge
I engineered a backyard charcoal forge using hair dryer–induced blast to reach steel-forging temperatures, enabling me to upcycle old wrenches into camping hatchets and ornate twisted tools. This project sharpened my expertise in heat control, forge-welding, and cold-form manipulation. The result: functional tools with decorative character, each forged by hand from reclaimed steel.
After constructing the charcoal forge, I focused on temperature regulation, learning how coal bed depth and airflow affect forging heat. I recovered wrenches, cut and heated them to forge them into axe heads, then quenched and tempered the steel. Decorative twists were formed hot on the anvil, yielding custom grips and accents. This hands-on process sharpened my metalworking instincts and resulted in a small collection of camp-ready tools molded wholly from scrap.
