{"id":8053,"date":"2019-01-07T12:27:35","date_gmt":"2019-01-07T20:27:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/joewelder\/?p=8053"},"modified":"2022-08-25T10:26:07","modified_gmt":"2022-08-25T17:26:07","slug":"from-fabricator-to-instagram-influencer-the-story-of-dave-blackburn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/joewelder\/2019\/01\/07\/from-fabricator-to-instagram-influencer-the-story-of-dave-blackburn\/","title":{"rendered":"From Fabricator to Instagram Influencer: The story of Dave Blackburn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Dave<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Blackburn’s Background<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Growing up, Dave Blackburn spent most of his time hanging out at his uncle\u2019s body shop or at the garage door business his mom and step-dad owned. Without that experience, he said, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be where I am. I watched my step-dad do a lot of stick welding on commercial jobs and around the house and I was introduced to MIG welding at my uncle\u2019s shop.\u201d While he learned most of his craft from watching his family, he enrolled in auto body classes for one semester then switched to welding classes at his local community college. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1999, he started working at a bicycle manufacturer as a fabricator where he expanded his skills to TIG welding aluminum. Later that year, he bought himself a Lincoln Squarewave 175 and, in his own words, \u201cit took off from there.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dave<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nearly 20 years later and Dave is running his own business as a welder, fabricator, machinist, and CNC programmer. He\u2019s garnered quite the following on Instagram (check him out @blackburnfabrication<\/a>) and became one of Fronius\u2019 influencers, traveling from trade show to weld shop showing off their latest products. He\u2019s also one of Arc-Zone\u2019s Pro Partners and we are proud to have him on our team!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenge Accepted<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What is it about Mr. Blackburn that has us all at Arc-Zone hooked? Well, he doesn\u2019t mind being challenged, it helps push him to try harder and do better the next time. In fact, challenges are his favorite part of the job. He shared, \u201cI like the challenges. One of the hardest jobs I\u2019ve done is welding a landing gear on an airplane. I could barely fit both arms in the work area and I used a mirror to weld the backside while I worked the TIG pedal with my calf.\u201d Not only does he like a challenge but he considers it an adventure that keeps his work fresh and fun!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dave<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s also a humanitarian with the hunger to give back. When asked what he sees himself doing in 10 years, Dave said, \u201cI want to continue growing my business and work on those odd jobs that no one else will take. I also want to start giving back by helping younger welders. I\u2019m still working out the details but I want to work with a local high school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Dave isn\u2019t working on his next adventure (aka welding challenges) or plotting how to take over a high school\u2019s welding program, he likes to ride dirt bikes and mountain bikes, long range shooting, hunting, hiking, and gunsmithing. And to top it off, he tries to spend as much free time as he can with his family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dave<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Dave<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Influence of Instagram<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With a life like Dave\u2019s, it\u2019s no surprise he has over 25k followers on Instagram; and with so many people looking up to him, we couldn\u2019t help but ask who he looks up to. Dave expressed, \u201cI look up to a lot of people. The main people are my dad and uncle because I wouldn\u2019t be where I am without them. Other people are teachers, like Bob Moffatt. He\u2019s in the classroom helping young welders start a great career. There are also a ton that I see on Instagram but too many to name.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s because of Instagram that Dave is able to expand his company\u2019s reach. Yes, word of mouth helps but having people from all across the globe see his work on a daily basis has increased his business significantly. He\u2019s had the chance to work on some fun and interesting projects such as headache racks for pickups and erecting and plumbing a windmill. His favorite project so far is building a bed for his welding rig. He said, \u201cIt\u2019s my favorite because I designed and built it myself, I use it everyday, and it\u2019s different than anything else I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dave<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Something we\u2019ve noticed about Dave is that he likes things that are different, he isn\u2019t afraid to try anything new or step out of the box. This is the type of person we don\u2019t mind taking advice from because we know they\u2019ve tried everything at least once and if they don\u2019t get it right, they\u2019ll try it another way until they do. Dave\u2019s advice to us and any welder starting out is, \u201cLearn everything you can from teachers and old timers in the field. Take what you learn and make it your own. Get as much hood time as you can. Be accountable for your mistakes and learn from them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We wish Dave continued success in his endeavors and can\u2019t wait to see how he tackles his next welding challenge. To learn more about Dave, give him a follow on Instagram<\/a>!
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet Dave Blackburn, a Northern California native with decades of metal fabrication experience.<\/p>\n

Learn how Dave became one of Instagram’s welding influencers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[167,168,171,170,165,169,94,166],"class_list":["post-8053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arc-zone-pro-partnership","tag-fabricator","tag-instagram-influencer","tag-mentor","tag-mobile-welding","tag-propartnership","tag-weld-life","tag-welder","tag-weldlikeapro","entry","fw-tab-6 fw-tabr-4"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nFrom Fabricator to Instagram Influencer: The story of Dave Blackburn - Joe Welder\u2122 Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Arc-Zone Presents their newest Pro Partner, Dave Blackburn, a fabricator turned Instagram influencer who wants to teach the new generation of welders the tricks of the trade industry\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/joewelder\/2019\/01\/07\/from-fabricator-to-instagram-influencer-the-story-of-dave-blackburn\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joe Welder\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/joewelder\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/07\\\/from-fabricator-to-instagram-influencer-the-story-of-dave-blackburn\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/joewelder\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/07\\\/from-fabricator-to-instagram-influencer-the-story-of-dave-blackburn\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Joe Welder\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/joewelder\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d11eef7e30a3295231fc0ea473ff9505\"},\"headline\":\"From Fabricator to Instagram Influencer: The story of Dave Blackburn\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-07T20:27:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-25T17:26:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/joewelder\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/07\\\/from-fabricator-to-instagram-influencer-the-story-of-dave-blackburn\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":818,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/joewelder\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/joewelder\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/07\\\/from-fabricator-to-instagram-influencer-the-story-of-dave-blackburn\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/joewelder\\\/wp-content\\\/new_ups\\\/Dave2-1.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Fabricator\",\"Instagram Influencer\",\"Mentor\",\"Mobile Welding\",\"ProPartnership\",\"Weld Life\",\"welder\",\"WeldLikeAPro\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Arc-Zone Pro Partnership\u2122\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/joewelder\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/07\\\/from-fabricator-to-instagram-influencer-the-story-of-dave-blackburn\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/joewelder\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/07\\\/from-fabricator-to-instagram-influencer-the-story-of-dave-blackburn\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.arc-zone.com\\\/joewelder\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/07\\\/from-fabricator-to-instagram-influencer-the-story-of-dave-blackburn\\\/\",\"name\":\"From Fabricator to Instagram Influencer: The story of Dave Blackburn - 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