{"id":8799,"date":"2020-09-21T19:07:18","date_gmt":"2020-09-22T02:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/joewelder\/?p=8799"},"modified":"2023-06-22T13:43:33","modified_gmt":"2023-06-22T20:43:33","slug":"if-you-can-dream-it-you-can-do-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/joewelder\/2020\/09\/21\/if-you-can-dream-it-you-can-do-it\/","title":{"rendered":"IF YOU CAN DREAM IT, YOU CAN DO IT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How pursuing your passions can lead to the career of your dreams<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n


Imagine waking up Christmas morning to find a Lincoln MIG Welder underneath your tree. For any welder, it would be a Christmas to remember. But for Lonnie, it was the beginning of his long love for fabrication and custom auto work.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been around cars all my life and always wanted to work on them and modify them. My parents decided to get me a Lincoln MIG welder for Christmas when I was in high school and I\u2019ve been hooked ever since.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before becoming a full time fabricator, Lonnie worked as a mechanic, and even spent some time working on a top fuel dragster. \u201cI still work on cars, most of my work is custom automotive fabrication. When I decided I was done working at repair shops, I had been doing a lot of fabrication work on my own projects and just decided to apply for a welding position.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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


\u201cThe first job I got that actually had \u2018welder\u2019 in my title was welding stainless handrails for boats at a local marine fabrication shop. There\u2019s lot of opportunities in this industry. You can weld anything from car parts to boat parts to medical devices to the pipeline. If you find a niche you think you\u2019ll like, find out what process they use and practice it. Get certified, if need be, and apply.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you learn new welding skills? What books, videos, tools do you use to keep up with new welding trends?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I watch, listen, and read stuff online and make a lot of mental notes. I like Welding Tips and Tricks<\/a> youtube and podcasts, as well as Everlast<\/a>, Weld.com<\/a>, and WeldTube<\/a>\u2019s youtube channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s your favorite welding application?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

TIG for sure<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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


What\u2019re your favorite welding tools\/brands?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I love my Everlast 255EXT. My consumables and accessories are a collaboration including Arc-Zone, CK, and a couple others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s the most surprising or hardest moment of your career?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Doing custom automotive fabrication is always surprising and challenging. Customers sometimes ask for crazy things and it\u2019s a fun challenge to get it done the way they want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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


What’s the greatest moment of your career?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Honestly, lifting my hood and seeing a good weld is always super rewarding. It will never get old, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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


What advice do you have for others in the welding industry<\/strong>?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Never give up. Welding may seem difficult when you start, but you\u2019ll get it. Once you do finally get it, never stop learning or challenging yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you weren\u2019t on the path you are now, what would you have done instead?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I think I would have enjoyed being a CNC machinist. I love drawing and designing parts for my projects on Fusion360.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rapid Fire<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Welding Exhaust Systems or Car Frames?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Exhaust Systems<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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


Beer or Cocktail?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Cocktail<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chevy or Ford?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Chevy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dog or Cat?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Dog<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Text or Phone Call?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Text<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laundry or Dishes?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Laundry<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bowling or Mini Golf?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Bowling<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Favorite T.V. show?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Almost anything car related, haha. Bitchin\u2019 Rides is probably my favorite out of those though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Favorite pizza topping?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

BBQ chicken<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Favorite place to vacation?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Anywhere with a drag strip<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last song listened to?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

“If You\u2019re Gonna Play In Texas” by Alabama<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last thing that made you go \u201chuh?\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The design of a turbo manifold at a friend\u2019s shop<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until Next Time<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n



To learn more about Lonnie, follow @akuma.fab<\/a> on Instagram<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet @akuma.fab, a custom automotive fabricator whose passion for welding began when he found a Lincoln Electric welding machine under his Christmas tree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8820,"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":[146,162,10,21,26,38],"tags":[253,252,188,248,255,107,250,64,160,251,249,247,256,94,254,257,258],"class_list":["post-8799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-as-seen-on-instagram","category-ck-worldwide","category-motorsports","category-tig-welding-2","category-tig-welding","category-welding-industry-news","tag-car-enthusiast","tag-christmas","tag-ck-worldwide","tag-custom-automotive","tag-everlast-welders","tag-fabrication","tag-follow-your-dreams","tag-high-school","tag-instagram","tag-lincoln-electric","tag-mechanic","tag-top-fuel-dragster","tag-weld-com","tag-welder","tag-welding-tips-and-tricks-podcast","tag-weldtube","tag-youtube","entry","fw-tab-6 fw-tabr-4"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t