Art welding in LA?

October 28, 2005 8:46 AM

I wish to have metal bars, rods and plates cut, bent, welded, ground, and painted for a Burning-Man-esque outdoor shedlike functional art piece slash Christmas present. I have rough schematics but no skills. In your personal direct experience in the Southern California area, who and/or what company is best at this sort of one-off work for semi-knowledgeable artistic individuals?

Many local machine shops look at me like I have a tree growing out of my ear. If you have a lead on someone that does welding but not painting etc, that would still be fantastic. Craftsmanship and open attitude more important than cost.

posted by felix to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

You could check with any local artists who work with steel. They might work with you, or know of fab shops that do jobs like you want.

If the piece isn't too tricky, almost any torch jockey could help out. Ask at muffler shops with a "muffler man" outside. You might even check with a high school shop teacher, it could be an interesting welding class project.
posted by Marky at 9:41 AM on October 28, 2005

Get an account on Tribe.net and ask there. That place is totally full of torch-weilding burners. You should be able to find someone there right away. Good luck!
posted by redteam at 10:04 AM on October 28, 2005

Response by poster: The piece is somewhat tricky, and my experience with the muffler shop guys and local machine shops was blank stares and a general lack of helpfulness.
posted by felix at 10:44 AM on October 28, 2005

Best answer: i would try calling the Crucible. Its in Oakland - so not southern california at all - but it is headquarters for the fire based burning man set. I would bet they would be connected enough to steer you in the right direction in southern california.
posted by Wolfie at 11:50 AM on October 28, 2005

My girlfriend is an artist and also a welding TA in Glendale. Her Dad also has a welding shop in Murrieta if that's closer to you. I can give you her e-mail address if you'd like. My e-mail is in my profile.
posted by kamikazegopher at 3:51 PM on October 28, 2005