Lawrence Heim (FB: suburbanweldingrepairs)
Welcome to this week's #weldershowcase - we had the opportunity to sit down with Lawrence from Suburban Welding Repair and talk a little shop.
If you would like to be featured in our weekly showcase (100% FREE) please send us an email to leo.benchmarkabrasives@gmail.com to get you scheduled in an upcoming week. These showcases are intended to highlight your skill, your business, and your tips and tricks. Most of all it's to have a little fun!
Enjoy and Grind On!
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Name: Lawrence Heim
Business Name: Suburban Welding Repairs Country/State Location: Marietta, GA Socials: FB: Suburban Welding Repairs Website: www. YouTube: Booger & Zeke's Welding Emporium
Specialties: General Welding Repairs |
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Tell us about yourself - what inspired you to get into your trade (backstory)? And how long? I’m in my late 50s but only started welding a few years ago. I’ve been a corporate guy all my professional life but have always been fascinated by metalworking. In previous jobs, I visited manufacturing sites all over the world and would always make excuses to spend extra time in the maintenance or fab shops at those sites. A project car with one of my sons was the reason I bought a welder. My little company is a part time hobby that makes enough money to buy more tools. I don’t have a specialty - I just fix household items that need to be repaired - lots of patio furniture and desk chairs. I enjoy that kind of work, but I admit the occasional fab project gets me going. I did have a couple commissions for stainless sculptures which was really a fun experience. A college buddy of mine and I just launched a welding YouTube channel that is mainly for fun, although we have plans to develop and actual and useful product within the next few months, so stay tuned.
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What keeps you motivated throughout the day?
Two things keep me going on welding projects - one is trying to make my work hidden. I love it when the customer can’t see where I made the repairs. The second is solving problems that come up in the project. |
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What is your favorite shop tool and why?
My welders. I find it extremely satisfying to direct the arc in melting the metal where and how I want it. |
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What's your favorite piece that you've worked on?
Probably one of the stainless steel sculptures I did. I had no real plan, just a general picture in my head based on guidance from the customer. It came out exactly as I pictured. I didn’t want to give it up.
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If you could have any job as it relates to question 1 what would it be and what would you do with that?
I don’t think I would change much from my current situation other than getting some good TIG instruction. And having a bit more work.
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What BA product is your favorite and why?
Grinder flap discs. They are thick and like to eat.
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What BA product surprised you in terms of quality - what about it set it apart from the competition?
I wasn’t expecting the flap discs to be so meaty so that was a great surprise.
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If there was one person you could collaborate with - who would it be and why?
I don’t know about collaborating but I would love to get instruction from Bob Moffat or Justin The Fabricator.
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Do you have any advice for the next generation that you wish you had when you first started?
Welding takes a huge amount of practice and that means two things: lots of torch time and lots of mistakes. I don’t consider my torch time work - I really enjoy it even if all I am doing is just running beads on scrap. If you aren’t having fun, welding may not be for you. Second, a mistake is nothing more than a challenge - identify what went wrong, then avoid doing that again. It is very gratifying to see a nice bead as a result of something you learned or corrected.
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What are your future plans for your shop?
Nothing major - expand to aluminum TIG welding, maybe get a plasma cutting table. In the near term, though, I really just need to sweep the floor.
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A Note From Leo
Thanks for sharing your story with us, Lawrence! We look forward to your future projects and hope you get the opportunity to collaborate with either Bob or Justin. Cheers!