*the official ctd fab thread*
 

Evolution...to be continued

This is gonna be good. Another fab thread, whoosh!

Well since i hear "Have you seen my fab thread!" about 32.5 times a day i thought i might just counter with my own.

My name is Vince and i like metal.

I started out as a head fabricator at Chassis Tech in Mesa, there i learned how to MIG, manage a group of welders, fabricate and prototype all kinds of lift suspensions lowering suspensions and airbag suspension, bend tubing, and adhere to a lean production schedule. My next job was offered to me by my brother, Javier, to start designing and prototyping turbo manifolds for a company called Full Race. After that I started doing the same thing at a company called AFI, Arizona Forced Induction. About 6 months ago I rented out my own fabrication shop and filled it with all kinds of goodies. My shop was meant to aid me in mainly finishing my numerous projects but is starting to evolve into a real life fabrication shop entity. Now I am on my own and looking it right in the face.

I have made all kinds of things from NSX turbo kits to stainless steel roses and aluminum mermaids and everything in between. I have designed unthinkable amounts of turbo manifolds, many of which have been on the fastest cars in their fields.

One thing that stands out is that no matter what, you aren't the best and that means you have to try harder. Someone somewhere out there is putting up a challenge. I have been amazingly lucky to work side by side with some of the very best fabricators and welders I have ever seen. They keep me honest and keep the pressure on to become better.

Now on to the projects that have lit my fire over the years ------->

lol! ur a trend setter aaron. CTD who do u have working with u?


mike

mike:hi:
This guy is totally legit. I've been lucky to have met this crazy sonuvagun and see what he is capable, first hand.

oh i had no doubts in him i just was wondering who he was referring to when he said "two of the very best welders I have ever seen" i thought there was somebody better than u lol! ive never met cj but is he the one who filled andy's position?


mike

i feel privileged to be able to work with all three of these jackasses.

:)

hai can i haz moar piks plz?

When did you work at chassie tech. Also sent a pm

Chassis tech, haha. I hated that place. I used to see CTD walking around before I met him

Damn Chassis Tech.

I dont even remember the date. Early 2000s i think, Jake ran the machine shop, Lalo did the cad and drawing. I taught some kid from Wyotech how to fab in real life pretty much, haha.

ahhh memories

im confused, so do u work at afi or no?


mike

god i wish i was able to do this shit..... good looking work guys..

M-Thurs yes he does

ok


mike

Yup, i do currently design, prototype and fit all the manifolds and tubing at AFI. All the non-AFI stuff i do out of my own shop in tempe. I buy all my flanges from AFI because of the quality and the owner and I get along. I don't make the things AFI makes and I really like the custom one off and "beyond fabrication" type of jobs.

All weeknights and friday-sunday are open shop time. Right now I'm messing with high speed pulse 100-250pps with some cool results on my Dynasty 200Dx.

i wanted a dynasty but ended up getting an invertec....... whats the deal with the high speed pulsing? in know the dynasty has more frequency adjustability then the invertec which is good for thin aluminum but ive turned mine up to 135 (max is 150) and it seems to do fine, im wondering what turning it up to 250 on a dynasty would do.


mike

A Dynasty is money....i really mean $$$$. I think i have almost $4000 into my setup but you just cant beat the adjust ability and portability . To be honest I haven't even started to scratch the surface of what my machine can do with aluminum and the different waves plus hz. I have been doing mostly sch40 stainless manifold stuff and messing with high PPS. It adds a different degree of control and minimizes heat input while allowing faster movement and better penny. Currently I'm running 160 Peak amps, 250 Pulse Frequency, 40% Peak time and 25% background amps.

You can come down to my shop sometime and fire it up for some aluminum if you want. Just be careful not to like it too much, haha

double

holy fucking shit high speed pulsing is amazing, now i know how everyone gets those perfect welds without over heating the metal. i just happened to be welding some stainless mufflers yesterday when i though i would see what my machine could do. i now love it even more. if u wouldn't have mentioned that i may have never messed with it like i did yesterday. so thank u sir.


mike

Man seein all these dime / penny welds is inspiring!

Both you guys do amazing work with metal.

Keep up the good work. It welds and metal work like this that helps the industry grow.

those collectors look familiar ;)

Your name looks familiar!:hi:

How did you know Kotter? Very nice work, by the way...