A little help

[tysonrss]

Hi, new to the site but I wanted to ask a couple questions.

I'm trying to go to school to learn how to weld and fabricate, also messing around with other machinery. I want to build custom choppers and sell them to companies and make profit like off the show American Chopper.

Does anyone have a clue where I can start? Like what should I major in to do this, engineering?

[aametalmaster]

Does anyone have a clue where I can start? Like what should I major in to do this, engineering?

Hi neighbor from across the state. Welcome.
How gifted are you with metal now? Some guys can just look at something and jump right in and build it with no engineering or welding exp. Others can go to school and still can't figure it out. Also how old are you and do you have any expierence now? Just wondering...Bob

[SmokinPRanch]

The guys from American Chopper aren't real fabricators...they are businessmen. They make very little that is involved with those bikes. A few ornamental pieces. They bolt 'em together and create a side show. Marketing...they are experts at it.

What they have is clients with deep pockets and shallow minds.

Wanna make money like them? Take business courses.

There's a lot of different courses you can take depending on your destination. But they all lead to one place you can't work around...The School Of Hard Knocks.

Good luck...maybe someday we'll see you on TV.

Al

[aametalmaster]

The guys from American Chopper aren't real fabricators...they are businessmen.

That's for sure...Bob

[Rbeckett]

That's for sure...Bob

Jr and Sr are Hacks, the real talent works in the shop behind the scenes making tanks and doing the real custom fab on the water jet and other equipment. Bet neither one can run a Bridgeport or Leblond gap bed engine lathe. To get there ya gotta go to the School of Hard Knock and get experience. Book learning will only take you so far, torch time and patience will do the rest. Take any welding course you can get, buy the Miller and Lincoln books, and for MC stuff look into MMI or similar for American v-twins.
Bob

[admcnich]

Learn

Classes can be a good foundation to start with, but there is so much that you will not learn in a class. Working with others is the best way to get real experiance and knowledge. Look for an old guy who has been around the block a few times, they have a wealth of real world experiance working and running a business. Soak up knowledge like a sponge, the welding just like anything else is the same no matter what, you can only plant a tree one way. The guys that have been doing it a long time know the scenerios, run into difficulties, way to over come a problem and hardship. Knowledge is passed down, the young guys with flashy rigs may do business different then the old guys in the beater trucks, but the young guys learned from the older guys.

[tysonrss]

Hi neighbor from across the state. Welcome.
How gifted are you with metal now? Some guys can just look at something and jump right in and build it with no engineering or welding exp. Others can go to school and still can't figure it out. Also how old are you and do you have any expierence now? Just wondering...Bob

I have never worked with metal in my life. I am 18 and just finished school. And I have NO experience besides from what I see, which looks easy enough but actually doing it is different.

Thanks for replies everyone. From what all of you are saying, the guys on American Chopper doesn't know their stuff. Hmm, I just to want own a company and sell the bikes thats pretty much it.

[HAWK]

The guys from American Chopper aren't real fabricators...they are businessmen. They make very little that is involved with those bikes. A few ornamental pieces. They bolt 'em together and create a side show. Marketing...they are experts at it.

What they have is clients with deep pockets and shallow minds.

Wanna make money like them? Take business courses.

There's a lot of different courses you can take depending on your destination. But they all lead to one place you can't work around...The School Of Hard Knocks.

Good luck...maybe someday we'll see you on TV.

Al

Now that's a 100% accurate statement! Period!