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What talents do you have...

In all seriousness, this is one of the most interesting threads on LRH. I have enjoyed reading and seeing the talents in play.

My talent(s)? First not sure its a talent but no father could be more proud of their son than I. Good man, husband and father.

I tie salmon flies for trolling in Lake Michigan that are extremely successful. We have caught at least one king over 30lbs the last 5 years on them so the patterns I am tying just seem to work. The last couple years we have caught multiples over 30 which has been a hoot! I have been tying flies since 8 years old so its been fun to catch fish whether on size 24 gnat , streamers, nymphs or now for trolling. And yea, there were motors on boats when I was 8...
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Musky???

You guys need to check out some real talent.....look'm up....
Eagle Man..Cottage Grove Oregon...

Dave Campbell Fish Taxidermy....simply incredible....
 
Think my only real talent is fixing old boats in cold wet conditions, usually with a shoe string budget and a hammer...

Sliding in to bed with a little Tylenol on board... wishing I'd of been born skilled at venture capital management.
 
Lets see. I've lived quite the varied life. Boredom has been my biggest motivator. Interests go all over the place and have found the things I'm good at and kinda stick with em.

Used to love tying flies when I was a kid, 13-14ish. Used to sell them to local shops.

Did a little graphic art- had a side gig in high school, made enough to buy my first "get me in trouble" car, a 77 firebird.

Paint and body was my thing. Laid a few nice paint jobs until the chemicals started killing my health in my early 20s.

Cowboy work- herding cattle in the mountains. Wasn't a great roper, but I could cut cattle like nobody's business. (too old for that now, body is shot)

Race car/ offroad truck driver- was pretty good for a while- won a number of races and a few championships competing against some guys that have gone on on recent times to become factory sponsored top dogs. Used to build all my own stuff, some of it pretty out of the box for the time. Lost interest when ingenuity and talent became less important than marketing (which I suck at). couldn't make up for the cubic yards of $ the other guys were spending.

All of that was fun or necessary stuff I was really good at but couldn't make enough of a living at to keep doing. And anyway, through much of that I was still ranching/ farming.

So I guess I found my niche building race cars and offroad fabrication- been doing it since high school. 30 something years I guess. Build mostly other people's stuff now. Less stress, $ spent, and its nice to still be part of a winning team. Last 10 years specializing in custom exhaust systems and other components that require tig welding like aluminum parts and chromolly suspension components/ chassis. Lost count of all the vehicles or ones I had a hand in that are out there racing, some very very successful.

I think I'm a pretty decent manual machinist. 30 years building my own stuff, a little gunsmithing, lots of inventing/ product development, and about 10 y working in aerospace/ oilfield plus doing prototype work for others.

Kinda bums me out thinking about the racing- So little to show for it now 'cept the memories (which are nice). Silly trophies, and a few pics. Guess that's that pride lesson we all have to learn. We only did it for the fun, and quit when it wasn't anymore. Still also do alot of structutal/ ornamental metal fabrication, and build custom jeeps/ broncos/ offroad fun buggies so I guess develpoing all those skills led to me being able to take whatever came my way with confidence, and keep the farm through the ups and downs.

Photography has been a life long hobby, just for fun but these days I'm getting to where my stuff is good enough to sell.

I built a tube rolling machine to be able to take on railing and ornamental work such as this. Powered with an old lathe.
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These are the headers and part of the exhaust system I built for a half million $ desert race truck I had a hand in- before they got wrapped in a super high tech heat management material. 850 hp, 4wd, 40" tires, two feet of wheel travel, computer controlled shocks. Headers were all 2" dia equal length primaries (32") purge welded stainless steel.
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This is a machine I had a hand in both on consultation of suspension design, and construction. Of course I also built the exhaust system. It won 8 straight races and 3 championships (thanks in no small part to a very, very talented driver)


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Half- finished aluminum interior for a hybrid offroad race/play buggy. I do enjoy sheetmetal work from basic, like this to more difficult stuff.
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Lets see. I've lived quite the varied life. Interests go all over the place and have found the things I'm good at and kinda stick with em.

Used to love tying flies when I was a kid, 13-14ish. Used to sell them to local shops.

Did a little graphic art- had a side gig in high school, made enough to buy my first "get me in trouble" car, a 77 firebird.

Paint and body was my thing. Laid a few nice paint jobs until the chemicals started killing my health in my early 20s.

Cowboy work- herding cattle in the mountains. Wasnt a great roper, but I could cut cattle like nobody's business.(too old for that now , body is shot)

Race car/ offroad truck driver- was pretty good for a while- won a number of races and a few championships. Used to build all my own stuff, some of it pretty out of the box for the time. Lost interest when ingenuity and talent became less important than marketing (which I suck at). couldn't make up for the cubic yards of $ the other guys were spending.

All of that was fun or necessary stuff 3i was really good at but couldnt make eoungh of a living at to keep doing.

So i guess I found my niche building race cars and offroad fabrication- been doing it since high school. 30 something years I guess. Build mostly other people's stuff now. Less stress, $ spent, and its nice to still be part of a winning team. Last 10 years specializing in custom exhaust systems and other components that require tig welding like aluminum parts and chromolly suspension components/ chassis. Lost count of all the vehicles or ones I had a hand in that are out there racing, some very very successful.

I think I'm a pretty decent manual machinist. 30 years building my own stuff, a little gunsmithing, lots of inventing/ product development, and about 10 y working in aerospace/ oilfield plus doing prototype work for others.

Kinda bums me out thinking about the racing- So little to show for it now 'cept the memories (which are nice). Silly trophies, and a few pics. Guess that's that pride lesson we all have to learn. We only did it for the fun, and quit when it wasn't anymore. Still do alot of structutal metal fabrication, and build custom jeeps/ broncos/ offroad fun buggies.

Photography has been a life long hobby, just for fun but these days I'm getting to where my stuff is good enough to sell.
Nice work. You are a talented fitter and welder. Kudos to you.

I can neatly solder copper tubing and pack and pour lead joints on cast iron pipe. Maybe I am a dying breed.
 

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