Welder and wife launch their own small business

Charlie and Amanda Penrod opened Tough Weld Fabrication in Marysville, Mich., in 2017. There, shoppers can find lawn art, signs, home decoration items, and sculptures.

Most metal fabricators like what they do. Charlie Penrod is no different.

In fact, he’s now established his own business, building on his love for making things. He got his first taste of metal fabricating when he went to work for a fab shop after being laid off during the Great Recession. He’s parlayed his newfound passion and work experience into Tough Weld Fabrication, which he and his wife, Amanda, opened in Marysville, Mich., in 2017. That’s where shoppers can find Charlie’s lawn art, signs, home decoration items, and sculptures. As the shop’s work has caught the eye of consumers in Marysville and the neighboring area, the Penrods also are taking on custom work, turning customers’ design ideas into art pieces.

Charlie does all the metal fabrication work himself. The workpieces are designed in a software program that creates the cut path for the shop’s plasma cutting machine. From there, the metal piece is finished to the customer’s specifications. That could include powder coating, painting, or just a simple polish of the metal surface.

Amanda said they hope to take on more production work by the fall.

“Our next business step is we’re actually going to expand the welding and fabricating side of things,” she said. “We’re also still going to have our little store, where everyone could still come in if they need to pay, look at paint color, or look at a type of metal.”

They’re expanding by opening a new fabricating shop in Port Huron, Mich., in November of this year. This new location is where they will complete industrial work, and it will give them the space needed to accommodate orders for sculptures, art, and custom signs.

The idea for the storefront started when they began designing and manufacturing signs for local customers for a variety of occasions, from a simple garden sign to wedding monograms. As they grew in popularity, the Penrods had to expand their business to accommodate the influx of orders.

While Tough Weld Fabrication mainly creates signs and sculptures, it is seeing an increase in other welding work, which is the reason the Penrods are expanding their commercial business. Amanda said Charlie worked on a recent project that called for one of the shop’s metal designs to be connected to a railing fabrication.

“We do pretty much anything that anyone can think of along those lines,” she said.

Like any fabrication company of any size, Tough Weld Fabrication is challenged in handling the amount of work orders it receives. Amanda said the small shop has been able to stay on top of all of the work, but sometimes complex jobs can prove to be a real stumper. For example, she received an order to cut out the profile of the Joker, Batman’s arch nemesis. Such a detailed cut-out was going to be too much to recreate in a sheet metal form, so the shop had to pass on that job.

Charlie does all the metal fabrication work himself. The workpieces are designed in a software program that creates the cut path for the shop’s plasma cutting machine. From there, the metal piece is finished to the customer’s specifications.

“So that was the only one that I had to turn down in more than a year,” she said.

Despite the occasional roadblock, Amanda said the new business has proven to be enjoyable because they are able to connect with the people in the community.

“There are so many people that you don’t see on a daily basis, and by doing this, we’ve got to meet so many great people,” she said. “The fun part is when you put so much work into a project, from beginning to end, and you begin to feel like you really know these customers because you’ve worked with them for so long on the project.”

Contributing Writer Kate Youdell worked as a summer intern for The FABRICATOR.

Tough Weld Fabrication, toughweldfabrication.com

The Penrods plan to open a new fabricating shop in Port Huron, Mich., in November, where they will complete industrial work, and it will give them the space needed to accommodate orders for sculptures, art, and custom signs.