Mike Wagner of Cornfield Customs in Milford, Ohio sat down with me at his fabrication shop for a conversation that went way deeper than I expected. Over twenty years of metal shaping, sheet metal fabrication, custom hot rod builds, and race car fabrication with zero formal training. No trade school. No apprenticeship. Everything he knows about shaping metal he taught himself.

This episode starts from the very beginning. From struggling to make a four hundred dollar rent payment to building a one man metal fabrication shop out of a 7,500 square foot facility loaded with power hammers, planishing hammers, a mandrel tube bender, and some of the most impressive equipment you'll find in any shop in this country. We talk about what it took to get there, the employees he hired and let go, and why he chooses to do it alone.

He's put over 1100 metal shaping and fabrication videos on YouTube teaching people around the world how to shape sheet metal, lay out patterns, and build parts from scratch. He's taught metal shaping classes from coast to coast and as far as Australia. He designs and manufactures his own metal shaping tools. He's worked alongside Kindig It, Jesse James, Gas Monkey Garage, and Baileigh Industrial. And he races land speed cars at the Bonneville Salt Flats and El Mirage where he's spun out at nearly 200 mph.

This conversation also goes into the reality of building a massive social media presence in the custom car world, the keyboard warriors that come with it, and what it's like when your honesty becomes the reason this industry tries to keep you quiet.

This episode was truly one of my favorite episodes to record. Mike Wagner isn't just another hot rod builder, his honesty and straight forward approach is exactly what this world needs.

This one is jammed packed full of knowledge and inspiration.

For the money, for the glory, and for the fun. It's All About the Build.

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