Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyson Nelson.
Hi Tyson, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I got started when my grandpa started to lose his sight and would have me weld things on the farm. Sometimes it would be something on a trailer, or a fence, or some type of rusty old metal. He loved the old 6011 rods that had been wet years ago that were salvaged from the iron mines, I never understood it but he loved it! As I got older I got my hands on some brand new 7018 rod and really learned what welding was supposed to look like under a hood, and look after the slag was chipped off.
While in college I worked part-time for a small trucking company in town and one winter they figured out that I could lay decent welds and from then on I MIG welded on trucks, dump beds, dumpsters, and custom projects for them when they weren’t a load going out. While working there I got to know some of the contractors in town and pretty soon I had an inquiry for some railing. My very first railing job was one of my most complex, but it made me learn a lot and today I still use a lot of the experience I picked up from that first job. While I’m college I earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and became a biology teacher at the local high school.
Once I was finished with school my wife dove back into a master’s degree and while she was in her program I welded 1-2 nights a week and taught high school during the daytime. While doing that I realized that maybe it was a possibility for me to quit my job because I made more welding 2 nights a week than I did teaching 5 days a week!
Fast forward to Covid 19 and the kids were sent out of school so I had nothing but time to weld during the regular work week. It was only a couple of months out of school when I hired my first employee Simon, to be a finish welder. I was nervous when I hired him that I wouldn’t be able to keep him busy, but he caught on fast and is probably the most meticulous welder I’ve ever met. He’s very honest, trustworthy, and works very very hard to ensure that our projects leave the shop absolutely flawless!
That Fall I hired my brother as a fabricator, and his primary job was to “frame out” projects. Basically “tack” it all together so the general idea of the project can come to life and actual dimensions can be checked before finishing welding.
He has since moved on and we’ve had 2 others in his place since, but his position lives on.
I now have 3 full-time employees and their positions are as follows
1. Cutman. David cuts everything for projects in the shop. He takes the plans and cuts from the jobs I’ve prepared and cuts steel and organizes pieces in a way that either He or the lead fabricator can “frame out” the project. David is also in charge of measuring and building the window well covers in the shop, and is very talented at it!
2. Lead Fabricator. James’s job is to primarily bring each job to life by putting the cuts together and making sure things will fit correctly. The man I hired for this position is actually in training to take over my position someday. He’s learning how to build things, as well as measure, estimate, fit, and install projects, along with billing, invoices, and financials too. Someday he’ll be over another fabricator when we expand
3. Finish welder. Simon was my first employee and in the past 2 years has established nearly the entire system of finish welding. From the sequence of operations to quality control, Simon has innovated and designed the best/fastest/highest quality way to finish welding in nearly any project. He does an awesome job today too! Simon came to me with a “techy” background and has headed up the CNC plasma cutter and all of the design work that goes with it.
Then there’s me, owner/operator but I like to call myself the manager. I find work, deal with customers, manage finances, plan cuts and jobs, QC operations and projects, and oversee a lot of the installation as well. I’m able to float a lot of different positions when needed, but overall I keep external things flowing in and out of our shop, while my employees manage about 90% of operations inside the shop, and they are very good at it too!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Honestly yes, it has been smooth so far. While there have been small bumps, we’ve always made money on projects, and managed our money very carefully to ensure that there is always extra just in case! We have been very fortunate to ride an economic wave upward, and we are currently preparing to ride it downhill as well
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
We advertise quality, charge a higher price for quality, and ALWAYS deliver quality projects! I see so many jobs around town that are 80-90% of a really good jobs. We take our jobs up to the 95-100% range.
We leave nothing unfinished! From start to finish our jobs are designed to be and turn out flawless right down to the most knit-picky customer. I always tell my employees to build something that they would be proud to show off to another welder if given the chance.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Southern Utah was very very blessed during that time. Incoming people from other areas of the country caused us to boom during Covid-19. I literally quit my job to start a thriving business during Covid-19! We were very blessed
Pricing:
- Railing $100-200/ft
- Gates $165-350/ft
- Window well covers $200-450 each
- Plasma cuts $0.20/inch and $0.20/pierce
- Shop rate $100/hr
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @fineiron
- Facebook: @fineironllc
