Backyard welding events are giving first-timers the kind of hands-on shop experience that many schools no longer offer.

If you’re a welder, maker, teacher, fabricator, or someone who wants to help more people get into the trades, this episode shows what can happen when a community opens the shop doors and lets people learn by doing.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why community-based maker events can help fill the gap left by disappearing shop classes

• How Sparks and Sawdust gave woodworkers and beginners a chance to weld on a real Santa Maria grill build

• What makes learning on an actual project different from practicing beads on flat plate

• How Papa Chad kept his first event simple, hands-on, and focused on learning instead of turning it into a big production

• Why welders, fabricators, and makers can play a bigger role in bringing new people into the trades

Papa Chad is a maker, builder, and host of Sparks and Sawdust in Phoenix City, Alabama. His property brings together a welding shop, wood shop, sawmill pad, custom pizza oven, and enough equipment to give first-timers a real hands-on experience. What makes his perspective valuable is that he is not trying to impress anybody — he is creating a place where people can try new skills, build something real, and leave better than they came in.

Connect with Papa Chad:

Instagram: @AlabamaPapaChad

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Papa_Chad 

Website: PapaChad.com

Connect with Tom from Phoenix Wood Shop:

Instagram: @PhoenixWoodShop

Connect with Chris from Green Money Fab

Instagram: @GreenMoneyFab

Connect with Beau Wigington:

Instagram: @beaudiditwelding

Download the WELD App:

iOS: App Store https://foxly.link/m6jqqa 
Android: Google Play https://foxly.link/cYEXjL

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