credit cards

I am now able to directly accept credit cards. Visa, Master Card, American Express, and Discover.

I have the account set up, and may have to work out a kink or two, as I haven't used it yet. A little patience would be great as I step forward into this new territory. I'm glad to be free from Paypal, as not everybody has paypal accounts, and it has been a problem a few times.

Trickling orders

I've been plugging away in the shop. I made some good progress on Saturday. Last week I had a few orders. Thank you, Dan @ Glen Maple Products in NY. Planning on working all night tomorrow. Still working on my autocad skills....its been slow going. Abby is slowly feeling better with her bout of pneumonia. Tonight we cleaned up the yard, and took clippings, and plants to the yard waste center. I got a pan welded, and called it quits due to a sore back from a strenuous day at work.

Romania pictures

 Pizza place we ate at Saturday evening. Probably the best pizza I ever ate.

 Out of order picture, but we replaced every window in the 100 yr old building with high efficiency dual pane windows.

Matt mixing mortar for hanging the new insulation sheets we put on inside and outside walls. The building had no insulation.

The pit in the background was previously dug for the foundation for the new building. The planner didnt see that there were wells beneath the surface, and after digging, the pit filled with water. They ended up filling it after we left and pouring over the top.

 One evening we took the children out to the mall for dinner, from the orphanage that the church there operates.  These kids are so precious, and is disheartening to hear the abandonment from their parents, mostly for drugs or alcohol.

 We went out for an evening stroll downtown, this is essentially a barkless tree.

 Progress pics of interior plastering over the insulation sheets we installed. being that all their walls are block, they dont use rolled fiberglass batting like we do here.

 A picture of the attic, no insulation, just a stone/dirt floor.

 Im refraining to post too many pictures of the food, I took a lot, but it was SOOOO good.  Each meal was made fresh each day for us by the cook at the school.

 One whole block of graffiti on the wall.

Its kind of a long time out, but I've had a couple people ask about the Romania trip. I feel bad that I didnt post more pictures.

Its been somewhat of a busy week. I got some 16x30 pans welded and polished. Met with Doug who drove up from Michigan to look at his finish pan that got burned last season. Looking forward to making a replacement for him. Its going to stretch my creative bending skills. Learning new things is always challenging but fun. My friend lended me a copy of autocad, and have been playing with that. Getting ready to make some drawings to have my arch fronts laser cut.  My wife came down with pneumonia and this morning (Saturday) I'm spending a little extra time inside with the boys so she can get some extra rest.  Then its out to the shop. 

Gearing up

Last weekend I delivered a stock order to Anderson's Maple Syrup, and enjoyed meeting Steve and getting the tour of his bottling operation and showroom. My TIG welder was broke down this week, and fixed yesterday. I have the 16x30 campstove pans made now and will be ready for sale starting Monday. I have a materials list together,and a rough drawing for our new Arch that we are shooting to be ready for sale by December.  Still getting fire brick prices so I can supply brick for it. The fronts will be laser cut. We are going back and forth on if it will be stainless or mild steel.

Labor day weekend

Well I took a half day of work on Friday and worked in the shop for a while. I cut 112 hydrometer cups, and buffed matching bases. Came down with the nastiest cold which is still lingering. So Saturday, and Sunday produced nothing. Monday I cut up all the edge protectors I estimated I will need for the season and did some organizational duties. My friend Mark is going to Israel in a month and is shooting a documentary there with the Steve Pettit and Stevie's Trek. So he wanted some custom camera equipment made out of aluminum. We did some experimental work seeing what I was capable of welding. That was fun. I'm looking forward to helping in this venture.

Today,Mark and I picked up the material that I had laser cut. I'm hoping that by the end of the week I will have the pieces formed and ready to weld. I feel much more prepared this year than last even though I am working full time, instead of being laid off every other week. I am getting an earlier start which feels good.

Laser time

Well as you can see, or probably pick up. Things have  been slow around Wegner Metal Works. Well it has been. After I returned from our missions trip to Romania, I really wanted to spend more time with my wife and two boys. So I took on minimal work and have had a great summer together with them.  Earlier in the year I planned on expanding the business and bringing on new products, but have since decided to maintain for now. Fall is around the corner, and things will be busy soon. So its time to synch the belt tight, and start getting some serious work done.

I have a few new things going on. I made a business contact with a laser shop, and will be getting all stock pans and pieces cnc laser cut to, most importantly, save time on my end, and ensure better quality products. This will allow me to possibly do some more intricate work in the future. Im hoping by this saving time, I will have more time to make custom pans once the season starts. All custom pieces will be mechanicaly sheared and hand formed as last year's were.