Bruce Parramore

All Metal Fabrications
Allen, Texas

“I was working as a truck driver when I took my first Welding course at Eastfield. I had gotten interested in welding when I built a go-cart as a home project and had decided I’d like to learn how to weld better. But after I took that first welding class — after just four months — I had learned enough that I was able to get a job in my company’s welding department. Now I’m a welder instead of a truck driver.

“What I like about welding is that you get the chance to create something, and because it’s metal it lasts just about forever. It’s also really fun, and now I work on a lot of home projects I would never have been able to do before.

“Welding is also like a jigsaw puzzle. You have to figure out what you’re going to do and put it together right before you weld it. There’s a lot of fabrication to the whole process.

“The Welding instructors at Eastfield are great. If you’ve got a problem, they’ll come show you how to fix it and get it right. I was working on a project that I couldn’t make work, and Phil Suderman came over to help me figure it out. The next thing you know, I had it down like science. If you see someone do something who knows how to do it right, you’re going to be able to get it down too.

“If you’re doing something you like and can make a decent living at it, you can’t beat that.”

Watch Bruce's story



I originally started, I made a homemade go-kart.

I finished the project and I didn't have anything to do.





And benefit both of us and look better.


As far as being close to my, my home.


Degrees and everything else.



The teachers were cool.


While I was, getting my trade at night or on the Saturdays.



But my instructor, I believe, was Phil Sudermann.

And, he was laid-back.





Instead of passing around, you'll get stuff that's yours.



But typically I'm, like I just finished a 500 post job.



Sometimes you're the whole operation, on top of welding.


Tig welding is, you have a rod in one hand and you have basically a tungsten steel rod here and a hand controller and you operate it by your foot and you feed your weld.

A mig welder, you just squeeze the trigger and it's automatically going to come out and you just have to either whip it or lay it the way you want the weld to look.


You know, you can't make less money.


You have to go do it.


I make weight sleds, you know I make weight sleds,

I make grills. So you're technically welding. You will be able to make what you see.

I don't know any other way to put it.

You can make what you see.


Let's say we're in Russia.

I don't speak Russian.

All I need that blueprint.

I don't have to say another word to anybody else.

You give me that blueprint and my helmet and I'm covered.

The skill speaks for itself. It's something you can do anywhere in the world whether there's a language barrier or not.

And you can do it for yourself.

You can't beat it.


By the time you're 25, you're probably making 50, 50 grand and you're not even a master yet.



It's pretty good.

The younger you are, the better it will probably be.