Hi my name is Shaun, I am a metal artist and steel sculptor. I first learned to weld in 2000 and fell in love with the practice right away. After making my first gate I knew that I would have a metalwork company one day. But I had a lot to learn first.

From 2000-2010 I worked in different types of metalwork companies where I became a skilled sheetmetal worker and steel fabricator. In 2008 I was working for an environmental management company when there was a global financial recession and we lost most of our work. I needed to find something to keep myself busy so I started making small sculptures and interior design pieces from scrap metal and was selling them at arts and craft markets. In 2010 I was asked to make a simple frame to hold a net over a garden pond to protect it from heron attacks. I wanted to make something special so using scrap metal that I had salvaged I created a steel spiderweb. I then quit my job and in 2011 I set up my own artistic metalwork company creating pieces of . Things got off to a great start, I became incredibly busy and life was great. I started volunteering for a youth charity using my life’s experiences to help young people better their lives but ended up having a mental breakdown and separating from my family.

I was a broken man, diagnosed with PTSD and severe depression and anxiety which eventually led to suicidal thoughts and me actually attempting suicide. During this time I was trying to help myself because I couldn’t afford psychological help. I started reading books about psychology, exercising consistently and eating healthy food. I wasn’t sure that I’d ever recover because it had being going on for so long but I wanted to feel better so I kept trying.

Up until this point I had thought that I was too busy to make my own exercise equipment so when I was asked by a friend if I can make a steel mace, I looked at the examples he sent me and actually got annoyed that he would ask me this. I was making such big complex pieces that the idea of a ball on the end of a pole seemed like an insult to me. Boy was I wrong, I just did not know it at the time. The seed had been planted but first I had to get past the idea that I was too busy to make my own equipment. I was doing calisthenics at the time and wanted a better pull-up bar than I had. I decided to dig into my scrap metal pile and make a pull-up bar with a bit of flare. It was a simple idea but I was really surprised how using a few curved bars rather than straight ones gave it a nice unique look. From there I made a pair of parallettes out of rusty metal that I had lying around. I was recording my workouts to correct my form when a friend said I should start an Instagram account called Rawform calisthenics. I wasn’t that keen but he said my workouts on homemade rusty bars were inspirational and might help people. Since my mental breakdown I hadn’t been able to do any charity work and as one of my life’s passions is to help others I was in. I didnt know if it would work but I was open to trying.

One day I was ordering steel when I saw that I could buy steel balls. I’d been watching people swing maces on Instagram and wanted to give it a go so I made my first steel mace. Looking back it was a pretty rubbish mace but I had no idea what it needed to be like. Like with the first gate I made and the first sculpture. It wasnt good but something happened inside me. There was something about swinging that mace though. I felt so out of my comfort zone but I really wanted to learn more… I started to do my research and learned about the correct weight distribution and why it was important to have an offset weight. I started contacting coaches asking for help and slowly started leaning. I couldn’t afford to buy a nice mace but I have a unique metalworking skillset so decided to start experimenting with “art maces”. I’m not very good at doing the same thing over and over and I naturally evolve whatever I make if I have to make something multiple times, even if I’m making it for myself. After trying to sell my maces unsuccessfully I had little belief that I’d actually be able to sell them but I kept making them for myself because I love swinging awesome heavy metal.

I had started working for other people and had all but given up on my business but I had kept my workshop. I just couldn’t let go but I was lost and stopped believing in myself. One day a good friend and fellow steel mace maker commissioned me to make a gorilla head mace. His belief in my skills reignited the fire inside me and I started to make metal art again. I started to believe in my skills again and changed my mind about what I thought I could and couldn’t do. I slowly started to get more pond cover orders and and slowly started to feel better again.

In 2019 I was convinced that making custom workout equipment was not a great business idea, I was getting so tired of trying to compete with companies selling cheap mass produced products but I love making awesome kit for myself to train with so I stopped trying to sell my ideas. I decided to keep making for myself and focus on my pond cover and steel sculpture businesses. Then 2020 came along and the world stopped due to a global pandemic. Gyms were closed and no gym equipment could be bought from retailers because borders had be closed and equipment had sold out. I noticed that second hand sales of kettlebells a weight lifting had sky rocketed. Opportunists had started ripping off fitness enthusiasts desperate to keep healthy. I decided to do the opposite and created a mace that looks like the Corona Virus and sold it for half price. The Corona mace was an instant hit for me and I even had to make a second batch. I then got approached by Elite BJJ Black belt and grip strength specialist Daniel Strauss. He asked me to make a basic sword handle grip tool. Me being me had to make something unique so I took his idea and added my special touch. The eXcalibur Sword Handle grip tool was born. This little grip tool add has become one of my most popular designs selling out quicker than I can make them.

From the Corona Mace to the eXcalibur handle, sales started to pick up which gave me the boost to invest in my business again. Spending had all but stopped for a few years so it was great to start buying new kit to improve what started as a hobby and has now grown into a little brand. High quality metal fabrication depends upon expensive equipment to be efficient. I’m far off having a fully set up workshop but I have enough to get by and will keep investing so I can keep improving. One example of this is my recent work creating the worlds first commercially sold fire mace and my Transformer mace/club systems. I have worked tirelessly on this design, smoothing out the design flaws and then having the parts made by a local precision engineering company. I saw that my own skills held me back from producing the best product that I could so I have opted for working with others. I could cut costs but I want to produce top quality equipment that makes you enjoy your workouts that much more.

You see, before anything else I am an artist and innovator. I live for creating and am only happy if I’m growing as an artist and designer. Coming up with new ideas, working with coaches and individuals to create innovative new equipment and seeing people helping themselves and making art with my art. This ensures that you get the very best that I can produce and I stay a happy Creator.

This is just the beginning, I hope you enjoy the ride…

Shaun

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