A competitor from Alabama is among seven metalworking pros who face off in the newly released Netflix show “Metal Shop Masters.”
Netflix dropped all six episodes of the competition in recent days, making it a bite-sized, bingeworthy treat. But there’s nothing tidy about the tasks faced by the artists who have to cut, bend, hammer and weld their way through a series of grueling challenges. A barbecue grill that looks like something you’d grill? A mobile that uses an entire 4x8-foot sheet of steel plate? An animated avatar depicting oneself? It’s all in a day’s work for the cast.
Among them is Frank Ledbetter, a Theodore-based craftsman who became an artist late in life, after a family tragedy. As detailed at his website, frankledbetter.com, he had run a metal fabrication company until 2001, when he and his wife Terri lost their teenage son Blake in an accident.
“In the grieving process I discovered this artistic side I didn’t know I had,” he explains in the first episode. “It gave me a reason to carry on.”
Small wonder that when asked to create an avatar of himself in the first episode, he comes up with a phoenix.
Out of respect for those who haven’t yet watched the series, this article won’t reveal how close Ledbetter comes to claiming the $50,000 prize. We will give away, however, that he makes it through an early stumble where he and a teammate don’t see eye to eye over the challenge they’re supposed to be doing.
He also gets some praise from host Jo Koy and the show’s judges along the way: “I’m digging Frank’s sculpture,” judge David Madero says at one point. “Frank is old-school, he’s got a ton of experience. He’s not looking around, he’s not messing around, he’s doing it.”
Along with the six other contenders, Ledbetter helps give an interesting look at the tools and techniques of artistic welding. One describes MIG welding as the “hot glue gun” of the art, while another says TIG welding is more like a fine-point marker. One uses a Computerized Numerical Control machine to precisely cut layers he’ll stack together to form a skull; another says that if you spend enough time freehanding a plasma cutter, you become a “human CNC.”
“Metal Shop Masters,” comprising six episodes approximately a half-hour long each, is available for viewing now on Netflix.
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September 15, 2021 at 03:16AM
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Netflix competition ‘Metal Shop Masters’ features Alabama artist - AL.com
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