Small Town Hound: Metal and Mush and More
- By Æsc –
42.7959° N, 77.8169° W
There are some places that are really exciting to visit. One place I visited a while back—and recently revisited—is Twisted Willow Fabrication, in Geneseo, NY (42°79’59″N 77°81’69″W). How exciting, you ask, well…I was so excited the first time I walked into Twisted Willow that I…well…never mind. Anyway, I was months younger then and Doug Mothersell—who is the main human there—was so cool about it. They understand dogs there. In addition to their shop, which is way shinier and more organized than my two humans’ workspaces, he and his wife, Mandy Lu, also have a few dogs. Well, actually, seventeen dogs—which is more than I can count. They are beautiful, and I knew right away when I saw them that they were working dogs with important jobs to do.
Back to the big building and our first visit. I loved the openness of the shop as I walked around and sniffed things. There were machines everywhere. My human had stopped to get a metal piece on a magnifying light fixed. Doug was able to quickly fix this and, more importantly, he wanted to fix it. The model the shop uses is one that includes meeting both commercial (75%) and non-commercial / residential (25%) customers’ needs. Doug told my human that many fabrication shops capable of doing commercial work don’t want to do non-commercial work. Custom work for individuals is challenging, and this makes it tempting to just go production. Twisted Willow wants local, custom projects to be a part of what they do.
Doug put it this way:
“That 25% that we do get is magic. That’s the soul food. It’s the stuff the customer can get nowhere else, and it’s the stuff we wouldn’t do without them. And it’s not just soul food for us, it’s also offers us experiences working outside the box. Each custom job gives us more experience and techniques for future custom jobs. So, there is continuing growth. Constant flow. Life shouldn’t be stagnant.”
Although Doug is the primary person in the shop—he has many years’ experience and knows how to work with the machines and with his hands to make absolutely anything—he kept saying WE. A part of the WE he talks about is the people who want quality custom work done locally; the people that make that magic happen.
Another big part of the WE is Mandy Lu, who six years ago supported Doug’s dream of making Twisted Willow Fabrication a reality. Mandy Lu spends a lot of time these days with the pack, but she used to do a different kind of work away from home. She knows how to talk with her hands, which can help people who do not hear well understand spoken language. My humans use hand signals sometime, when they ask me to come or sit or drop. In Mandy Lu’s case, she knows so many hand words—a language called American Sign Language (ASL)—that she can talk to other people in. And it’s not just for humans. Sometimes I pretend to not hear, but some dogs really can’t hear. Some of them are learning ASL, so they can better communicate with their humans. * So cool!
Humans are amazing in so many ways, including their ability to communicate ideas and create things. Twisted Willow calls this process of making things from an idea fabrication. The Twisted Willow shop was built in 2015, and Doug talks about how his investment in the building and machines helps him create work that is better than what humans can do on their own—he called it precision work. Like I mentioned earlier, Twisted Willow has so many machines and shiny things to do small to midsized projects—with midsized being the size of a car. They do bending and rolling of square and round tubing, something other small shops cannot do. They’re proficient in CAD and do CNC plasma cutting and have lots of materials in stock so they can do jobs quickly and competitively, as well as emergency work. They offer the latest welding processes. They offer full laser engraving, marking and processing, including using engineering plastics in some of the custom fabrication. They can form and roll sheet metal and form thicker plate. All this means they can make fancy things that are exactly what people in busy workplaces or in their homes need.
I am a dog, remember, so I am trying to understand all this as I listen to the humans talk. There was one thing in the shop that helped me better understand not only what these humans can do with metal and other materials, but what their dog companions do for work. As I write this, there is snow outside, everywhere. I love being out in the snow, but the Twisted Willow dogs really love being out in the snow. These dogs are Siberian huskies. I am a mixed-breed dog, which means it’s hard to tell what my roots are, although I know I have some French ancestors. These dogs know who they are; they were born to pull sleds in the snow, and they have thick, double coats (like my collie friend Mars) to keep them warm in the cold. They are so graceful and beautiful. Although we just had a nice snow, here in the western part of New York State where we live, there are many times of the year when there is no snow, and during those times, what’s a working sled dog to do?
Doug and Mandy Lu have the answer.
Doug let me sit on it, which was way cool.
One of the things Doug makes at the shop is carts with wheels for sled dogs to pull on dry ground. These are shiny and beautiful and keep the Siberians from getting bored when there is too little snow for sleds. They make these for other packs too. Doug let me sit on top of one of the carts, which was great fun.
As I mentioned in my last post, we have been staying in, so I did not get to see too much else in Geneseo. Sometimes we stop at CountryMax—which has a great selection of things for dogs, and cats, and fish, rodents and reptiles too…and don’t forget the birds. We also go into Tractor Supply—which I love, as they give me treats. My human gets coffee from a place with a big insect in the window—she explained that it is a cricket and that I can hear them in the summertime. The place is called Crickets. This is right near a fancy fountain (I love fountains) that features a bear, named Emmeline. My human also gets something in a bag in Geneseo (Pierogi she called them, from the EuroCafé) that smelled so delicious, but I did not get to try any. I did get a piece of ham when we stopped there. You see, my human—for the first time ever—hooked my leash around a post when she went inside. I was cool with that, but there were so many things to look at that I kept turning around and around until I was all wrapped up in my leash. Just as my human came out, another human came out of a place called Aunt Cookie’s Sub Shop to untangle me. The best part is, she gave me a piece of something called ham. If that is what their subs are made of, I love subs!
Before heading home, we stopped quickly at a place called Sundance Books (such a cool name for a cool bookstore; I love dancing around in the sun) We also stopped at a place with music playing where I met a guy named Buzzo—who seemed to really like me (I think he likes everyone). He does not like dogs in his store though, so we took a picture together out front.
My human had to wear her mask thing everywhere we went, so we didn’t go to all the places we wanted to. Geneseo is a college town, so there are many things to see and do, there is no way we could do them all or mention every place here. I suggest you visit when you can, and let me know what your favorite place is in Geneseo.
*Many dog owners combine hand signals with verbal cues in obedience training. This can offer an added level of safety in situations where your pup can see you but can’t hear you (and is especially important with deaf dogs). These are simple non-verbal cues: Pointing to your eyes for attention; open hand palm up for sit; open hand down for down; open palm out for stay; and hand across the chest for come. Read more at: deafdogsrock.com/beginning-sign-training
Open By Appointment
Twisted Willow Fabrication is open by appointment. Including Monday through Friday and even weekends or after usual business hours if need be. This is for your safety as we are often welding, cutting and engraving.
Please call ahead at (585) 991-8544 to let us know when we can expect you and we will be ready.
More at twistedwillowfabrication.com/ twistedwillowfabrication.com/
