вЂњBecause I have a day job, I donвЂ™t have to pull from Fireball. The tool is under a patent application, something he said has been a вЂњroller coaster ride.вЂќ He has been reinvesting nearly all of the money from tool sales back into the business and also has a dozen new designs that he would like to test and prototype in the future. Inquiries also have come from as far away as Australia and New Zealand. The tool has been starting to receive interest from larger organizations that buy multiple tools for their entire team of welders. вЂњWithin the few weeks of someone showing my tool on YouTube, I was selling hundreds of units,вЂќ said Marburger. With an avenue for more production, he started promoting and growing his Fireball Tool through application videos on his YouTube channel. Also, he considered it important to keep production in the U.S. Marburger had access to the production facility to ensure quality control. In July 2016 he discovered an aluminum foundry in Spokane that could cast the tool in an accurate, durable, one-piece design. One of the first steps was to improve the design and move production beyond the limits of his own hands and welding table. Marburger sold his pickup trucks to raise capital for the first orders and managed most of the growth himself, building the business on a limited budget and with a do-it-yourself attitude. He immediately faced the challenges of balancing a full-time welding job with becoming an after-hours entrepreneur. Leaving with new contacts, new ideas, and a greater awareness of his productвЂ™s potential, he set out to design a more accurate and repeatable square. He said his custom-designed square drew interest from welders, buyers, and other manufacturers. вЂњI welded my butt off showed up at the event flopped down the tailgate and was right there with all the big boys like Miller, Lincoln, and ESAB,вЂќ Marburger said. He dove headfirst into the world of entrepreneurship and in only two weeks threw together a website, built a brand, and hustled to create a small inventory of products to present. When a local welding supply salesperson learned about MarburgerвЂ™s creation, he asked him to demonstrate it at the companyвЂ™s open house. Everyone immediately wanted to check it out, and I thought I might have something here,вЂќ Marburger said. It didnвЂ™t take long to draw interest from co-workers and others in the shop. The next day he had a friend cut the parts with a plasma cutter, then welded a prototype, and immediately put it to work. With the goal of making his job a little easier, he sketched out a rudimentary design for something that would meet any needs he might encounter on the job.

Marburger wanted a welder-specific square that was designed with weld accessibility, able to accommodate offsets, and constructed of a material that could withstand the heat and abuse of welding.

He started his latest job in Spokane, Wash., with the intent of customizing his welding table to better serve his skills. I always thought there had to be a way to clamp things to it,вЂќ he said. вЂњThey give you a flat welding table and ask you to build and weld with a speed square and primitive tools. Through it all he has wondered why welders often are limited to using carpenterвЂ™s tools that never fully meet their needs. Marburger has worked alone and managed crews over the years. Over the course of his welding career, 36-year-old Jason Marburger (see Figure 2) has burned countless rods in every capacity, from automotive fabrication to commercial ironwork construction to mobile welding.

Fire ball tools