Torchmate^® Cuts Camera Cranes used to Film the Baja 1000

Torchmate^® is Excellent for Hobbyists Looking to Cut Metal

Axis Innovations is a design and fabrication business dealing primarily in the film and motosports industries. Located in Camarillo, California, Axis Innovations focuses on fabrication projects that create camera cars, camera cranes, spring mounts and pursuit vehicles used in the film industry. Pictures of their work can be found below in this write-up. The now thriving business was formed 7 years ago by owner, Luke Babb and his business partner Patrick.

Luke has always had a passion for offroad racing. He was already building offroad cars and camera cars at age 16. He continued pursuing his passion by earning an Industrial Design degree. Patrick also has impressive credentials with a NASA background and an engineering degree. Before creating Axis Innovations, Luke worked at Ultimate Arm which specializes in camera cranes.

He took the knowledge he obtained at Ultimate Arm and used it to form Axis Innovations. “At first, I was fabricating old school. I used a hand plasma cutter and laid parts on 2x4’s and would cut them with a straight edge.

Eventually, bigger projects started coming in and I got sick of hand cutting,” Luke said. To keep up with demand, he has since purchased an arsenal of high quality Lincoln Electric® equipment. He owns a Precision TIG® 275, 225, POWER MIG® 256, multiple 110 MIG® welders and a Torchmate 2. All of which are used to fabricate their film and motorsports projects. Lincoln Electric machines have proved vital to Axis Innovation’s success. 

“Torchmate allows you to unleash your Creativity”

Luke has been using different CAD software since he was 15. He most commonly uses SOLIDWORKS®, Torchmate CAD and Adobe Illustrator to design projects. The Torchmate allows him to import designs from any of those software programs. “The Torchmate allows you to unleash your creativity in a timely manner and has great repeatability. Last minute pieces are often needed the night before a video shoot and I can easily cut them on the spot with my Torchmate. The preloaded brackets in the CAD software are also nice and a huge time saver. I use the table every day and cut a lot of camera mounts on it,” said Luke.

The camera cranes fabricated by Axis Innovations are used on cars, trucks and other motorized vehicles. They are used to film many different forms of racing within the motorsports industry. Axis Innovations is to thank for much of the great footage captured in well-known races such as the Baja 1000, NORRA 1000, Best in the Desert and many more. They have even contributed to the creation of camera boats, proving that they have the capabilities to fabricate projects far beyond two and four wheel vehicles. These projects would not be possible without the business’s Torchmate machine and other high quality Lincoln Electric equipment.

Torchmate Machine still running great after 7 years

Luke obtained his Torchmate 2 table 7 years ago. He talked about how he was able to move the table to his current shop and how easy the setup process was. He said,“The Torchmate setup process was mellow. We use the table every day and have only had to call support once for a machine fix. We had an issue with the AVHC and Torchmate support had no problem sending us a new motor for the AVHC. I have called about user errors and support is always willing to help. Lincoln Electric as a whole has been helpful even when we need support with our welders.”

We manufacture all our Torchmate machines to withstand production cutting in the roughest conditions. We asked Luke if he had ever used a different brand of CNC plasma cutting machine. “I used one in Dubai and it did not even compare to a Torchmate,” he said.

As a closing statement to help other fabricators just starting out, Luke shared his advice. “When starting a fabrication business, it is okay to make a mistake once, but do not make the same mistake twice. Don’t Xerox fabricate and be unique. If you don’t stand out from the crowd, you won’t gain or maintain any customers.”

Check out Axis Innovation’s social channels. On their Instagram page, Axis Innovations displays a wide variety of quality metal fabrications including camera cranes and pursuit vehicle mounts. Additionally, their followers get to see behind the scenes photos and videos of different movie and television sets. For more information about Axis Innovations, please visit their Facebook and Instagram pages.

Check out Torchmate CNC Plasma Tables here and see how you can start growing your business!

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