Maker

Cutting His Own Paths

Inventor Eddie Paul does more before lunch than most people do, ever.

By Keith Hammond

At first impression, Eddie Paul’s machine shop in El Segundo, Calif., takes me back to my grandpa’s auto body shop: cars on lifts, racks of sheet metal, rollaway toolboxes, a Pacific breeze scented with Bondo and grease.

But Paul is making ultra-complex things Grandpa couldn’t dream of, with a phalanx of CAM/CAD workstations and computerized mills, lathes, and plasma cutters. After 40 years creating custom cars and stunts for Hollywood movies, this self-taught engineer, inventor, and DIY author has assembled a high-tech shop that can prototype and build just about anything. His clients include not just film studios but also fire ...

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