Most fabrication shops will sell you something off a template and call it custom. MetalWork Austin, sitting at 2000 S. 7th St in the Bouldin Creek neighborhood, is doing something genuinely different. They make real, hand-fabricated metal pieces — gates, railings, furniture, signs, exterior work, CNC cutting — built to what you actually want, not what's easiest to run through a production line.
Their tagline is "Art. Design. Function." That's not marketing copy for the sake of it. It describes what they actually do: custom metal work that has to look right AND hold up. If you've driven through South Austin and noticed ironwork that made you do a double-take, there's a decent chance it came out of this shop.
What They Make
According to their website, MetalWork Austin handles a wide range of custom fabrication work, including:
- Furniture — custom metal tables, shelving, and other pieces built to spec
- Railings — interior and exterior, designed for the actual space they're going into
- Gates — residential and commercial, fully custom
- Signs — metal signage with fabricated detail you can't get from a print shop
- Exterior work — architectural metal elements for homes and commercial properties
- CNC Cutting — precision cuts for detailed design work
This isn't a shop where you pick from a catalog. Every project starts with your drawings, sketches, photos, or at minimum a solid description and rough dimensions. They're specific about needing enough detail upfront to quote accurately — and that's a sign of a shop that takes the work seriously.
The Team Running It
MetalWork Austin lists their full team on the site, which is something a lot of shops don't do. Ryan Scott-Nairns is the Owner and Founder. Jake Black handles fabrication and CNC operation. Will Kozak is a fabricator. Marie Nairns coordinates the administrative side. Trevor Norton is an apprentice fabricator working his way up.
Five people. That's the team. No corporate layer between you and the person actually cutting and welding your project. For custom work, that matters — when something needs to be right, you're talking to the people who make it right.
And yes, they track their shop stats on the site: 7,824 curse words, 43 first-degree burns, 315 tools thrown, and 2,463 after-work beers. It's a small-shop culture, and they're not hiding it. That kind of self-awareness usually means the people are good at what they do and not trying to be something they're not.
How the Process Works
MetalWork Austin is transparent about their timeline: they typically have an 8–12 week lead time before they begin work on new projects. That clock starts after pricing is approved and a 50% deposit is paid to lock your spot on the schedule.
That kind of lead time tells you a couple things. One, they're not slow — custom metal fabrication takes time. Two, they're busy, which in a trade shop usually means the work speaks for itself. If you've got a project coming up in Austin, Round Rock, Dripping Springs, or anywhere else in Central Texas, building that timeline into your planning from the start will save you a headache later.
To get an accurate quote, they ask for as much project detail as possible: drawings or sketches, photos of the space, dimensions (even approximate), and inspiration images. The more you bring to the table upfront, the cleaner the estimate and the faster things move.
Where to Find Them
The shop is open Monday through Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at 2000 S. 7th St, Austin TX 78704. You can reach them by phone at (512) 689-9066 or email at info@metalworkaustin.com. Their website at metalworkaustin.com has a contact form as well, and they note that uploading reference images (JPG or PDF, under 1MB each) with your inquiry helps them get to a useful quote faster.
MetalWork Austin is the kind of shop that makes Austin's independent trade scene worth paying attention to. If you're a homeowner, architect, or business owner in Central Texas who wants metalwork that's actually built for your project — not sourced from a warehouse catalog — they're worth a conversation.
At Bizinabox, we build digital infrastructure for trade businesses across Austin and Central Texas. Shops like MetalWork Austin are exactly who we had in mind when we started — people doing real, skilled work who deserve real visibility online.