In the fall of 1997, I started working with Copper in Mexico and selling it throughout the United States from the back of this truck. She was nicknamed ‘El Macho’ from the name on the camper someone had given to me so I'd have a place to sleep and keep my goods dry as I traveled many years and places North and South between the tropic of Cancer and the 49th parallel, East and West between the Pacific and the Atlantic. After many hundreds of thousands of miles, El Macho finally gave up the ghost, but the spirit of that long haul, hard working 7.3 L International Harvester IDI diesel motor still carries our work around the world and into the future.
I apprenticed for 2 years under Maestro Maximo and Maestro Chema in Santa Clara del Cobre located in the Sierra Madres Occidental of Michoacan. This small town has an unbroken tradition of copper work that goes back over 1000 years. After my apprenticeship, I started a workshop in partnership with Maximo's eldest son Martin. We have grown significantly from that first simple, dirt floor, 2 person workshop. But the commitment to our craft, the commitment to the spirit of our work, and the commitment to all of our families, friends and customers who make Sertodo Copper a reality remains unwavering.
