About

About Mark LaPorte

Mark LaPorte didn’t set out to become a welder. He graduated with an associate’s degree in computer science and a bachelor’s in investment banking — timing that put him walking across the stage right as Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008. With Wall Street not exactly hiring, he spent years working full-time at a hotel while picking up handyman and blue-collar side work.

In 2015, wanting out of the hotel industry and looking to work with his hands, Mark got into blacksmithing. That led to a connection with Wray Schelin of ProShaper, who was looking to train a coach builder — someone who scratch-builds car bodies from sheet metal, panel-beating and English-wheeling flat stock into fenders, hoods, and body panels by hand. It was there that Mark learned to weld, drill, cut, and run a plasma torch.

Ten years later, he’s still doing it — now branching into laser welding, TAP/G-code files, and wood routing for building bucks (the wooden forms used to shape car body panels).

What TestTalkHQ Is

TestTalkHQ exists because Mark kept running into the same problem: needing a real answer to a shop-floor question and not being able to find one fast. No subscriptions. No paywalls. No signup required. If a calculator saves you a trip back to the manual, that’s the whole point. If you want to support the site, clicking through an affiliate link when you’re buying gear helps keep it free for everyone else.

How Calculators Are Built and Verified

Every calculator on this site is cross-referenced against AWS and NEC standards and published manufacturer data, then checked against real-world numbers from master electricians and welders more experienced than Mark himself. The goal isn’t to claim expertise he doesn’t have — it’s to build the tool he wishes existed, verify it carefully, and give it away.

LaPorte Labs LLC

TestTalkHQ is a project of LaPorte Labs LLC.

Contact

Questions, corrections, or collaboration ideas: [email protected] — or use the contact page.