Izzy's Custom Cages (Izzy's Metal Shop): Services, Lead Times, and How to Get Started

Updated

Izzy's Custom Cages is the racing cage and competition-vehicle side of Izzy's Metal Shop, a one-man custom fabrication shop in St. Louis, Missouri. If you need a roll cage, custom metal parts, or CNC plasma cutting and you can plan well ahead, this shop is built for you. If you have a race next month or a SEMA deadline in three months, the shop states plainly that it may not be the right fit — it typically books 6–8 months out and no longer takes on "hard deadline" builds.

What Izzy's Metal Shop actually is

Izzy's is a small, single-operator fabrication shop. The owner describes it as "truly a one man shop," and frames the business around doing one project at a time and enjoying the work rather than pushing volume. That structure is the reason for the long lead times and the no-hard-deadline policy: the attention to detail comes from one person doing the fabrication, not a crew.

The shop sits at the center of three related operations:

  • Izzy's Metal Shop — the main fabrication business (custom cages, parts, welding, plasma cutting)
  • Plasma-Tracks.com — a separate branch of the company
  • Cake's Metal Whimsies — a separate branch focused on metal art/decor

Services offered

Based on the shop's own description, the core capabilities are:

Service What it covers
CNC plasma cutting Computer-controlled cutting of metal shapes and parts
MIG and TIG welding Two common welding processes for steel and other metals
Competition vehicle fabrication Roll cages and metal fabrication for off-road and race vehicles
Custom parts One-off or small-batch metal components
Metal art and home decor Decorative and artistic metalwork

The cage work is the part most relevant to racers. The shop's Projects page documents past racing cage builds for NASA, SCCA, NHRA, various endurance racing series, Pro Rally, and Drifting. If your sanctioning body or series is in that list, there's a documented precedent for the kind of cage you're asking about.

Who this shop is and isn't for

A good fit if:

  • You're building a race car, off-road vehicle, or competition vehicle and need a cage or custom metalwork
  • You want one fabricator handling the job start to finish
  • Your timeline is flexible — you can wait roughly 6–8 months for a slot
  • You're in or can ship/deliver to the St. Louis, Missouri area

Probably not a fit if:

  • You have a fixed race date next month
  • You need something ready for SEMA in three months
  • You need high-volume production runs (this is a one-man, one-project-at-a-time shop)

The shop states the deadline limitation directly, so treat it as a firm constraint rather than a negotiation starting point.

How to check current work and get in touch

The shop points to its Facebook page for current project progress and the most recent photos — that's the best place to see what's on the bench right now and how far out the schedule realistically runs. The Projects page on the site is where you'll find completed racing cage work for the series listed above.

Before reaching out, it helps to have ready:

  • The vehicle and class/series you're building for
  • What you need fabricated (full cage, partial cage, custom parts, plasma-cut pieces)
  • Your realistic timeline, given the 6–8 month booking window
  • Any rulebook requirements your series imposes on cage design

Quick answers

Is Izzy's Custom Cages the same as Izzy's Metal Shop? Yes — "Izzy's Custom Cages" refers to the racing cage work done under Izzy's Metal Shop, the St. Louis fabrication business.

Does the shop do CNC plasma cutting for non-racing projects? Yes. CNC plasma cutting is listed as a core service alongside custom parts and metal art, not just cage work.

How far ahead should I plan? The shop says it's typically booked 6–8 months out. Plan around that window, and confirm current lead time via Facebook before assuming anything shorter.