For more than three decades, Myers, of Fort Osage, has been transforming automotive parts into works of art in his personal workshop. He started metal finishing in 1958, but went into it full time when he was laid off from work.

“I’ve been doing this for 50 to 60 hours a week for 35 years,” he said, followed by his characteristic chuckle, “and I’ve never caught up.”

Louis has been polishing chrome trim, engine parts and anything that will hold still -- including an egg, which he polished once just to see if he could. (It looked like marble, he said.)

Clearly, polishing metal and turning rough castings into glimmering jewel-like pieces on a huge lathe that he designed himself delights Myers, now 70. He also uses various hand tools, many of which he modifies to suit his needs. He polishes each metal piece four times to achieve a mirror finish. Repairing stainless steel and chrome trim from classic cars is one of his specialties, and he charges by the foot. He once received Duesenberg parts from Florida.

Myers has a lively imagination, and he laughs often. His eyes twinkle as he shows off tables he made from unusual items, such as P-51 Mustang airplane wheel, a chandelier or a manhole cover.

Myers loves 1955 Chevys, and he has had several. One had a V-8 so covered in chrome that the engine block was the only painted part. He even chromed the underside of the hood. To accomplish that, he had the entire hood chromed and then he ground the chrome off the top surface so he could paint it to match the rest of the car.

Myers and his wife, Sharon, are avid antique collectors. His shop has a display of neon signs, antique gas pumps, clocks and handmade tables. His creativity and craftsmanship are obvious in the tables he creates and the gas pumps he restores. Many of his gas pumps are decorated with up to 600 glass marbles, arranged in a geometric pattern, that glow from a light placed inside.

Myers said he was pretty wild in his younger days, but he settled down once he married Sharon. “She’s been my guiding light,” he said. Each morning and evening they spend time in the shop with Sadie, their dog. Life for the “polisher” shines like his mirror-finished metal pieces.