I remember standing over a heavy workbench in a fabrication shop back in ’84, the air thick with the smell of cutting oil and the rhythmic, grating screech of a junior apprentice who thought he could finish a job in Continue reading Techniques for Manual Metal Filing
I remember standing in a fabrication shop back in ’84, watching a young apprentice blow through a perfectly good piece of mild steel because he’d grabbed a dull, cheap saw blade just to save a couple of dollars. The smell Continue reading Essential Tools for Cutting Metal
I remember a job back in ’88, working on a custom brass fitting for a client who thought he could save a few bucks by buying a generic, bargain-bin buffing setup. I watched him spend four hours fighting with a Continue reading Selecting the Right Polishing Wheels
I remember standing in a drafty fabrication shop back in ’84, watching a young apprentice try to force a heavy-duty joint together using nothing but a pneumatic gun and a prayer. He was rushing, trying to bypass the fundamentals of Continue reading Methods for Metal Riveting
I remember standing over a workbench in a drafty shop back in ’84, watching a young apprentice ruin a perfectly good piece of high-carbon steel because he thought he could skip the soak time. He was impatient, treating metal heat Continue reading The Importance of Heat Treating Metal
I remember sitting in a drafty shop back in ’84, staring at a botched assembly where the builder had tried to force a square peg into a round hole using nothing but brute strength and a prayer. He’d skipped the Continue reading Achieving Tight Fits in Metalwork
I remember sitting in a cramped, soot-stained workshop back in ’84, listening to the rhythmic clink-clink-clink of a hammer hitting an anvil while the smell of hot iron and burnt oil filled my lungs. I watched a young apprentice try Continue reading Fundamental Metal Fabrication Skills
I remember standing in a client’s workshop back in ’88, watching a young kid try to convince a homeowner that a complex, spindly pattern was the pinnacle of modern ironwork design. The lad was talking about “aesthetic fluidity” and “minimalist Continue reading Designing Ornamental Ironwork
I remember standing in a massive fabrication shop back in ’84, watching a young apprentice try to mask a surface imperfection with nothing but a high-speed grinder and a prayer. He thought he could just buff out his mistakes and Continue reading Protecting Finished Metal Surfaces
I remember sitting in my old shop back in the nineties, staring at a rusted-out piece of antique iron that a customer had practically brought back from the grave. I’d spent a good chunk of my paycheck on some fancy, Continue reading Effective Solutions for Cleaning Metal