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
I remember standing in my old shop back in ’94, staring at a rusted-out tractor part that looked more like a lump of coal than a piece of machinery. I’d spent three hours trying to blast it clean with a Continue reading Setting Up a Sandblasting Operation
I remember sitting in my old fabrication shop back in the late eighties, staring at a joint that looked clean but snapped like a dry twig the second it took a load. I’d been rushing, thinking I could just blast Continue reading Differences Between Brazing and Soldering
I can still smell the burnt ozone and hot cutting oil from my first real job in the fabrication shop back in ’82. I remember watching a young apprentice try to muscle a heavy piece of mild steel through a Continue reading Safe Metal Drilling Practices