I remember standing in a loud, cramped fabrication shop back in ’84, watching a young kid try to force a job through with a cheap, handheld unit that wasn’t up to the task. He was peppering the sheet metal with Continue reading Using Spot Welding for Thin Metal
I remember sitting at my old workbench back in the late eighties, the air thick with the smell of cutting oil and the steady, rhythmic scritch-scritch of a hand graver biting into a brass plate. I was trying to mark Continue reading Techniques for Engraving Metal Surfaces
I remember standing over a workbench back in ’84, staring at a botched aluminum housing that looked like it had been dipped in cheap, speckled paint rather than properly treated. The kid running the line had tried to skip the Continue reading Understanding the Anodizing Process for Aluminum
I remember standing in my old mentor’s shop back in ’78, the air so thick with the scent of scorched sand and ozone you could almost chew it. I watched him pour a crucible of molten iron, his face illuminated Continue reading Introduction to Metal Casting Processes
I can still smell the ozone and burnt steel from my first week in the fabrication shop back in ’78. I remember a young lad—much like some of the fellas I see in the aisles of big-box hardware stores today—who Continue reading Essential Techniques for Metal Grinding
I can still smell the burnt cutting oil and the heavy scent of shaved steel that used to hang in the air of the fabrication shop back in ’84. I remember a young apprentice—bright kid, but far too impatient—who thought Continue reading Basics of Metal Turning on a Lathe
I remember sitting in my shop back in ’88, staring at a cracked manifold and a shelf full of expensive, brightly colored tubes that promised the world but delivered nothing but a mess. Most folks think you can just grab Continue reading Using Epoxy for Metal Repairs
I remember standing in a heavy fabrication shop back in ’84, watching a young kid try to spray a high-end industrial coating over a piece of steel that still had a thin film of machine oil on it. He was Continue reading Preparing Metal Surfaces for Finishing
I was hunched over my workbench last Tuesday, staring at a rusted-out Stanley plane I’d picked up at a yard sale, when I realized just how much junk is being passed off as “patina” these days. Most folks think antique Continue reading Restoring Vintage Hand Tools
I remember sitting in my old shop back in the late eighties, staring at a piece of carbon steel that I’d spent six hours prepping, only to watch it turn a blotchy, uneven mess because I’d tried to force the Continue reading Ways to Develop a Steel Patina