I remember sitting in my old shop back in ’84, staring at a rusted-out piece of cast iron that looked more like a hunk of coal than a tool. I’d spent half my paycheck on some fancy, high-end spray from Continue reading Common Agents for Cleaning Metal
I still remember the smell of ozone and scorched iron from my first year in the industrial shops—a scent that used to mean progress, but eventually started to smell like near misses. I once saw a young lad, eager to Continue reading Maintaining Safety in a Metalworking Workshop
I remember sitting in my old shop back in the nineties, the air thick with the sharp, biting scent of ferric chloride and the low hum of a ventilation fan. I was working on a custom brass plate for a Continue reading Methods for Etching Designs Into Metal
I remember my first real day in the shop, standing before a massive, soot-stained anvil that looked more like a mountain than a tool. The air was thick with the scent of coal smoke and hot iron, and every time Continue reading How to Use an Anvil for Metalwork
I remember sitting in a cramped fabrication shop back in ’84, watching a young apprentice toss a perfectly serviceable tungsten electrode into the scrap bin just because the tip wasn’t shaped exactly like the picture in some glossy manual. He Continue reading Selecting and Preparing Tungsten Electrodes
I remember sitting in a cramped fabrication shop back in ’84, staring at a botched TIG weld on a custom manifold that looked more like a bird’s nest than a seam. I’d spent three hours fighting the arc, only to Continue reading Choosing Tungsten Electrodes for Tig Welding
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 remember sitting in a cramped fabrication shop back in ’84, watching a young apprentice try to save a few bucks by slapping a cheap, spray-on lacquer over a piece of raw mild steel. He thought he was being clever, Continue reading Different Options for Finishing Metalwork
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 standing over a piece of hot mild steel back in ’84, watching a young apprentice try to force a radius with a heavy sledgehammer because he was too impatient to set up a proper jig. The metal didn’t Continue reading Methods for Bending Metal