I can still smell the burnt ozone and the hot, metallic tang of a shop floor at noon on a humid Tuesday. I remember standing over a custom chassis back in ’84, my ears ringing from the high-pitched whine of Continue reading Effective Ways to Grind Metal Surfaces
I remember standing in a massive fabrication shop back in ’84, watching a young kid try to force a hardened piece of steel into a bend without properly annealing metal first. He was sweating, cursing, and hitting that workpiece like Continue reading The Process of Annealing Metal
I remember back in ’84, a young apprentice in my shop tried to weld a thin-walled copper fitting because he thought it was the “strongest” way to do things. He ended up blowing a hole right through the damn thing, Continue reading Differences Between Brazing and Welding
I remember standing in a fabrication shop back in ’84, staring at a workbench that looked more like a scrap heap than a professional station. I spent forty minutes hunting for a specific set of calipers while a client waited, Continue reading Ways to Organize Your Metalworking Workshop
I remember sitting in my first apprenticeship, staring at a pile of ruined iron and wondering why my mentor looked more disappointed in me than the metal itself. I had tried to force a bend before the steel was even Continue reading Fundamental Blacksmithing Skills for New Smiths
I remember sitting in my old shop back in the eighties, the smell of burnt oil and ozone thick enough to chew on, staring at a rusted-out cast iron lathe component that most folks would’ve tossed straight into the scrap Continue reading The Process of Restoring Antique Metalwork
I remember sitting in a cramped workshop back in ’84, the smell of rosin flux thick in the air and my eyes stinging from a cheap, finicky heating element that just wouldn’t hold a steady temperature. I had a delicate Continue reading Choosing a Soldering Iron for Metalwork
I can still smell that burnt ozone and singed hair from the summer of ’84, the year a young apprentice in my shop decided he was too good for a proper leather apron. He thought he could breeze through a Continue reading Essential Welding Safety Protocols
I was hunched over my workbench last Tuesday, staring at a tarnished Victorian-era lamp that some kid had tried to “fix” with a bottle of harsh, supermarket acid. The metal was pitted, scarred, and half-ruined because they thought speed was Continue reading Restoring the Shine to Old Brass Items
I remember a Tuesday back in ’88, standing in the middle of a fabrication floor with a deadline looming and a client breathing down my neck. I spent forty-five minutes hunting for a specific set of calipers, only to find Continue reading How to Organize a Metalworking Workshop