People will tell you that if a tool is pitted with rust or has a seized joint, it’s nothing more than scrap metal waiting for the bin. They’re wrong. I spent forty years in heavy fabrication, and I’ve learned that Continue reading Restoring Old Metal Tools to Working Order
I can still smell the ozone and burnt coal from my first week in the shop, a scent that sticks to your skin long after you’ve clocked out. I remember standing over a piece of glowing mild steel, my hands Continue reading Pursuing Metalwork Training
I remember a job back in ’88, standing over a piece of heavy-gauge steel that I’d spent three hours trying to force into shape with a cheap, flimsy set of pliers I’d picked up at a big-box hardware store. The Continue reading Tools for Bending Sheet 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 can still smell it if I close my eyes—that sharp, biting scent of cutting oil mixed with the fine, metallic dust that settles in your lungs after a long afternoon in the shop. I remember my first real encounter Continue reading Basics of Using a Metal Lathe
I still remember the smell of ozone and burnt grease from my first year in the fabrication shop—a scent that usually meant someone had been playing fast and loose with their equipment. I watched a young apprentice, eager to prove Continue reading Essential Safety Practices in Metalwork
I remember standing in a crowded hardware aisle back in ’84, watching a young lad stare blankly at a wall of shiny, overpriced tools, trying to figure out which one wouldn’t shatter his workpiece. It’s a mess out there today. Continue reading Common Hammers Used in Metalwork
I remember sitting in a cramped fabrication shop back in ’84, the air thick with the smell of ozone and cutting oil, staring at a piece of thin-gauge steel that I’d just ruined. I’d been too impatient, swinging the shears Continue reading Fundamentals of Sheet Metal Work
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 sitting in a cramped fabrication shop back in ’84, my forearms aching and my knuckles raw, staring at a piece of steel that looked like it had been chewed by a dog. I had just spent three hours Continue reading Techniques for Hand Filing Metal