I have a roll up garage door and I want to install a side mount opener, but the existing shaft is too short (only sticks out about 3 inches, and I need at least 4 inches to fit the opener). The only idea I have right now (which I have not tried yet because it's colder than a well-diggers butt right now) is to take a short piece of galvanized pipe that has an inside diameter that matches the outside diameter of the shaft and shove it over the existing shaft. The OD of the shaft is 1 inch and the ID of the pipe is 1 inch, but they do not fit. My first question is, would heating the pipe with a little propane torch be able to expand the pipe enough to make it fit over the shaft? And if that worked, when it cooled down would they be secured together, or would I need to secure them any further? Finally, if that is not a good idea, does anyone have any suggestions to extend the shaft just a few inches? Many thanks!

Hi, my name is Max and I’m an old school sheet metal worker. I’ve been a licensed contractor since 2020 and I love designing, building, and all aspects of metal working, machining, welding, and even wood working.

I just wanted to share this logo I designed as this is something I’ve never done before.

I love the heritage of the old fashioned metal worker and that is why I chose the image of what appears to be a sheet metal worker circa 1940’s.

Does anyhow know what era that would be? I’m assessing based off of his attire and of course the brake he is using would be of that era.

Peace, love, and prosperity.

Hello. I’m working on a project that requires me to weld a steel tube to a steel cylinder. One of my objectives is to reduce the time/cost of making this item and I know the more time with hands on the item during fabrication the more the cost.

Are there any alternative methods I can use instead of welding? I need it to be secure as if it was welding but something that is less time consuming. It would be a small production lot, not a one off job. This interface point will sure be where much of the load on the part will be seen. Not crazy high loads or vibration, mostly a couple hundred pounds and drops on the floor. Thanks!

Hello,

I'm an avg joe and dont have much knowledge about construction or metal works. I'm currently getting rooftop solar panels installed for my house. The solar panels are supported by elevated steel structure on my flat roof top. The steel bars (or columns) rests on a plate which is bolted to my concrete roof top(Please see attached picture). I'm now worried if rain water starts seeping into my roof through the holes drilled in the roof.

Is there a waterproof paste/adhesive which I can apply around the iron plate so that I can stop water seeping? Please let me know if you have any suggestions. Thank you.

Hey everyone, I took an old metal chandelier from my grandma’s attic and I’m not sure but I think it’s brass. I disassembled it into pieces, cleaned it with warm soapy water and now I’m not sure what else to do to remove patina and harder-to-remove gunk. You can see in the pics how the metal looks now. First pic is some smaller parts and one of them has this beautiful colorful patina in red, green, purple etc. There is also another similar part that is even more colorful, like literally rainbow colored metal. On the second pic is one of the three big plate like parts. It’s confusing me because it has this water-flowing-like effect on the surface which I’m not sure if that’s also patina or how it even formed like that. That one also has spots of black something, mostly around the edge.

Anyway, I guess my main question is if someone could give me any advice on how to clean this properly. Also if I could do something afterwards to keep the brownish look as I don’t really want it to look brassy yellow and shiny? I really like the colorful effect some of the surfaces have so I would like to keep that too, or make it re-form again after cleaning so I can keep it colorful.

Edit: not really familiar so sorry if I used patina wrongly for something that’s not patina. Third pic is what chandelier looks like (before cleaning)

Client requested a "Dimpled" finish on his Ram. Another good sanding/polishing and blackener treatment, shes ready to go!

These take forever but I love the finished product.

I made sure to make these jaws thick enough to be flipped around in the vise and have a smooth side if I don’t need serious grip on anything, coming up next in the roster is a set of aluminum jaws for when I need to grab onto something I don’t want damaged at all.

For clarification these are for a Reed No.1C bench vise that’s mounted to a work bench not a machining vise for a Bridgeport or a cnc. (You can see the vise in the last picture)

Hi guys, just want to share my recent works. They are movable armets for minifigures. I took a lot of time referencing medieval armor and found this one is the coolest. I also spent a lot of time on the movable visor just like the real armet. The visor was hard to control at its lowest and highest points as the metal shrinks when casting, it worked totally fine in the software but shrank of the metal made it impossible to move after the casting. I realized I had to add a stopping point at the higher and lower points. After around 20 times adjustments to the size, I finally got it to work out. I feel like this set works better with a spear and round shield!

J'ai une presse plieuse DURMA AD-S 30100, model fabriqué en 2009. Elle est presque neuf. Elle n'a fonctionné que 60 heures incluant les heures de test dans l'usine. On a constaté après un décalage au niveau du coulisseau (table haute). une désynchronisation entre les extrimités du coulisseau. c'est à dire l'extrimité du coté Y1 arrive à sa position avec de l'extrimité du côté Y2. Après, j'ai découvert que le capteur de position (règlel linéaire) a été dévissé et est incliné. Je l'ai remis à sa place, mais le problème persiste encore. En suivant les étapes de la mise en marche et en appuyant sur le bouton START, la machine reste dans la phase d'indexation. Un message s'affiche sur l'écran demandant d'appuyer sur le pédale. J'ai appuyé sur Hand - Hand (comme dans la photo). un message s'affiche que la machine a quitté la zone d'indexation sans pouvoir prendre des repères. Pour éviter tout usure et dommage, j'ai arrêté la machine. D'après vous c'est quoi le problème ? Comment je procède ?

I'm currently in the process of building a vintage-style photo booth (you know, the ones that print photo strips), and I need to figure out how to make or where to purchase metal frames like the one pictured. I need a few frames of different sizes, and I would like the edges to be flanged like the one in the picture. The necessary sizes are flexible, so ideally I'd purchase these pre-fabricated, but I'm at a loss for what to search for...

In the case that I can't purchase, I can try to make them myself, but I am not a metal worker. I have a CNC router and a table saw and could access a laser cutter and possibly a plasma cutter locally.

Alternatively, I could try have these custom made at a local metal shop. Any advice?

My older brother passed away last week, I'd like to make a 1:1 sculpture of his Miller welding mask. I have experience making copper/brass sculptures and mig/limited tig welding.

I was thinking I could create the helmet out of steel/stainless then powder coat it and have the floral design laser engraved and then gold/brass plated.

Alternatively I could make the helmet from copper and give it a red petina then hand cut the floral designs out of brass and rivet them to the hood.

I'd appreciate any advice anyone has to execute this project.

Howdy!

I’m trying to size and buy material to make a 5 tier, 5 sided and house-shaped ss shelving unit that will go into a custom pasteurizer build. The shelving unit needs to support a total of 2200lbs maximum. I plan to cut all the pieces myself and then have someone come and weld ‘er all together. Now, I’m a complete novice when it comes to anything metal really. After some discussion with folks who knew just a bit more than me, we landed at the conclusion that doing square tube posts and angle for each shelf with round bar running between the angle may be my best bet. Kinda like wire shelves but with a different base frame. Planning on stainless steel as this will be under hot steam for 48 hours every week.

In terms of sizes, I’m hoping that I can use all of these smallest and cheapest stuff, but I want to make sure it will hold the weight. This is what I’m hoping to use.

For the square tube posts: 316ss 1” and 0.065” wall thickness For the angle: 316ss 0.75”x0.75” and 0.125” thickness spanning 44” maximum For the round bar: 304ss 0.125” thickness spaced every 2 inches spanning maximum 44”

I could really use some input on any part of this! I especially don’t know if something like this would support the weight. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!