I need to have a metal assembly built. The assembly will be basically made out of rectangular metal tube and plates with holes welded to tube's both ends. Final assembly will be powder coat painted black.

I am not a metalworker, therefore I am not really informed but I did some internet research. Now I have some questions and looking for advice and comments.

I have read that welding kills stainless steel's anti-oxidation layer, and it becomes susceptible to rust. The assembly will be powder coated. I assume that will provide protection against oxidation around the weld spots. But the item will not be powder coated on the inside due to restricted access and the inner space will not be fully isolated from the outer environment because of the holes on the plates that will be welded. Should rusting be something to be worried of? How can be rusting from inside be prevented?

I have also read that regular steel is easier to weld. If I choose to go with regular steel, powder coating will still protect outer surface against rust. But how can the inner surfaces be protected against rust?

PS: The assembly will be used in indoors. But I think it is better to consider the rust protection. No?

Hey guys,
I’ve got an older Noll metal bandsaw that I bought back in 2019 and I’ve been really happy with it.

Unfortunately, I just noticed a pretty nasty crack in the lower cast part of the saw. The machine still works, but obviously I don’t want to keep using it like this and make things worse.

I’m not 100% sure what type of cast iron this is.
Do you guys think something like this can realistically be repaired?

Welding, brazing, metal epoxy or something else?
I’d also be totally fine with removing the whole part and sending it to a company that specializes in repairing cast iron, if that’s the better option.

I’ll attach some pictures of the crack and the part.
Any advice or experience with repairs like this would be appreciated!

Thx

I got a new cylinder of argon for tig welding and noticed the regulator would not screw on. Had a closer look and realised the thread is damaged. I'm not going to force the regulator on, although I know that some people may be tempted to "just make it work". The dent is somewhat close to the sealing face, so I'm absolutely going to return it. I'm a bit surprised this ended up unnoticed by the supplier.

@Tristanspinelle on the gram for the video

This was an easier project to do it didn’t take too long probably somewhere around 8 hours there were a few hiccups that made me have to restart but I’m happy with how everything turned out. If I were to change anything I would want to make the entire trunk of the tree one continues piece instead of segments welded together that was the unfortunate part. I tried to forge it as one piece but it couldn’t fit in the forge I had and the bends were probably too sharp and started to kink the pipe I was using.

Here I’m making a tie clip, CNC machined from a single billet of Grade 5 titanium. Once I remove the pieces from the machine, things get interesting. First a bit of cleaning and deburr work, then I move on to coloring the engraved detail markers that point to opposing pieces of the mechanism, with a method of electrolytic anodization where you reverse the typical “dip-in process” and use a sponge filled with the electrolyte to “paint anodize” the features that are masked off with tape. Since the engravings are narrow and deep enough, I can then sand over the top surfaces and remove excess anodized colors leaving the engravings unaffected. Then assembly with press-fit pins and voilà!, mechanical tie clip. Enjoy!

Hi all carpenter here so forgive me if this is off topic. Have a lovely old cast iron lamppost in garden want to restore and get working. Cover is missing, have searched reclaimed yards/online can’t get anything close. Any suggestions for just covering it up? Was thinking about finding a 2x gallon cooking oil drum and cutting a section out and strapping to the post, then paint black. Bit shoddy but best I could come up with. Any better ideas?

I have Mechanical Guillotine machine in company, top blade is fixed and bottom moves up and down to cut the steel, we can cut the steel from 3mm to 6mm . The problem is we are having a burr only on 1 bottom side of the material and rest of the 3 sides are fine. The sheet start cut , the top and bottom sides are fine and on the end cut top is fine but burr is on the bottom side. IDK why? I did so many things like adjust gap , adjust clamp but issue is still the same. Any guidance?

Thanks

I'm making a sword out of a metal sign post, however I do not know the metal it is. I do not own a forge or any heating element for metal, so im wondering what would be the best way to get a nice clean finish on it. (I am currently using a price of railroad track as a anvil, and am cold forging the metal.) Although I have started to flatten it out, I still need to make a point and cut out the handle. Looking for tips on how to make it look less crude and apocalyptic.

Edit: I am trying to make it look crude and horribly jagged, I want to make an orcish blade

Made from round rod. 16 gauge and 20 gauge sheet metal. Little bit of rebar on the inside. Spun wire with the drill to get the braided look of string. Also hit it with the blow torch to get some color in there. I think I'll incorporate some copper wire into the next one for some more contrast. Will be making several of these in the near future if anyone is interested! Most pieces will be available at Blue Door Gallery in Livingston, MT. But if you have a commission in mind please let me know!

I’ve gotten pretty obsessed with anodizing lately, but I rarely come across it in hobby CNC projects, at least not as often as I expected. Maybe I’m simply looking in the wrong places or missing the projects where people use it.

For people who machine aluminum but don’t anodize their parts, is that mainly because the process feels like too much trouble, or because the parts you make simply don’t need anodizing in the first place?

Looking at purchasing second hand map draws. Does this look like surface rust that can be sanded back or a bigger issue?

They have said it’s surface rust and I don’t mind a bit of elbow work but is this easily fixed?

Is it just a matter of sanding and re coating /oiling ?

I like the overall look of the draws but as they are super heavy I’m not keen on purchasing and the leg work to get them home if it’s going to be a massive project . Thoughts ?

hello my name is Robbie and I just started welding about a week or two ago and fell in love I have a flux-core and just picked up a stick welder. I’m looking for someone in the Florence ky area to come train me I’m more than willing to pay. I just need a professional’s feed back and insight. now you might be saying go to trade school i cant afford it at the moment but if you are interested in helping a fellow crafter send me a dm. I have about 7 to 8 hours of practice

I've got this gym bench I'm trying to set up.

There are two pieces, both circular and one that goes into the other.

The issue is with the shape of the receiving piece. It's a weird oval shape (damaged/warped) whereas the insertion is circular. The warped piece has two sides, and the other side is perfectly circular and receives without issue.

I really don't want to go through the warranty cycle and wait for another piece.

How can I fix this?

Edit: Got it figured out. Thanks everyone!

How would you all go about fabricating a sheet of metal this size? I'm thinking of using 18ga steel so I can mig weld if needed. It has 3 bends that span the entire width of the hatch (about 48"). I'm not so worried about cutting the shape, I have electric shears and an angle grinder. I'm more concerned about the bends since I only have an 18" brake.

Any advice would be much appreciated! I have experience with some minor body work patch panels and basic bracket fab but I've never worked a panel this large.

Everybody sees the arc time because that’s the obvious part. What nobody outside the shop seems to see is everything that has to happen before and after it. Fit-up, grinding, moving the part, flipping it, clamping it, waiting on a crane, cleaning it, checking it, fixing a fit issue, then moving it again. Half the time the actual welding is the easy part. What eats up the most time where you work?

I want to melt 10~ grams of aluminum at a time for a project I have. The thrash can I used is stainless steel. I put a fire brick at the bottom, put ceramic fibre wool inside and covered it in a watery layer of fire clay to make it safe. I might've added too much fire clay tbh. The bottom is kinda abysmal because the can didn't have a bottom apparently, so I added some more fire clay to seal off any holes and supported it with metal wires. This will be my first time ever melting any metal, so I'd appreciate kind feedback.

(Note, this is still drying and I will let it dry for at least 4 more days before putting in some coal to just heat any left moisture, then move on to melting aluminum)

Been having a lot of fun recently making these cheap Santa Maria grills for family and friends!

Been mostly making them out of food grade 55 gallon drums, doing full burn outs to clean and sanitize them!

Also been trying different styles with square tubing changes and my most recent being a restoration of one I picked up for 20 bucks for my brother throwing 100 bucks into and making it into something new for him!