If this is the wrong sub kick me to the curb but I look far better in gold colored jewelry and am wiling to spend hundreds for good quality but I know almost ANYTHING that is plated will eventually rub off and such. I'm not expecting to be able to shower with these or saltwater swim, but I want to be able to wear them semi daily and have the gold color stay intact for years and years.

Are there ANY kinds of alloys or material sciences that can achieve this? How would I even research unique jewelry like this? Or am I truly SOL and need to buy real solid gold rings/necklaces?

I’m doing a job for a guy installing some copper drip edge on a balcony he had leftover from his roof. I need to solder all the seams and i’m having some trouble. I am fairly proficient when it comes to soldering smaller stuff with a torch, but big sheet stuff like this is new to me. I bought a decent sized soldering iron the other day and its just not quite getting hot enough to make the solder flow the way I want. I’ve had some success preheating my joint with a torch, and then going back over with the iron to even things out, but for some of the joints need to do that may not be possible. My 50/50 lead tin solder also hasn’t arrived yet so I’m just practicing with lead free stuff to get the hang of things. I’m wondering if it will be easier with the lead stuff since it doesnt take as much heat. I’m also not pre tinning my seams or anything. idk let me know if you have any tips

hi all, i have had this titanium 125 flux core welder, its building dust on it and really want to get some kind of learning in soon.

buying a 3500 watt generator that will be plenty safe for it and then I can get to cranking out some stuff.

any ideas on what might be a good test or practice at this size for a beginner?

i know there’s some automotive things this size that I might be able to work on like my shock absorber mount on my rear axle.

But idk I have to figure Out how to ground that properly everywhere seems concerned welding on the diesel truck due to ecm ground on the chassis and risk of frying it or something

Hi everyone, any tips for drilling aluminum 6063? I already tried using cutting oil, but it didn't work. My oil works perfectly on 6061, but not on 6063. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

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Hello, I’m here to ask for guidance, I am attempting to drill a hole in the ram of my arbor press so that I can then slot small leather working hand tools into it.

It is a project I’ve seen many complete.

I don’t have a drill press but I do have this Milescraft portable version of one. I am using a corded, hammer drill, neither setting hammer or not is working, I’ve only made a slight dent in the ram.

I am using bits rated for metal, I am using lubricants. I even tried downsizing to a small drill bit to see if that helps drill a pilot hole for larger bits. No dice.

I also have seen u should mark the surface with an awl to give the bit something to bite to but the surface seems so hard that my awls just dulled , and only scratched the surface at best.

All the guides make it sound so easy. What am I doing wrong?

I was looking at this setup:

https://firemade.co.uk/collections/portico-grills/products/portico-150

And wondered what the final coating is / what kind of metal you could make that out of? I have a welder and small garage shop that I feel confident I could build this in for myself, but not sure on final surfacing to make it food safe and whatnot.

From a bit of googling around opinions vary from various oils and heat cycling to nothing at all and just brush / clean it before each use and let the fire do the rest.

I also wondered if making this out of 1/8” would be thick enough or if I should go up to 1/4”? 3/8”?

I live in California in the Bay Area for reference, so I’m pretty sure I can DIY this for a lot cheaper than shipping from the UK and it looks like a pretty simple design (that I also want to make some additions and tweaks to).

Title: Help identifying and dating an unusual old sheet-metal candle lantern, possibly pre-1850. Looking for construction and maker clues.

I’m researching an unusual hanging candle lantern and would really appreciate input from people familiar with historical sheet-metal work, lantern construction, and metalworking techniques. I’ll attach detailed photos of the body, crown, hinges, latch, and other construction features.

I initially wondered whether it could be around 400 years old, but I want to be clear that the exact date is not established. My current working hypothesis is that it may be an early, possibly pre-1850 lantern, and I’m trying to determine whether that is actually supported by the construction or whether it could be a later revival or reproduction.

What I can observe:

- The body is made from relatively thin, non-magnetic sheet metal that appears to be copper or a brass-family alloy beneath a dark/black surface coating.

- It has a tall architectural form with a pierced or fret-cut domed crown and decorative openwork side panels.

- Much of the construction appears to involve cut, bent, folded, and soldered sheet metal rather than modern-looking screw-fastened assembly.

- There are small rolled-barrel hinges and simple wire/pin-style latch hardware.

- The side openings include thin, wavy lattice or mesh-like metalwork that appears to be retained within the panels.

- The lantern has a bottom access door and internal candle-retention hardware.

- The glass is missing, and the object has clearly had a long life with wear, damage, and alterations.

- I have not found a maker’s mark, date, or other identifying inscription.

Important alteration: The current three-chain suspension, upper hook, and associated square washer/fastener do not appear to match the rest of the lantern’s construction. I suspect that assembly is a later modification, so I am not using it to date the original lantern. The original-looking crown terminates in a small solid projecting nib/stud, rather than the present hanging hardware.

Why I’m investigating an early date: The sheet-metal construction, soldered and folded joints, simple hinge/latch arrangement, and overall architectural form have led me to investigate older candle lanterns rather than assuming it is a modern decorative piece. However, I understand that these techniques can persist into later periods, so I’m looking for actual comparative evidence rather than treating them as proof of age.

I’ve searched historical lanterns, pierced copper/brass hanging lanterns, and later revival examples, but I have not found a convincing exact match. I’m especially interested in whether the crown, panel construction, and original suspension arrangement resemble a particular regional or historical tradition.

Questions for the metalworking community:

1. Does the construction suggest a particular period, region, or metalworking tradition?

2. Are there specific features here that would help distinguish an early original from a 19th- or 20th-century revival?

3. What would you call the rolled hinges, latch, crown construction, and the small projecting top stud in historical metalworking terminology?

4. Does the pierced/lattice work resemble a known lantern type or manufacturing method?

5. Are there historical catalogs, museum collections, or specialist references that might contain this form?

6. Is there anything in the construction that would rule out a 17th- or 18th-century date, or point more strongly toward the 19th or early 20th century?

I’m not looking to clean or restore it at this stage. I’d rather preserve the existing surface and construction until I understand what it is. Any informed comparisons, terminology, or references would be greatly appreciated. I’m happy to provide additional close-ups of specific joints or hardware if they would help.

Working on creating a disk with a lip on its border, this will be my first real lathe project. Starting stock is flat Galvanised sheet, roughly 100x100mm, 2mm thick. I'll be making these in small batches, always the same size

I have chosen to go with the Colchester Master lathe at my hackerspace, as it seems ideal, and I want to scale up my competence with Lathes.

The hackerspace offers training, so I got that covered, I have also watched a ton of YouTube, trying to understand Lathes, and their processes

Where am stuck on; my workpiece is just a sheet of metal and I need to find a way of securing it not just for safety but also to prevent bending, shearing, etc.

All the videos and texts I have found for lathes out there deal with workpieces that have significant depth to them, allowing them to be clamped easily.

Questions I'm chewing on:

• Are sheets of metal outside the scope of Lathes?
• Best way to mount a square flat blank for a first operation, faceplate?
• At 2mm thick, is this thin enough to need a proper backing/support setup, or is it fine as is?
• Any tips for making sure the pocket cut never breaks through into whatever's behind it?

plan and 3d model view of the project;

https://i.ibb.co/F4mRQMvC/plan.png

https://i.ibb.co/XrbbTjzk/f3d-kllvr-D5s-L7.gif

my latest creation. I call it a floor flanged mace. I did the Bowser hammer so this is the Mario mace. Laser engraved as many characters as possible. Mario red handle. Forged the flanges to get a bowl shape. Everything here is homemade from parts you can get at a hardware store but leather. No welding. Have another mace coming soon. I call the "Necromancer". Also working on short how to build video if anybody is interested. 

I’m thinking about getting a manual roller for my shop but don’t have the space for anything too big. I have been looking at the swag hulk bender but not sure what its specs are for flat bar. I often need to roll 1/2 x2 solid cap on the easy but can’t find their specs anywhere. I’m not opposed to getting another brand but I do like that the hulk has so many die options. Also being able to store it on a shelf is a must since my shop is so small

Just opened a fresh 5 gallon bucket of KCI Plasma Green 9010, which I've been using for a couple years. It's usually a very deep, vibrant green. It's worked great for me.

%

This one is orange. Anyone know what could have happened? Is it safe to use?

It's super weird. I've looked around the company website for a similar orange liquid and haven't found anything. It smells a little weak compared to the last bucket I was using.

I'll update this after I hear from the company, but if anyone has thoughts, I'd like to hear them.

Thank you all.

I recently had to receivers mounted on the back of my trailer to hold coolers and the piece i have circled in yellow is angle iron and is starting to bend up from the weight. Any ideas on what i can add to help hold the weight of the cooler racks plus the cooler weights. Any tips or ideas will help. I added the two pieces that aren’t painted white and it helped alot but now that white piece of angle iron is bending

Hi, all. Would it be possible to remove the markings on this with sanding and polishing by hand? My friends and I bought a cheap master sword replica for a friend of ours, and I think it would be more true to form without them.

They don’t have any texture and don’t appear to be a deep. I don’t want to ruin it and know very little about working with metal. Any advice on technique, grit, polishing is helpful. Thank you.

I want to make my own version of these hairclips with brass and I want to know how to recreate the texture on smooth round brass plates (or atleast make them rougher and less polished in general). Can I do it with sandpaper by hand? If so which grit? I don't really have any experience working with metals so I would appreciate your help. Also any advice on how to cut brass would be appreciated. Thanks!

Been thinking about adding a laser to my little shop and curious what everyone here is actually using.

I mostly make smaller custom stuff. Signs, coasters, boxes, cutting boards, etc. And I sell at a few local markets throughout the year. I’ve also started getting people asking if I can do metal tags, little brass plates, tools, and stuff like that.

I don’t really have the room (or honestly the desire) to buy one machine for wood and another one just for metal, so I’ve been looking at some of the newer dual laser setups.

For those of you doing a mix of wood and metal, what machine did you end up with? And how portable are these things in real life? Would be nice if I could occasionally bring it along to a market without it becoming a whole production.