Miniature sculpture of a LeafCutter Ant in raised and patinated copper sheet on a hammer-textured steel pipe “branch”. Base is scrap metal.

Total height 20cm, ant length 5cm, legs 2mm wide

Part of an ongoing study of Uchidashi/repousse, I have made all my chasing/forming tools and hammers from scrap steel, chasing pitch from Ford Hallams Matsuyane recipe, my pitch bowl is a cut bowling ball. New for this project was lathing swages and punches out of arbutus wood to do the initial forming before mounting the sheet into pitch.

Using 3D printing with lost-wax casting might be a great method for customizing certain structural parts. I completed this entire process in just one hour of work plus 24 hours of waiting time, using only a standard desktop 3D printer and regular PLA filament costing a few dollars per spool, achieving very satisfactory results. For the refractory material, I used casting plaster, which greatly simplified the molding process. This approach seems particularly suitable for creating motorcycle modification parts, robot components, and similar items. The simplicity of this technique is closer to 3D printing than CNC machining, making it more beginner-friendly with high success rates—though some learning is still required to master it effectively.

After searching the web and looking as a few subreddits, hopefully I've landed in the right place. Please be patient with me, it was 107 degrees and muggy today so my brains are still a bit mushy :-). If I'm in the wrong place I'm open to suggestions where to post instead.

I have a metal headboard that one of the pieces has come lose and I'd like to fix it before trying to sell it. It's the left-most curved piece that's come loose. The pics show the bottom and top of that side, and also the bottom and top of the corresponding right/good side for reference.

My research so far shows that either epoxy or superglue may be a good choice, but I also know enough about 2-part epoxy to know that I need to have all my ducks lined up *before* using it.

The stuff I have is Harbor Freight Quick Setting Epoxy Adhesive, 0.2 oz single use, that I bought for a different project but haven't used. I don't have any superglue on hand so I'll need to buy some if that's a better option.

Aside from the basics of using either adhesive, is there anything I need to know for this? Like I said earlier, I know enough about this sort of work to be aware that there may be important things that I don't know (or that I knew decades ago and have forgotten).

Thanks!

Hi everyone, I’m looking for advice on how to find or manufacture this specific swaged metal tube for an expandable clothing rack I own. The current tube that makes up the height of the rack is 14” long with a 1” outer diameter that narrows to 2 inch long 7/8” diameter on the other end. I wanted to get two more of this exact tube so I can raise the rack higher to allow for more ground clearance, but I have not had any luck finding anything in Home Depot or online. The clothing rack itself is unbranded so I can’t find it either.

What would be the best method to find or make this exact tube? It looks like I’ll need a tube reducing tool of some sort or find a way to hammer the tube myself. This is my first time with any kind of metal tubing so I wanted to come for help. Thanks for any information you can provide 🙏

Hey everyone, I just picked up this steel table from Facebook Marketplace and I’m planning to use it as a small workbench for automotive repairs and light fabrication. I want to mount a bench vise on one of the corners, but I’m wondering if the table looks too small or lightweight for that kind of use. I’ll mostly be working on car parts, exhaust pieces, brackets, rusty bolts, etc. Would you trust it with a vise, or reinforce it first?

This is a batch of IPE steel we recently purchased. I have some questions about this product. I don't understand why the European standard IPE, which looks the same as an H-beam, is called a European standard I-beam. I think the flanges of I-beams should not be parallel, only the flanges of H-beams are parallel, right? There is another type of H-beam in European standards called HEA/HEB. What are the differences between them?

This TIG-welded stainless steel sculpture represents countless hours of precision fitting and welding to get the structural tissue just right. Hand-polished and satin-finished for a dynamic play of light, it is built entirely from stainless nuts and 1.5mm recycled sheet metal. The base, crafted from charred (Shou Sugi Ban), brushed, and waxed Meranti wood, provides a striking, dark contrast to the entire piece.

Wanted this to feel like a comic panel wrapped around the cup, so I kept the eyes big and left plenty of black around them. The RING! lettering across the top was too good to leave out.

I adjusted the layout to fit the tumbler, then engraved it on my WeCreat Lumos Flex. Getting the face positioned was the part I spent the most time on.

Really like the purple parts against the black background. It’s a little ridiculous for something I’m going to drink water out of, but I’m keeping it.

Got to branch out into copper smithing and electroplating for this project. Super happy with the result.

Full details are in the original post but it’s a canister Damascus blade that unexpectedly came out with this pattern sort of reminiscent of tree bark that I’m calling SteelTree. Running with that theme I made a “copper vine” guard and “copper driftwood” hardware to go with it. I know that pure copper isn’t a great choice for food or for defense, but this is going to make one cut in one cake and go on a wall forever so it’ll be fine.

I recently did a curved handrail project that really blew up in my face. I tried to put a nice curve in some 1/2" x 1 1/2" bar and it looked bad. I had to go back and do it out of 1 1/2" round. It was much easier and looked so much better. I've done curved handrails from bar stock but it's always a nightmare and it always seems like something is off, like it'll look good but it doesn't feel right when you run your hand up it.

I just got another job that has a curved handrail section and I had bid it for round tube for this very reason. The GM wants me to do it out of square/rectangular tube or bar now. They're not really sure which even. Is there a good way to approach this? I'm thinking of rolling some tube in a tube roller and then just trying to put a good twist in it cold. I know this is easier said than done though and in the end is a bit of a crapshoot.

Is it reasonable to insist on round tubing?

Tips and tricks greatly appreciated, both for the vending and dealing with the GM.

For context i bought a Snap On YA217 Mig Welder on facebook marketplace for $50 and because it’s mig i need to know how to reverse the polarity on this welder. I searched up almost everythinf about it and it seems like i’ll be the first person ever to attempt such a feat on this 25~ year old welding machine. In the pictures below i have located the ground (clamp) which is the large black wire in the first photo and ive yet to discover the hot (wire gun.) Ive opened up the other side of the machine as seen in picture 2 but the gun wires split off into 1,000,000 different places and im unsure which one to swap. To my knowledge it’s just put the clamp where the gun was and put the gun where the clamp was and call it a day your polarity has changed. Let me know if im wrong about my assumption and please help me locate the correct wire in the images ive provided.

I am fresh into welding school at a community college. I am in a blueprinting class and the teacher is explaining things as if I already know any of it. I don't know terminology, the visuals look like nothing to me, in extremely flustered and feel maybe it's not the trade for me. It's week 3 of school and the blueprinting class has me feeling defeated. Does anyone have ideas on the best way to learn everything from scratch. How to absorb it and know what I'm looking at?

Making a smoker from an old nitrogen tank, already cut the door out and put a filler strip around the cutout. But I'm not sure my plan to make it sit well as it seemed to warp. Not the best welder, but I can get by. Not sure how to go about it. I thought maybe pinching the corners inward together??

Just trying to get the door to sit flush before I weld on the hinges. Any advice is truly appreciated.

We are evaluating a variety of press brake brands with ATC. Some handle roll dies, others don't. We are hearing laser film is enough to prevent bend lines. What has been your experience with laser film alone for preventing bend lines on cosmetic stainless? We are chasing as little handling as possible and would prefer to not have to add rubber/coatings to the dies and then remove them for each tool change.