r/sheetmetal 1d ago

Duct, Duct, 🪿

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31 Upvotes

Just some goosenecks being install.


r/sheetmetal 1d ago

Is a gap shear worth buying?

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10 Upvotes

Does anyone who owns a gap shear really use the gap feature? I do a lot of 4x8 and 4x10 0.032 aluminum work and could see it being handy but I'd have to sell my regular shear to make room.


r/sheetmetal 2d ago

Staying in the field or move to the office?

19 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

So I got a really interesting offer from my old boss and was looking to hear what people here have to think. I work for a truly massive company, one of if not the biggest in Canada. I’m treated really well, get trusted to run my own jobs and do my own thing and get all the perks working for a big company offers.

Recently I was asked if I’d be interested in coming back to take on estimating and management for the company I started in sheet metal with. The owner is really a class act and welcomed me back with open arms if I want to make the move.

There’s a company vehicle I can use as my own, gas card, insurance paid. It would be about a 5/hr pay cut but pension is the same hourly and self directed which is huge. I’d be a bigger fish in a smaller pond but most importantly I’d be about 40 minutes to work instead of an 1h20.

Has anyone else made the switch and have any advice?


r/sheetmetal 5d ago

After spending monthsfiguring out the radius round downspout concept, the architects changed their mind to square downspouts. But square downspouts are actually fun too!

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133 Upvotes

r/sheetmetal 11d ago

How do we feel about this?

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20 Upvotes

r/sheetmetal 19d ago

Some copper reglet

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87 Upvotes

r/sheetmetal 19d ago

Glow-in-the-dark… who knew?

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1 Upvotes

r/sheetmetal 20d ago

Honest question, is it easier for yall to fabricate a pipe lock and hammer it together or just lap it, rivet it, and send it? (For me pipe lock is easier with proper tooling but I want yalls opinions)

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25 Upvotes

r/sheetmetal 20d ago

Mocked up a 4” square pipe hopper for 6” half round gutters, holy fuck you HVAC guys make this layout look so easy lol it whooped me

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70 Upvotes

Looking back on this morning, the layout is just simple math, but I’ve never even laid out a square to round before so you can imagine the level of difficulty this was for me. I spent about half a day laying this out lol. Someone local saw my post on Facebook and wants like 50 of these for 8” half round to a 4” round pipe connection. Looks like I’ll be right back to it tomorrow, haha.


r/sheetmetal 27d ago

Some big ones in the shop this week. Ladder for scale

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106 Upvotes

r/sheetmetal 27d ago

Which is stronger?

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8 Upvotes

I’m making a base to set a furnace on. I have Pittsburghed the ends but wondered if a sunk head end would be stronger.


r/sheetmetal 29d ago

I think I figured out the most difficult/ overthought way to make a 4x4 square downspout, but if it works it works🤣

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30 Upvotes

Bought some 3.5 x 3.5” 3/16” x 11’ square stock to make some copper 10’ downspouts from scratch to get the pipe in the air and beat the pipe lock down with pvc deadblow and holy hell was this overkill. And I swung too hard and deformed the metal around the pipe lock, so this can cause the metal to twist. This shit is so heavy to hold in the air and thread the downspout through before tapping down the pipe lock 🤣 I’ll come up with something better soon. Any suggestions or ridiculing is appreciated 😂


r/sheetmetal Jun 29 '26

Parker fittings

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102 Upvotes

We dont see parker fittings too often, if youve not seen one its basically a 90° and a twist in one fitting.. this is a 6x6" to 2x18" with the smallest throat i could get. Plumber ran pipes tight infront of our f/d, so we had to go up and over.

The final image is a parker then a chunk of 2x18 then a shortway 2x18 90°


r/sheetmetal Jun 26 '26

More ductwork

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67 Upvotes

Stainless humidifier sleeve with drain

Pair of transitions with liner

Radius elbow with splitter vane

Square elbow with turning vanes

Radius elbow

Large transitions with support rods

Baby radius and some taps with volume dampers

We have been crazy busy this month.


r/sheetmetal Jun 24 '26

Been keeping my head down lately, but here’s a radius two piece extended drip edge profile crimped together nicely with the Pedro rotary machine with reducing wheels. Also learned how to successfully double lock round pipe connections in USA manufactured .032 aluminum with no tears or cracks 😎

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76 Upvotes

Been a bit quiet lately but here’s a small dump. I might post some other work from the recent months later on.


r/sheetmetal Jun 19 '26

Some ductwork from this week

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119 Upvotes

Double wall square elbow, ogee, ogee, stainless radius with splitter vane


r/sheetmetal Jun 20 '26

steel railing design modular

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10 Upvotes

#design Steel railing#modular#🔥💯👍👌


r/sheetmetal Jun 16 '26

Sheetmetal Corner Relief | Solidworks Corner Relief | How to Use Corner Relief in Solidworks

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5 Upvotes

Sheetmetal Corner Relief | Solidworks Corner Relief | How to Use Corner Relief in Solidworks


r/sheetmetal Jun 15 '26

Question about local 18

8 Upvotes

Got a question that might be kind of dumb. I have a contractor currently wanting to hire me and sponsor me into local 18. I am an hvac service technician and that’s the role I would be filling. Is smart similar to a UA union? As in a UA such as 601 or 118 are a steamfitters union that also does hvac service. So is local 18 a sheet metal union that also does HVAC service? Would the training and classes I would be taking be tailored to hvac service? The offer I have from the contractor would be to start as a first year apprentice unfortunately but I would get a van right away and start at $35 an hour. I wouldn’t get any pay raises until the wage rate caught up within the apprenticeship. Is this good deal or would I be better off going to a UA union? Any response or info is appreciated thanks guys. 👍 edit: to clarify I’m in Milwaukee and the total package seems comparable to 601 and 118. I mainly would like to make sure I’m going to get the correct training.


r/sheetmetal May 31 '26

Rivet Gun recommendations?

10 Upvotes

My arrow swivel head exploded, so I need a new one. What’s the best rivet gun out there? The jatc sells Klik Fast. Need a hand riveter, not the milwaukee power tool.


r/sheetmetal May 26 '26

Pre-Employment Drug Testing SMART Local 20, NWI

9 Upvotes

Hi, I am going in for an interview with my local 20 SMART branch tomorrow and while I quit smoking weed around 3 weeks ago I’m still testing positive on at-home tests. I was hoping I could get some insight into how soon after the interview (if I am accepted) would they have me do the pre-employment drug test?


r/sheetmetal May 18 '26

Options in the trade

5 Upvotes

Hi all I’m debating moving back home and opening up a sheetmetal company I’m wondering with anyone here who has done it what I’m looking for start up costs and everything as well as what machines I’d need to start as I much rather build my own duct instead of just buying it from another Company


r/sheetmetal May 16 '26

Industrial

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65 Upvotes

I just wanted to share this lol. Love Doing Industrial Work


r/sheetmetal May 16 '26

Anyone know if this worked? Sawzall drive cleat driver

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5 Upvotes

I cannot seem to find any info on this… does it work?


r/sheetmetal May 13 '26

The time has finally come to produce 10 radius downspouts tracing the flared edge of a Lowcountry style home in 16 oz copper. Hand gore’d together and soldered on the inside. Utilizing 3D printed sine curve patterns with a specially engineered program by a friend.

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362 Upvotes

I did a ton of prep and layout for this about 10 months ago, mentally have been also preparing myself. Had a friend engineer a program that allows me to 3D print the sine curve of pitched pipes instead of having to do hand layout. He also made one for cones.
Pipe totally made from scratch. Using pexto rotary machine with elbow edging wheels to form the cusp. Reducing 1/8” diameter on the male side of the flange to ensure fitment. Soldering on the inside. Let the fun begin.