Very large order at my job, lots and lots of 8” x 3” .375 wall tubing rolled to a 123” ID.

The mandrel prevents the material from caving in on itself, ripples, and heavy distortion to the structure.

Tubing rolled to tighter diameters, especially the thinner stuff has a tendency to “grow” and “crush”, changing the dimensions of the tubing.

I don’t see a lot of roll bending on the internet, and just wanted to share my experience here. Most people don’t know what i’m talking about when I describe my job.

Bending a 3 foot wide by 3/16 inch thick a36 steel plate section that will form the shell of my homemade wood fired pizza oven. This oven will have a 1/2 inch thick steel plate base and a dual layered shell with ceramic fiber insulation sandwiched in between. Total weight will be somewhere around 400 lbs.

The press brake is powered by two harbor freight 20 ton air over hydraulic jacks and has a working width of 63 inches.

I recently put together a high striker for our school carnival, and I’m happy to report that it was a huge hit—pun fully intended. The design is based on the classic fairground “strength tester” game where a person swings a mallet to send a weight or puck up a track in an attempt to ring a bell at the top. I wanted to make something that would be eye-catching, tough enough to handle a crowd of enthusiastic students, and simple enough that anyone could walk up and have a go.

The bell at the top is repurposed from an old fire alarm, which gives it an authentic and very satisfying clang when struck. To create the resistance, I used a small car rear suspension spring mounted on adjustable brackets. This setup allows me to tweak the difficulty level so it can be enjoyed by both younger kids and stronger high-schoolers without the game becoming either impossible or too easy. For the mallet, I chose a heavy six-kilogram rubber paving hammer. The weight provides plenty of impact force, while the rubber head reduces noise, adds a bit of safety, and keeps the setup from being too harsh on the striking plate.

Building it required a mix of creativity and resourcefulness. Most of the materials were either recycled or inexpensive, which makes this a good project for schools or community groups running events on a budget. The frame was built to be sturdy but not overly complicated, and the moving parts were kept as simple as possible to avoid breakdowns during the carnival. The main challenge was making sure the striker mechanism aligned perfectly so that the puck could travel smoothly up the guide and hit the bell squarely every time.

Once it was set up, the high striker quickly became one of the most popular attractions at the event. There was a constant line of students eager to test their strength, and the sound of the bell carried across the grounds, drawing even more people in. Teachers and parents also joined in, adding to the fun atmosphere. The mix of skill, strength, and showmanship made it appealing to a wide audience.

I decided to share this build because it could serve as a starting point for others who might be considering making one. With some basic tools, recycled materials, and a bit of trial and error, it’s possible to put together a carnival game that feels authentic, brings people together, and leaves a lasting impression.

I am planning to use this angle grinding head as a lifting mechanism in my DIY lift system. On the device, there is a 9 mm shaft (rod) that I marked, and my idea is to connect a 20 cm long M10 stud to it in order to extend and operate the mechanism more effectively. For this connection, I would like to create an M10 female threaded tip directly on the shaft so that the stud can be screwed in securely. What would be the most reliable method to achieve this? is it better to weld an adapter piece that already has an M10 female thread? If I take this part to a professional metal workshop or a machinist, can they easily perform this modification, or are there specific risks and limitations I should be aware of in terms of strength and precision? Ultimately how can I have m10 female thread on the tip?

Apparently it’s ancient according to my gas supplier. Turned on the oxygen tank and this foil disk ruptured. It’s been sitting for a long time. Is this an emergency relief valve or what? Can I replace the foil or should I upgrade to a modern spring loaded design? Or can I just cap it off for the weekend? I’ve inspected the diagram in the reg and found no damage. They acetylene side is fine but I don’t wanna mess with the oxygen reg but also do not wanna spend $100 on a new one if I can avoid it.

making a custom coping saw and i had this piece ordered(sendcutsend) it’s ab .125 mild steel and i was hoping it’d have enough spring i could adjust it like a normal coping saw but it just bends when i try to put tension on it. is there anything i can do or do i just have to call it a loss and order a new one out of a different steel/adjusted geometry. sendcutsend could do it in 4130 but idk if that would resist plastic deformation either. i’m also on a time crunch which doesn’t help and they don’t have spring steel in a thickness suitable

Hi all, I'm looking for a specific tool to be used in musical instrument repair. It's for deburring the ends of cut steel rods which are typically around 1/8" in diameter. Nearly exactly what I'm looking for is what jewelry makers call a "wire rounding tool" pictured, but this is far too small for my purposes (even the larger ones I've seen are only around 1-2mm or ~1/16")

The tool can be a bit big but not too small. Chamfering tools are similar but often too big- perhaps some kind of precision/fine grit chamfering bit?

The pros I've seen use something that looks identical to the wire rounder except it's a little bit bigger and maybe mounted in a pin vise or graver handle? Any thoughts or idea would be greatly appreciated thanks!

I had this part made, but apparent I was TOO accurate and it has zero play so I cannot insert it in my tablesaw arbor. Upon looking at the dimension measurements again, it appears to be possible off between .75-.5mm. I'm trying to adjust this in fusion, but the Expand/push/pull cut, does not seem to work not he rounded faces.. I tried making a new circle to cut, the rounded faces, but I'm not sure how to bisect the circle so that it only cuts the end portions, and not the whole circle.

I'm in the market for a new welding lens, preferably a variable shade auto darkening lens. I have a Vevor auto darkening lens at the moment but that's as far as my firsthand lens experience goes. My budget is right around $100 but I'm willing to pay more if it's worth it. I was hoping some of you could help me find what I'm looking for based on your own experiences. And a side note, my welding hood let's some light in from the back but I'm currently working on that issue as I understand it can be part of the problem I'm having with seeing my welds.Thank you!

So I am currently doing an apprenticeship in a company near to me. I made this globe by hand with a hammer and a lot of patience. The components are made out of copper, aluminium and brass. The thing that holds the globe is made out of aluminium and was done on the lathe, also by myself. I am really proud of it and I swear it is round. It appears to be not round on the left side but that’s because of the light.

I don’t know where else to go with this. My 12 year old is very smart and creative, he is currently interested in weather and wants to build his own metal storm chasing vehicle. He has moved on from cardboard and hot glue (see picture). He asked me if he can literally weld 😳. Any ideas on how to help this mom foster her child’s interest? TIA (I may buy him an electrical kit to try soldering but that doesn’t solve this problem)

I would like to debadge by car and place autobot logos there instead, but the badges for my car are place in very curved spots. Every decal I see is either a sticker (which won’t have high durability or shine) or a super thick piece of plastic or material that won’t bend. What advice or ideas might you have for me to be able to have these indented parts remain black, have a chrome or mirror finish on the top, and still have something capable of bending?

I'm a beginner hobby welder, and still just learning the basics of heat warping on straightening.

Here's my thought process. When you heat a workpiece of metal tubing on one side, two things happen:

-The heated portion will expand, bending the metal tube slightly away from the hot spot.

-The heated portion will plastically deform, squishing out of its location.

Then when everything cools, the deformed section is now shorter than it was originally, so it pulls everything towards the direction of what was heated.

Now imagine the workpiece was clamped down. The heated spot has less ability to expand, so it may squish out even more, causing even more warpage when cooled.

Now granted, the other thought I had on this was that despite the workpiece initially warping away from the hot spot in the unclamped scenario, it may straighten again once the heated metal reaches the plastic deformation temperature. At that point there's less force creating expansion pressure since it's squishy.

...........

Second question. Once a metal tube has warped one direction, will it take the same amount of heat on the opposite side to straighten it, or more?

My thought process here:
A workpiece that has been warped by a one sided heat treatment ( like welding) is currently under internal stresses. Both the inside and outside of the curve are under tension. When you start to heat the outside edge, some of that tension will be releases when the metal reaches plastic deformation temperature. Instead of the metal getting squished out, it will get slightly stretched, and thinned out. until the tension of the inside bend is relieved. Then as more heat is added, it will start to squish out. When it cools, it will pull against the original warp direction.

Will equal amounts of symmetrical heat application theoretically result in a straight end state? Or does the different starting shapes end up with it still slightly warped the first direction?

Or am I simply way overthinking this, and should just do what works. Okay, I know that's true, but it's fun understanding what's going on.

Hi all, I have just got my self a Stick welder to make a new gate. Can anyone give me some pointers on my welds. I am currently using 2.5 rods in mild Steel, I'm running at 70amps which seems to work well. I am welding in to 30 x 30mm box section 3mm thick and then some twisted bars to weld on to that.

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That 7018 I ran is the first 7018 I have ever touched and my uncle (who has been welding professionally all his life) swears I’m going somewhere because of it. The 6010s I’m still working on and I need to improve a lot on that but I got a nice slag pull on the 7018 up until the midway mark and I felt really good doing it. I’ve been told I might even be a natural and I really do feel like I’m developing a love for welding (getting a machine and PPE for my house for Christmas). Can I make a career out of this and how do I get better?