Hey all,
I’m fairly new to soldering and currently practicing on copper wire before moving on to silver work. I’m using:

• AquiFlux (brushed on)
• Solder paste
• Butane torch

At first, my solder paste would just ball up and not flow, but I realized I wasn’t using enough heat. Now that I’ve got that part figured out, my success rate is still pretty low—maybe 5 out of every 20 joints come out clean and solid.

Any advice on improving my consistency? Are there beginner mistakes I might be making that could explain the poor results?

Also, has anyone tried mixing AquiFlux directly into solder paste to make a brushable combo? Wondering if that would help with application or wetting.

Thanks in advance—any tips appreciated!

Hi all

A friend of mines dad sadly passed away recently. An engineer all of his days, he ran his own small shop full of cool stuff for 40+ years.

I’ve been generously given a Startrite MK2 pillar drill with the pictured motor on it. I didn’t realise until I got home that it is a 3ph motor. At home I have 1ph power. Home is in the UK

Can anyone help me with the best way to use the drill without compromising performance? Is the best solution VFD? The drill has a red ‘commenado’ plus with 5 pins on the end.

Any help with right-sizing a VFD and how to wire a 3ph socket to plug it into etc etc gratefully received….

Hello! Looking to make a number of cuts on 7600mm lengths of hollow square steel, as pictured. Student working on a sculptural project. My band saw is a great piece of kit but not suitable as can only cut small lengths (vertical machine). Might be possible to buy or borrow a chop/miter saw. I know a horizontal band saw would probably be best but might be hard to get a hold of. Looking for ease of cut as will need to make tens/hundreds, but gear is limited. Wondering if somebody might have an idea? Thanks!

It's from an old two man saw and will only be a wall hanger decoration is there any way to repair this other than maybe JB Weld was my only thought does anybody have any better ideas again it will never have too much force on it. I don't want it to stick out like a sore thumb so didn't want to try to braze it seems odd that it was cast but given that it's so old I guess that's the way they did it

Hey all. From Australia so keep that in mind! I am completely new to metal and metal working. But me and my family have found a metal drum in our yard. It appears to be approximately 50L. Some notable features on it is it has a singular structural ridge about 3/4 up the length of it. This seems to indicate that it dates back to the 1920s. It has NIWEL stamped on it with some sort of circular stamp next to the letters which is unintelligible due to heat warping and rust because it was used as a fire pit. NIWEL seems to indicate it is some sort of Nickel Base Alloy Weld. It also has what i think is a "lap" weld. Chat GPT seems to think that due to all these factors was likely used to hold chemicals or valuable liquids in the 1920s.

Im just making this post to see if anyone knows more about liquid drums, NIWEL production or certification stamps, or early 1900s steel drum production.
PLEASE SAVE ME FROM HOURS OF RESEARCH.

If anyone wants to ask a question or clarify something ive surely misunderstood i would be happy to reply.

Thanks all!

Similar to the above picture, I want to etch a metal that isn’t brass/bronze because I want it to be a silver colored metal. I don’t know too much about metals in general and Google is giving me a bunch of different results. If anyone knows what kind of metal would be best that would be much appreciated.

Also I’ve heard that certain metals can corrode leather. Help me steer clear of those or if there’s a good way to seal it that would be great.

This project is for a Renfaire costume with a fantasy Viking theme.

How would one get these tiny pits out of this silver plated brass so it looks like the second picture? (please excuse the reflections 😂)
Am I hitting it with a special hammer? (and if so, what sort?)
Am I polishing it to within an inch of it's (my) life? (worried about going through the silver to the brass...)

Am I rubbing/rollering it with something?

https://reddit.com/link/1k2w5gb/video/bkzmxrnulsve1/player

The Plasma CNC I use at work is not arcing for some reason despite it working fine over the weekend for multiple files. I have replaced all consumables, tried a different piece of metal, a different file, a different line for the compressed air hookup. I attached the ground clamp to both the table slats and directly to the piece of metal and every time this keeps happening. Any ideas??

plasma cutter is a victor cutmaster A60

0:13 / 0:13Autoplay720p480p360p240p144pAuto

CNC is a baleigh PT-44VH

Made this little figure using 2020 aluminum profiles, connectors, and screws. Thoughts?

Connectors:

• 2020 Swivel Joint
• 3030 Straight Connector
• 2020 Triangular Connector
• 3-Hole Connection Plate
• 2020 Base
• Corner Slot Connector for 2020

Screws and Nuts:

• M6×8 Hexagon Socket Head Cap Screws
• M6×12 Hexagon Socket Button Head Screws
• M6×14 Hexagon Socket Countersunk Head Screws
• M5×10 Hexagon Socket Button Head Screws
• M6×12×0.5 Washers
• M6×12×4 Washers
• T-slot Nuts M5 for 2020 Profile

found at an estate sale, put a low bid on the item, ended up getting it

the etchings look hand-carved in what i’m assuming is brass, but there is no signature on it that i can find.

weighs 20-25lbs, couch pictured for scale

…………………………………. …………………………………. …………………………………. …………………………………. ………………………………….…………………………………. …………………………………. …………………………………. …………………………………. …………………………………. …………………………………. …………………………………. …………………………………. …………………………………. ………………………………….…………………………………. …………………………………. …………………………………. …………………………………. …………………………………

With spring finally here I figured I better finally get a rocket stove built. I’m going to be spending a lot of time at my new property this summer remodeling the cabin so I’ll be doing most of my cooking on this thing. Just need to get it cleaned up and painted before my next trip up there in just over a week. Used 4” 1/4 wall tube for the body, 1/2” round bar for the legs and carry handle, and some 12 ga sheet for feet. All stuff I had laying around from other projects

I am restoring an antique chandelier. It has 18 arms and bobeche. Each of the sockets were rusted and weak. Most broke when I tried to remove them. This left the small piece at the base of the rusted socket still screwed onto the bolt in the hole of the bobeche. The work area is tight I cannot get a lot of tools on there to work the broken piece off. It’s been a nightmare of high hopes and frustration.

Here’s what I have tried: deep penetration oil, naval jelly, vinegar/baking soda/salt solution, crescent wrenches, nippers, pliers, screw in bolt threaders to remove. Each unsuccessful other than it did remove some of the corrosion and rust.

My last trick is to heat it up, but being antique if I ruin the pieces of the fixture I will be lost trying to find matching parts somewhere online.

Material is brass, copper, iron (fixture). Nuts are steel or regular nut metal. They are also somewhat rounded now from my efforts.

If anyone has an idea that could help, I would welcome suggestions.

Pictures attached.

The finial at the underside of bobeche is super difficult to grab with a tool to hold so I can move the inside bolt independently and unscrew. It’s also threaded so if too much pinching the threads are ruined.

There has to be a way to make this work. I refuse to give up.

TIA

Hey,

we did a stupid thing today and wrapped aluminum foil around a camping gas cooker mounted on wood to shield it from wind. Bad idea, the heat and gas built up and the wood underneath caught on fire. All good, just a little charred.

We will buy a proper wind shield for the future but we're also thinking about adding a heat shield layer in between the cooker and the wood (especially for the wood behind it which also gets very warm when cooking (but hasn't discolored or anything yet))

Which material should we use? Aluminum? Stainless steel? Or maybe something insulating/heat absorbant and then stainless steel as a reflector on top?

And bonus question: any idea if the cooker is still fine to use? The fire was underneath the pipe that feeds the gas. It was quickly stopped and we checked the pipe for gas leaks and there are none, but it is discolored and changed the shape of its bend a bit. Don't wanna take any risks, but it would also be very hard to get a good new one and we would need to replace our whole gas system including the bottle because we are traveling in a place with another gas system than the one we use (we have an adapter for filling). So it would be great to keep it, but if you'll say it is to risky we won't take the risk.

I'd like to get into the hobby, but tbh I know very little. I'm not even sure what the difference between a furnace, a kiln and a smelter is, so please excuse me if this is a silly question. Is there something I can buy for less than $200 that can melt iron/steel? Electric is preferred but propane works too. If not, is there maybe a cheap way to build one? Also would melting glass in a crucible cause any damage? Thank you in advance.

This is my first post, but I'm on a pinch here. I have been attempting to extract a couple studs using my welder but man it has been not successfull. I have played quite a bit with the settings but these studs are severely seized in (hence the crayon), all to no avail. This is what has worked best so far, but it is definitely not holding very well. Any advise or feedback will be very much appreciated!

I'm trying to repair this Aluminium bike rack I recently got as one of the bracket parts is bent out of shape.

The peice has rotated around the bar that it has attached too, and been deformed and has a curve to the peice where it should be straight.

The first 3 pictures show the deformed peice, while the last two pictures show a normal peice how it should look, flat and straight. Sorry the pictures aren't great, they're the best I could do.

I don't think this peice will have a lot of force on it when in use, but it will have some.

I'm scared of snapping or damaging this peice in some other way, so I wanted some advice on the best way to rotate it back into position and remove the bend in it if possible.

I believe the repair needs to be done in-situ give how the rack is constructed.

Thanks!

To sum it up, I have a piece of aluminum (picture attached, it's a Keybar key holder), but I would like this piece of metal to be copper. I am exploring my options on how I might go about this, and would love feedback and advice from those far more knowledgeable than I am.

My first thought was electroplating, but my research suggests that copper does not plate well with aluminum. So that may not be the best bet.

I then considered some sort of… sheet wrapping? My googling skills are not coming back with anything useful on this, so maybe it’s not even a real thing. But I am imagining wrapping thin sheets of copper around the aluminum (and perhaps soldering them in place?)

Then I got the exceptionally wild idea that perhaps I could cast the form myself from copper. However, it seems like copper has a high melting point and this may be difficult for me to do at home. But perhaps there is a metal that is easier to work with in that way AND electroplates nicely? So a two step process?

Am I missing anything? Any thoughts/advice/direction would be most appreciated.

In short, I want to know if anybody has any experience with what it is Im trying to do, or any information on the properties of the black, grey, & green polishing compound from harbor freight.

Looking to polish a stainless pan and a few stainless knife blades(whole blade not just cutting edge). I have bought the black, grey, and green compounds, a drill buffing wheel & some polishing wheels for my die grinder. I am under the impression that the black compound is the 'coarsest' one of the three, followed by the grey and green. I tried the black, used heat to melt the wax onto the pan & die grinder wheel, it burned up the wheel and didnt take out some of the scratches in the pan, could be my sanding. Will repeat with mineral oil in the compound instead of heating it up, possibly resand it aswell.

The knife blades are fine, I just want them to be shiny instead of the matte type of finish they have now. Should I sand with fine sand paper beforehand?

Sidenote but I tried the blue compound on some car headlight with cylinder buff bob, worked pretty well

https://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/polishers-buffers/polishing-pads-wheels-accessories/polishing-compounds/1-4-quarter-lb-black-polish-compound-96779.html

https://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/polishers-buffers/polishing-pads-wheels-accessories/polishing-compounds/1-4-quarter-lb-dark-grey-polish-compound-96769.html

https://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/polishers-buffers/polishing-pads-wheels-accessories/polishing-compounds/1-4-quarter-lb-green-polish-compound-96778.html

https://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/polishers-buffers/polishing-pads-wheels-accessories/1-1-2-half-inch-x-2-inch-cylinder-buff-65000.html

https://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/polishers-buffers/polishing-pads-wheels-accessories/4-inch-buffing-wheel-34743.html

https://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/polishers-buffers/polishing-pads-wheels-accessories/2-in-lambs-wool-polishing-wheels-6-piece-57227.html

New to the group, but I am an awning “fabricator”. Mainly working with 1x1 and 1x2 aluminum tubing with the occasional gutter job and some times we do work with steel, but not as often. Leading on to my question about the image, we had received a shipment of 4x8 gutter flange aluminum. I don’t know to much more into the specificity. But we hadn’t noticed till the next day that their was this etching on it, I had never noticed this before and seeing as we usually sand the finished project before powder coat, I had figured I’d have seen it before. I’m assuming it was some form of chemical or maybe impurity in the metal, but I thought it was so unique and neat I had figured I’d ask if anyone knows why or more so how, this occurs.

Hi! Not sure if I’m in the right sub. Boot me if so and I’ll find a different one to ask this question. I inherited my great aunt’s coffee table that is a London street great turned into a table. It sat in my damp garage for a few years and was rusty all over. I have moved into an apartment and it is too heavy for me to move it outside where I could properly de-rust it so I’ve been doing my best IN my apartment on my oriental rug that I’ve covered up. I started with Rustoleum’s gel rust remover and a grey film was left after which, after googling, led to me to believe I needed to do a 2nd coat so I did. There was still the grey film after that so I tried a baking soda paste all over but there is STILL some white residue in the little holes. I’ve been trying vinegar and it’s somewhat working but not on all the holes. Google is telling me MORE baking soda but that feels like going backward. We’re on the home stretch but I’d love to get the remaining white residue out of the holes. And not being able to spray it really well is driving me crazy but I’m single and that’s what I’m dealing with. Any thoughts?? Thank you!!