metalskills

Seriously Impressive Metalworking Skills

Seriously Impressive Metalworking Skills

I love clockwork things. (I’ve built a couple of clocks myself) and so I am seriously impressed by the work of Chris Raynerd over at the raynerd.co.uk site. He’s only 28 and has already managed to equip himself with some excellent machining skills.

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Zero to Make: Crash Course in Welding

Zero to Make: Crash Course in Welding

There’s something about the process of joining two pieces of metal together that captures people’s excitement and curiosity. Outside of a romantic idea of welding masks, torches, and flying sparks, I had no idea what I was getting into. Now that I’ve taken a few classes, I’ve learned enough to distinguish the different types of welds, their uses, and the fact that I have a lot of practice in store before my welds are worth anything.

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How-To: Car Battery Welding

How-To: Car Battery Welding

Welding! Welding is a glorious, mystery-infused, thoroughly bad-ass way to stick things together. Welders move in their own cloud of mythos and danger- they are dirtier, tougher, and sexier than any other kind of maker, and the things they build are big and strong and hold our world together. This positive stereotype permeates at all levels of pop culture: if a character is introduced while welding, you immediately know that they will be some kind of blue-collar superhero, or some kind of cliched contradiction- the welder quoting Hegel after winning the bar fight, or the classic trope of seeing a welder at work, and then they flip off the helmet and OMG IT IS A GIRL! A GIRL WELDING!

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iNecklace and Massive Jewelry Roundup

iNecklace and Massive Jewelry Roundup

To match the iCufflinks:

The iNecklace is a gorgeously machined aluminum pendant with a subtle pulsating LED. Perfect for the playa or with Prada. Made for women who celebrate art, science, engineering and great design. Proudly made in North America (Canada and USA).

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Skill Builder: Fabricating Project Boxes from PCB Cladding

Skill Builder: Fabricating Project Boxes from PCB Cladding

Here’s something I didn’t know about. Radio geeks and hobby audio enthusiasts use PCB copper cladding material to fabricate handsome project chassis. The main method of assembly is soldering. In this PDF tutorial from QRP Builder, a small chassis for a radio transceiver is built. Some really good tips in this article about building such project boxes and making sure the results are handsome.

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Jeri Ellsworth Builds a Pure Stock Car

Those of us who are Jeri Ellsworth fans have heard about her race car builder/driver past, but most us know of her through her electronics engineering exploits. In this Building a Pure Stock Race Car video series, she proves her automotive hacking mettle as she helps her friend Trish make race-worthy a 1981 Camero.

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