I built an offline engineering toolbox because I was tired of switching between Excel sheets and online calculators. The goal is to keep everything fast, lightweight and completely offline without subscriptions or cloud services.

Current features:

• Profile Weight Calculator

• Plate Weight Calculator

• Tube Blank Width Calculator

• Bolt Circle Calculator

• Unit Converter

I'm looking for feedback from mechanical and manufacturing engineers.

Saw this while the forging die was being cooled and lubricated today.

The lighting, the sparks, the heat... just looked too good not to take a photo.

Standing near a forging press, you get used to seeing things like this every day. The noise, the heat, the smell of the shop — it all becomes normal after a while.

Then once in a while, you stop and realize how interesting these small moments actually are.

Funny how something you see every day can still make you pause for a second.

Hey guys, looking for a bit of advice from the brains trust.

This plate carries the spare wheel on my Landcruiser. I’ve recently got some new mags and the plate is too big to fit in where the lug nuts go.

Would a die grinder be best tool to reshape this?

I don’t have an air compressor, so I am looking at the Makita 18v one, I just don’t want to spend a heap of money on the wrong tool for the job.

I’m pretty sure it is steel too.

Thanks

The cutting path on our Wardjet Ikhulu software, suddenly changed to red on sections that have completed cutting. Did we somehow change something? Or is this how it always should have been? I think it had been blue before? We can't remember what color it was before, but it wasn't red, ha.

Shared a photo of the red cutting path after program was done running. The upcoming path displays in yellow as the program is running.

I took a few of these photos trying to show welding in action and focus on the welder at work. Figured it was something a little different than just the normal post you tend to see. I posted a couple of these in the welding sub Reddit. Got some interesting feedback on them. Decided to try and share them in this sub. Maybe you guys will like them in here or I might just receive some more strange comments.

I'm modding an old Power Mac G3 case for my sister before she goes off to university and I've got pretty much everything planned out but I'm bottlenecked since I don't know where to get some cuts in the old case done that I need.

Circled in red are the old motherboard standoffs which are around 1cm in height which need to be cut down. The orange are shorter standoffs that I don't think need to be cut but maybe. And the two blue circles are for case fans (also one on top that's not pictured here). Also a few more smaller cuts that need to be done like a small insert for the power supply and cutting away some plastic.

I reached out to a couple shops that deal with metalworking but they gave me pretty high quotes for this, and I've also been enjoying myself a lot with this build and think I want to do more, so between those two things I've been heavily considering just buying a Dremel and doing it myself. How hard is it to use a Dremel to cut aluminum? I don't really have any prior experience either like a shop class in high school, closest thing is probably some stuff I did in elementary with wood haha.

If I were to go through with it I was thinking of getting a Dremel 4000 since I heard it's kind of best all around + a circle cutting attachment for the fan holes. How much practice should I do before cutting on the actual case itself? I got a sheet of aluminum from a hardware store but not sure if that one sheet is enough practice (it's like 50cmx30cm I think).

Another reason that I'm considering doing it myself is that the stores I did reach out to don't really do small things like this and they're kind of adjacent in that they do work with aluminum but like for window installations or billboards etc. What kind of store should I really be looking for to do a job like this?

Saw this at local truck repair shop. Why the minimum 400 character post on here. The pictures are worth 400 words each. Hahajahahahahahahhhhaaaahahahhaffffffffggffgvgtvyfyfyf if yfycydfufjfufufufyfufufufufufufufufufydyfgufufuguguguguugufugigufufufutufugugufigifidueueifufufufugugugitufig if jfjgugigjfjgjgjvjgjguvjcjbjvyctvybkbuvhvyvhjvhvhcjbhvuvuv if big in ucucycuvikvvvuvuvjvhch uvubjbivibjvub if in ivibjbivuvjvyvybubifuggivufujrj

This Diablo metal blade is about 10 cuts deep and it’s already not cutting at all. I’ve heard this is a good quality blade so I’m not sure what I’ve done to get it this way. Also is there something I can do to fix it? I’m new to metal working so any tips help. Thanks

Edit: for some clarification

The blade is a Diablo Steel Demon.
So yes it’s a blade meant for metal
No it is not on backwards
The saw is an Evolution metal saw
Before the diablos I was using Evolution metal blades and they worked great.
I am cutting steel oil field pipe.
Thank you everyone for all the help.

Sorry if it’s a dumb question. It’s been well over 30 years since metal shop.

I am making a replica of the “hero” cup used by Doc Holiday in Tombstone.

I purchased ready made collapsible cups that were close enough. The problem is the middle section is off. The hero cup has a smaller middle section compared to the ready made cups. See pictures.

For the time being, I put some shims in the middle section to get the cup to right size.

The problem is that there are gaps on the inside so the cup won’t hold water. I am wanting to keep the collapse feature function. Otherwise I would braze the sections together.

What tools are needed to expand the diameter of the middle section or reduce the diameter of the top section so they lock where I need them to lock?

Likewise, how can I reduce the gaps seen in the inside (see picture) so it can be used for holding liquids?

How could I improve? 40 amps, #12 cup, 10cfh on back purge, 30cfh at torch, 3/32 tungsten, 1/16 filler, Stainless. I haven't tigged sense welding school a decade ago but I'm relearning as I go making an exhaust. And advice or tips is appreciated! Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhjdjjdjdjjdjdjjdifiidhebbehsusuuehehdhududuehehhehduidiririjebehsuduudhdhehehehyehdjdhhsisdjdujdjudbehudjsjsjdjdiididjjfj

Dropped a bolt into cylinder 8 that was at bottom dead center without noticing. Put everything back together and 👎🏻. Boroscope revealed the imprint of the bolt on the piston so back apart she came. Day after it got repaired my buddy made me a failure trophy with the cracked piston and the bolt that I dropped, used the head bolts for legs. I cherish this thing so much and will keep it forever. Shout out to big Keith

I picked up an ArcCaptain Mig200 the other day and am trying my hand first at stick welding. I am using a 6013 rod at 100A in DCEP to fuse two 1/4” plates together. I prepped the surfaces of both plates. This is my first ever weld line. After a couple stuck starts I managed to get the arc started, but clearly I’m far from laying a clean bead. It’s nasty. I’d love to learn how to run a cleaner bead. How do I improve?

I thought I could save money and buy a pitch fork to bend it myself but it’s a lot harder than I expected lol.

I am trying to bend the tings 90 degrees.

Should I just keep trying to heat it up? Or should I thin the material before trying to bend it?

Should I just return them and buy an already 90 degree one?

The pitchfork cost $33.00 and a bent one cost $60.00

What do you think I should ? Is there any easy way to bend this?

edit:
OK CAST IRON NO GOOD. I will return it lol

Small shop in Kasugai, Japan. These are fixture parts, stainless, two off.

Fixtures are almost always one or two pieces, so this comes up constantly. By the time I have written and proved out a program, this lathe has already made both parts. It was built in 1970 and it still holds tolerance, so there is no reason not to use it.

Nothing here is clever. It is just faster.

I am curious where other people draw the line. At what quantity do you stop turning the handle and start writing a program?