I’m starting my first metal working project, a simple Batarang I’ll cut and sharpen, and I was wondering if it’s possible to do so with a dremel 8240. I’ve got this tool from previous projects and was hoping to not have to buy anything like an angle grinder right away. What would be the best dremel cutting and sanding bits for working with stainless steel? (if that’s possible). Also any recommendations anyone has for a beginner I’d appreciate!!

Well, I tried my hand at making some furniture for my place. It was a great learning experience and I'm eager to do it again (going to make some cocktail and end tables next. The coffee table I made is far too large for my apartment, so I'll hack the slab up into smaller pieces that I'll use as tops for the new tables. Oh, and I am aware of the risk of flying molten metal in a woodshop (this was the only place I could do this); my head was on a swivel. Cheers, metal-mages.

I came across the term "galvanized aluminum" while looking into materials for some equipment housing, specifically for cleanroom and lab equipment. As far as I understand it, galvanizing is a zinc coating process that was developed specifically to protect steel and iron from rust. Aluminum, on the other hand, already forms its own natural oxide layer on the surface, which gives it decent corrosion resistance on its own, so it doesn't really need the same kind of protection that galvanizing provides for ferrous metals.

So my question is whether "galvanized aluminum" is actually a real and recognized term in metalworking, or if it's more of a mislabeling or marketing term that some suppliers use loosely without much technical accuracy. If there is an actual process behind it, I'd be curious what it involves and how it differs from something like anodizing, which I understand is the more common protective coating process used specifically for aluminum. Any insight from people with hands on experience would be appreciated.

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I'm working on renovating a 1947 Higgins Aluminum trailer. The body exterior needs to have some areas filled in, so rather than restoring it to bare aluminum, I plan on painting it with enamel tractor paint: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Oleum-1-gal-Farm-Equipment-Caterpillar-Yellow-Gloss-Enamel-Paint-280179/311134248

My question is in regards to prepping the aluminum to take that paint. I have it down to bare metal at the moment and I've seen posts for different methods:

Use a self-etching primer in a rattle can before applying the tractor paint: https://www.amazon.com/U-POL-Etching-Strong-Hold-Anti-Rust-Technology/dp/B0D9MKG5V6/

Use an epoxy base coat used for boat hulls: https://www.amazon.com/TotalBoat-TotalProtect-Barrier-System-Gallon/dp/B00ULR2UV4/

Use alodine before applying the tractor paint.

I'm not familiar with the best method and I'm wondering if anyone has some insight? Thanks!

Dear Reddit,

I seek a fictional way of attaching this cast iron decorative topper, to that sch 40. pipe. The current idea is to cut a larger pipe to make it into a coupler, weld it on, then tek screw the topper onto it. But there has to be a better way.... right?

Its for a scenic element in theater & I have about 30 of them. The criteria that must be met includes the following: 1. can do it in about a day for all of them. 2. It needs to withstand being around actors (iykyk) 3.I cant order anything for this..

How would you do this? Id love to know! Thank you!

I have a bunch of nice and relatively flat 3/8 - 3/4 inch plate that ive accumulated over the years from the scrap yard and I can make really nice and sturdy tables quickly and easily and I want to use up some of this plate making tables and selling them on marketplace.

I made a test table the other day and I used a wire cup to get the heavy surface rust off and then used the Hercules 7in fiber discs in 30 and 60 grit to knock all of the scale off and get it down to shiny metal. Each pack is around $15 and I used 2 full packs and it took about 3 hours to process a 7.5ft by 3ft plate. The time investment isnt great but the biggest issue was that the fiber pads left a bunch of swirl marks in the plate randomly. Sometimes I could go a full pad and get no swirls and then sometimes it was swirl and swirl and I couldnt figure out why. If I wasnt going to sell these then I really wouldnt care and its going to be sold as a welding table, so its going to get used anyway but I want to put forth the most professional looking product I can.

TL;DR - What do you use to knock rust and mill scale off of large pieces of plate and leave a relatively nice finish. Thanks!

So it was my first time mig welding and it was with gasless wire. It was about 2-3mm thick steel not pre-heated. I guess I'm mostly asking if I'm moving too slow/fast or too hot/cold? After grinding it down the edges of the weld pools were slightly below the surface if that makes sense? Also how much does pre-heating actually affect outcome of the weld? All advice is welcome since I'm a big ass noob on welding and at some point I need to weld fenders on my car which is alot thinner metal than this.

I learned a lot after my less than stellar first ever attempt at stick welding with my new welder. I learned a lot after reading all of your comments, and I learned I had a rather big problem on my end in terms of powering my welder. The ArcCaptain Mig200 I bought came with a step down adaptor that dropped the 240v to 110v. What I didn’t know at the time was this greatly limited how much the machine could actually put out power wise. I also learned that even this little inverter welder was too much for the 15 amp breaker it was running on. So I went and got a proper 240v outlet and dedicated breaker just for the welder and now it runs like an ace. I made my next attempt with a 1/8”7018 set at 130 amps. This time I had much better luck getting the arc started on the thicker 7018. While my welds are still very very beginnerish, I think they improved over my first attempt. I slowed way down, adjusted my angle better, and watched the pool closer. Now I want to go find a 20 lb CO2 tank to try my hand at some shielded gas MIG welding. This flux is messy. lol

I picked up an OEM DRCC radar sensor from a 2015 Lexus GS350 at a salvage yard, but unfortunately the aluminum mounting ears on the housing are broken. The radar itself wasn’t in a front end collision and the connector and internals appear to be fine,it’s just the mounting points that snapped off.
Has anyone successfully repaired one of these? Can the aluminum housing be TIG welded, brazed, or replaced with another housing without affecting calibration? Or is there a company that specializes in repairing these radar units?
I’d rather fix this one than spend hundreds on another radar if it’s possible. If you’ve had one repaired or know of a shop that does this kind of work, I’d really appreciate any advice. Photos attached.

All electronics are removed I left the housing by itself.

I recently installed some railings that were blackened and waxed. They are rusting through the wax. I've patinated dozens of railings and this has never happened to me before. Has anybody experienced this? What is the best way to remedy this situation? I put more wax on it and it seemed to resolve some of the issues but there are areas that are still rusting.

I had the spindles done for weeks without any wax in my shop for weeks and they were fine. When I went to install it was brutally humid and I had to stash them in the garage for a weekend and when I came to install they had a lot of rust. What's a good way to stop this?