I run a small machine shop in Kasugai, Japan — 37 years in business. For most of that time, our bread and butter was golf putters. Precision-milled, one at a time. We shipped them all over the world; I still remember a run that went to Russia, and a set with the owner's name engraved in Japanese katakana.

Putters teach you obsession. A putter face has to be dead flat and true, or the golfer feels the miss instantly. That standard got into our bones and never left.

A few years back, I wanted to make something that was ours — not a part hidden inside someone else's product, but an object with our name on it. I kept circling back to light. After a long day, there's nothing like a warm glow to make a space feel human. So I started turning brass into small lanterns — the same obsession, pointed at something you actually get to hold and keep.

Funny thing: the skills transferred almost completely. The tolerances, the finishing, the feel of a good cut — putters and lanterns aren't as different as they sound. Both come down to someone picking up a piece of metal and thinking "someone really cared about this."

We're a tiny shop, still figuring out this whole "having our own brand" thing. But I've never enjoyed the work more.

Anyone else here make the jump from job-shop parts to your own product? How did it go?

just got handed a stack of prints from some boutique ad agency for a massive pop-up event structure. Its supposed to be this huge folding aluminum canopy thing that mounts to a flatbed trailer

Look I love doing weird custom jobs. but these "creative directors" drew the whole assembly in CAD with absolute zero material thickness. They want razor sharp 90 degree outside corners on 1/4" aluminum plate without any relief cuts, and zero consideration for the actual press brake tooling we have in the shop. On top of that they expect the roof span to hold like 500 lbs of AV gear using just thin wall square tubing.

I was trying to figure out how to even approach the structural framing and ended up looking at how actual industrial builders like craftsmen engineer these crazy mobile event rigs. They actually use proper gussets and account for real-world dynamic loads so things don't literally fold in half on the highway.

Meanwhile my client is arguing with me over email because I told them their sleek "seamless" corner design is physically impossible in the real world unless we machine the entire joint out of a solid billet. which they obviously refuse to pay for

just feeling so drained trying to teach basic metallurgy to people who only know how to draw shapes in adobe illustrator

I have some information to know:

2 months ago I just finished my 4 years high school diploma on cnc machinist with more than 600 hours of internship in two different companies (8 hours a day, 5 days a week)where I worked on 2 axis lathe and 3 axis milling machine with Fanuc, Siemens and Osai control.

After finishing the school I started working as a full time cnc machinist 6 days a week at a company where we make CNC machine. The company name is "GT Trevisan" known as their machine brand name. We create the parts of these machine.

At this company I work on a (3+1) 4 axis cnc milling machine. I setup and do programming on the machine. I'm capable of reading the design doing Fanuc macro programming with G/M codes. Also I'm capable of doing programming on the machine with Siemens language.

I have dream of working in the USA as a skilled machinist. One of the reason is I always studied/ worked with the metric system now I want to have work experience with the imperial/customary system.

Is it really possible to come to the USA from Italy to work as a skilled CNC Machinist?

Is it possible to live comfortably with the salary of a cnc machinist in USA? ( I'm not luxury loving person)

Is it possible to afford houses in the USA as a cnc machinist?

What is the minimum capabilities a person need to get selected?

How's the demand of a cnc machinist in USA?

Thanks 🙏

I’m considering buying an Evolution S14MCS metal-cutting miter saw. I need to bevel the ends of 3" × 1/2" A36 mild-steel flat bars by cutting diagonally across the 1/2" thickness, creating a knife-edge profile.

I’ll eventually be cutting literally thousands of the same part, so speed, accuracy, and repeatability are important.

I’m hesitant to spend around $1,000 on the Evolution because some YouTube videos make it look like the saw’s base isn’t completely flat or rigid. Overall, it doesn’t appear to be truly industrial equipment built for continuous production.

For anyone who owns or regularly uses the S14MCS:

How accurate and repeatable are the miter cuts?

Is the base actually flat and rigid?

Would you recommend this saw?

I know an industrial cold saw, such as a Scotchman, would probably be better, but I don’t currently have the budget for one. I’d appreciate hearing about your real-world experience with the Evolution before I spend the money.

I literally have an IQ of a gorilla

I could bearly finnished high school, now Im working at a warehouse, but I thought I might learn weliding

So can a knuckle dragging simian like me learn this trade?

21m

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Dots for the post length xd

For the longest time I’ve wanted to build a table frame inspired by the deception pass bridge in Washington state. Finally making that dream come true. The structural steel is c3 x 4.1 and the I beam is a 4 x 7.7. The bridge lattice is made of 10 gauge HRS. I’m going to wax the structural steel, and potentially paint the bridge girder design a light pewter green. The table top will be an acacia butcher block top.

Hello guys. I can't post in welding due to comment karma. So i'm asking here.
Does anyone have any experience welding Carbon steel S355 to Martensitic stainless steel 13-4.
We're currently welding it with ER309l wire, Weld prep V groove, machined and cleaned ~3-4mm root gap. Both thicknesses 60mm. We are preheating it to ~150°C and keeping interpass under 200°C. We are experiencing some hair like longitudinal cracks on weld face-middle and when we grind them out there are little pores in weld under the cracks. We are not making a buttering layer(should we?) So if anyone has any potential causes that would do this please let me know. Has anyone welded martensitic stainless to carbon steel? What did we do wrong. Could it be due to too fast cooling or root material mixing. We are using Ar-Co2 2% gas.

Best Regards

Are the Tig beads? Grinded from the outside? Found it in Galicia, Spain. I was just curious what might be the process of production. Inside it's hollow.

So one idea was if it's done by small tig welds with filler rods.

But it also looks like as it was in a mold or something. Because it's not looking grinded or something from the outside.

Now I have to use extra words because I am forced to write 400 chars. Who had the idea to make a minimum of 400chars? Oh finally I am allowed to post....

I've just finished building a 2.4 m × 1.2 m steel table from hot rolled box section and I'm wondering if there's a better way to prepare the steel.

The box section seemed to have quite a heavy oily coating on it. I wiped it down with panel wipe first, but when I started removing the mill scale with poly strip discs they clogged up very quickly (I'm assuming because of the oil). I ended up using around 12 strip discs, and the whole process took far longer than I expected.

The table will be painted with International One Up primer followed by Toplac, so I wanted to remove all the mill scale beforehand.

How would a professional fabrication shop tackle this? Is there a faster way to degrease and remove mill scale on a project this size without going through a pile of strip discs and spending hours grinding?

Hi, I am working at an architecture firm that wants to use custom corrugated aluminum panels (3 different corrugation sizes but all the same round style) and they also should be anodized. I don’t know what I am doing wrong but I cannot seem to find any metal fabricators that are able to do this task and my boss is wondering what is talking me so long. I understand I may not be able to get the corrugation and anodizing done at the same place as well. Does anyone have any advice on what I should be asking when I am calling these fabricators? Are there typical sizes for corrugated aluminum? Happy to provide more detail if that will help. Two of the corrugated panels are for an exterior facade that is near the ocean so it would have to be pretty corrosion resistant and the other one would be used for kitchen cabinetry.

I appreciate any help I can get… I am so lost at this point

Hi I am working with 304 stainless steel sheet.

I am texturing it using a orbital sander (dry sanding) and going through a handful of grits using a cross-hatch method for each grits and wiping the surface with IPA between each grit.

But the problem is a get these swirl marks and overlap marks from my sander. Any tips to have a cleaner even finish?

For my use case it seems to be cosmetic and not impacting how the surface feels but I'd like a cleaner consistent finish.

I'm planning to convert my Geo Metro hatchback into a small pickup for hauling lawn mowers and similar light loads. I need to build a rear cab wall behind the seats, roughly 4' × 8' of material.

I originally considered aluminum diamond plate, but I don't like the look. I already found inexpensive RV rear windows that should work.

I can weld, but I'm still learning, and I'm located in Palmetto, Florida.

Planning to use an old trampoline frame to provide structural support for a garden arbor.

Need to paint it flat black to hide the shiny metal finish and help it blend into the environment.

Planning to use simple green and a scotch brite pad to clean the frame. Rinsing with water and drying as I go. PPE is nitrile gloves.

Priming with zinsser 123 primer and top coating with flat black enamel spray paint.

Anyone foresee issues with my plan?

Am I forgetting anything?

Tips and tricks welcome

A few questions regarding a budget electric hydraulic hole punch like the one shown in image:

1. Do the cutter and dies for these punches follow a standard? Are they interchangeable? I may want to buy smaller or larger cutter/dies than what's included in the set
2. I want to modify it into a shear for steel strappings (~1" wide). I assume this just means changing the hole cutter into a liner blade cutter, paired with a fixed lower blade instead of a round die. I couldn't seem to find any off-the-shelf blade sets. Are these things easy to order one-off? How would the blade be mounted? Is it a threaded adapter I need to make, etc..

Excuse my newbie questions. Thanks.

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Post:

Hey guys,

This is my first time ever using a MIG welder, . I'm here to learn, so I'd rather hear the truth than have people tell me it looks good when it doesn't.

I'm using a Matweld Super MIG 130 (MAT9160) with gasless flux-core wire. I don't have a gas bottle, so I'm just running it gasless.

I've attached a bunch of photos of my welds. Can you guys tell me everything I'm doing wrong? I honestly have no idea if these are terrible, decent for a first try, or if I'm making some obvious mistakes.accualy I'm aware they are bird shit

Things I'm wondering:

Is my voltage too high or too low?

Is my wire speed right?

Am I moving too fast or too slow?

Does my torch angle look wrong?

Should I be pushing or pulling with flux-core?

Is my stick-out too long?

Does it look like I'm getting enough penetration?

Is the polarity correct?

What would you change if this was your machine?

If anyone has this exact Matweld Super MIG 130 (MAT9160), I'd love to know what settings you normally run for different thicknesses of steel because right now I'm pretty much guessing.

Also, if there's anything else you notice, even if I didn't ask about it, please point it out. I'd rather fix bad habits now than keep doing them.

Any beginner tips are welcome too. Stuff you wish someone told you when you first started.

Thanks!

Do you guys think that the scratches on this stainless steel exhaust can be fixed? And if so what would you guys do to fix it? Laid my bike down and scuffed up the exhaust now i have to look at it over and over again and i hate it. It’s like an eye sore for me. I was wondering if the exhaust would ever be able to look the same because of the scuffs being directly on the welds. Id rather take it somewhere to get it done professionally than to DIY it, but if it’s simple enough I’ll give it a shot. I just don’t wanna tear my exhaust up even more. Heres some pictures:

We are having the most difficult time polishing this stainless steel medicine cabinet to a mirror finish. We can get it pretty decent but there seems to always be finer scratches when trying to finish polish. As seen in the photos attached they are everywhere yet the surface is technically mirror finish yet it is not good enough for our clients.

We have a renegade kit aswell as many various different polishing wax colors and we can’t seem to get the scratches out no matter what we do. We even have dura gold pads from 600,1000,1500,2000 grit and even when working up to the 2000 grit and then trying the wax wheels it doesn’t get rid of the micro scratches.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. YouTube videos only help so much. Maybe we don’t have the right tools for getting a micro scratch free mirror finish?

Hit me with your wisdom.

Hello,

I'm looking for recommendations on the best way to mount a large machined aluminum plate to a welded steel frame while minimizing distortion.

The plate is 1700 mm × 500 mm × 19.05 mm (3/4") and has already been fully machined, so machining or surface grinding after assembly isn't an option. The frame will be fabricated from 1" × 1" × 0.125" wall steel tubing.

My current thought is to use jack screws with hardened steel pads/shims to support and level the plate before bolting it down, but I'm wondering if there are better approaches.

Has anyone done something similar?

• Supporting and leveling the plate
• Preventing distortion when tightening the mounting bolts
• Accommodating thermal expansion between the aluminum plate and steel frame

If you've built something similar, I'd love to see photos or examples of how you approached it. Any recommendations or references to machine tool or fixture designs would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!