r/metalworking

I need to weld this diesel tank. It has been standing empty for like 3 years. Is there a risk of it catching on fire? Like it can’t blow up because there are plenty of openings, but just want to hear your experience to make it more or less safe.

I’m interested in repainting this item and adding some engraving, but I have absolutely no prior experience with either process. I’d love to learn how to do it properly and achieve a clean, professional-looking result without damaging the original piece.
What type of paint, primer, and finishing products would you recommend for a beginner? Are there any particular tools or techniques that would make the process easier? I’m also unsure how difficult engraving is for someone with no experience, so I’d appreciate any advice on the equipment required and how to practise safely before working on the actual item.
Would it be better to attempt this as a DIY project, or would I be better off taking it to a professional to ensure a high-quality finish? I’m happy to put in the time to learn, but I don’t want to ruin the piece by being too ambitious.
If anyone has experience with similar projects, I’d really appreciate your recommendations, beginner-friendly tutorials, product suggestions, or any lessons you’ve learned along the way. Thanks in advance for any help!

Stainless piece going to LA…love the blue glass, not happy with the base size…Second, Steel pillars rusted and red glass outside the Hilton in Tempe…janitor comes up and his comment is, they should have gone with the flag pole, that’s hideous, not realizing I made it haha… Recently learned hotels have a budget for either art or a flag pole, who knew…Can’t please everyone, doesn’t bother me one bit because he ain’t signing the check and also he has to look at it everyday while cleaning trash and fixing plugged toilets for minimum wage..Next, front entry piece that goes on a pillar clad in river rock for a gated house in Goldfield ranch…yes I made the copper roof like way to dominant in dimension and proportion, looked better in CAD haha….Lastly, copper wave water feature with patina, I always love that hue of green when the chemical sets off the oxidation reaction, of course in a year it will be calcified from our awesome water in Arizona and the cheap Chinese plastic pump will go out blah blah… I wish they would make them out of cast bronze like they used too before outsourcing out of America, smart…Now that I have an electrical degree maybe I can start adding light to some of these pieces who knows

The axe is made entirely from steel. And then it was plated with nickel to protect against corrosion and then further black powder coating on it will protect it much further.
The weight of the axe is 23kgs.
Length is 7ft
Widht is 20 inches
The handle will be black leather wrapped before I will ship it.
6ft steel pipe was used for the handle with a wall thickness of 5mm
I hope you guys like it

Custom handrail for a client. Fun but tedious build splicing all the pieces together. (No it doesn't pass code, we installed after their CO inspection) 🤫

2"x1/2" flatbar with 3/4" tube for the middle section. I find it very satisfying when you look through one rail at the other and all of their lines run parallel with each other. Happy to answer any questions about the build or its process in the comments!

I made these knives out of a variety of materials, most of them are made with my hand forged, copper layer damascus called Cu Mai. The handles are a variety of natural materials, stabilised natural materials and also some synthetic composites.

I've been making knives full time for the last 5 years k make all of these by hand in a small workshop.

Let me know what you guys think! And thank you in advance!

Hello! I (29F) have been a welder fabricator for almost 8 years now. I specialize in ornamental style, making a lot of handrails, fencing and gates.

I wanted to share something I had to make at a very stressful day of my life. The day before I got in a car accident that led to my vehicle being totaled (no one was hurt). I then came in the following day, my birthday, to curl 4 of these. I could not make ANY mistakes because we bought the exact amount of material required.

It was extremely stressful, but so rewarding completing such a task at a very dark time. This is what I love about my job. You are faced with new challenges every day, and you overcome them. As with life. It has really helped me establish my self confidence.

I practiced on mild steel first. I also had to create my own jig to make the curl. This meant creating a Fibonacci Spiral from scratch! I just cut sections of different sized pipe, then arranged them onto a piece of plate to put in a vice. I then heated the brass and used a fork to bend the curl.

I will have to share more of my work eventually! The welding subreddit doesn't really care about fabrication, and the fabrication subreddit is pretty dead. So I am glad I found this place. Thanks for looking!

Im interested in getting one of these from 3M, but it seems like they dont sell them off their website and i want everything included, there is a model that comes with ear protection, and I want it new not off ebay incase someone didnt take care of it, but the prices range anywhere from 3k to 4k on various websites that just seem random. Does 3M have an instore location in the U.S. somewhere in Georgia or close by? Or am i just better off getting one online from a random website or even ebay because 3k is a lot. I see online that many people get these from their company but I doubt that I would as these are hella expensive. I want to be able to get one of these just for my health, I always thought they were a bit overkill but now that I've been exposed to more in welding I see the value in these and especially this model having its own integrated hard hat.

My son's lizard needed a larger hide for the upcoming burmation season. He's really into dragons and castles.

So I used some stainless scrap, a zip disk, a die grinder and most my brakes this week. It will get painted this weekend and then mounted in clay. The top will be covered in sand and that rough hole on top will hold an aloe with soil in a bucket below. The rough weld on the top edge will be painted to match the clay and hopefully make it look more inset. There's also a viewing window on the side so we can observe her sleeping.

Looking to make a copper watch dial but need to have a date window (2.7mmx2mm rectangle) that has 45 degree bevels. Would a graver be a good tool for this? Any advice? How could an angel be set so the graver only removes a 45 degree slope? Would the bevels come out pretty clean?

I’m looking to make 10 or so of these dials. They are .4mm thick. Apparently copper is hard to machine so since no one makes copper dials like this I have to diy

I inherited a Sergio Bustamante sculpture from my grandparents of a large brass bird on a perch, similar to the one in the photo.

I left the sculpture in the care of my sister because I didn’t have room for it in my apartment at the time, and at some point, the tail came off and she lost it after a house fire.

I would like to re-create the tail, but I have no idea where to begin and was hoping somebody can give me some starter tips.

Also, the bird in the photo is dull, and mine is also dull, but these birds started out very shiny. How do I restore the shine without removing the intentional color variation?