Steel prices are skyrocketing. Here’s why!
Why Steel and Other Material Prices are Skyrocketing! (And We’re All Paying For It)
Welding and Fabrication Table Top Thickness – 1/4″ vs 3/8″
Should you really pony up the cash to pay for an extra thick top on your already expensive welding / Fabrication table? No. Here’s why.
Accessories For Our Welding Tables
If you pick up one of our exceptional welding tables you may be wondering what to do with all of those fixturing holes! Well, this article will outline some of our favorite options. Clamping The holes on all of our tables are cut to accommodate “standard” tooling that is labeled as either 5/8″ or 16mm. So you can add basically any of Strong Hands Tools InsertaClamps. We highly recommend the 6 1/2″ InsertaClamp as pictured[…]Continue Reading
How to Keep A Welding Table From Rusting
We sell a lot of welding tables, and the two most common questions are: How do I keep a welding table from rusting? What fixtures can I use on your welding tables? Well, we’ll tackle number two later, so for now let’s talk about how to care for steel tables that are exposed to the elements. Both before and after they get attacked with rust. WD-40 Is Your Best Friend Although everyone knows WD-40 is[…]Continue Reading
Installing the Jeep Wrangler JL Accessory Mounting System
Installation guide for our Jeep Wrangler JL Unlimited Cargo and Accessory shelf system.
Welding Table Flatness – Why, and When It Matters
What Exactly Is Flat? One of the most misleading things in the welding table supply business is the way vendors intermix machine specifications while discussing welding table flatness, ignoring the difference between finished products and the machines they’re made on. So let’s clear things up. There are two primary types of welding tables being supplied in the industry: Cast and surfaced welding tables. Laser cut and fabricated welding tables. Each offers distinct benefits. Cast tables[…]Continue Reading
Building the 42Fab GIANT Steel Chiminea
Normally we post about projects we design and fabricate on our own, but this time we’ve got to give a huge shout-out to Richard Day at 42Fab in Oklahoma City. Richard has a YouTube channel where he shares all sorts of projects, and when we saw his Giant Steel Chiminea project it was love at first sight! The 42Fab GIANT Steel Chiminea Project Not only did he make a video about this magnificent piece, but[…]Continue Reading
Breathing New Life into Old Picnic Tables
A little while back we had the opportunity to redesign and refurbish the old picnic tables at a local park. The old tables had a nice concrete base firmly planted in cement, but they had extremely weathered, rusty and downright dangerous expanded metal surfaces that were desperately in need of replacement! So we decided to do away with the old metal surface in favor of a cooler, smoother treated wood surface, supported by a strong[…]Continue Reading
Fabricating a Custom Live Edge Table Support
Our friend and professional woodworker Kevin Tunis is always coming up with crazy ideas for beautiful wood tables, and occasionally they are so massive they could use a little extra support. We worked together to create a unique Texas-themed support for one of his custom projects. The wood legs for the table are plenty strong enough to bear the weight of the top, however to ensure the table would be impervious to lateral forces a[…]Continue Reading
Turning the Johnson Service Group Logo into Wall Art!
We recently had the opportunity to create a beautiful piece of wall art from the Johnson Service Group logo for a new office location in Texas. The concept was to recreate their corporate logo as a 3D sign to hang in the reception area. This meant the logo first had to be re-created in a digital format, and broken down to basic components to be converted into cut-paths for machining. Next all of the steel[…]Continue Reading
Building the Texas Elite Arched I-Beam Table Base
My buddy Kevin Tunis is a woodworker with a flare for making high-end custom tables with rare and massive wood slab tops. One such table is his Texas Elite which merges classical woodworking with custom metal fabrication for a table unlike anything you can get anywhere! Kevin loves to challenge convention, and the design of this table base is no exception. His vision was to build an industrial I-Beam design, including an arch in the[…]Continue Reading
Custom Outdoor Texas Wall Art
Custom orders are always fun, because by their very nature each one is unique and that makes for a challenge. This one was no exception… Our client had a home with a small decorative brick pattern near the top of the front wall of the house, but the pattern was too small and they were looking for something nicer to cover it and beautify the home. There were a few goals: Hide the original brick[…]Continue Reading
Custom Race Ramps Rack for Trailers
If you haven’t seen the custom ramps over at RaceRamps.com and you’re into any sort of powersports, you should really check them out. They make a line of trailer ramps that help extend the drive up door for low vehicle entry. The ramps are good looking and functional, but you do need to find a way to store them when they aren’t in use. Here’s what we did. Making the Ramp Holders Our client had[…]Continue Reading
Prototyping a New ATV / UTV Tie Down System for Trailers
The ATV / UTV tie down system is now available for purchase here! I have a couple of ATVs, and I have a trailer, but until today I didn’t have a system for mounting those ATVs for secure transport. Oh, sure I could use ratcheting straps. But who really wants to rely on a couple of nylon straps when it comes to keeping a $10,000 or $20,000 vehicle from falling off on the highway and[…]Continue Reading
Easiest Way to Set 45 Degree Angle on a Band Saw
If you happen to own any sort of metal cutting bandsaw you’ve probably experienced the frustration of setting it up to do 45 degree cuts. The guide on the bandsaw is always off by just a little bit, which makes for annoyingly inaccurate cuts. But there is a $5 solution for that! A cheap welding magnet from Amazon, Harbor Freight, Northern Tool, or just about anywhere. If you’re a welder you probably have a dozen[…]Continue Reading
Making the World’s Best Grill Grate!
I love to grill. But why is it that the weakest part of every single grill sold is always the grilling surface? It’s arguably the most important part, but even the “best” grills come with mediocre grates. Well, since I have a fabrication shop, I decided to remedy that by building the best damn grate in the world! Let me explain… The Problems with “Stock” Grill Grates Grill grates typically come in what I would[…]Continue Reading
We’ve Been Building Some Structural Supports
It’s not all fun and games in the shop. Wait! Actually, it is! It is always fun and games in the shop. Even when we aren’t making crazy bottle openers, or amazing coat racks. Any day cutting and welding stuff in the shop is a good day! Today’s challenge was to create custom supports designed to support the roof over a covered porch. Normally people use something like a wooden post. But there’s one really[…]Continue Reading
A Classy Sign for a Classy Guy
When bladesmiths sit around talking about their inspiration it’s only a matter of time before the conversation comes around to Master Bladesmith Jerry Fisk. He’s a great teacher, a mentor to many fantastic bladesmiths, an honorable man, and a good friend. Every master craftsman needs a nice sign to hang in the shop, so we set out to create something worthy of a Master. The Making of a Classic Sign It only seemed appropriate that[…]Continue Reading
Modifying the 7in. x 12in Metal Cutting Band Saw From Northern Tool / Harbor Freight
In our shop we’ve got a 7in. x 12in metal cutting bandsaw affectionately dubbed the “big ass bandsaw”. It reliably chews through just about anything you can imagine, including MacBook laptops… Bandsaws like this can be had at Northern Tool, Harbor Freight, or even Amazon. But one universal problem is that even though they’re supposed to be semi-portable, the wheels on the stock bases are unidirectional. So you can’t really move them around without having[…]Continue Reading