Tom builds a custom screen and topper for an outdoor chimenea.

A metal bending ring roller is a great tool for metal shops. See how the Shop Outfitters #238 Ring Roller works.

Brother-in-law, Dave, was in town over the weekend and filmed Tom welding up a few metal posts for Summit Structures out of Laramie WY. Summit will use these posts to help support structural beams for a house they are building. The metal posts are designed to rest on the top of a concrete footer. The bottom plate fastens [...]

In this episode of “Sparks Fly”, Tom fabricates small trailers for portable toilets. The portable toilets belong to Honeywagon Sanitation. Honeywagon Sanitation is owned and operated by Heber and Jennifer Richardson of Laramie Wyoming. The red and blue portable toilets are a common scene at construction zones, job sites and special events around town. Heber [...]

This video shows how Tom built his dream shop/house.  The shell of the building was ordered through Fast Trac Buildings, Inc. in Colorado.  Much of the interior of the shop and home was purchased as was needed through local building supply houses and stores like Builders Square, Lowes, and Home Depot. The two and a [...]

Tom built a custom welding table for his shop.  His old welding table was built out of 1/2 inch steel plate.  After three or so years of use it began to warp slightly.  He used it primarily to weld a lot of jigs.   He ran across a guy in Nebraska who cut apart a press [...]

Tom built a custom metal handrail for his friends at Summit Structures. The job held a challenging element in that the metal handrail was formed on a raduis staircase.

Tom was doing a little window shopping a few years back in Taos New Mexico. As he surveyed some of the shops and art galleries he noticed a theme of “metal art”. Of course, when he returned home he began to think how he could duplicate some of the tables and art work he saw. [...]

Tom often gets requests to build custom metal handrails from both residential builders and commercial companies. His various projects will be posted to this site as they are completed. I thought it might be handy to review a few steps to consider as you begin a handrail fabrication project. Tom’s years spent as a building [...]

  Tom puts up the skeleton for the new steel building addition.  After the concrete footings and floor were complete, it was time to erect the steel structure.  The main frame steel is put up first.  Those are the large steel girders and serve as the main support for the metal structure.  Tom started in [...]

Tom builds this unique spinning pot rack using a Shop Outfitters ring roller.

              Today Tom was busy working on a welding job at the University of Wyoming.  UW has experienced an explosion of construction growth in the past year.  Much of the building has to do with the state surplus that Wyoming enjoys from it’s mineral money.  The legislature has seen [...]

  Interesting jobs are always coming into the shop.  Summertime is a busy time around here as local ranchers and land owners are geared up to do those outside projects before the snow falls again.  A project that came in this week entails building brackets for a rough on timber footbridge.  The brackets are custom built for [...]

The twenty four foot portable toilet trailer that Tom is building for Honeywagon Sanitation has one last step.   Creating a good system for attaching the portable toilets insures the security, safety and ease when mounting the portable toilets for travel.  It also secures the investment a sanitation company has made in purchasing portable toilets.  A [...]

                This is the first article in our new section “Tom’s World”. When Tom quit his conventional job at the City of Laramie several years ago, his day changed dramatically. Many times we get the question: “What do you do?”. We will try and do a daily update [...]

              Commercial and residential structures are popping up everywhere these days with metal roofs. New buildings and remodels alike are opting for this sustainable and economic choice without compromising on architectural design and function. Metal roofing will outlast most other roofing types. Metal roofing is more durable. Wind can [...]

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Join Tom for a quick tour of his metal shop.  Trade Tool Innovations will take you through adding on an addition this summer.  TTI needs additional room for tools and storage.  Tom built and designed the shop to coincide with TTI’s growing needs.  There is an area for larger jobs, enough room to pull [...]

Things here at Trade Tool Innovations have been busy! This spring (as soon as the ground is thawed) we will be embarking on a building addition. It is hard to believe that the process for our current shop/house began nine years ago on April 15, 1999. Tom was on his tractor leveling out the dirt [...]

A metal wood ring is easy to make if you have the correct tools.  This wood rack was made using the Ring Roller from Shop Outfitters. The Ring Roller Tom used was a 238 Ring Roller.  It is made for a maximum of 2″ wide by 3/8″ steel stock.  First, figure out the desired ring [...]

Many people often ask “What is the difference between tubing and pipe?” I am going to hit some of the high points of each. Pipe is sized by the inside diameter or the I.D. of the pipe, this will be discussed a bit more later. To confuse matters a bit the wall thickness of the [...]