A holiday tip from Karen.

Tom receives an email on his Aluminum Cutting article…

Tom’s brother, Jim, purchased a new Kubota LA 854 tractor last spring. He brought it down to the shop so Tom could build and weld on a few accessories before using it. Tom fabricated a hook and chain holder for the front end loader. The holder is made out of half inch hot rolled steel [...]

Dave emailed in a picture of his minivan tire. The tire hit a hex head self taping screw and Dave wanted to know if it would be best to…

One great way to save money and boost the look of your home in any kind of economy is to replace carpet yourself. Tom usually replaces living room carpet about every 3-5 years. The living room is heavy used in the Gabriel household and it is directly adjacent to Tom’s busy shop area. It is [...]

Tom mills out a piston and shows you how to measure it.

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

In this video Tom explains how to wire lights on a snowplow attached to the front of a pickup truck.  Tom is transfering a Bosch plow from a 1991 pickup to a 2004 pickup.  Tom finds himself fighting the wiring harness from the plow.  Tom has to trase the wire using a multimeter so he [...]

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 and Dave test out a new air compressor.

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 [...]

  The advent of concrete trucks has revolutionized the use of concrete.  Concrete is an old building material used since ancient times. 

Tom and crew pour a slab of concrete for his new building addition using the TTI Screedright Pro.  The TTI Screedright Pro utilizes a wooden 2X4 as a screed bar.  A wooden 2X4 allows for better screeding with no expensive screed bars to purchase.  A wooden board can be cut to any length for a [...]

  A plate compactor compacts sub base for concrete and gets your ground to grade.  Tom added granite fines to the existing base for a level surface prior to pouring his concrete floor.  Leveling your floor surface allows for a more accurate estimate when purchasing concrete.  After grading the sub base, it helps to water [...]

    Tony from Midwest Recreational Clearinghouse in Minnesota emailed these photos of a truss screed he acquired.   Tony runs the website crankyape.com that specializes in auctioning off repossessed items.  He knew they were some sort of concrete screed, but was unsure as to how it worked. This truss screed unit is obviously in used [...]

  It’s easy to mix your own concrete when you have a small job to pour.  You will need to have a small concrete mixer.  I you don’t own one, check your local small equipment rental outlet.

  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 [...]

                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 [...]

Running the concrete chute for a concrete pour is an important job.  Most concrete arrives at the job site in a rear concrete truck.  The person in charge of the concrete chute is directing the entire job.  It is his job to instruct the driver, keep an eye on the muckers and control the concrete [...]

A concrete screed is a tool used to smooth and vibrate concrete when wet mud comes out of a concrete truck. Wet concrete must be smoothed and vibrated when pouring projects like driveways, sidewalks, and flat work. Screeding can be as simple as using a wooden two by four or made easier by using a [...]