What to remember when hiring a contractor for metal handrail.

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

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 into [...]

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 [...]

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It is that time of year again when all thoughts turn to warmer weather. Even though we have at least two months before we can even begin to think about backyard bbq’s, Tom is looking ahead. The one thing lacking on our party patio is a good fire ring. In this article we will share [...]

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 half [...]

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. [...]

Check out a great resource we found on welding.

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

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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 fit to allow for many upgrades and [...]

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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.Â
A project that came in this week entails building brackets for a rough on timber footbridge.  The brackets are custom built for a local [...]

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.Â
A [...]

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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 in this section of our website.
Today Tom and [...]

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 size.  [...]

 Many parts of an antique tractor are not manufactured any longer, and purchasing used parts are not any better shape than the one that needs repaired. In many instances the local machine shop may be the best choice. I am not an antique tractor guru by any imagination, although cleaning up a bore and building [...]

Most of the time soapstone is used to mark steel for cutting and fabricating.  Soapstone is a natural element that can be easily found at hardware and welding supply stores.
A good alternative for marking steel can be found at any local discount store.  The silver metallic  sharpie works wonders on a piece of steel.  Several [...]

Welding
Wonder how to help insure a good weld?  Follow these tips to produce consistency.
1.  Weld joints should be clean.
2. Weld joints should be fit properly.
3.  Always use correct welding process for the job.
4.  Adjust welding equipment to match metal being joined.
5.  Whenever possible, position yourself in good welding position.
6.  Whenever possible position yourself in good [...]