SaraSpa Rod & Gun Club Duct Fabrication

After installing the filter boxes and elbows shown in my previous post, it is now time to fabricate the next set of duct and transitions that will run up the wall. There are three total units and each will need a 90" drop. Below are the in-progress fittings lined up in a pretty little row.

Our next task is to cut and install the Ductmate Flange System on each section of duct for easy installation when we get to the jobsite.

Wolla!

We finished up a few 90 elbows with turning vanes for the job as well. Probably could have managed a better photo but I had to assist my helper uncle with that tub of screws :)...JK

How Will Digital Fabrication Affect The Machines of The Future?

3D printed replacement part for a Dewalt saw

Will there ever be a time when machines can heal themselves? Heal may be the wrong word, but there may be a point where digital fabrication could help machines of the future fabricate their own parts.

Yesterday I was watching an extended PandoMonthly interview with Mark Suster of Upfront Ventures and the Both Sides of The Table blog. Mark is a well known venture capitalist who mainly invests in technology companies.  

Near the end of the discussion he mentioned an interview with MIT's director of The Center For Bits and Atoms, Neil Gershenfeld on Fareed Zakaria's CNN show. A very interesting look at what the future may hold in regards to 3D printing and digital fabrication.

Watch below:

4 Resources You Can Use to Find Specialty Metals Online

Finding specialty metals locally can be a difficult task, no matter where you live. You can go to your local hardware store, but chances are they only stock small sections of limited gauges and alloys of metal sheets. So you try the local metal distributor, only to find they are far from receptive when it comes to small quantities of steel sheets or structural metal. So where do you go when you only need a small lot of steel or sheet metal for a minor project?

Here are four online metals sites you can use to find specialty metals for your small project.

Cut 2 Size Metals

Cut 2 size metals is an online metals provider of aluminum, stainless steel, brass and copper. They also provide structural metal and many different kinds of metal fabrication. 

From their website:

Cut2SizeMetals.com, your source for online metals, is powered by ESMW, a leader in custom fabrication of metal since 1946. We focus on industrial and specialty fabrication using aluminum, stainless steel, brass and copper. Whether you have a sketch on a napkin or a 3D CAD drawing, our craftsmen have the experience to solve your problem. We use a wide variety of contour cutting equipment as well, including laser, plasma, and waterjet cutting.  From our midwest supply & metals depot in southern Indiana, we offer speedy metals shipments to all 50 states. You can specify your metal by the inch, or order full sheets and lengths.  And while we don't stock discount steel, you can order it and wide variety of other metals online

Online Metals

Online Metals provides a nice selection or aluminum, brass, stainless steel, copper, along with hot and cold roll steel options. The nice thing about their service is providing the customer options for smaller size lots. This can be very helpful for someone looking for specialty metal options in smaller quantities:

From their site:

The Web's superstore for small quantity metal orders welcomes you to explore exceptional metals sales and service from metal buyer's guides, to metal project ideas. At OnlineMetals.com, no order is too small for our high standards.

Simply put, OnlineMetals.com is an internet-based small quantity metals supplier. We specialize in orders for less than full bars and less than full sheets, but carry a variety of materials rivaled only by the largest metals service centers.

Speedy Metals

Speedy Metals boasts a large selection of everything from specialty metals to structural steel. They pride themselves on exceptional customer service, which is logical for a site called Speedy Metals. 

From their site:

Supplying over 50,000 customers WORLDWIDE !!!

* Unsurpassed Service

* Highest Quality

* Best Selection

Over 5,000 Grades, Shapes and Sizes

Metals Depot

Metals Depot continues the trend with a large selection of specialty metals, structural steel with many size quantities available. They also have a nice selection of diamond plate, metal grating for walkways and perforated steel for a plethora of applications.

From their site:

MetalsDepot, the retail division of Ledford Steel Company was established in 1999 to fill the ever-growing need of a reliable "Small Quantity Metals" supplier throughout the United States. Our concentration is to provide a wide selection of metal, in smaller quantities, with no minimum orders, and fast shipping. In 1999 we also created MetalsDepot.com to simplify and speed the ordering process, and to make our products available to a larger audience. Over the years our distribution has grown to over 60,000 customers worldwide

Whether you're a job shop like ours needing small quantities or a layman looking for specialty metal to complete a small project around the house. Any of these online metal suppliers can help to get you what you need and answer the questions you may have on different alloys of metal. 

 Good Luck! 

Understanding The Role of an HVAC Ductwork Fabricator

Have you ever heard of the term 'tin knocker'? There's a good chance you have come across the term somewhere along the line. Although, there's also a really good chance you have no idea what I'm talking about.

So what is a tin knocker anyway?

Although there is no real dictionary definition of the term, the accepted definition of a tin knocker is some one works with HVAC ductwork, a sheet metal worker. Meaning someone who fabricates duct and duct fittings for residential or commercial dwellings. Tin knocker can also be assigned to someone who installs ductwork on a regular basis. However, the term 'duct installer' is more common for the men and women working that job.

My daily job, along with co-owner duties, here at K & E Sheet Metal is HVAC ductwork fabricator or tin knocker. I fabricate the components used for the duct running through your home so heat and air conditioning can get to each of the rooms.

Our main business

Our main business is fabricating the plenums, duct, elbows and transitions needed to run the trunk line (ductwork) in the basement or attic. Many times the installer will need to run the duct under existing plumbing pipes or around a corner. Whether the piece needed is a standard fitting or a custom section, contractors or customers will call with measurements for what they need to finish the job. I, as an HVAC ductwork fabricator, build the duct to keep the job moving along.

Method to the madness

Well, in our shop it's a much simpler process than that of the larger, unionized shops knocking out ductwork for major projects around the world. Our facility takes an order from the customer--no job being too small--where I will either enter the dimensions in our computer system running the CNC plasma machine or start the cutting process by hand. Either with had tools or with our 52" wide shear, which is used to cut larger sections of duct.  

After the pieces are cut, I will use our 8' sheet metal brake and other metal bending tools to form the duct fittings and custom sections one flat side at a time. Our ductwork is formed either in half sections or four different sides to create the square or box that will be the duct. This also gives me the chance to run each side through whichever roll forming machine is needed to create the joints necessary for assembling each component.

The assembly process is performed either with a hand held or air hammer, with the air hammer being the quickest form of assembly at our shop. Depending on size or type of fabrication, each piece can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 45 minutes.  

Obviously. this is a very quick overview of what I do as an HVAC ductwork fabricator, but you can get a sense of the basic steps needed and where our services are very important to the installation process. In order to keep the air flow and efficiency at peak you need to have the proper sized duct and fittings to move the air. Therefore a good fabricator is a must for anyone who runs an HVAC installation company. 

Keep the line moving sir

You can equate what I do to a short order cook, who needs to have something done quickly and accurately to keep the line moving. When an order is called in, the time window for me to finish is tight, roughly within 24 hours. With many orders coming through the door, this leaves hours to minutes for getting the fabrication complete, depending on the size of the order. All lead times aren't always a rush, some are weeks or even months down the line. Nevertheless, the majority of what we do in the residential market is a very quick turn around because time frames for many of the homes going up these days is fast.

Other factors that will determine what an HVAC ductwork fabricator produces on a daily basis is the size of his shop, amount of equipment, technological advancement of that equipment and number of employees fabricating ductwork. 

The role of the duct fabricator hasn't changed much over the years, but the size of the shops have. There aren't many job shops like ours around these days giving homeowners and smaller companies the ability to get small orders fabricated on demand for a good price.

If anything, understand that an HVAC ductwork fabricator is an integral part of the construction of your home or commercial building. 

Old School Custom Trunk Duct Fabrication

Currently I am fabricating some custom transitions to marry a new heat pump system to this existing trunk duct. The customer emailed these photos this morning to give me an overview of what I would be hooking the new duct transitions up to. Always helpful when a customer is willing to take the time and snap a few shots of what the job looks like.

The ductwork in this house is absolutely fantastic! Yes, it's old and may be sagging in some area's after hanging for years and years. All of this is normal. Should it be changed? Maybe, but all in all it looks ok. 

I have only come across a few jobs with duct where this much time and effort was placed into the fabrication and installation. The time needed is easily double, maybe even triple of what lead times would be today.  Plus, the man hours into laying out the duct needed to complete the job. 

The cool part is the way the duct line is laid out and how each heat run is a rectangular or square branch with multiple rounded offsets and risers. Today, all of these heat runs would be round and branching off the top of the main trunk line. And the fabrication time would be minimal because much of what you see would be standard, stock sizes that can be purchased at your local Home Depot.

However, the time and effort in the fabrication, with rounded inner throats is completely custom and just fabulous. My father and I completely appreciate the craftsmanship that went into this amount of bespoke trunk duct and fittings. Very cool.

ISM Manufacturing September - Business Insider

ISM's monthly report on the American manufacturing sector is out. The headline index from the report unexpectedly rose to 56.2 from August's 55.7 reading. Economists predicted the index would fall to 55.0.

Any number above 50 indicates expansion while a sub-50 reading indicates contraction, so today's report suggests that the pace of expansion in American manufacturing accelerated last month...READ MORE

I try and keep an eye on how things are progressing in the manufacturing sector even though we are the tiniest of cogs in the wheel. Any information is good information in my opinion.  

The news also gave me a chance to try out the Squarespace "Post to Squarespace" button that can be used to post items such as the ISM manufacturing numbers to your blog quickly and easily. I don't hate it.

Source: American Manufacturing Is On A Roll (Business Insider)

Custom Galvanized Sheet Metal Ash Box

The benefit of our fabrication shop is the ability to fabricate small numbers of custom projects for a range of products. Our main focus being HVAC custom ductwork and fittings, but we fabricate a lot of specialty items for many of our customers.

Last week I received a request through our website for a custom 15" x 15" x 15" ash box with a sliding top cover. For some reason my immediate thought was urn or something like it. However, I was completely wrong, the customer was only looking for a box to rake old ash and embers from an outdoor grilling station. 

I had a tiny idea of what he might be talking about, growing up in a house with a wood stove and many family members with the same. Nevertheless, asking for any documentation or drawings is always worth asking. I emailed a request for a picture or something he could draw to give me a starting point. Surprising to me, he had a picture of exactly what he needed.

Receiving a quality photo of what the customer needs is rare, with me usually coming up with something on the fly or deciphering a crude drawing on a scrap sheet of paper.  This is a rare and extremely beneficial occasion. 

The customer requested I do my best to keep it as waterproof as possible because the box would reside outside most of the time. My goal was to keep the simplicity of the box he had sent me thereby keeping the cost down.  Needless to say this was not the most difficult of fabrications, but that doesn't mean I don't keep all customer requests in mind and do my best with each order.

I got to work and basically made the same box with a few minor adjustments to the original design with the biggest one being to the sliding cover. The extended handle was unnecessary, so I simply rolled a hem flange up with a 1/2" extension down to help keep any water from running down inside the box.  You can see this depicted in one of the photos below.

The finished box is not completely waterproof mind you, but any chance to keep water out is a good thing and something I kept in mind. Hence the cross break on the cover, helping runoff of any water, keeping it from pooling on the top. There is also a 1/4" extension at the opposite end of the cover to help with water drainage.

My goal with any customer is to make sure they get what they're paying for no matter how simple the request may be. It's always fun to fabricate the more intricate items, but the simple pieces are the ones people remember because they usually solve a simple problem. Every customer is important.

Plus, they're the first ones to promote you when things come up in conversation.