Collaborate Disseminate
Electronic waste can be difficult to repurpose, as it often consists of two or more mixed materials. Now, however, Australian scientists have developed a method of converting so-called e-waste into a protective coating for steel.Continue ReadingCategor… Continue reading Ground-up e-waste could be used to make steel stronger
Recreating Damascus steel remains a holy grail of materials science. The exact process and alloys used are long ago lost to time. At best, modern steelworking methods are able to produce a rough visual simulacra of sorts that many still consider to be pretty cool looking. Taking a more serious …read more
It’s a frustrating fact that whenever you try to improve materials like steel, you end up introducing new weaknesses at the same time. It’s a balancing act between different properties. Now, engineers have developed a new type of “super steel” that def… Continue reading “Super steel” breakthrough makes for stronger and tougher alloy
Steel slag is currently utilized both to treat wastewater, and as a concrete aggregate. New research now indicates that using it for the former makes it perform even better as the latter – so the same slag could be used twice, first for one purpose and… Continue reading Using steel slag to treat sewage makes it better for use in concrete
Betteridge’s Law of Headlines holds that any headline ending in a question mark can be answered with a resounding “No”. But as the video below shows, a Lego machine that twists steel asunder is not only possible, it’s an object lesson in metal fatigue. Touché, [Betteridge].
In pitting plastic against …read more
Mention the term “heavy industry” and the first thing to come to mind might well be the metal foundry. With immense machines and cauldrons of molten metal being shuttled about by crane and rail, the image of the foundry is like a scene from Dante’s Inferno, with fumes filling …read more
Angle grinders are among the most useful tools for anyone who’s ever had to cut metal. They’re ergonomic, compact, and get the job done. Unfortunately, one of the tradeoffs you usually make when using them is precision.
But thankfully, there’s a DIY solution. YouTuber [workshop from scratch] demonstrated the build …read more
Continue reading Solve Your Precision Woes With a Sliding Angle Grinder
Four times the holes, four times the trouble. With the fate of repetitive motion injury looming due to the need to drill 1,200 holes, [bitluni] took matters into his own hands and built this nifty DIY hole punch for light-gauge sheet metal.
A little backstory will probably help understand why …read more
Continue reading Punch Those Hole-Drilling Blues Away with a Homebrew Punching Tool
In our search for big-box convenience, we tend to forget that locksmiths once not only copied keys but also created complex locks and other intricate mechanisms from scratch. [my mechanics] hasn’t forgotten, and building a lock is his way of celebrating of the locksmith’s skill. Building a combination lock from …read more
Continue reading Turning A Single Bolt Into A Combination Lock
You know the funny looking side of the anvil? That’s where the best curves come from. It’s called the anvil horn and is the blacksmith’s friend when bending steel and shaping it into curves.
The principle of bending a piece of steel stock is very easy to understand. Heat it …read more
Continue reading Blacksmithing For The Uninitiated: Curves And Rings