Hi everyone!

I've somehow accumulated around 50 empty tuna cans, and before I send them all to recycling, I'd really like to see if I can give them a second life.

They originally contained about 70g of tuna, and although I don't have the exact dimensions, they're a pretty standard small, shallow metal can.

They're all virtually identical in size.

A few things that might make them useful:

- They're metal

- They're fairly wide and shallow

- The inside edge/rim is rolled and rounded rather than sharp

- I have around 50 of them, so there's plenty to experiment with.

I'm happy to drill, punch, paint, glue, sand, etc.

I'm interested in something useful or genuinely cool, rather than simply making decorative objects for the sake of it

I'm considering things like:

- small planters

- tealight candle holders

- magnetic trays for screws and small parts

- desk/craft organizers

- tiny storage containers

- wall-mounted organizers

- something for camping or outdoor use

- some kind of modular storage system

or perhaps something completely different that I haven't thought of.

I'm also quite open to making sets of something since I have so many identical cans.

If I come up with something particularly nice, I might even make a batch to give away to friends.

So what would you do with them?

If you've seen a clever project using small food cans, I'd love to hear about it.

And if there's a particularly good way of modifying these cans that I'm overlooking, I'm all ears!

Thanks! 😊

I work in company that makes custom machines that measure gear tolerances and we had these parts made in new company.

We were discussing with guys from our workshop what is the material they used, we think that it is was made from powdered-metallurgy steel but we are not 100% sure

These parts are normally made from weak steel then they are case hardened and after that precision ground to tolerance within 0,003mm and finally chemically or pil/heat blued.

This pattern appeared after bluing (not sure if chemical one or oil based one)

Thx for the answers.

This happened as a result of punching a rock. First time hitting something hard with a reasonable amount of force so im assuming its quite weak. It is painted so the bronze colour shouldnt be taken into consideration. Im not 100% sure if this is the right subreddit to be posting this to so please dont mind if it isnt :/ also im not sure why the least amount of characters you can have in a post is so high so im writing this to extend it.

I had eye protection on, but must’ve had a small metal fragment leftover on my glasses. I was using a cutoff wheel to cut metal yesterday afternoon. I rubbed my eye this morning and got the metal fragment lodged in my eye. I went to urgent care a few hours ago and they couldn’t remove it, so I have an appointment in the morning with an optometrist.

Any recommendations for BETTER eye protection for someone who wears regular glasses all the time? I don’t want prescription goggles, I’d prefer something that goes over my glasses. I also plan on getting a shield so I’ll take any recommendations for those.

previously someone ran over this aluminum planner bed with a truck and destroyed both the wheel and the tire. big shout out to all my real hard hitting fellas that took the time to help me out. you can check that out in my original post linked here: https://www.reddit.com/r/metalworking/s/7IVjCh39zR

so I equipped with some MMA glue, to Bessie 2400 series clamps with 5 and 8 in throats respectively, some scrap oak handrail, two map gas torches and some nylon face dead blows it's still very not great.

this doesnt have to be perfect or permanent and we are going for perhaps the most permanent solution: temporary & good enough

issues I face now:

the plate is buckling along the seam a bit. this is worrisome as I don't want it to tear. someone (not me anything that was done wrong and bad was not my idea for the record) went a little too ham on it with heating and beating

there is a 20mm gap between the support post and the plate. both posts were welded to their respective sheet before and I'm going to be using loctite ah8003 instead. to do that I'm going to use the big ol' Bessey clamps and inhale fumes from the adhesive.

the post moves and I don't know how it's fixed to the ground.

plan: hammer down the loose post as best I can and use the adhesive to connect it to the plate. then try to bolt the two sheets together for alignment. apply a bondo with metal filler, sand out the dings and plate overheating. then rattle can Montana aluminum primer+matte black paint (open to any suggestions because I know this is wrong) and caulk the joint hoping it doesn't look too stupid.

please help me get this over with

Not quite an egg carton. These are machined parts, and somehow they get the same treatment. Each one has its own little spot so they don’t knock into each other during handling. With the threads and machined surfaces, it just makes sense to keep them separated. After spending all that time getting the parts machined and finished, it would be a shame to have them picking up marks or damaging each other before they even get to the customer.

My community is trying to source some new metal home numbers and we came upon a group called Monterial Sign which offers custom metal signs.

Unfortuatenly, it seems too good to be true. Website has the location in Pennsylvania but the phone number listed rings busy all the time and contact, once established via email, admitted they were Ukraine-based. Site claims 5k reviews but I can't find a single one. Wanted to communicate initially only via whatsapp.

Has anyone used this company at all?

Hi,
I get confused between brass and copper, so I’m not sure what this is but it’s an antique light fitting. I would like to clean up the corroded parts. I do not necessarily want to make it shiny and new looking, I quite like it looking old, just don’t like the obviously corroded bits. What’s the best way to go about it?
this extra sentence is because Reddit is telling me that this post must have 400 characters, because we all know that quantity equals quality.

How do structural engineers handle it when delivered steel material does not match the specified grade?

Have you ever run into situations where supplied structural steel fails material test reports, or the actual grade doesn't match what was written in the project specification?

I'm curious what the typical options are on site when this happens. Is re-testing the common first step, or does the whole batch usually get rejected right away? How do engineers balance project schedule pressure against making sure the material is actually safe to use?

Also wondering if anyone has seen cases where a lower grade was accepted with design adjustments, or if that's basically never allowed. Would love to hear real job site experiences on this.

I have a fairly capable metal shop and I do some basic woodworking, (no CNC plasma and I dont really work with pipe but most other things I do) and im an above average welder/fabricator, but nothing spectacular, by any means.

I enjoy building things and then sticking them on marketplace and selling them. I have a big shipping container that I stick my stuff in until it sells, so storage isnt a problem.

I build a lot of workbenches, welding carts/tables, as well as freestanding porch style swings, small trailers, things like that. I make a prototype and if it sells fairly quickly, I will batch build a few and sell them over time.

I was just curious if you guys had any ideas of popular items that I could build and put on marketplace? My area seems pretty saturated with smokers/grills and those little rocket stove things and firepits. I live in a fairly large suburban area with the "country" being about an hour drive away.

Any suggestions are welcome

I tried electro etching a knife for the first time, and after the process I noticed that inside of the etch it seems to have developed rust. The knife is made from 1084 high-carbon steel, so I know it can rust quite easily. From what I can see, it only appears to be light surface rust and there doesn’t seem to be any deep pitting. Is there a safe and effective way to remove this surface rust without damaging the steel or ruining the electro-etched design?

Hi guys just wanted some honest feedback, picture 1 is my frame layout. the holes in the middle of the 50mm x 4mm shs is for 3/4 high tensil fine thread bolts, so I can do micro adjustments the get my table top 16mm x 650mm x 1500mm plate as flat as I possibly can, 2nd picture is a rough drawing with a birds eye view and side view of frame and finale picture is my fist bench . I rushed it's not flat at all. Just wondering if even after all my efforts it's still going to warp the tabs are 50mm x 8mm angle to bolt the top plate to the frame I'm thinking I may end up needing more middle supports any feed back both positive and negative is greatly appreciated

I cannot straighten by hand, it does not badge. The connector is plastic that is where the rod is waged, few inches above the bend occurred, so because of that heating it is out of the question as it will melt the plastic. I am thinking maybe get bench vise and try my luck using locking pliers (Vise-Grips). Since you guys work with metals, would you maybe recommend a better approach, or maybe this is something that can be done in a shop. The tree is like $500 so I don't want to lose it. Thank you for your help.

man i feel this. got a tiny vise, a drill press that's seen better days, an angle grinder, and some hand tools. that's literally it. every project ends with me rigging something up cause i don't have the right tool to measure, deburr, or hold stuff down. it's exhausting. i don't wanna buy cheap junk that'll collect dust. i'd rather grab a few things that actually work.

for me the big ones were a decent deburring tool, a digital caliper that holds zero, a tap handle that doesn't slip, a magnetic base with a dial indicator, v-blocks for round stock, better grinding wheels, and toggle clamps instead of c-clamps. didn't buy everything at once. just added stuff as projects needed them. each one made the next project smoother. what have you guys added that you actually use?

I just started at a small shop after school. The shop has most of the big equipment, but I need to build my own day to day kit without spending a month of pay on tools I will not touch. I’m mainly looking for stuff I’ll actually use every day like basic hand tools, measuring tools, lights, gloves and anything that makes the work easier. I’d rather buy a few good essentials first and add things as I figure out what I actually need. What would experienced people put at the top of the list?