Everyone’s talking about alternative energy, and the many opportunities for metal fabricators in that growing industry.  This article profiles SMF Inc. (Specialty Metal Fabricators in Minonk, Illinois)--  they were able to add wind components to its lineup fairly easily…   for others its been more difficult.

Local parts makers see potential in wind industry

MINONK — At the new 68-turbine Top Crop I wind farm in LaSalle County, a steel ring about 15 feet in diameter connects each turbine’s giant tower to its concrete foundation. Those rings came from a machine shop just down the road.

That shop, Specialty Metal Fabricators in Minonk, with 170 employees, first entered the wind business five years ago, when it made an emergency ring that saved a foundation at another Central Illinois wind farm under construction.

SMF made contacts in the industry, and today wind is about 5 percent of its business and growing, said Paul Halvorsen, co-owner and chief financial officer. SMF’s rings are used across the U.S. and Canada, and it opened a small facility in Texas to handle orders in the south.
In an industry often at the mercy of big players like Caterpillar — a major SMF customer that was hard-hit by the recession — wind is a welcome addition.

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How has YOUR company diversified to make it through this challenging economy?

I don’t know about you, but I sure get frustrated sometimes trying to get things done. You know how it goes: you call Company B, you get the run around, you get put on hold, no one can answer your question, your email goes unnoticed…. and you think to yourself, “the economy can’t be THAT bad, since Company B doesn’t seem to want my business!” They make it hard to buy from them.

I came across this great profile of a small business in Wisconsin (fact: Wisconsin is the home of Weldcraft).  One of the things that caught my attention, is that the company tasks every employee with Customer Service.  That’s how we roll at Arc-Zone.com! I also like their approach, that everyone learns from the shop floor on up. Check out the article from The Fabricator magazine:

The Wisconsin Family Robinson

Robinson Metal’s approach to fabricating has it growing when others weren’t

By Dan Davis
May 28, 2010

Anyone that works for Robinson Metal Inc. learns the business from the ground up. That approached has served it well as the De Pere, Wis., company has grown to become one of the largest fabricating jobs shops in the U.S.

CONTINUE READING ONLINE–>

And speaking of customer service, did you know that Arc-Zone.com offers LIVE CHAT on its website? It’s pretty trick, and we’ve got the lines covered from 6 am to 5 pm California Time. And if you’re not a great typist, don’t worry, we’re still available by phone at 800-944-2243 (USA) and 760-931-1500 (Worldwide). Or you can email sales@arc-zone.com.

Crazy Germans and their sausage.  And I fully mean that as a compliment, because we here at Arc-Zone.com were all amazed and highly entertained by what happened next.

German welders + sausage + welding machine = Electric grill for men???

Adventurous Germans Grill Sausages with an Industrial Welder

“Eventually, the tube was so hot that the arc had to be shut down because the fat was on the verge of spontaneous combustion.”

By Vin Marshall  Posted 03.22.2010

Barbecue grills don’t typically require eye protection, but then, they’re typically not made from a giant TIG welder and an industrial sausage positioner either.

That’s something these Germans set out to change with the “Electric Grill For Men.”

What would you do if you needed to endurance-test a large industrial welding power supply?

You’d probably rig up something like the apparatus pictured here, in which a TIG welding torch draws a continuous arc along a slowly rotating piece of aluminum tubing mounted in a work positioner normally used for pipe welding.

As the long weld bead is laid down, the power supply is tested to verify that it can maintain its rated output and duty cycle without melting down. In the process, a great deal of heat is generated.

What would you do if you hated to see all of that heat going to waste? And furthermore, if you loved sausage?

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Lance Hindmarsh used the lack of business around during the recession as inspiration to form a business of his own: Hindmarsh Engineering Services, and he hasn’t looked back since!

Hindmarsh Engineering Services: Metal skills sparks business

Thursday, 25 February 2010

Lance Hindmarsh knows his way around a piece of metal.

For the Dayboro resident, being handy with his hands has led to him running his own business, Hindmarsh Engineering Services.

“I’ve been a fitter and turner for 20 or 30-odd years,” Lance said.

“I was contracted to Top Taste Bakeries, they used to ring me for equipment maintenance and repairs.

“But when the recession really started to hit I lost the contract, and a lot of companies were the same, so basically I was at home and decided I would keep it (my services) going … and keep it local.

“Even as a kid I repaired go-karts and motorbikes and, living on a farm, basically you did it all yourself. So I guess I just had a knack for it (metal work and machinery repairs) from when I was little and I was always going to go that way.”

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Scrap metal doesn’t ever go to waste at Wagner Companies — instead, the employees are using their free time to transform these bits and pieces into beautiful works of art.

Metal manufacturing workers use talents to transform scraps into art

By Rick Barrett of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Feb. 8, 2010

When a piece of scrap metal falls to the factory floor at Wagner Companies, employee James Woggon may be close behind, snapping it up as material for his artwork.

So when thousands of small metal rings were going to be scrapped, Woggon used them – and a chair from the company cafeteria – to create a funky piece of patio furniture.

It was strictly for fun. Yet the talents of Woggon and fellow employee Jason Scott have not been lost on their employer, which manufactures things such as hand railings and snowplow parts. The two were hired as metal fabricators, an unglamorous job that often involves making thousands of parts in a repetitive fashion. But when work slows down, Woggon and Scott use their artistic talents in the factory.

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Terex Simplicity’s recent profitable months have turned out to mean good news as well for the welding students at neighboring schools.

Donation of equipment welds together knowledge for students

By SEAN ELY, Argus-Press Staff Writer
Monday, February 1, 2010 10:17 AM EST

Terex Simplicity’s recent sales increases prompted the company to purchase new welding equipment to further improve their business.

That couldn’t have been better news for both Byron and Ovid-Elsie high schools.

“We had a number of pieces of welding equipment on reserve as backups, so we decided to find a home for them,” said Keith Shivnen, Terex general manager. “We reached out to the local schools to boost and supplement their classes.”

The high schools’ industrial arts and welding programs received the massive MIG and stick Lincoln welding machines, valued at about $500 apiece with Terex maintenance supervisor Neil Marshall coordinating pick up and delivery. Ovid-Elsie received eight machines while Byron requested two.

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It was a fun night for me at the monthly American Welding Society — San Diego Section meeting. This night’s topic? Induction heating with a system unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.

Gone are the days of waiting hours and hours for your length of pipe to warm up to the right temperature –

Miller has just released the new ProHeat 35 Induction Heating System, which works by inducing heat electromagnetically, rather than via a conductor, thus saving the operator incredible amounts of time and energy.

Simply wrap the induction coils around whatever piece of metal you’re working on, and in just a few minutes, you’re ready to go!

This picture was taken looking inside the length of pipe that was being heated up by the ProHeat 35 — you can’t see it here, but that tube was glowing red hot on the inside!

And even better, when I tried touching the coils wrapped around it?
Cold as ice! This product is simply amazing!

But perhaps the best part about this whole new system is that you don’t even have to buy it! Red-D-Arc will rent out one of their machines to you for as long as you need!

It seems that after months and months for waiting for an upswing in the economy, metal fabricators, at least, are looking to get their first big break this new year!

Metal fabricators growing optimistic
By Rick Barrett of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Jan. 19, 2010

Metal fabrication companies are increasingly optimistic about an uptick in orders this year, according to a new survey from a national trade group with Wisconsin membership.

The same survey, from the Precision Metalforming Association, also indicates that workers are being recalled from layoff. The number of companies with workers on reduced schedules or layoff dipped to 52% in January, the lowest level since November 2008.

Metal-forming companies are a key part of Wisconsin’s manufacturing base, often shaping, bending and making parts for large equipment manufacturers such as Bucyrus International, of South Milwaukee, and Oshkosh Corp.

Metal-forming has been hammered by the recession. Yet companies report that business conditions are improving, said Bill Gaskin, president of the Cleveland-based Precision Metalforming Association.

“January’s numbers for orders, with 52% of survey respondents expecting increases, is the most positive report in years. Most metal-forming companies have reduced their costs dramatically and are beginning to return to profitability,” Gaskin said.

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I got this forwarded to me in an email and immediately knew that we had to post this here on Joe Welder!

Ron Patrick’s Street-Legal Jet Powered Volkswagen Beetle

This is my street-legal jet car on full afterburner.

The car has two engines: the production gasoline engine in the front driving the front wheels and the jet engine in the back.

The idea is that you drive around legally on the gasoline engine and when you want to have some fun, you spin up the jet and get on the burner (you can start the jet while driving along on the gasoline engine).

The car was built because I wanted the wildest street-legal ride possible.

With this project, I was able to use some stuff I learned while getting my fancy engineering degree (I have a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University) to design a street-legal jet car without the distraction of how other people have done it in the past – because no one has.

I don’t know how fast the car will go and probably never will. The car was built to thrill me, not kill me. That doesn’t stop me from the occasional blast on the highway though.

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What would it take for you to cut off all your hair?  A million bucks?  A week’s paid vacation?

How about some welding supplies?

Hair trade: Student donates ponytail in return for contibutions of steel to welding program

BY TRIBUNE STAFF • NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Scott Stekly lost his ponytail Wednesday.

Stekly got a buzz cut from a classmate in the Construction Trades Building, courtesy of Joe Filipowicz, Salvage Manager of Steel Etc.

Scott Stekly, a welding student at MSU-Great Falls, gets a buzz cut by classmate Rachel Kaiser Wednesday in the welding shop. (TRIBUNE PHOTO/ RION SANDERS)

Filipowicz’ company agreed to contribute metal to the welding program as an added incentive for the hair loss.

Prior to entering the welding program to pursue a second career, Stekly had been a longtime local cosmetologist, where he met Joe Filipowicz and his father Jimmy, owner of Steel Etc.

When Stekly entered the fall semester, he made a challenge to the Filipowiczes. He would allow them to cut his hair in return for donations of steel materials to the MSU-Great Falls Welding Program. Steel Etc. accepted, and the hair cut was scheduled.

The donated steel will consist of pipe and plate that can be used for the college’s welding students to practice various welds and cuts. After being used by the program, the scrap materials will be returned to Steel Etc., which will recycle the metals, sending them to a steel mill for melting and reprocessing.