Tube Bending Calculator | Cut Length & Springback
To the eye of a fabricator, tube bending appears to be magic: the person takes a piece of tubing and bends it to match whatever … Read more
Thomas Martinez
Steel Grading Chart
Pick up a piece of high-carbon tool steel. Pick up a piece of mild steel. They both looks alike to your eyes. Both are grey, … Read more
Weight of Steel Rod Calculator | Rod & Bar Weight
A steel rod weigh something; put it in your hands and you feel it. But if you’re designing a bill of materials for machine shop … Read more
Picket Spacing Calculator for Fence Layouts
The left side starts out great; then by post three the spacing get wider, and the pickets begin to wander from their perfect line. Why? … Read more
Metal Softness Chart
Don’t worry if your major was in something other than materials science, all you need to know here is that hardness isn’t one number. Hardness … Read more
Monolithic Concrete Slab Calculator | Footings
Concreting is always something you forget about until it’s too late. And when it is, you don’t know how much to get, and you don’t … Read more
Metal Grades Chart
Find the right metal for task at hand by comparing material characteristics: cost, workability, hardness and tensile strength. A visual guide divides 24 common types … Read more
Drywall Ceiling Calculator | Sheets, Screws and Tape
The way most home owners estimate their ceiling drywall projects mirrors how they estimate their flooring projects. They multiply length times width and then divide … Read more
Welding Rod Chart
You reach for a box of electrodes, put on your welding helmet, and then hold one of the steel pipes you’re going to weld up … Read more
Welding Gas Tank Sizes Chart
Imagine going to a welding supply store. They has several different sized steel cylinder lined up in rows. Some are very expensive. Others weigh hundreds … Read more
Cellulose Blown-In Insulation Calculator
So now you look at your attic full of yellow fiberglass. It’s sagged down low. It insulates, sure, but gravity and time has made it … Read more
Tile Trowel Size Chart
Here you are, armed with a sheet of tile and a bucket of tile adhesive; the smell is unmistakable; it’s work and dust. You smear … Read more
Grout Line Size Chart
When DIYers install tile they imagine it’s all about making the tile flat and level. You spend days fussing with the mortar bed and lippage; … Read more
Vinyl Siding Estimate Calculator
Measuring your house for vinyl siding is tricky because there are many small holes and shapes, like triangles and rectangles, that reduce total square footage. … Read more