Online Metals Blog

(By Amber Barbee, Marketing Director)

As you know, you can’t put spaces into a web address. If you’ve got a 2 or 3 word business name that you’d like to include, you’ve got to either smash the words together, or add hyphens.

OnlineMetals.com addressed this problem, by turning it around. We set up our domain name, and made it our official business name too. (What better way to drive traffic to the site!)
It’s one word, with 2 capital letters, and no hyphens. I like it.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t follow the general rules of our written language, so spell checkers vendors and customers have come up with some pretty amusing variations though out the years.
Here are just a few:

2 words: Online Metals The most common.

Added inventory: Online Materials Good call. We do carry more than just metal!

Hyphenated: On-Line Metals A stylized version of the word online. When I read this I think of a bunch of metal bars, stacked on top of a painted line.

SUPER abbreviated : On-Line This one’s my least favorite. Misspelled AND missing the last half. Drives me batty!

All spelled out: Online Metals Dot Com (Oldie but goodie.)
…and so on.

But today, I think I read my favorite one. I wouldn’t consider it a spelling error. More of an insight into the state of our employees!

Onlinemental.com

If you have any amusing misspellings of our company name, or yours…share em.
(Keep it clean, kids.)

OLM** just added roughly 40 sizes of C182 Chromium Copper, a/k/a RWMA* Class 2, in Hex, Rectangle, Round, and Square.

C182 is a highly specialized material, used primarily for producing electrodes for resistance welding.

* For those who care about such things, RMWA stands for Resistance Welding Manufacturing Alliance.
**…and for those who don’t know this already, OLM stands for “ONLY LOCATION to buy industrial MATERIALS!”

Spread the word.

Team Phoenicia made it into the news recently!

They’re OnlineMetals friends, customers, and the team OLM is rooting for to win the Google Lunar X Prize!

They brought their Lunar Lander to Maker Faire this year, and caused quite a buzz…

Here’s the article:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mike-cassidy/ci_15177378?nclick_check=1

Scott from Oregon created this custom spice rack, using OnlineMetals Aluminum Tube.

The wooden panels are attached to his pantry door. The aluminum tubes hold the containers in place.

Awesome idea, Scott. We can’t think of a better way to keep spices organized and accessible.

Jeff writes:

“A couple weeks ago when I came in to pick up my aluminum parts, you asked that I send you some pictures of the finished project. Well here it is: A small stereo amplifier. This was my first foray into fabricating my own chassis, so thanks again for being in the local Seattle area and making the cuts I ordered.”

Stats:
Solid state amplifier based on a pair of LM3886 chips
About 40W continuous per channel at 8 ohm load.
300VA toroidal transformer
The 3” X 1.5” copper plate I ordered became a heat sink to keep the chips cool
Solid wiring used throughout to handle high current. Handles 4 – 8 ohm speaker loads.
Cherry-stained side panels

Front panel
Nice and simple. As this is destined to be connected to a pre-amp, I didn’t put on a volume control.

Rear panel
Room enough for more inputs if I choose.

Thanks Jeff. This is a great amp!

This amazing piece of art was created by Seattle artist Molly Epstein, using OnlineMetals materials.

It will be on display, along with a number of other pieces that Molly’s created at the 4culture Art Gallery in Seattle.
http://www.4culture.org/publicart/gallery/index.htm

Heartbeat Device 1
Description: When one places their fingertip on the stainless steel button their heartbeat is detected. A mechanism below the silicone surface provides tactile feedback of their heartbeat which is felt in the palm.

Materials: Stainless Steel, Silicone, Heartbeat Sensor
Dimensions: 13 H X 9 W X 6. D”

Cut Away! Metal Repair Spray

We thought it was about time that we put together an official OnlineMetals “Dress Code.” Although we’re a .com, and we do what we want, there are times when outsiders come to visit and we don’t know what the heck to do.

Until today!

Current state of the OnlineMetals Wardrobe: DRESSCON - 5!

Star Sailor Energy builds energy generation units of just about every shape and size.

From small back yard lighting units:

To large scale rural electrification towers:

(And yes, they use OnlineMetals Materials!)

The Star Sailor Energy website is pretty informative, and we invite you to check it out.
http://www.starsailorenergy.com/