Online Metals Blog

My husband’s newest accessory!

He doesn’t know about it yet, but as soon as my husband sees the Mobile Office Extension or “MOE,” he’ll have to have one.

The MOE is a temporary vehicle mount for laptop computers, built by our friends at Rissler Research and Development.

Built using OnlineMetals plastics and aluminum, the MOE system of products allows you to secure electronic devices into your car, without having to drill through your center console or dashboard.

It’s functional, looks cool enough to make your friends jealous, and won’t land you in the dog house if you install it in your wife’s car. (No, that is NOT a hint for MY husband!)

Although I must say that the MOE is a great new invention…and an OnlineMetals customer project that we’re proud of.

OK, so the map is pretty obvious, so it’s not really a Where’s Waldo…but it will show you where to find us.

Can’t wait to see you at MakerFaire 2008!!!

Our friend and long time customer, Cecil wrote in to share pictures of his machine gun projects. Here’s his e-mail:
“I build 1/2 scale fully functional 22 cal SEMI-AUTO models of the 1917 water cooled, 1919 air cooled, and M2 Browning machine guns. All guns are build utulizing the Ruger 10/22 as a donor gun for barrel and receiver, both of which are highly modified. All other components are scratch built. All guns are build utilizing CCS Prints (http://www.ccsprints.com/) plans. The 10/22 parts allow us to maintain the semi-suto function and the rotary magazine feed system. All components (folding tri-pod, T&E, sights, etc.) function as on the full scale versions.

I also build the 1/2 scale ammo cans in both .30 and .50 cal. size, transit case, and steam chest for the 1917.

Most metals are now purchased from OLM.”

Really. I’m curious. Does your website generate revenue?

It sounds a bit salesy, and I’m sure Chris will tease me for being a “marketroid,” but Affiliate programs generate revenue…and OnlineMetals has an affiliate program that you should be a part of.

If you’re reading this blog, you probably already know about us, right? We hope that you really really like us too.

We figure…if you’re going to tell your friends about us anyway, why not make money doing it!

All we’re looking for is a link at your page. No money to join, no free slicer and dicer included if you act now. Just a chance to earn 5% on EVERY order placed through your link(s).

Oh, did I forget to mention that you can have more than one link? Yep. Links can go anywhere.
A mention on your blog can earn money.

Links to specific products you use, or your customers use.

Hyperlinks in an e-mail.
Newsletters!
Wherever!

We’ll sincerely appreciate the endorcement from our friends and customers. You’ll sincerely appreciate the commission checks.

It’s a win win!

So don’t be afraid to sign up NOW. We’re golden rule people…and won’t do anything with your information that we wouldn’t want done with ours! We just need the address that we’re sending checks to, and the e-mail to send thank you’s to!

I’m Amber, the Marketing Director, and I’d be the one writing the thank you’s…so you know that they’re not going to be super formal.

Oh…if you just want a link…w/o $$$…here they are.

Dang it! I was supposed to write about our amazing selection of copper foil, and the fact that it could be used in a number of applications.

But our friends at Make Magazine beat me to it!!! I guess you can’t complain when you remember that this is a seriously cool magazine, with its own website and a staggeringly high readership…
but…
well…
…nope. I’ve got nothin’. Make Magazine RULES…and they made my job easier this time. Thanks Make!

They featured a Stand Still in issue 13. I’m not sure what it does, but it’s a “smart structure,” and it uses our copper foil.

As for my project…
There’s a pile of copper foil saved in the warehouse.

Maybe I’ll make…

…or I could just redecorate my office.

I may need a bit more copper though.

When John first opened OnlineMetals, he knew how important it would be to partner with great companies in the metals industry.

One of the first relationships he made was with LittleMachineShop.com, the premier source of tooling, parts, and accessories for bench top machinists.

They carry a huge variety of products, and we send people their way whenever we can. When Little Machine Shop customers ask about raw metals and plastics, guess who they’re referred to!

It’s great partnerships like these, that allow us to be a RESOURCE to our customers as well as a metals supplier.

Whether you’re new to metal working, or an old pro, consider Little Machine Shop next time you’re in the market for parts, accessories, CNC tools and more!

OnlineMetals friend and Affiliate machinist-info.com is a source for CNC and manual machining technology and mechanical engineering information on the web. They feature a great group of metals related blogs, and from time to time post featured articles from individual machinists and engineers. They feature books, computer programs, web sites, new technology and more.

The webmaster is great. He’s constantly updating the site to bring the latest information to CNC machinists. He’s a dedicated metals man, with an OLM sense of humor. Anyone who has a PyPl donations button on his homepage with “Buy me a coffee.” above it, is our kind of guy!

In 2 weeks, we’ll be at the Austin Texas MakerFaire. If you’re there too, please stop by. It’ll be a lot of fun. Lots of fun, hand outs, and HUGS FROM CHRIS!!! (We haven’t told him yet…)

Anyway, Make Magazine is such a great quarterly magazine! We subscribe, and we want all of our customers to have the chance to subscribe.

The thing is…as the Marketing Director…I want to do more than just offer it at retail price. I think our customers deserve more! Luckily John, Chris, and the folks over at Make Magazine agree.

So buy raw metals, plastics, and/or composites from us, and get a HUGE discount on your subscription! I’d give exact numbers, but blogs come up in a google search, and we want the price to stay exclusive to OLM customers.

It’s worth it though…so check it out! Just place your order, and add a subscription in Step 3 of 5 in your checkout. On the basket page! If you forget, or want to add it to an existing order, just call us.

Found on the Makezine Blog. Blatently stolen for use on our blog. (The writer, Bre Pettis, gets all the credit for writing it though. Thanks Bre!)

I am a beginning robot enthusiast. I got hooked looking at the article in Make: 07 about the scribbler. Robotics is a bigger project than a weekend. If you are looking for something simple, you could mess about with a kit or reverse engineer this.

I got lucky and found the chassis and motors for my drawbot on ebay. Another starting point would be to start with some printer motors and build up from there.

You could make a drum plotter. I like the way that this plotter’s y axis is on the tube.

or make up your own like this fischertechnik model. I bet you could make something very similar out of lego.

There are a lot of issues involved in building a robot, if I didn’t have friends who have healthy robot building obsessions, I would have sent Egor to go extract the brains from Dorkbot and my local Seattle Robotics Society.

You’ve got to have tools to work on robots. You’ve also got to have materials on hand. You can scavenge most everything if you’re willing to be a packrat and have the time to take things apart. I got a bunch of aluminum stock so that I would have a lot of material on hand to build things. A lot of industry is still rooted in the paper catalog, but I like to either scavenge my materials, go to the store, or order them online and have them delivered.

Recently I stopped by OnlineMetals here in Seattle to check out their warehouse and pick up an order. They are rad.

Update: I’m a fiend for ordering online. Here’s the list of the stuff I recently got to stock up the workshop for reference and transparency. 

Plastic dip for the legs so they don’t slip. A box for the little bits and replacement timing belts.

I got a center punch which is infinitely helpful for making a divit in metal before drilling.

I stocked up on some steel and aluminium: Mild Steel A36 Perforated Sheet Round Hole, Stainless T-304 Perforated Sheet Round Hole, Aluminum 6061-T6 Extruded Angle Structural, (in lots of sizes- big, medium, small), Aluminum 6061-T6 Bare Sheet 0.125″

Lathe goodness: Aluminum (6061-T6) Round Bar Pack . And finally, some small pulleys to replace the drawbot pullies that keep cracking.

What are your favorite robot making tools? What materials do you have on hand? People who knit tend to hoard yarn. Do you hoard aluminum and fasteners? Even if you don’t build robots, if you’ve got a stash of material, take a picture of it and upload it to the make flickr pool. If you’re an experienced robot maker, what advice do you have for someone who is getting obsessed with robotics?

This pdf is a copy of all the messy notes that we made, plus you can see the stars that we’ve gotten the drawbot to draw so far. We’re on the brink of being able to draw something like this.

Blacksmiths have been coming to OnlineMetals for raw materials for years. We recently learned that even more blacksmiths are finding us on anvilfire.com, an OnlineMetals affiliate and source for great information for metal workers all over the world.

The metal working gurus at anvilfire are always willing to help. They’ve got a wealth of knowledge, get to work immediately whenever given a task.

I recently asked if they could update the OnlineMetals banner on their website. An hour later they had our largest banner on their homepage which included a US and Canadian flag in honor of our new Canadian Shipping Program.

Now that’s care and attention to detail that OnlineMetals appreciates. We think our customers will too!

Check them out!