A ThyssenKrupp Materials, NA Company

Online Metals Blog

Point. Click. Metal.

Archive for April, 2009

TechShop Portland’s Grand Opening…

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

Denney and Jim from TechShop invited the OLM team to Portland, Oregon this weekend for Techshop Portland’s Grand Opening!

What an outstanding facility!

Just about every machine and tool you could imagine wanting to use…but may not be able to afford.

Well, you can afford a Techshop membership! And why not take advantage of that fact. It’s like a gym…only with some of the coolest tools and equipment on the market. AND a community of people who know how to use it.

During the Grand Opening Celebration, we were able to set up a little booth, and chat with a number of new TechShop members.

All of them seemed pretty excited about the fact that they could order materials at OnlineMetals.com, and have them delivered to TechShop Portland the next day!

303 Flat Bar…

Monday, April 13th, 2009

Sorry for the blatantly obvious product plug…it’s just that this is one of our newest items, and it’s becoming a SERIOUS hit amongst OLMers!

There’s COLD DRAWN 303

and HOT ROLLED 303

…and, as usual, we’ll cut it to length, and ship it right to your door.

We can help, no matter what.

Monday, April 6th, 2009

You know those old candy bar commercials: Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t?

Well…I  think of those commercials from time to time, when I’m helping customers order metal. Sometimes they want a lot, some times they don’t.

With the candy, it didn’t mater which you were craving. You just got one from that brand, and you knew the chocolate would be good.

The same thing applies to ThyssenKrupp. (That’s the OnlineMetals parent company.) No matter what the material or quantity…we’ve got you covered.

Sometimes you feel like a lot

Sometimes you don’t

Either way…you’ll get exactly what you need, from a company you can trust.
…and hey! As you can tell by this blog…we’re all kind of nuts!

So go back to the homepage to begin ordering small quantities. Custom cuts. Lengths less than full sheet, and less than full bar.
Or you can call our sister company, Copper and Brass Sales for those larger quantity items. Multiple 12 foot lengths. 5,000 lbs of something. You name it, they’ve got it.
Not sure who you should talk to? Give us a call. (800) 704-2157 We’re happy to help, and committed to getting you the best service and price.

Oh man, oh man, oh man!!!

Saturday, April 4th, 2009

How cool is that! Our trebuchet is on it’s way to MakerFaire!

What? You didn’t know we had a trebuchet? Well, we do. Our friends at YouGizmo’s helped build it, and now it’s going to San Mateo to be showcased at MakerFaire 2009.

The marketing director in me is really proud to be a part of the trebuchet project, and MakerFaire in general. The 17 year old prankster, on the other hand, can’t wait to fling things as passers by! Bwahahahahahaha!

Feel the same way? Well why not build your own trebuchet! We’ve got the parts. They’ve got the plans.
…and THERE’S A CONTEST!

Win $300, and our undying admiration and respect, for building the best trebuchet ever!!!

Oh, but if you build one, don’t fling things at people. You don’t want to get arrested…and we don’t want to get sued! While I’m on the subject…flinging people at things isn’t any better. Just thought I’d mention that.

Woo Hoo! We’re going to the MOON!

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

OK, so we’re not physically going there. Yet. But OnlineMetals is so proud to sponsor Team Phoenicia in their quest for the Google Lunar X Prize!

Team Phoenicia is based in Emeryville, CA. They’re a group of extremely talented individuals, chasing their dreams…and using OLM materials to do it. What could be better!

In my talks with Will, one of the team members, I leared that their participation in the upcoming Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge will help them to develop technology that is needed to achieve their ultimate goal: landing packages on the Moon! (Then who knows where they’ll go!)

By building a scalable and semimodular design, Team Phoenicia is tackling the Challenge in a manner that allows the follow-on development of landers with potential commercial application. (OLM Lunar Lander Kits: Available in 2022! Pre-order now!)

OnlineMetals is proud of their X-Prize team, and hopes to one day have a disgustingly HUGE OnlineMetals banner on each planet the lander visits. Aliens need metal too, you know! Ha!

If you want to be a part of this great team, consider a sponsorship of your own. Visit Team Phoenicia’s website today.

Good luck guys!

MetalDhruker’s Official Launch!!!

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009


Are you tired of placing an order with your favorite metal vendor, (OnlineMetals.com) then having to wait for-evah for it to arrive? Tired of those mad dashes to the door in your 12 year old bathrobe, only to spend 5 minutes questioning the delivery man’s muffled laughter over Sharpie messages that your friends left on your forehead the night before?

Well friends, TOIL NO LONGER. OnlineMetals is proud to introduce the MetalDhruker. The only device that allows you to place an order for metal and plastic online and have it delivered instantly.

As this picture shows, Freemasons have had this technology for centuries! It was only after the release of National Treasure 1 and 2 that mainstream society learned of the government plot to keep it hidden.

Upon its release, the OnlineMetals scientists set out to make the technology available to mass market consumers. Our early efforts were met with abject failure, as each prototype would create a different type of ravioli…but that was it. Then for a while, it would produce paper, but who wants that to come out of a printer!?!

Regardless, it made for a very confusing time, and many, many tequila shots were taken in order to help us figure this problem out. Unfortunately, the tequila kind of dulled our brains a little bit, and we let the project lapse. We did however acquire a pretty strong taste for the worm.

Then we found out from Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), that the internet is a series of tubes, and that somehow trucking was involved:

“And again, the Internet is not something that you just dump something on. It’s not a big truck. It’s a series of tubes. And if you don’t understand, those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and it’s going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material.”

At that moment, we realized that we were going about it the wrong way and thinking of the internet as a truck. We’re just metals people, so we understand trucks. We have trucks. They’re miniature trucks, that we keep around the office to play with when we’re not drooling too much, but ANYWAY, the solution just kind of “clicked” into our heads.

(You see what we did there? It “clicked”, and our motto is “Point. Click. Metal.” ) OK fine, it was really impressive to us during the tequila haze.

Anyway, we have the tubes! …and now we’ve found a way to send metal down those tubes, straight to your device. Need your material anodized? No problem. With our special “Anodization Button,” you can print anodized material.

Even better, we’ve now discovered a source for that rarest of materials, UnObtanium. Need an impossible mix of properties? You’re not alone. With the unobtanium pack, you can print mobius curves in just a few short minutes. (Just be careful, we put a piece of corkscrewed bronze right through the test lab’s wall the other day. Wasn’t pretty!)

Directions for use: The MetalDhruker is extremely user friendly. Shop at the OnlineMetals website using our handy dandy built in monitor, or simply fax an order to yourself, scan it into the MetalDhruker, and GO!

Did you order the wrong thing? NO PROBLEM! Use the optional “tree hugger approved” metal recycling attachment, which puts your unwanted materials right back into the system. (A 72% restocking fee will automatically be debited from your checking account.)

Utilizing at least 5 different levels of pseudoscience, the OnlineMetals team has created a seamless internal operation that will produce metallic results every time!
Even though we’re still in Beta (we think that the hand crank may have to go in the next model year), we think it is close enough to completion that we can release it to the world.
So ORDER NOW!

*Please note that since it is our device, we assert licensing rights to anything you invent as a result of using the MetalDhruker. We also assert that we are not responsible for damages that may or may not result from using the MetalDhruker, either for its intended purpose or for whatever else your gigantic brains cook up. The *MetalDhruker is a registered trademark of OnlineMetals.com, and its subsidiaries, associates, affiliates, second cousins, and otherwise. Products created using the MetalDhruker could be fatal if swallowed, and should not be taken if you are pregnant, nursing, or may become pregnant. (Especially if you’re a guy.) Please consult your doctor, lawyer, and/or babysitter before using any part of the MetalDhruker. Some restrictions may apply.


(Thanks for reading. We hope you got a laugh out of it. Please use discount code APRILFOOLS for 10% off your next order.)

Add to Technorati Favorites

Bookmark and Share


Online Metals Blog is proudly powered by WordPress
Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS).

7,258 spam comments
blocked by
Akismet