A not so poisoned chalice

So we all watched it did we, who’d have thought after Bejing that  we would make a success of the Olympics. After watching the opening ceremony with our hands over our eyes, and then GB doing so well after a shaky start we finally relaxed and it seems most of us enjoyed it after all. Then there was the closing ceremony, a right ol’ knees up, we had a bit of an idea what to expect after the opening one. There were the usual suspects, Brian May and the fat bloke from Bury singing about his curtains, shoe ins for this type of event.  Obviously the highlight for me was the Olympic flame and how they were going to extinguish it.

In recent times the olympic flame has been a bit jinxed, surely something had  to go wrong, I mean it was a minor miracle that 17 tonnes of copper sitting in the east end for almost 3 weeks was still there at all.  I had sat through Annie Lennox on a longboat, the pet shop boys in rickshaws and that well known stalwart of British musical culture Russell Brand on top of a bus. If someone had told me that next up was going to be Bernie Flint and the Grumble weeds  singing This charming man with the lady from the shake and vac ads, I would have had no reason to doubt them. Eventually the moment arrived, the mechanical decommisioning of Thomas Heatherwicks 8.5m high sculpture. 300 sheets of copper were used in the sculpture built in a disused hanger near Harrogate. Each petal engraved with one of the countries represnted in the games, and each one reminiscent of the copper  tube lillies a lot of the old boys I used to work with had made for their gardens.

Often over looked in recent times there are few metals that have the natural decorative properties as copper. Whether bright or aged the range of finishes it produces  make for perfect ornaments and work well when used with other non ferrous metals. Ok so working with it can be a ball ache, but does it really do any harm to brush up on those traditional techniques now and then.  Yes it’s expensive in sheet form, but in this age of austerity  there  is plenty of opportunity to get your hands on it for scrap value. Some of those old boilers have great shapes for lantern tops and clean up really well.  A malleable material that is strong, has good corrosion resistence. Is easy to form and can be finished to a number of attractictive textures and colours, has to be worth considering for the modern metalsmith looking to create something different..

Eight apps for fabricators.

Smart phones are not everyones cup of tea but there is no denying they are damn useful tools. We scoured iTunes looking for the best apps for metalworkers and where possible tried to find a free option. There are lots of geometry and maths calculators that are out there which no doubt most people reading this will find useful which I haven’t included as they are generally easier to come accross. Also we found a lot of welding apps mainly aimed toward the heavy industrial user rather  than someone reading this page could get use from.

Photo Survey £0.69

Photo Survey is a site surveying app for iOS designed for builders, architects  and designers needing to perform site surveys.Designed to be a productivity app,  Photo Survey is quick and easy to use allowing the user to spend his or her time  on more important tasks. Adding measurements to a photo is as easy as swiping on  the screen, allowing the user to place them exactly where they are needed. These  measurements can be removed at any time.Label texts are editable and can contain  any information the user needs.Features:- Designed specifically for site  surveys- Use inbuilt camera for taking photos.- Add lines and labels using  swipe.- Edit or delete labels.- Adjustable line settings.- Save photo to camera  or email it.- Supports both iPhone and iPad

Metal Bend Calculator £0.00

Barnshaws Metal Bending Calculator allows end users to select a type of metal angle, beam or channel and then calculate the minimum radius inside the section or induction bend.
Users can select from three types of calculators ‘Section Bending’, ‘Induction Bending’ or ‘Plate Rolling’.
There is also useful information about Press Braking. When using the metal bending calculators’, end users can also choose to email the results of the calculation from there iphone.
This App also has useful information, contact details and industry news

Hadco steel weight calculator £0.00

The Hadco Calculator is a FREE and unlimited application for estimating the theoretical weight of metal & plastic products according to their type, density and shape and for sending RFQ’s for materials based on results provided or on a stand-alone basis. Its simple – Choose material, type and shape – Obtain theoretical weight – Send RFQ Easy to use either in the office by salespeople and buyers, on the road and on-site by architects, engineers and contractors, and on the warehouse floor by logistics personnel.

iOpticut £5.99

iOptiCut – cutting optimizer for iPhone – Defines how to cut rectangular pieces from wood, glass, ceramic, metal, drywall or veneer panels, etc with minimal waste of material. The most of cutting tasks have to be done on construction sites where you should figure out how to cut pieces in fast-paced environment.
Can you imagine having a smart optimizer in your pocket that can easily find out how to cut all necessary pieces with lightning speed! It’ll dramatically improve your productivity and get more projects done than ever before. In addition you’ll save a lot of expensive material (wood, glass, metal, marble or veneer) and hence your money.
iOptiCut takes complete care about cutting tasks and makes you life much easier. It instantly generates and displays complex layouts and cutting instructions right at your worksite.
There are seven different cutting methods available. Guillotine methods implies all cuts are made from one side of sheet completely to another side, as in case of glass or ceramic cutting. Nesting methods does not impose any restrictions of how cuts are made and usually produces better results than guillotine methods.

Steel Orbis £0.00

Do you want to be on top of  global steel markets on your mobile device? Download SteelOrbis app for free to view steel news. You can also purchase a monthly subscription to track steel price trends and market analysis.
SteelOrbis is the leading market intelligence and e-marketplace provider for global steel industry.

Miller weld setting  £0.00

Get your weld parameter settings right from your iPhone with the Miller weld setting calculator app.  The calculator will help you tune your machine for optimal results based on a few simple questions.  Weld calculators are handy references for weld parameters, electrode/wire type, basic techniques, and process information for TIG, Stick or MIG.

Sheet Gauge by systems valley £0.00

Sheet Gauge shows the standard thickness of sheet metals for most of the common metal sheets.
This application indicates the standard thickness of sheet metal for following materials:- • Steel • Galvanized steel • Stainless steel • Aluminium
Features include: • Instant calculations • Easy to use UI • Select the gauge number and the thickness for all of the above stated metal sheets are displayed

GYS welding game app £0.00

GYS Welding is a free arcade game where your welding skills will be tested.