Well The Fabricator now has a blog and it seems to tick all the right boxes. It has several contributors ranging from various members of the editorial team to the web content manager and it should be an informative little read for those who already use The Fabricator.

It also has a nice mixture of posts so far mixing the informative and the light-hearted quite well.

However, there seems to be a bit of a problem with the blogroll, as there’s one spam blog in it and another that hasn’t been updated since July of last year.

Apart from that, I’m more than happy to plop them on The Tinbasher’s blogroll.

Good job!

I love the simplicity of the Sensational Stainless site.

[It's] funded by the U.S. stainless steel industry, [and] aims to promote stainless steel products by educating consumers about the benefits, beauty and durability of this great looking material.

I can just see certain lobbyists constantly pestering the producers of Sesame Street to have Oscar the Grouch’s bin upgraded to stainless steel or asking to have stainless steel grades explained in one of their special montage pieces.

I urge you to take the interactive house tour (just underneath the menu on the left hand side) if nothing else.

“A sheet metal worker was climbing a wet, steep roof. He was not equipped with a safety belt secured to a lifeline. He subsequently lost his footing and fell 36 feet to the ground, suffering fatal injuries. “

Some of the health and safety ‘posters’ over here are truly astonishing.

What particularly strikes me regarding this one is the bold arrow showing the path of his plummet.

Where else was he expected to go?

But, as the poster claims, the guy in question was 47 and had 6 months job experience.

I’ll say one thing - you Americans don’t half churn your sheet metal workers out sharpish if that’s the case.

Euro Inox has just emailed me a notice of their new 35-page pdf talking about all aspects of mechanical finishing with regards to stainless steel. It includes:

• Specifying mechanically finished surfaces for stainless steel fabrications
• Frequently used finishing methods
• Frequently used abrasives and power tools
• Best practice finishing
• Case studies
• Health, safety and environmental issues

It’s probably quite a handy guide to find out how we’d do our finishing to be fair - almost a generic how-to guide.

Maybe you’re fifteen and your careers teacher is pressurising you to commit to some kind of career path. Perhaps you’re slightly older and you’ve decided to start clambering up a totally new vocational ladder. Or, you’re some student just wondering what the devil sheet metal workers do.

Well, thanks to the U.S. Department of Labor in association with the Bureau of Labor Statistics you now have the most comprehensive and byzantine piece of inane waffle as to what a sheet metal job/worker/jobshop/etc. does or entails.

If you think along the lines of a Sesame Street-type explanation then you’ll begin to understand the general tone.

It goes into a great amount of detail and covers: Nature of the Work | Working Conditions | Employment | Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement | Job Outlook | Earnings | Related Occupations | Sources of Additional Information

Probably my own personal favourite is the bit about working conditions:

Sheet metal workers usually work a 40-hour week. Those who fabricate sheet metal products work in shops that are well-lighted[sic] and well-ventilated. However, they stand for long periods and lift heavy materials and finished pieces. Sheet metal workers must follow safety practices because working around high-speed machines can be dangerous. They also are subject to cuts from sharp metal, burns from soldering and welding, and falls from ladders and scaffolds. They usually wear safety glasses but must not wear jewelry or loose-fitting clothing that could easily be caught in a machine. They may work at a variety of different production stations to reduce the repetitiveness of the work.

Those performing installation work do considerable bending, lifting, standing, climbing, and squatting, sometimes in close quarters or in awkward positions. Although duct systems and kitchen equipment are installed indoors, the installation of siding, roofs, and gutters involves much outdoor work, requiring sheet metal workers to be exposed to various kinds of weather.

So, if you’re willing to fall off ladders and scaffolding on a regular basis, get speared by the odd rogue shard of metal and suffer the odd burn, then I suggest you get yourself down to college and sign yourself up for a course.

It’s also an interesting insight into the world of American sheet metal work. For example, I’d say that the vast majority of British sheet metal firms define themselves by the materials they work with and the processes they can offer as opposed to specific types of job.

Anyway, I’d better not mention American sheet metal workers to Jasper in case he starts on about diluters (think about it ;-)).