Is metalworking equipment in general just too big, in capital
investment terms, for that catalog style to exist?

My guess is that metalworking isn't mainstream enough. When I was in the
7th or 8th grade it was required that all boys take woodshop. There was no
metal equivalent and even if there had been it would have been for a very
limited few rather than required for all. In fact, when I was in the 10th
grade I found that there was such a course but it was available at a special
school across town and they only took 2 kids from each high school.

This was probably different in areas where there was more manufacturing but
woodshop is more common in most of the country. After all, the wood section
of Home Depot and similar stores is 1/4 to 1/3 of the store while the metal
section is about 3' by 3'. :-(

I was exposed to metalworking while working for an airline. Otherwise I
would have probably always thought it was beyond the capabilities of the
hobbiest because I just didn't know any better.

That seems to be changing lately though, mostly because of the shows on
Discovery Channel. Even though they're obviously geared more toward the
"drama" of the people, they do give you a taste of what's possible.

It's a shame it didn't happen a few years earlier, before the vast majority
of school metalshops across the country were closed and liquidated. Now it
will take a long time for the interest to be high enough for the schools to
reinvest in the equipment needed, if it even happens. :-(

Best Regards,
Keith Marshall


"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"


"Australopithecus scobis" wrote in message
news
Greetings,
Just an idle question. There is a joke on rec.woodworking about "tool
porn," the glossy catalogs of curvaceous low-angle jointer
planes. What is the metal equivalent? Sure, McMaster-Carr has the stuff,
but which catalogs do you pore over with a highlighter, and leave for
SWMBO to find at xmas time?
Is metalworking equipment in general just too big, in capital
investment terms, for that catalog style to exist?

--
"Keep your ass behind you"
vladimir a t mad {dot} scientist {dot} com

I got tons of em- shelves and shelves full.
I guess it depends on what rings your bell, but there are lots of
metalworking catalogs that, in my opinion, leave old lee valley looking
like the chinese crap it mostly is.

Start with the Big MSC catalog- its a good intro. Mscdirect.com
And I suppose you need the Grizzly and Jet metalworking catalogs.
Enco sends out catalogs like confetti.
Grainger isnt pure metalworking, but you gotta have one of those.
No decent metalshop can be without a starrett catalog, and then you
need a mitutoyo to balance it.
This german company called Knuth has a US branch with pretty amusing
catalogs- you aint living til you are dreaming about your own waterjet
cutting machine.

Then there are the specialised catalogs-
Mubea, Peddinghaus, Geka, and Scotchman, for ironworkers
Klein, Proto, and Snap-on for hand tools.
Centaur forge for blacksmithing equipment.
You gotta have the hand power tool catalogs- milwaukee, makita, bosch,
dewalt, etc etc.
Sheet metal- Di-Acro, Roper Whitney, W.A.Whitney, and Malco are a good
start.
I like Dynamic fastener- they have tools especially for the metal
building installer.
Enerpac, for hydraulics.
Esoteric German made CNC blacksmithing equipment from Glaser and Hebo.
I got another 4 or 5 shelves, 4 feet wide, of just fabrication,
machining, blacksmithing, and sheetmetal tools.

Then, when you get really hardcore, you start collecting old hardware
and machinery catalogs. Really nice engravings, tools they no longer
make, at prices you cant buy a candy bar for.

What can I say- its a disease, but you can disguise it by calling it a
hobby, I suppose.