Three Must Have Hand Tools Every Fabrication Job Shop Needs

Must have hand tools are the backbone of our business and the methods by which we fabricate could be seen as archaic to some. Manually cutting, bending and hammering sheet metal to form metal duct and fittings that will reside in a local Glens Falls, NY area home or business. We take pride in the process by which we perform our trade. There are no computerized machines inside our fabrication shop, everything is produced with sheet metal forming hand tools, manually fed brakes, machinery and assembled with the force of human muscle and sweat. Part of this method is based on a dearth of funds for modern machinery and part  the way by which my father and I learned the sheet metal fabrication trade. The intricacy of hand tools, bespoke notches and bends, each one different than the other to form the finished sheet metal duct and fittings.

There are three must have hand tools that I use on a daily basis and ones that should be first in your arsenal as a new or aspiring HVAC sheet metal fabricator.

1. Straight Pattern Tinners Snips

When I was a gangly high school student working in my fathers sheet metal shop in the garage, the first thing I had to learn was how to cut a 48" wide sheet of 26 gauge steel all the way through on as straight a line as possible. The first cut strained my feeble arms, leaving them aching for the entire next day, maybe more. I hated working in the shop when I was young, all of it feeling like punishment instead of making a living for your family, putting food on the table.

Today I realize the importance of a quality tool to perform my job and learned trade, make a living and trying to grow a micro-business in our local community. The straight pattern snips are my most used and important hand tool each and every work day. Honestly, without them I would be out of business. There are multiple pairs on the shop bench, a pair in my tool bag for outside fabrication work and even a pair in my garage for those home projects. As must have hand tools for sheet metal fabrication go, this one is the holy grail.

2. Adjustable Sheet Metal Scribe

There is only one way to attempt cutting a straight line with the aforementioned straight pattern tin snips. Many sheet metal fabricators will use a Sharpie marker to make the necessary marks for cutting and notching. The line is thick and can add or subtract a good eighth of an inch if not cut properly. I learned a different way that has stuck with me to this day. The basic awl and sheet metal scribe create a tight line for me to cut and get the most accurate measurement for bending and hammering each fabricated item. The process may be longer, but the end product is exactly what I expect as a tradesman and what the customer expects from a business.

The scribing process can be tedious, but necessary. From belt scribes to hand scribes, there are many different types you can use to get the necessary line for cutting and bending. I keep one on my belt (Belt Sheet Metal Scribe [Misc.]) and one on the bench for scribing marks when bending flanges, 1/4" marks for the male pittsburgh bend and much much more. The scribe is as important as the artists drafting pencil, easily making the must have hand tools list.

3. 3-Inch Offset Handle - HVAC Hand Seamer

Not the most popular, but when our brake can't get the job done, the hand seamers can be our best friend for those pesky inside throat bends. When I fabricate a custom sheet metal 90 degree elbow, the inside throats are always bent up with angle hand seamers.

For the entire 13 years I have worked for K & E we have not owned a box and pan brake for making many of those inside and flanged bends. Getting creative has been the only way to make the bending process easier and hand seamers are the number one must have hand tool to help that creative bending process. Whether in the sheet metal shop or on the job site, sheet metal bending hand seamers are a must have tool for any working or aspiring sheet metal fabricator.

Mine have been an extension of my arm for a long time, sometimes straight for those intense bends and angled for the harder to reach places on top of the duct line or bending out flanges on the sheet metal plenums. A must have.

A new tradesman never knows where to start when assembling a tool set for performing their craft. For the new sheet metal fabricator I would suggest these three must have hand tools to start any set of fabrication tools. There are many more that will be necessary to make the most of your sheet metal job shop, but this is a great place to begin the journey.

Want some more hand tool ideas or just want to replace some of those old sheet metal hand tools? Check out our online sheet metal tool shop.

 

Understanding Our Custom Sheet Metal Business

The custom sheet metal business has many facets and can be thought of as many different things. Because of this, we receive emails and calls for many different types of fabrication that we, as a sheet metal shop, may or may not be able to accommodate. However, this does not mean every job is something that is right for our fabrication shop or business in general.

With that in mind, I did something earlier this week that I hate doing. Especially in the business environment that we and many others find ourselves confronting daily.

For the first time in a long while I gave up a project that I would have given my left arm for just two years ago. However, the project had one major flaw that, up until now, I had never payed attention to and it drove me to stressful, anxiety filled places where I never want to be again. The kind of place that made me question whether or not trying to keep the doors open was even worth it in the end. The kind of job that, honestly, was too big for our tiny custom sheet metal shop to handle. A job that would have payed well, but stretched our time frames and kept the stress throttle to the maximum it could handle. Like I said, a place I never want to go back and visit.

K & E Sheet Metal is a niche custom sheet metal business that focuses on the residential HVAC markets. We are a job shop that caters to customers that need something in a pinch or small HVAC contractors requiring custom transitions or plenums when replacing a customers dwindling or broken forced air furnace.

My father and I knows this.

The problems arise when the big projects come down the pike, the rose colored glasses move down off the brow and dollar signs fall from the skies like showers in April. The lead times seem perfect and the voice on the other end of the telephone, in reassuring tones, makes everything seem like nothing will be a problem. We have plenty of time. Nevertheless,time passes quickly and small items are slowly finished. We are a one man operation pretending to be the robotic armed assembly line of the Ford Motor Company.

I take care of a few old, returning customers and before you know it the phone is ringing, the time window is closing fast, I'm working late now and on the weekend. The stress builds and nothing seems to satisfy the beast of time because there's none of it, never enough time in the day to accomplish what you need to. Why did I take this job? This is too big for our shop. I can't do this all by myself and we don't have the resources to hire any help! Get me the fuck outta here!!

In my drinking days, these kind of scenarios ended at the local pub. However, I am older now and understand this is not the way to run a business. Something needed to change and it started with me understanding what we were all about.

There is a market for the kind of custom sheet metal work we provide. K & E has been providing this service in the Greater Glens Falls area for over twenty years and we continue today. The things that I, as partner and chief fabricator, never focused on was understanding what we do. I didn't pinpoint my efforts toward the strengths we possess. K & E Sheet Metal provides a necessary service for the little guy and we--and I-- need to be proud of that fact. Not shy away from it, but embrace it. The stress of trying to be something we are not made me lose interest in the business as a whole, leaving gaps where we may have been able to grow. Instead I tried to find easy ways out, looking for ways to expand where we didn't have expertise or the money to make the proper impact. Sometimes breaking it down and starting from scratch is the best way to find your identity as a business and as human beings. Getting rid of the clutter and focusing on yourself, what you do and how you can focus your skills to help others is the best avenue. Personally and in business.

My father and I have learned the hard way that trying to be something you're not isn't the best way to find business success. Bringing a positive attitude, focusing on your strengths and producing quality custom sheet metal fabrication is what will ultimately make us successful. We may not be millionaires, but we will run a quality, well functioning business in our local community of Glens Falls, NY.

Completed Custom Y Duct Fitting From Earlier Template, Sheet Metal Fabrication

Earlier today I tweeted a photo of the template for a Y duct fitting that I was starting to fabricate this morning.

These fittings don't come around all that often, so many times I will have to relearn the process when asked. The process is not overly difficult, but because much of our work is done by hand and there are no computers to hold a file I can just punch up, it can take some time. Many of the custom duct fittings I make are specific to measurements for any one job, so many things are fabricated only once and the process forgotten.

Our stock items are easy to fabricate from templates and make the same way every time. The custom fittings are much different and really the reason we are here in the first place. We fabricate fittings that can't be found in stores, so there is a level of customization and care that goes into every piece.

Below are a couple photos of the finished Y duct fitting I fabricated this morning.

Visit Our Tool Shop kesheetmetal.com/toolshop

Wednesday Fabrication and Knowing Your Shop Limitations

We don't do much commercial work at our shop due to lack of man power and equipment. The shop is geared toward a lower volume, residential market with the ability to fabricate for bigger jobs if the lead time is extended. This week we have been fabricating some larger transitions and duct for a smaller commercial job that had a week or so of lead time. Perfect for my father and I. Both transitions needed to be insulated and fabricated with 24 gauge sheet metal.

These types of orders pay well, but aren't a regular thing around the shop because it takes me the majority of the day to fabricate and insulate this size order. Years ago we thought about financing a plasma table, but then the economy went into the toilet. Since then, like everyone, we've been doing our best to solidify consistent work.

My father and I learned a long time ago to know what you can handle at any one time. We used to take everything that came along and were extended beyond our means hence creating more negative word of mouth than anything else. When we figured out what we could accommodate, our days became much more productive and customers were happier.

Below is a photo of the transitions I worked on today. There is still some straight duct and flexible connectors to fabricate.

Looking for a new set of sheet metal snips? Check out our online tool shop at kesheetmetal.com/toolshop

Custom TEE Template to Start The Fabrication Process #sheetmetal #fabrication

20120210-100212.jpg My template for eight custom TEE fittings is complete and redesigned. I used to make the V at the top a little more abrupt than on this particular template. With this one I widened the V, which makes it easier to assemble than before.

Now I must trace and cut out 16 of these by hand, along with the other pieces that will eventually finish each TEE. After they are cut out and bent accordingly I will have to line them with 1/2" acoustical insulation.

You can find snips, notchers, benders and more in our tool shop. www.kesheetmetal.com/toolshop.html

Knocking Out Trunk Duct Reducers in Bulk Lately

My father and I have been busy fabricating trunk reducing transitions for multiple customers of late. They have really caught on as an easier way to reduce the trunk duct line. Many of the builders we fabricate for have been using a prefabricated side piece that you have to cut-in on site when reducing the trunk line. The process is time consuming and cumbersome. Our reducers are a cost effective and efficient way to install the duct.

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