ll materials present unique cutting challenges. Matching the right tools with the application is part of the battle. Band saws are the best option for job shops that need speed, quality and consistency. The equipment is also the most cost-effective method when it comes to cutting exotic materials. Blade choices are based on the type and size of the material being cut. Understanding material characteristics before you cut can deliver longer band saw blade life and the best production results. Some basic guidelines can help.

s students gathered at campuses around the country, some schools were forced to close down in-person instruction just days into the fall term. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to force educators to rethink syllabi, including how to use remote teaching tools and software to provide students with a fulfilling experience. Educators are adjusting, postponing or attempting to combine remote methods and in-person instruction for skills that cannot be learned over a screen and a WiFi connection.

When the virus first struck, many workplaces and schools shifted to remote work/instruction. Some faculty at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan, used Zoom or Google Hangouts applications to conduct classes and communicate but that option did not always prove accommodating to all students.

HPA is ISO 9001:2015 Registered and DFARS compliant.

HPA is ISO 9001:2015 Registered and DFARS compliant.

here are talkers enough among us; I’ll be one of the doers.” Charles Dickens penned these words in 1841 in his novel “Barnaby Rudge.” The storyteller wrote during London’s Industrial Revolution and used his quill to document Victorian Britain’s class divide, poverty and greed in such classics as “Oliver Twist,” “A Christmas Carol” and “Great Expectations.”

George and Arthur Trachte were also “doers.” The two started a sheet metal shop in 1901 and before long had revolutionized the corrugated water tank industry with their patented roll-forming process, which replaced solder with rivets. Feed troughs, mortar boxes, oil storage tanks and feed cookers grew to include buildings made of angled steel, iron framework and corrugated sheeting.

n the 1500s, the term lifeblood referred to “blood necessary for life.” Since then, the word has come to mean “the element most important to the continuing success of something.” Both definitions could apply to Engel Diversified Industries Inc. The Jordan, Minnesota-based Tier 1 and Tier 2 contract manufacturer supplies manufacturing sectors from automotive and fluid handling, to energy data transmission, defense, medical equipment and, most recently, bike racks and bakeware.

Steady growth has taken the company from 5,000 sq. ft. to 55,000 sq. ft. of combined manufacturing and office space. Part development, in-house tooling and design, fabrication and aftermarket support are part of Engel Diversified’s value-added services. But stamping remains the heart of the business.

“Stamping is our lifeblood,” says Stuart Rubin, president of Engel Diversified. “We have a lot of different skill sets but, at the end of the day, we’re metal stampers.”

he 2009 biopic “Gifted Hands” tells the story of Ben Carson, who rose above poverty and subpar grades to become the youngest physician in the U.S. to be named director of pediatric neurosurgery at John Hopkins Hospital. Over the course of his career, he broke ground for surgical procedures. In 2017 he was appointed the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. When asked about his successes, Carson cited his faith.

For Alan Weible—a man “gifted in his hands”—faith has also proved a plumbline for life and career choices.

“I tried college and knew right away it wasn’t for me,” says the owner of Weebz Welding & Waterjet in San Antonio, Texas. “Instead I enlisted in the Air Force and joined the aerospace and missile welding program. It took finesse to master the skill sets because we worked with small parts made from really thin materials.”

rag racing started out on dry lake beds in the 1930s and moved to commercial drag strips in the 1950s. Today at NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events, there are more than 200 classes of vehicles in 15 categories—and the Top Fuel dragsters are some of the fastest-accelerating machines in the world. They can roar down the dragstrip from start to finish in less than 3.7 seconds.

These 11,000-horsepower “kings of the sport” are powered by supercharged, fuel-injected adaptations of Chrysler Hemi engines, and, at 330 mph, there’s no room for component error. Chad Head, general manager of Kalitta Motorsports, Ypsilanti, Michigan, says that “as an example, any loose burr in a cylinder head could break away and catastrophically destroy the engine.”

he short version of Ernest Hemingway’s advice to a young writer included, “When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.” The team at Sawblade.com takes listening seriously because many new ideas have sprouted from conversations with people who use the blades and related equipment.

The company’s products are all “made for us or by us,” Chris Luke, CEO of Sawblade.com, Houston, says. This direct involvement allows for a give-and-take with customers, providing them a better overall experience and lower cost. Instead of accolades, Luke often prefers to hear what customers think can be improved about the company’s products and services—everything from the blades themselves to the packaging they’re shipped in.

“For years, we put wheels in wooden crates to ship them out. Customers complained because the nailed-shut crates were too hard to open, so we switched to a patented corrugated box,” Luke says.