Metalworking or steel design and fabrication is no more complicated than woodworking as long as you know how to handle the right tools. Before anything else, it is important to know the different types of metals, their properties and their uses in DIY. The three main families are alloys, ferrous metals and non-ferrous metals.
Iron metals – Carbon-iron compounds with the addition, in small quantities, of other metals or miscellaneous elements. Cast iron, wrought iron, mild steel and ferrous carbon steel.
Non-ferrous metals – metals containing little or no iron, such as copper, lead, tin, aluminum, zinc.
Soft steel is iron containing 0.1% maximum carbon. It works easily, hangs, folds, lime and pierces well. Mild steel is easy to weld and squeeze. It is protected with paint or varnish. Stainless steel comes with chromium or nickel. It resists corrosion, a quality that can disappear at high temperatures. Stainless steel is very resistant but difficult to work. It can be soldered or soldered.
Special steels and tools are of varied composition, harder than mild steel. Difficult to file and cut, they can be soldered and brazed, soaked and returned, to get a good edge. They can rust easily, protect them with oil or grease, and paint non-cutting parts.
Aluminum is a pure metal. It is lightweight and resists corrosion. It can be bent, shaped, filed or sawed easily but can only be welded with special welds. It can also be polished to perfection and does not need protection inside.
Bronze is very resistant to corrosion. It can be filed, sawn, bent, chiseled, welded and brazed. Copper is a pure metal, it is modeled and bends easily. It must be annealed during prolonged work because it hardens very quickly. It is easy to solder, solder, polish but it tarnishes in the air. It must be protected with a clear varnish.
Uses: pipes (this is no longer the case in recent constructions), kitchen tools, electricity and decoration. Duralumin is aluminum containing copper and other metals. It is almost as strong as mild steel but three times lighter, duralumin bends, folds and works easily. It can not be welded by the usual methods. For outdoor use, it will be painted to protect it.
Tin is a pure metal, it is very soft, malleable and has a high resistance to corrosion. Uses: base of alloys and coatings for mild steel, it is rarely used pure.
Tinplate is flexible and easy to make boxes, cylinders and tubes. It requires a soft solder. If the surface flakes, the exposed iron rust in the air. Uses: household utensils, baking molds, gutters, basins, air ducts.
