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Everyday Aluminum: Winter Fun with the Metal of Kings

Crumpled Aluminum Foil

By the end of February, most of us in the northern climes of the United States are suffering from a terminal case of cabin fever. We become desperate to chase away the Winter doldrums and somehow fill in the dragging hours with something—anything!—to do until Spring finally rolls around.

Aluminum to the rescue! In previous blogs we have written about the numerous elemental physical properties of aluminum, including its lightness, strength, malleability, corrosion-resistance, and so on. These properties are the reason we use this uniquely versatile metal for our T-slot extruded aluminum profiles, aquarium stands, workbenches, enclosures, and other products.

But “all work and no play…,” as they say. Those same unique properties can be applied to at-home activities that are sure to keep you occupied for the remainder of the Winter. Best of all—it won’t cost you an arm and a leg. While aluminum may be the most abundant metal in Earth’s crust, once upon it time it was also one of the most valuable (hence the moniker, “Metal of Kings”). It wasn’t until the discovery of the Hall-Heroult smelting process in 1886 that this abundant metal could be inexpensively produced on a large-scale basis for the general consumer market.

So break out the aluminum foil and let’s have some fun! Continue reading “Everyday Aluminum: Winter Fun with the Metal of Kings”

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FramingTech: A Peek Inside

FramingTech Facility

Last month we gave you a video overview of our T-slot extruded aluminum manufacturing facility in Rochester, New York. This month, we present a photo gallery of still images featuring views of our products, product raw materials, and our outstanding, highly skilled work force in action, as well as a selection of our high-tech fabricating, cutting, and shaping equipment, including:

  • Fanuc Robo-drill
  • Brother TC-324
  • Chiron FZ-18L
  • Maka PE70
  • Vertical knee mill
  • Holzher Horizontal Table Saw
  • Niagara manual shearing machine

Click on a thumbnail to see a larger view of the image. Continue reading “FramingTech: A Peek Inside”

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Everyday Aluminum: Architecture

Soumaya Museum

In a previous blog article (“Everyday Aluminum: Construction”) we discussed how aluminum extrusions have lately become an important feature in the construction industry. Building contractors have long recognized the structural and aesthetic benefits of using aluminum components in their work. Nowadays you commonly see them in windows, doors, frames, stairways, and elsewhere.

In the realm of architecture too we find that this lightweight and versatile metal now plays an increasingly important role in more heavily weighted and complex fabrications within buildings, bridges, and other architectural structures: in railings, enclosures, curtain walls, façades, and pergolas, just to name a few. This article, then, will focus on specific examples of those kinds of whole structures in which aluminum stands out as a major component in their construction. Continue reading “Everyday Aluminum: Architecture”

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Guidelines for Choosing an Aquarium Stand

Orange Aquarium Fish

Perhaps it is due to the fact that the adult human body is made up of some 60% water, or that our most ancient biological ancestors first emerged onto land from a primordial sea. Whatever the instinctive reason, unquestionably there is hardly a person alive who is not automatically drawn to—if not utterly transfixed by—the sight of an indoor fish tank, displayed on a beautiful aquarium stand and populated by thriving schools of exotic, colorful, water-dwelling creatures swimming to and fro. It is both aesthetically pleasing in its own right and deeply relaxing to watch. Continue reading “Guidelines for Choosing an Aquarium Stand”

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Everyday Aluminum: Art

Aluminum art

Previously we have discussed some of the more practical (if not prosaic) uses of aluminum in our everyday lives, from car manufacturing to building construction to solar panels, and even in robotics. One delightful area we have not touched on yet is the use of aluminum for purely aesthetic purposes: in the making of art.

It’s hard to imagine an elemental metal more suited than aluminum for creating beautiful objects. For one thing, there’s plenty of it: aluminum is the third most abundant element on Earth and the most abundant metal, making up some 8% of the planet’s crust. This durable metal is strong yet light, has a pleasing silvery-white appearance, can be polished to a highly reflective sheen, and is resistant to oxidation and corrosion. Though sometimes a “finicky” metal to work with (due to its relatively low melting point and high heat-conductiveness), it is also a versatile one: it is both ductile and malleable and can easily be molded, extruded, bent, stamped, cut, riveted, and welded. It can even be successfully painted and glued, since finishes and adhesives retain 100% of their strength when bonded to aluminum, thanks to its unique chemical properties.

Given all this, the world should be fairly bursting with astonishing artworks made from aluminum. And yet such treasures are few and far between compared to artworks made with other materials. Continue reading “Everyday Aluminum: Art”

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Aluminum: Robotics Metal of Choice

aluminum robotics blog article graphic

A lot goes into building a robot. You have to choose the right schematic, choose how you’re going to build it, as well as the materials you’re going to use. It may come as a surprise to some, but building a robot is a tad more complicated than going out to the garage and throwing together spare parts. You also have to plan it out and answer questions to know how to approach it. Do you build it from scratch? Or instead, do you build it by adapting ready-made products to serve as the base of your robot? Finally, what materials are you going to use to build it. For some, the base materials consist of wood and plastic, but for the discerning robotics hobbyist, the metal of choice is aluminum. To robotics hobbyists, aluminum is one of the most important materials you will use. It’s strong, lightweight, resistant to corrosion, affordable, and most importantly, easy to manipulate. Continue reading “Aluminum: Robotics Metal of Choice”

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Aluminum: Powering Today and The Future

Aluminum Powering Today and The Future

Smartphones, electric cars, wearable devices; what do all three of these things have in common? At one time they were considered to be a fantasy, to only be imagined in the realm of science fiction. With the constant progress of technology, these fantasies have become reality. Not only that, aluminum has helped play a part in bringing these previously science fiction items to life, and it has no plans of stopping its part in helping technology progress into the future. Here are some glimpses into the future of technology that are being helped along by aluminum. Continue reading “Aluminum: Powering Today and The Future”

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Aluminum: A Cornerstone of Future Technology

Aluminum A Cornerstone of Future Technology

Aluminum impacts our lives in more ways than we realize. Of course, there are the obvious ones that we use and interact with in our daily lives; the soda can you drink from is made of aluminum, we use aluminum foil as a cooking aid, the keyboard I’m typing this blog post with is made mostly of aluminum, however, aluminum is impacting our lives in ways we don’t see or sometimes even realize, and as we slowly march into the future, it will have an even bigger impact than it does now. Continue reading “Aluminum: A Cornerstone of Future Technology”