Re: FWIW first welding job, 2 years on

"Jim Wilkins"  wrote in message news:vjfu5q$30vd3$1@dont-email.me...
"Richard Smith"  wrote in message news:m17c84kath.fsf@void.com...
I use sheet metal tools to fabricate electronic enclosures, they aren't much
use for building machinery except for cover and control panels, which can be
flat, and if aluminium cut on a table saw.
The valuable equipment is a lathe for power transmission components and a
vertical mill for the static structure, plus a horizontal bandsaw to cut
stock.
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The company that used sheet metal relay (server) racks for large equipment filled them with pure electronics that need cooling and access for wiring, but not great strength to resist the torque of rotating machinery. For that they welded frames from structural steel. The racks were stronger than usual so the completed assembly could be moved by a forklift in the middle or J-bars at the corners.
Four of us with J-bars could muscle a 5000 Lb machine onto the flatbed truck. That's the average weight of stones in the Pyramids.
https://www.rigging.com/wooden-pry-bars-2125-tons.html
Like scrap copper today very little ancient bronze remains unless it was buried, such as the water main valves in Pompeii. They may have made J-bars, we just don't know. Roman bronze ball and roller bearings not mentioned in ancient writing were recovered from the Lake Nemi shipwreck.
https://www.valvemagazine.com/articles/ancient-roman-valves