Wood Baseball Bats Versus Aluminum Baseball Bats

Patio covers are used to create a roof for an open space that helps transform the area into a porch or a sit out. These covers are used to extend actual house areas and can be installed quite easily. To meet increased customer demands, manufacturers have created numerous patio cover types of different materials.

Aluminum patio covers are a popular choice as they require minimum maintenance and are easy to clean. People need to use special cleaning solutions and a stiff broom to clean aluminum patio covers. Aluminum varieties can be sturdy, offering long-term durability. They may also be fitted with inbuilt drainage systems that facilitate immediate drainage of rainwater.

Aluminum patio covers are available in designs that are fitted with transparent sheets to allow sunlight to pass through, offering adequate lighting. They are also available in insulated varieties that use special foam between two aluminum sheets.

These covers are easy to install and are mostly attached to a house with the help of a support framework. These covers are usually fitted at an angle that assists in cleaning and prevents water collection. Before finalizing a purchase, customers may engage in comparison-shopping to find an affordable and appropriate aluminum patio cover.

These covers are available at local and online stores. It is important to enquire about after sales services and warranty terms and conditions. This is important in case patio covers develop a crack or show signs of breakage. Manufacturers offer a wide range of aluminum patio covers in varied price ranges.

Aluminum patio covers are made available in shades of silver and can be shipped directly to a consumer?s doorstep. Aluminum patio covers vary, depending upon alloys, particular blends and recyclable varieties. They are trained technicians who help to cast them into specified designs and specific width and length.

Patio Covers provides detailed information on patio covers, how to build a patio cover, lattice patio covers, patio chair covers and more. Patio Covers is affiliated with Canvas Awnings

Author: Michael Shapiro

What You Should Know About Aluminum Welding

Aluminum extrusion and aluminum welding go hand in hand. Extrusion allows for a variance in the thickness of the wall in whatever aluminum object that was created by the extrusion process. Because the wall can have a varying thickness throughout the object, that object can have something called a vee groove.

What is a vee groove? A vee groove is a V-shaped formation in a piece of metal. The vee groove facilitates performance of a welding process. The welding process is used to create a bond between two different metals.

If a vee groove exists in an aluminum part, that aluminum part can be welded to a different metal part. Aluminum welding is used to melt one metal part, a part that should be joined to another metal part. The heat from the welding device creates a small pool of liquid. That liquid forms a puddle in the vee groove.

The hot liquid is used to bond two different metals. The hot liquid in the vee groove coalesces around a section of each of the two different metal parts. Once the molten material has hardened, the metal objects have been fused together.

Coalescence permits the joining of aluminum and a second metal, but it is not the only scientific property that can aid formation of a metal to metal bond. Not every fusion of aluminum and a second metal has resulted from aluminum welding. Sometimes that fusion is produced by a process called brazing.

Brazing relies on the properties of capillary action. As in aluminum welding, in brazing a section of metal must be heated to the point where it enters a liquid state. That molten metal is then distributed on the close-fitting metal parts. After the liquid metal hardens, then the metal parts are firmly fused together.

Both aluminum welding and brazing can call for exposure of metals to a good deal of heat. Sometimes a metal worker does not want to expose a piece of metal to very high temperatures. If that piece of metal should be joined to another metal, then what process can the metal worker use?

When a metal worker faces the above-mentioned problem, then he or she needs to use a process called soldering. Soldering takes advantage of the low melting point of one metal, a metal different from the two metals that need to be joined together. Liquid from a metallic substance with a low melting point is used to create an adherence between two different metal parts.

Aluminum alloys do not always need to be joined by welding, brazing or soldering. Sometimes aluminum alloys have been held together by adhesive bonding. Sometimes mechanical fasteners clasp onto two connected, aluminum alloys. Sometimes bolts, nuts or rivets are used to join together two different aluminum alloys.All of the above methods create a strong metal to metal bond.

All of the above methods benefit from the tensile strength of aluminum. All of the above methods use to advantage a characteristic of the extrusion process.

Both aluminum welding and the other metal joining methods put demands on an extruded metal object. Still, an object created by the extrusion process can be made thickest at the points where it receives the most pressure.

Author: Patrick T. Tremblay

Aluminum Patio Covers

Patio covers are used to create a roof for an open space that helps transform the area into a porch or a sit out. These covers are used to extend actual house areas and can be installed quite easily. To meet increased customer demands, manufacturers have created numerous patio cover types of different materials. Aluminum patio covers are a popular choice as they require minimum maintenance and are easy to clean.

People need to use special cleaning solutions and a stiff broom to clean aluminum patio covers. Aluminum varieties can be sturdy, offering long-term durability. They may also be fitted with inbuilt drainage systems that facilitate immediate drainage of rainwater.

Aluminum patio covers are available in designs that are fitted with transparent sheets to allow sunlight to pass through, offering adequate lighting. They are also available in insulated varieties that use special foam between two aluminum sheets.

These covers are easy to install and are mostly attached to a house with the help of a support framework. These covers are usually fitted at an angle that assists in cleaning and prevents water collection. Before finalizing a purchase, customers may engage in comparison-shopping to find an affordable and appropriate aluminum patio cover.

These covers are available at local and online stores. It is important to enquire about after sales services and warranty terms and conditions. This is important in case patio covers develop a crack or show signs of breakage.

Manufacturers offer a wide range of aluminum patio covers in varied price ranges. Aluminum patio covers are made available in shades of silver and can be shipped directly to a consumer?s doorstep. Aluminum patio covers vary, depending upon alloys, particular blends and recyclable varieties. They are trained technicians who help to cast them into specified designs and specific width and length.

Patio Covers provides detailed information on patio covers, how to build a patio cover, lattice patio covers, patio chair covers and more. Patio Covers is affiliated with Canvas Awnings .

By Alison Cole

Aluminum vs Steel Horse Trailers

Aluminum horse trailers have taken the horse world by storm. In fact, some aluminum horse trailers don't even look aluminum, but their underlying frame is. Is it worth it to pay the extra money for aluminum or will good ole' steel do for you?

Aluminum horse trailers are popular because they are light and easy to haul. In most cases this is great, especially when it comes to yor gas mileage, but in some cases this can be a weakness. Not all aluminum trailers are created equally and some are weaker than others.

Be careful when choosing aluminum without finding out what will happen if your horse were to give the side of the trailer a really good kick. Some of the less expensive and weaker trailers will dent and tear easily depending on the blow or multiple blows they receive. This can lead to shearing and tearing which can do major damage to a horse if it were to catch its hoof or brush against the tear.

In some cases the weight factor of the trailer is falsely advertised. Depending on the model of the trailer, the floor of the trailer may reinforced with additional aluminum. This can lead to the aluminum trailer weighing just as much as a similar steel trailer. You also need to be certain that you check the welds on the trailer as these can be difficult to fix once broken.

Steel trailers have their downfalls as well. Depending on the trailer, these trailers can be exceptionally heavy and with horses in the back your gas budget is going to run thin. They are also prone to rust, although many manufacturers have worked on several different sealants that are preventing rust more and more as technology increases. Steel trailers are also durable and easy to fix. Sure they might dent when your horse lays into kicking in it as he impatiently waits to get out of the trailer, but chances that the actual trailer is going to tear are minimal. The cost of steel trailers have also gone down. The galvanized steel, powder-coated steel and galvanized steel has become relatively inexpensive and rust has almost completely been eliminated.

When it comes down to which trailer is better than the other, it comes down to what you are willing to pay and what disadvantages you are willing to live with. An aluminum trailer is going to cost more, but you are able to save in fuel while a steel trailer is strong and easier to repair.

You will need to take into consideration the type of hitching point you would like, either a bumper pull from a rear mounted trailer hitch from your tow vehicle. Or a goose neck or fifth wheel mount that attaches within the bed for a greater load tolerance and improved handling and turning.

There are many additional questions that we answer on our equine forum and in our article base.

For more great trailer and equine information visit our links in our bio reference to help with further questions.

Author: Ron Petracek

The Squeezable Aluminum Tubes

Not all aluminum tubes have a cylindrical shape. Not all aluminum tubes have a hard surface. Aluminum has been used in tubes that can hold pharmaceutical products, household products or industrial products.

Pharmaceutical products, household products and industrial products often contain strong chemicals. Such chemicals would probably eat away at most packaging materials. Such chemicals add to the challenge of enclosing a powerful cream, gel, ointment, sealant or lubricant in a leak-proof container.The makers of pharmaceutical products rely on aluminum tubes to maintain the sterility of packaged creams, gels, ointments and personal lubricants.

The makers of pharmaceutical products must keep their production facilities in compliance with strict regulations. The aluminum tubes guarantee proper delivery of the correctly manufactured product.

Prescription medicines for skin disorders normally come in aluminum tubes. Certain feminine products, lubricants and creams, come in aluminum tubes. Dental care rests on the dependability of a product that comes in an aluminum tube.

Today, aluminum tubes can be designed to help consumers squeeze as much as possible from any tube. Today aluminum tubes can be given a fancy cap, one that hides a sharp tip. The sharp tip can be used to punch a hole in the thin aluminum seal that has been used to cover the opening to the tube.

Vivid print can stand out boldly on an aluminum tube. The paint colors do not fade over time on an aluminum tube. For that reason, an aluminum tube provides makers of certain health care products with a powerful marketing tool. In 2004 the Motebello Company was recognized for creation of the "Tube of the Year."

Why did the Tube Council give that company such an award? Motebello had designed an eye-catching aluminum tube. They had put a label with four colors on a white enamel background. The enamel surface covered an aluminum tube, and it drew the attention of shoppers, those who walked by a shelf on which tubes of Polysporin had been placed.

A tube made from aluminum can be painted with oil-based paint. The chemicals in an oil-based paint have the ability to cross-link with one another. Once such cross-linking has taken place, the colors in the paint remain unaffected by the various tube-manufacturing techniques. Such techniques can ensure creation of a shiny and bold aluminum tube.

More than pharmaceutical products, cosmetics and health care products can be found in aluminum tubes. Such tubes can serve as secure containers for industrial products as well.

Adhesives, sealants, caulks, paints and silicones all retain their important chemical properties, when stored in an aluminum tube.Artists too are familiar with the squeezable nature of an aluminum tube.

Artists who work with oils get the colors on their pallet from oil-based paints. Those paints are stored in aluminum tubes. Because an enamel surface can go onto each of those aluminum tubes, a colorful label can be put onto each tube. Thanks to such labels, the artists who use them can tell without reading the label what color should come out of any one paint tube.

Author: Patrick T. Tremblay

The Controlled Approach To Aluminum Tube Bending

Armed with the proper controls, a manufacturer can use aluminum tube bending to create a smooth, round and wrinkle free, metal conduit. By becoming familiar with the different types of bending methods, the manufacturer can monitor the degree to which the bending process has been controlled.

A manufacturing set-up with a computer numeric control system offers the greatest assurance that bent tubing appears smooth, round and unwrinkled. What type of bending method invites the insertion of a computer numeric control system? Can that method be used to carry-out aluminum tube bending?

A manufacturer can purchase Mandel benders with a computer numeric control system. Mandel benders use a Rotary Draw to support the tube's interior. That support keeps the tube from collapsing during the bending process.Mandel bending can be used to bend aluminum tubing.

Mandel bending is the one method that provides both tight controls and support for the inside of the aluminum tubing. The other bending methods can claim to have only one of those two features.

Hydrofoaming gives the manufacturer a way to support the inside of a tube that needs to be bent. During hydrofoaming, liquid passes through an aluminum tube. It holds the inside walls of the aluminum tubing in place, as they undergo the bending process.

Two other bending methods share with Mandel bending the ability to come under computer control. Those methods are compression bending and roll bending. Unlike Mandel bending, though, neither of those methods can provide support to the interior portion of some aluminum tubing.

Aluminum bending calls for modification of aluminum tubing. Since aluminum is a soft and brittle metal, aluminum bending needs to takes place slowly. If the aluminum tubing has sides that are thicker than one fourth of an inch, then a press brake should be used to complete the tube bending.

A manufacturer should recognize the extent to which use of a press brake alters the method for forming an aluminum tube. The operator of the press brake needs to be seen as an artist. The skill of the press brake operator determines the results of the tube bending process.Aluminum bending has been combined with a number of the other techniques for modification of aluminum tubing.

Aluminum bending can be used in combination with punching and piercing. When those processes are combined the resulting tube contains smooth bore holes.A manufacturer can take small pieces from a bent aluminum tube. That puts notches in the tube.

A manufacturer can also expose a tube to tumbling and vibration either before or after the bending process. Such exposure is called deburring.Aluminum tubing can be saw cut or drilled within the same facility in which it undergoes aluminum tube bending.

Aluminum tubing can be subject to graining and buffing at some point during an aluminum tube bending. Flaring too can modify aluminum tubing after it has passed through a manufacturer's selected bending process.

Like aluminum tube bending, each modification serves a specific function. It determines the location at which the aluminum tubing can be used.

Author: Patrick T. Tremblay

The Advantage of Aluminum Railings

Aluminum railings offer many benefits over other materials that are used for railings. You will find that there are many different ways that aluminum can be used for railings and that aluminum can be mixed with other materials, which will give you added benefits.

The Lighter Side Of Aluminum Railings

Aluminum has been used for many years in railings because it is a lightweight metal that is easy to use and work. Aluminum has been used for many other purposed as well, including in the aviation in industry. Aluminum is well known for its resistance to corrosion, which makes it an ideal material choice for many different purposes.

Aluminum Railings

There are many different additions that can be made to aluminum to help make it stronger and more durable. Here are a few:

1. Anodized Aluminum: If you are worried about corrosion, then you will want to get aluminum that is anodized. This thing coating on the aluminum will help prevent oxidation, which is the beginning of aluminum become corroded.

2. Wooden Inserts: To strengthen aluminum, wooden blocks are sometimes put into the opening of the forms of aluminum. This will give strength, but not so much that it is heavy and difficult to work with.

3. Powder Coated Aluminum: To increase visual appeal, a new painting technique is being used called powder coating. This makes the railings look even more beautiful and pleasing to the eye.

4. PVC Coated Aluminum: After the aluminum has been formed into your railings, they can be coating with PVC. This helps the railings to last much longer and it keeps them looking beautiful for a long time.

Easy To Install

Manufacturers keep trying to make it easier to install aluminum railings. Bottom posts are made that allow the vertical aluminum posts to be fixed help to speed up the construction and installation process. Homeowners who enjoy doing home improvement projects will find that this upgrade is very helpful and will help cut your time needed to do this project. This kind of railing is normally found in CPVC, PVC, or other manmade materials.

Manufacturers are also finding that aluminum alloys will help make the railings last longer. This mixing of aluminum with other metals can help increase the resistance to corrosion and can help add to the strength to weight ratio.

Whichever aluminum railing that you choose, you are sure to find that there are many different designs. This will enable you to find the one that best fits your functional needs and your aesthetic needs.

By Andrew Caxton

Andrew Caxton is the author and editor of many deck and balcony articles and newsletters published at http://www.deck-porch-railings.com . Find more publications about aluminum railings at his website.