Swenson Shear Metal Roof Panel Cutting Tools

Rapid Materials now offers a range of great metal roof panel cutting tools from Swenson Shear including the Model 48 HD Heavy Duty Pivot Shear (48" blades), the Model 64 Hip Valley Pivot Shear (64" blades) and the hand 1 Arm Bandit (available in both 24" and 34" blade lengths) . We also carry replacement blades for all current Swenson shear models including the Model 42.

All Swenson shears feature a variety of metal roof panel blade matches, and specialty blades designed to cut hips and valleys perfectly for a professional finish fast and easy.
We also offer the Swenson SnapTable HD, a unique machine that makes the task of notching and hemming standing seam roof panels a "snap". This popular specialty machine speeds the installation of standing seam metal roof panels considerably, with consistent panel notching and bending even valley cuts and bends. As all professional metal roofers know, appearance is everything and this machine virtually eliminates call-backs and rework due to uneven panel end appearances.

Swenson Shear was founded in 1959 in the small valley town of Ceres, California, east of San Francisco and has built a reputation of manufacturing quality metal cutting tools for the professional.

48" Wide Zinc Sheets from VM Zinc

This may be just a little premature, but the work needs to get out!

VM Zinc will soon offer 48" wide x 120" 0.8mm natural zinc flat sheets for shipment from the Mesa, Arizona plant.

The 48" wide product has been in the works for sometime now and will be available for purchase around the beginning of September 2015.

This product will be available exclusively through Rapid Materials and our sister web-store buyzincsheets.com.

VMZINC is the international brand name of rolled zinc products manufactured and sold by the Building Products Unit of the Umicore group, which is specialised in materials technology.
VMZINC has developed a large range of rolled products (coils, sheets) and manufactured products.

 For more information, call me at 770-405-1060 or email david.trefzger@rapidmaterials.com

S-5! ColorGard Calculator

The S-5!® ColorGard® snow retention system is the best on the market when it comes to holding snow on metal roof systems.

The problem is knowing how much ColorGard® and components are needed to make a complete system; in the past a trained snow retention specialist was your best option. (We are factory trained. If you need our expertise, call us at 770-405-1060 or email us at tech@rapidmaterials.com)

Now you can calculate your ColorGard® snow retention requirements yourself with our easy to use online ColorGard® Calculator.

In order to use the ColorGard® Calculator, you will need the following information at hand:

• Roof Panel Info
• Brand name or style (we can help with this)
• Material: Aluminum, zinc, copper, steel (galvalume or galvanized)
• Gauge or thickness of material
• Width of roof panel (dimension from panel rib to panel rib)
• Height of panel ribs
• Length of assembly
• Length of the eave of each roof area to be protected by snow retention (If you have a straight gable roof and you want snow retention on both sides, you would have two assemblies
• Length of roof panels.
• You don't need the length of each panel, just the length of the longest panel for each roof area to be protected
• Vertical Snow Load
• This should be the "Roof Design Snow Load".
• Because many existing structures (and new ones) do not have this data, a good starting point is to find the ground snow load for your location. The ICC (International Code Council) has a snow load chart available.
• You can also contact your local municipality's building codes department and they should be able to provide you with at least the ground snow load.
• It is important to note that ground snow load does not necessarily equate to roof snow loads, and certainly not roof design snow loads. The purpose of having this information is to determine the appropriate amount of snow retention devices to keep the snow retention device from separating from the roof and/or allowing the snow to slide. It does not determine the ability of the roof structure to support the snow load. When in doubt, it is always recommended that a structural engineer be consulted to determine if the structure is sufficient to support the load requirements.
• Roof Slope
• This is the roof slope in "pitch". This is given as feet of vertical rise in 12 feet measured horizontally. (or inches of rise for 12" of horizontal run)

As always, call or email us with any questions. 770-405-1060 M-F 8am-5pm. tech@rapidmaterials

A great metal roof bending tool manufacturer - JS Designs

We are pleased to announce that we now offer a line of great metal roofing tools manufactured by JS Design of Memphis, Indiana.

For more than twenty years JS Design has been manufacturing metal roof bending tools specifically designed for the task of bending the top (ridge) and bottom (eave) of roof panels, making the job easy, fast and economical. All JS Design tools are manufactured in the USA.

To see all of the great tools we offer from JS Design visit the JS Design page on our website.

For hemming tools (eaves bending tools) visit our Eaves Bending Tools page.

For turn-up tools visit our Turn-Up Tools Page.

These tools are common sense easy to use and economically priced.

Zinc Counter Tops - Cleaning & Maintenance

A commonly asked question by potential (and current) zinc countertop owners is: how do I clean and maintain a zinc countertop?
Zinc can be cleaned with any mild household cleaner but avoid anything with ammonia, bleach or citric acids. these products can etch and damage the surface.
Realistically, the best thing to use is a mild soapy water (dish-soap) solution. After cleaning, the countertops should be wiped dry.
One thing that is often overlooked is simple maintenance. Without some sort of maintenance, zinc will develope an ashy surface and finger-prints will be very visible.
Strub oil is a light-weight specially formulated mineral oil that is designed for zinc surfaces. It keeps the surface shiny, prevent fingerprints and helps the zinc surface to patina evenly.
VM Zinc recommends that any zinc product used as a countertop surface be protected with strub oil after every cleaning.
Proper maintenance of your zinc countertops will ensure a beautiful surface for many, many years.

The Women's World Cup

The Women's World Cup sure was an exciting series of matches this year. While I am definitely a fan of the US team, I did find time to watch several other matches and enjoyed the series thoroughly.

Generally speaking, the level of play and professionalism was awesome. I think I may have enjoyed this World Cup more than the men's World Cup last year. Less drama.

The final match between the United States and Japan was exciting to say the least! 3 goals scored by the US team within the first 15 minutes with a fourth during the fifteenth! Amazing!

Congratulations to the entire US Women's National Soccer Team!

You guys are professional in every sense, exciting to watch, and generally juts plain awesome!