New Version of RapidMaterials.com offers 25+ construction supply brands and over 10,000 products

November 12, 2015

AUSTELL, GA – Rapid Materials, Inc. is very excited to announce the newest version of RapidMaterials.com. The newly revised site features over 10,000 construction materials, supplies and tools from more than 25 brands like S-5!, Trespa^®, Freund, Rodenhouse, SFS Intec and others which the construction pro, tradesman and even the savvy DIY-er would find quite useful.

Despite the vast breadth of products available at your fingertips 24/7, what Rapid Materials customers love most about the site is access to David Trefzger – our dedicated technological expert and resource available for your project and purchasing questions via Twitter (@rapidmaterials), e-mail and phone. “Having someone like David available to assist customers is phenomenal,” said Zane S. Miller, Vice President of Miller Clapperton and supervisor of Rapid Materials. “He’s known as a go-to in the construction industry and is a trusted expert that will actually take the time to talk to you on the phone and help you figure out what you really need. He’s not there to sell you something that won’t work, he’s there to help make sure your project is a success.”

The new RapidMaterials.com is divided into three easy sections: our Product Catalog, Wall Cladding Products (like Alucobond^®, larson^® and Reynobond^®) and Products by Brand. That way you can easily get to the information you want and quickly find what you need (especially with regards to items on sale). Ordering is equally easy. Just click the blue “buy” button on the product you want, enter the quantity and you’re on your way to checkout.

“It’s important to me that people know what they’re getting and it’s going to actually help them with their project. I’m not going to sell you anything I wouldn’t buy for myself if I were in your shoes,” says David, Rapid Materials Manager. “Construction supplies in particular are hard to shop for. No one’s ever available to take your question and knowledgeably talk to you about your problem. I wanted to fix that. RapidMaterials.com gives me a way to help you do your job better and I like that.”

There’s a complete list of brands available currently on rapidmaterials.com under the “Products by Brand” section. The blog section is also a great way to keep up to date on new materials, tools and supplies now available on the site. Additionally, customers can also sign-up for the Rapid Materials e-mail newsletter – just contact David Trefzger to get added to the mailing list.

 “We are adding more and more products by the day!” said David. “I’m excited to see how many more products and brands we’ll be able to offer our customers to accommodate any of their needs, for any of their products.”

About Rapid Materials: 

A division of Miller Clapperton, Rapid Materials, Inc. is an internationally recognized online retailer of construction tools, materials and supplies for the construction pro, tradesman and DIY-er. The website features over 29 top brands and over 10,000 products, including clips-metal roof panels by SFS Intec, gutter and roof products (including copper), fall protection – anchorage systems, fasteners-screws, leader heads/conductor heads, rooftop mounting and sealing, S-5! Clamps for metal roofing, Dow-Corning sealants, snow retention snow-guards, solar mounting kits, general construction tools, zinc sheets by VMZINC, stainless steel sheets and more. Rapid Materials also has an in-house technical expert available 24/7 for purchasing and project advice. For more information and a complete list of brands sold: www.RapidMaterials.com | Twitter: @rapidmaterials | Facebook | Blog

About Miller Clapperton: 

The Miller Clapperton Partnership, Inc. is one of the largest providers of engineered facade cladding in the United States and beyond. Since its inception in 1979, Miller Clapperton has successfully completed thousands of projects in five countries (Bermuda, China, Kuwait, Mexico, and Trinidad and Tobago) and 43 states utilizing Metal Composite Material, High Pressure Laminate Phenolic Resin, and other exterior wall cladding products. For more information: www.millerclapperton.com | Twitter & Instagram: @thepanelguys | LinkedIn | Facebook

ACM Sheets Now Available From Rapid Materials

ACM SHEETS

Rapid Materials now offers a huge selection of ACM (aluminum composite material) sheet goods from the best names in the business, including Alucobond® by 3A Composites®, Reynobond® by Alcoa® and Larson® by Alucoil®.
Through our special program, folks who wouldn't normally be able to purchase these products in smaller quantities, such as sign makers and glaziers, can purchase what they need from one sheet up to ten!
That's right. Our minimum order requirement is one (1) single sheet! No more buying the farm when you only need one cow!
We offer all standard 4mm colors from our manufacturers and factory direct lead times as short as one week.
(PS: look for more colors coming to Rapid Materials soon!)

GAS STATION ACM SHEETS

In conjunction with this new program, we also supply CAP Panel™ by 3A Composites®.
CAP Panel™ is a 3mm ACM product designed specifically for service station use, with a range of colors that match most common gas station brands.
Our CAP Panel™ program is just as exciting. The minimum order is one (1) sheet, and with CAP Panel™  there is no maximum order limit!

MetalCon 2015 Top 10 Takeaways

We walked MetalCon 2015 with our coworkers at Miller-Clapperton.

Good show and lots of people to talk with and products to see.

Want to read our take on Metalcon 2015?

Our Top 10 Takeaways from Metalcon 2015

15% OFF TOOLS SALE - Limited Time Offer

15% OFF TOOL SALE. Until midnight Friday, October 9th, 2015, get 15% off on a huge selection of tools on rapidmaterials.com simply by entering discount code BL61VTGVC60DJ2 at check out!
This sale includes great tools from tool manufacturers like Malco, Midwest, Express, Freund, Rau and more!
Go to our Sale Tools Collection to view and purchase tools that qualify for this discount.

Trespa^® Meteon^® is now available from Rapid Materials at http://www.rapidmaterials.com/pages/trespa-meteon
What is Trespa^® Meteon^® you ask?
"Trespa® Meteon® is a decorative high-pressure compact laminate (HPL) with an integral surface manufactured using Trespa's unique in-house technologies, Electron Beam Curing (EBC) and Dry Forming (DF). The blend of up to 70% wood-based fibres and thermosetting resins, manufactured under high pressures and temperatures yields a highly stable, dense panel with good strength-to-weight ratio's."
Used to produce beautiful facades, Trespa^® materials have been available on the world market for almost fifty years and have evolved to become one of the highest performance products out there for exterior cladding.
Trespa^® Meteon^® can be milled to just about any shape using common wood milling tools and the results can be spectacular.

To learn more about Trespa^® Meteon^® visit our website or contact me at 770-405-1060 M-F 8am-5pm eastern, or email be at info@rapidmaterials.com.

Zambelli manufacturers some of the worlds finest half round gutter systems; their painted steel line adds aesthetics and beauty to any home or business at a cost that is more budget friendly than copper and zinc.
Available in 5", 6" and 7.6" gutter widths, Zambelli half round gutter systems are just that; a system. Every elbow, downspout , hanger and bracket is engineered to exactly match all other components in the system and with attention to the small details, like the self-sealing gasketed endcap and snap-on downspout outlet drops, this system is easy to install with basic hand tools.
Crafted from heavy gauge galvanized steel, then painted the same color inside and out (most painted gutters have a white wash-coating on the inside), Zambelli offers durable long-lasting color finishes in these colors:

*G-90 Galvanized is unpainted and will naturally develop ash gray patina over time. Galvanizing is an electroplated zinc coating for corrosion resistance.
Want a price on a complete system? Just call 770-405-1060 M-F 8am to 5pm, or email info@rapidmaterials.com.
Orders for Zambelli gutter products over $250.00 qualify for discounts as high as 50% on many components! Call and talk to me about your needs!

Its a bit of a standing joke around the office. Evidently I like snips a lot and I get pretty enthusiastic about them when someone asks.
Truthfully, I like all tools. I've always found the ingenuity that goes into creating or updating a tool fascinating. But today I want to talk a bit about snips.
The following is an excerpted from my own writings and is copyrighted, so please read it & share it, but do not reproduce it without asking first!
SNIPS
Snips are basically a scissor designed to cut sheet metal. There are as many varieties and styles as the years they’ve been in use; there have been examples of early sheet metal snips found in Roman ruins thousands of years old. Early snips didn’t have to be too strong; they were only cutting soft copper and lead. The industrial revolution saw the advent of better quality metals, thus better quality snips had to be made.
Why so many varieties? Specialization, modernization, competition.
Today there are a couple of main groups of snips readily available to the do-it-yourselfer:

1. Pattern Snips
2. Aviation Snips
3. Traditional sheet metal snips.

Pattern Snips
Pattern snips have so many varieties that it would probably take a hundred pages to review all of them. Essentially a pattern snip is a tool designed to do layout cutting in flat sheets. They can cut long straight lines, wide sweeping curves and even some tighter curves.
Pattern snips are older traditional designs that are usually manufactured of forging steel. They are available in long straight broad blade designs, bend blade designs, duckbill designs, and now, using light-weight aluminum and magnesium for the handles, offset and replaceable blade designs.



Aviation Snips
As their name suggests, aviation snips were originally created to cut the aluminum used in the construction of aircraft. With the advantage of compound leverage mechanical linkage, aviation snips have a distinct advantage over traditional sheet metal snips. Less effort is required to cut materials and some designs feature offset blades that help flow material up and away from the hand.

Traditional Sheet Metal Snips
Are just that. Traditional designs, usually of forged steel, than are available in a wide variety of shapes that are used for a variety of tasks. Essentially anything you would use an aviation snip for, you can do with a sheet metal snip, but it will take a little more work and skill. The designs have remained relatively unchanged since the beginning of the industrial revolution, but with the application of modern steel alloys for durability and strength.

Too Many Choices? What is best for metal roofing?
This really a loaded question. Most snips have some purpose when used in metal roofing applications, however what works best is pretty subjective. In other words, it really depends on the skills, needs and pocketbook of the user.
For the average do-it-yourselfer, my recommendation would be a good set of offset blade aviation snips.
Why aviation snips and why offset blades?

• Aviation snips are generally less expensive than other options
• Aviation snips can cut any sheet metal product used in a metal roof
• Aviation snips feature a compound leverage action that requires less effort to cut
• Aviation snips usually feature color coded handles so you know which way they cut
• Offset blades angle the snip and place your hand above what you are cutting
• Offset blades push the cut metal away from your hand better than regular aviation snips
• Offset blades are great for cutting curves and circles. Offsets can even cut a small 6” diameter hole in sheet metal with just a little practice

Standard aviation snip on the left. Offset aviation snip on the right. Note how the offset aviation snip’s angled blades change raise the handles above the kerf angle and away from that raw, jagged edge you just cut. Another advantage of the offset aviation snip is that you can use it to comfortably cut from below and you can turn the tool around and cut back toward yourself.
What’s with the different colored handles?
Aviation snips manufactured for the North American market have color code handles that are indicative of the expected direction of cut. All aviation snips will cut straight, however green and red handled aviation snips will cut curves much better than a yellow handled snip.
RED – Cuts Straight and LEFT
YELLOW- Cuts Straight
GREEN – Cuts straight and RIGHT
I don’t see any need for yellow handle aviation snips. I’ve known plenty of professional metal roofers and most of them don’t even own a pair.
Buy a set of red (cuts left) and green (cuts right) offset aviation snips and you’ll have everything you need. Most likely you will develop a preference for which one you prefer to cut straight with, but remember, they will both cut straight just fine.

I hope that this has helped you understand which tool works best for your application. When in doubt, call or email me. I can always be reached at 770-405-1060, or by email at info@rapidmaterials.com