Metal fabrication touches our everyday lives in many different ways, although we are seldom aware of it. The majority of metallic items used in households, offices, and industries like furniture and fixtures, machinery, and various household appliances, utensils, kitchenware, and utility equipment are metal fabrication products. From automobiles to aircraft and from electrical installations to plumbing, fabrication plays a critical role because it helps to give shape to metals to produce some finished product that has some specific use.
Ladders, railings, window grills, cupboards, curtain rods, all types of vehicles, and a wide range of machinery are some products created by the technique of metal fabrication complying with the engineering standards. For more information about Wiley Metal Fabricating Inc, a reputable metal fabricator, you can log on to their website.
Table of Contents
What is metal fabrication?
Metal fabrication consists of several techniques of working with metals that include cutting, bending, drilling, and joining to produce some product according to the drawing provided to the fabricators. Everything metallic that we see around us has a touch of metal fabrication in some way or other. For example, the trucks and trailers have many fabricated items assembled to produce the utility vehicle to perform the desired functions. Even the automobile frame is an example of metal fabrication, just like the metal utensils and the bar stools made from stainless steel.
Here are some commonly used procedures for metal fabrication.
Cutting
Cutting is the most elementary process in any fabrication, and fabricators use special cutting techniques and machines to cut different types of metals according to their hardness and strength. Although sawing is effective for cutting small and thin metal sheets, fabricators use mechanized tools like grinders, power scissors, or more advanced techniques like water jet cutting, laser cutting, and plasma-jet cutting for more accurate precision and faster cutting. Besides manual tools, computerized cutting tools like computer numerical cutters (CNC) are more popular for heavy and intricate fabrication jobs.
Bending
After cutting a piece of metal, it is necessary to bend it at various angles to achieve the desired shape of the product. Fabricators use multiple tools and techniques for bending metals depending on the thickness, hardness, and necessary bending or folding. Brake presses are the most common machinery used for bending metals by pinching the metal to create a crease with the help of a punch and die that presses down upon the metal piece at high pressure. Hammering also helps to fold metal pieces, and a folding machine is even helpful at times.
Welding
Welding is the most effective technique for joining metal pieces permanently. TIG welding, MIG welding, Stick or Arc welding, and Flux Cored Arc welding are fabricators’ most popular welding techniques. The welding procedures use heat and pressure to join the metal pieces that can withstand high pressure.
Stick welding is the most basic type of welding that uses a welding electrode or stick to produce an electric arc when it meets the metal. The high temperature melts the metal, which soon solidifies and forms a permanent joint.