Businesses utilize metal fabrication to produce custom-made equipment that they can specifically design to solve workplace problems. Even if you’ve never heard of fabrication, you’ve likely seen its creations—medical devices, window frames, elevator shafts, and car bumpers are just a few materials that companies can build to their specifications, thanks to this process. Read this guide to learn the most common metal fabrication processes you should know before reaching out to a service provider.
Cutting
As the name suggests, this method involves cutting the metal into complex designs with immense precision. Experts can do this in quite a few ways, such as using saws, lasers, plasma torches, or water jets. Admittedly, that sounds more like a James Bond villain’s shopping list, but these powerful tools get the job done. Cutting is arguably the most common metal fabrication process you’ll come across today, thanks to its reliability, accuracy, speed, and cost-efficiency. From thick pieces of metal to thin sheets, cutting is very flexible, making it a frequent go-to for companies looking to design custom workplace solutions.
Welding
There are many different welding methods, but three of the most common are stick, MIG, and TIG. Despite their differences, what these methods share is their use of heat to melt metal workpieces together. That might sound simple enough, but welding is something only trained professionals should attempt. Using the right techniques and materials for each project takes extensive practice.
Plus, welding involves many safety hazards, so taking steps like removing flammable materials from the work environment and wearing specialized PPE are essential. Welding is commonplace in the construction, aerospace, and automotive industries because of the strong bonds the process can create between two metals.
Extrusion
As we discussed above, welding is an effective fabrication method. That said, there are benefits of using T-slot aluminum extrusions that can make them more useful than professionally welded parts. For instance, instead of melting two workpieces together, assembling structures with aluminum extrusions only requires securing the connectors into T-slots. Although you might not know what connectors or T-slots are at the moment, assembling will be straightforward once you have these materials in your hand.
Manufacturers frequently build extrusions to fit custom workplace applications, thanks to their simplicity and flexibility. This begins in the early stages; metal is steadily forced through a die, shaping the metal into a predetermined shape that meets a client’s unique needs, such as building light fixtures, hospital bed frames, and more.
These are the most common metal fabrication processes you should know if you’re a business owner or manager of any kind. From hospitals to construction sites, there are many industries that metal fabrication can assist. If you think one of these methods is the key to helping you solve a workplace problem, reach out to a professional fabrication service today.
