Sheet metal fabrication, custom sheet metal fabrication

Everything for sheet metal fabrication

Fabrication is a term that is generally applied to the industry of building metal machines and structures. The term also relates to the use of semiconductor device fabrication and non-metal manufacturing . A small business that specialize in any type of metal fabrication is called a Fab shop.

Fab and machine shops have overlapping capabilities, with fabrication shops concentrating on metal forming and welding.

Metal fabrication
A fabrication shop will place a bid on a specific job, usually based on the engineering drawings, and if awarded the contract will build the product to specification.

The fabrication shops are usually employed by contractors, OEM's and VAR's. Typical projects include machining loose parts, structural frames for buildings and heavy equipment, and hand railings and stairs for buildings.

Planning
When they Fabrication shop has been awarded the bid, the shop will begin planning the job. A purchasing agents will be responsible for ordering materials needed. If specialized fabrication equipment is needed some aspects of the job will be sub-contracted out to another shop. A manufacturing engineer will program CNC machines for the order as needed.

Raw materials
A list of standard raw materials used by metal fabricators is as follows;

plate metal
tube stock, CDSM
square stock
sectional metals (I beams, W beams, C-channel...)
welding wire
fittings
expanded and formed metals
hardware
castings

Cutting and burning
Once a job is create certain raw material needed must be cut to size. This is done with a variety of tools;

Special band saws designed for cutting metal have a feed mechanism for even cutting and hardened blades to make clean cuts through the hard metal surface. Chop saws (abrasive cut-off saws) Similar to miter saws but with a steel cutting abrasive disk. A cutting torch will use very little effort to cut very large sections of steel.

Plasma and Laser burn tables are the most commonly used. The plate steel is loaded on a table and the parts are cut out as programmed. Some very expensive burn tables also include CNC punch capability, with a carousel of different punches and taps.

More information about metal fabrication

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