Sunday, October 16, 2016

For Metal Fabrication Richmond Is The Way To Go

By Edward Cook


Constructing a structure involves bending, assembling and cutting metals. This process of construction is called metal fabrication. It is a value added process that uses various raw materials to construct a final structure or machine. The process is carried out in fab shops while the workers are called fabricators. Fab shops bid for projects and upon being awarded, they start work on it. When in search of companies that do metal fabrication Richmond should be one of the places to check out.

Any job in fab shops starts with a drawing of the final product. Workers study the drawings carefully to ensure that they understand what they are supposed to do well. They take all necessary measurements of the drawings and calculate the size of the real object. After taking measurements, they move forward to fabricate the structure. The final stage is the installation process where the final product is produced.

Fab shops get employed by various employers such as VARs, contractors, and OEMs. They are engaged in the production of a wide variety of hand railings for buildings, structural frames for heavy tools and buildings, loose parts, and staircases. These shops undertake both large and small scale projects. Some shops specialize in certain projects only.

Cutting, assembling, and bending are the three major processes involved in this activity. Cutting is attained through chiseling, sawing, or shearing. All the three methods of cutting have manual and mechanical variants. Numerical control cutters and torching can also be used to cut. Two examples of torches are plasma torches and oxy-fuel torches. Torches are made to be hand-held with controls incorporated on them. They are held in hands using a handle.

Hammering is used to achieve bending. Hammering is available in both mechanical and manual versions. Press brakes and other tools may also be used to bend. Coining and air-bending of metal sheet into forms is done using press brakes. CNC-controlled backgauges get employed in positioning cut parts utilizing hard stops in order to place bend lines perfectly into position. The level of efficiency in CNC-controlled press brakes has improved following the incorporation of off-line programming software

Assembling, which also represents the final stage, is accomplished through welding, riveting, use of adhesives, and threaded fasteners among other methods. Sheet metal and structural steel are the materials that fabricators start to work with in any project. They also need flux, fasteners, and welding wire. The process makes use of both human labor and automation of processes.

Undesirable material over metal surfaces are removed through a refinement method referred to as machining. Machining is necessary for attaining the required shape. Machining is usually a separate trade in which fab shops only specialize to a limited extent. Machining capabilities that a fab shop may incorporate within their services include magnet based drills, mills, and metal lathes.

Fab stores usually specialize in one or multiple areas of specialty in this profession. Specialization by fab stores is usually dependent on customer needs and level of expertise in the specific specialty. Some of the areas available for specialization include welding, powder coating, casting, powder metallurgy, and chipping.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment