You probably have boarded a car, train, or aircraft today, or you might have used a chair, desk, or any other item made of metal. Have you ever wondered how these metallic equipment are produced from different pieces of metal to give the desired structure? It’s all thanks to welding!
Welding is the act of joining pieces of metal using heat, pressure, or a combination of the two. Unlike brazing and soldering, in welding, the pieces of the metal bases are melted and allowed to cool down, therefore getting fused in some instances with a filler’s help.
Ranging from the satellites that are hung beside celestial bodies down to the tiny metal pieces in our mobile phones, the act of welding is deeply interlaced in our lives. Some of the projects that can be done with welding include:
Making the framework for aircrafts
Building of vehicles
Crafting of industrial machinery
Construction of metallic parts of robots and other devices
Creation of scaffoldings
Crafting of tools and furnaces, etc.
Types of Welding
The technology of welding and fabrication has been expanding with the progress in metallurgy, mechanics, and robotic engineering. The need for firm and spatter-free welding increases with the need for perfection hence the evolution of different welding specialties, each with its specification, requirements, and an unmatched advantage over the others.
However, due to the dangerous nature of welding, only professionals must handle any welding operation. This is where VeriForm comes in; we offer welding experts to meet your needs and welding engineers to ensure all specifications are met. Lastly, our in-house certified welding inspector will be present throughout any welding operation to ensure only quality work is produced.
The choice of suitable welding depends on the project’s specifications, type of metals involved, the metal’s size, and aesthetics preferences. Therefore, the available types include the following.
This is of the most popular welding processes today, essentially due to its simplicity and low cost. It requires the use of flux-coated consumable electrodes. The electrode is struck at the supposed joint to create the electric arc between the electrode and the metal pieces to be joined. The arc generates a temperature high enough to melt the metal edges and the electrode; in the process, the flux disintegrates to give vapour that shields the weld zone from atmospheric gases; this allows the weld pool to cool firmly with no oxygen interference.
This flux disintegration is what gives shielded metal arc welding the possibility to be performed outdoors. Therefore, it is suitable for big projects of thick iron, steel, stainless steel, and occasionally aluminum.
This type of welding is also referred to as stick welding, or flux shielded welding.
Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) or Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) Welding is the type of welding that requires a non-depleting tungsten electrode to create the arc in the workspace. When the pointed electrode is scratched on the supposed joint, the arc creates a temperature that melts the weld metal at the weld zone, creating a weld pool. This weld pool is shielded from atmospheric gases by an inert gas like argon, a mixture of argon and hydrogen, or helium.
This type of welding is preferred in welding thin sheets of stainless steel, magnesium, aluminum, and copper alloys. TIG welds stand the test of time and wear; they can also be done with various metal types and fillers.
This type of welding is mainly used in nuclear power plants, aircraft, spaceships, and missiles. The main obstacles with GTAW are the requirement of skilled personnel and non-suitability for thick metal pieces.
Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) is classified into Metallic Active Gas (MAG) and Metallic Inert Gas (MIT) Welding, both require the use of electrode filling wire in one hand and shielding gas through a torch in the other hand. The electrode creates the arc between the pieces at the joint, while the high temperature creates the pool, the shielding gas pours out through the torch to prevent atmospheric interference. The gas can be inert (in case of MIG) like argon and helium, or active (in case of MAG) like a mixture of carbon dioxide and argon.
Gas metal arc welding is useful in cracks and breaks repairs, reinforcements, rail lines, coatings, and abrasion proofing of aluminum, bronze, stainless steel, etc.
GMAW is not suitable for outdoor welding, and each type of metal requires a corresponding filler.
The high temperature used in welding causes damages and discoloration in the heat-affected zones (HAZ) of the metals, which are aesthetically displeasing. To reduce this effect, the Pulsed Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAWP) is developed; it is just like gas metal arc welding, but with a low temperature, which reduces the spatter on the weld zone. As stated, every project has its specifications, and each needs a different treatment to reach fruition. Therefore each project requires the expertise of veteran welders, which you can find at VeriForm for your welding, rolling, iron bending, and other metal fabrication projects.
Sheet metal fabrication refers to the development of parts from sheet metal. A large number of industries around the globe rely heavily on sheet metal fabrication. Railroad, aerospace, automobile, oil and gas, electronics, military, and HVAC are some of the leading industries that use CNC sheet metal fabrication to produce a variety of different products; for example, roofing, electronics closure, drainage equipment, pipes, tanks, and ventilation systems.
The production of custom parts using CNC laser cutting machine sheet metal has given birth to remarkable opportunities for manufacturers. At VeriForm, we are unlocking new possibilities through state-of-the-art machining capabilities and craftsmanship.
New technologies are continuously reshaping the way metal fabrication companies develop unique parts and meet the growing demand for high-quality products. With time, the sheet metal fabrication process has been developed into a form of art that requires sophisticated machines and skills. For example, precision sheet metal fabrication has become a common manufacturing process.
The Popularity of CNC Laser Cutting Machines for Sheet Metal
CNC metal cutting technology enables manufacturing processes in which pre-programmed software is used to automate and control the movement of various metal fabrication equipment. CNC capabilities can be used to automate a variety of complex manufacturing devices ranging from cutting and drilling to bending and rolling. Sheet metal fabrication is one of the many applications of CNC systems.
The growing need for accuracy, speed, and cost-effectiveness has led manufacturers to employ CNC machines to deliver a high degree of precision as compared to old-fashioned cutting machines.
Materials used in sheet metal fabrication vary in terms of hardness, strength, resistance to corrosion, and conductivity. However, CNC laser cutting machines are ideal for sheet metal fabrication.
How Sheet Metal Cutting Works
CNC laser cutting utilizes a high-powered laser to cut through sheet metal. A combination of lenses and mirrors directs a high-energy beam of light onto the surface of the sheet. The power of the beam melts and vaporizes the metal. CO2 is a common laser used to cut sheet metal. The diameter of the beam at the cutting surface is usually around 0.008 inches. While the table moves, the cutting head remains stationary. Besides, pressurized gas blows away the molten metal.
Laser cutting machines can be used to cut both ferrous and non-ferrous sheet metals. However, materials with low conductivity and reflectivity (carbon steel, titanium, stainless steel) allow the laser beam to deliver better results.
Sheet Metal Fabrication Services in Ontario
VeriForm is one of the innovative metal fabrication companies in Canada where they take full advantage of CNC laser cutting to meet the growing needs of their customers. Since the sheet metal fabrication processes demand high precision from skilled fabricators, VeriForm hires highly experienced and skilled operators to ensure consistent quality. A mix of skilled labour and advanced CNC machines enable VeriForm to ensure accelerated and cost-effective production processes.
When it comes to precision and energy conversion, the CNC laser machine has the advantage over plasma cutting systems when cutting sheet metal. However, most laser cutting machines can’t cut through the greater metal thickness. This is where you can consider employing plasma cutting machines. The latest laser machines operating at higher power are competing with plasma systems in their ability to cut thick materials.
Categories of Sheet Metal Fabrication
CNC laser cutting machine sheet metal falls into 3 major categories: industrial, structural, and commercial. While sheet metal fabrication helps businesses create common consumer products such as electronics, appliances, and cars, industries use the process to create parts in the production of equipment that is used to manufacture consumer products. Manufacturers are leading buyers of products produced through CNC machining.
Fabrication shops often use large-scale CNC sheet metal fabrication to create components for many industries: construction, manufacturing, roofing, and more. With so many industries relying on sheet metal fabrication, it’s easy to comprehend the large consumer base for sheet metal products.
Conclusion
At VeriForm, we have a smart team of sheet metal fabricators that leverage CNC capabilities to meet your manufacturing needs–whatever they may be. With our broad range of CNC machining and metal fabrication services, our experts are happy to take on complex projects and are committed to your success.
If you want to get it right the first time with great accuracy and speed, make sure to talk to VeriForm’s experts.
What started as a simple technique to cut metals has now developed into a highly efficient and productive tool for fabrication shops. Built off of plasma welding in the 1960s, plasma cutting is a widely used method to carefully cut metals. While early cutting technology was slow, expensive, and large, precision plasma cutting now offers greater flexibility and speed in cutting various shapes based on instructions programmed into the CNC machine.
Plasma cutting is widely employed in the construction and fabrication industries due to its high speed, precision, and cost-effectiveness. Whether you want to create artwork or manufacture finished products, precision plasma cutting provides you with unlimited possibilities for cutting stainless steel, aluminum, and other metals.
This article will talk about how precision plasma cutting works, its benefits, applications, and recommended solutions.
How Precision Plasma Cutting Works
Simply put, an accelerated jet of hot plasma cuts through workpieces made of electrically conductive materials. Conductive gas with a temperature of up to 30,000 C turns precision plasma into an effective cutting tool. Steel, aluminum, brass, copper, and stainless steel are typical materials that are cut using this technique.
The fundamental function of plasma cutting is the creation of an electrical channel of electrically ionized, highly heated gas from the cutter. High-speed plasma and compressed gas blow the workpiece away and cut it with great precision.
A high-precision plasma cutting machine concentrates more energy in a smaller area, which helps fabricators produce precision cuts with less top-edge rounding, less bevel, and a narrow kerf. Such precision tools can play a central role in many manufacturers’ success.
The Increasing Popularity of Precision Plasma Cutting
The demand for extremely accurate and high-quality products in a short time led to a surge in demand for precision plasma cutting and other advanced metal fabrication techniques. If you want to cut materials of different thicknesses and shapes with high accuracy and speed, you should consider using precision plasma cutting. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of plasma cutting:
Ease of use
Plasma cutters are often designed in a way that makes it easier for fabricators to move them wherever the job demands. Thus, they help fabricators accelerate productivity and operational efficiency.
Versatility
A diverse range of metals can be cut using plasma cutting. This cutting technique is also effective when a fabricator has to cut several materials stacked on top of one another.
Speed
If we make a comparison between traditional and plasma cutting tools, the latter clearly wins the race in terms of speed and time-saving. To be more precise, a plasma cutter can get the job done one-fourth the time of a traditional cutting tool. You don’t have to preheat a plasma cutter before cutting metal.
Precision
When it comes down to cutting different shapes or angles with sheet metal, plasma cutting should be your first choice. A traditional cutter can’t produce such precision even when an experienced operator with a steady hand is operating it.
Low price
Customers demand high-quality products at a lower price. It’s not possible to meet these expectations with old-fashioned machines. Precision plasma cutters not only cut things faster but also produce less waste, which leads to cost-effective metal fabrication processes. Less time spent on piercing means less money charged to customers.
Moreover, high-end plasma technology dramatically reduces the amount of heat. It avoids plate wrapping of thin materials. Safety is an additional feature of modern CNC cutting processes.
Applications of Precision Plasma Cutting
While manual plasma cutters are used for thin metal processing, scrap welding, trailer production, artworks, welding repair, and maintenance, CNC plasma cutting is used for more sophisticated jobs. Automotive repair and restoration, industrial construction, manufacturing, and scrapping industries widely use plasma cutting to process materials.
Types of Precision Plasma Cutting Offered by VeriForm,
At VeriForm, fabricators use high-definition plasma cutters that increase productivity and quality in cutting non-ferrous and ferrous materials. New plasma cutting technology enables them to produce improved cut quality than what had been previously possible with plasma cutting.
About VeriForm
VeriForm is a one-stop fabrication shop for customers looking for metal fabrication services in Canada. The company offers CNC precision cutting, bending, rolling, welding, and machining services to a broad range of industries. Ready to take advantage of precision plasma cutting capabilities? Contact VeriForm to get a Free quote!
Laser cutting technology, as the name suggests, uses a powerful laser to efficiently cut materials. It’s a fabrication process that utilizes a high-powered laser beam to cut materials with great speed and accuracy. While traditionally used for industrial manufacturing applications, laser cutting is now increasingly used by small businesses and hobbyists. Laser cutters can be used to cut a range of materials: metal, plastic, wood. Glass, gemstone, and paper. It can produce intricate and complex parts without the need for tailored tooling.
Lasers are used for a broad range of applications – cutting metal plates is just one of them. Laser cutting machines produce incredible results when it comes to cutting steel, stainless steel, and aluminum plates. For example, the process yields a small kerf width, excellent cut quality, and a small heat-affected zone. Besides, you can cut very intricate shapes and holes.
CNC Laser Cutting Machine
A CNC machine is a programmable device that is capable of autonomously performing various tasks. A CNC laser cutting machine is controlled through written code which determines everything from RPMs to the movement of the cutting head. All CNC machines are run by computers. The function of a CNC machine is to take human input and translate it into movements through code. CNC laser cutting machines outperform every other cutting tool when it comes to the repeatability and precision of the manufacturing processes.
Laser cutting is one of the most widely used manufacturing processes that have applications in automotive, aerospace, semiconductor, electronics, and medical fields. The cutting technique works in many different ways as compared to how old cutting technologies work, opening up new possibilities for quality and reliability.
The CNC Programs Command the Following Actions in a Machine Based on Human Input:
How fast to move the cutter
How fast to turn the spindle
The direction in which the cutter moves
Which cutter to use
When to turn on or off the coolant and so on
Types of Laser Cutting
Fabricators use a variety of laser cutting machines that can be categorized as liquid, gas, and solid-state lasers. Cutting techniques are differentiated based on the active laser medium. The two major types of laser cutters use solid-state lasers and CO2. A CO2 laser is ideal for cutting non-metal materials as the early models were not powerful enough to cut metals. However, the latest CO2 lasers are now capable of cutting metals. Most fabricators use these machines to cut non-metal and organic materials such as leather, wood, and rubber.
VeriForm Offers Top-Notch CNC Machining Services
Superior dimensional accuracy and a variety of cutting capabilities make CNC laser cutters ideal for end-users. Controlled by software, CNC laser cutting delivers stunningly accurate cuts, making it a must-have tool for progressive fabrication shops.
At VeriForm, our metal fabrication experts use CNC laser cutting tools to create unique parts and exceed customer expectations in terms of quality, speed, and affordability. From countersinking and drilling to cutting and tapping, we employ CNC machines to meet the emerging needs of our customers.
As a leading metal fabrication company in Canada, we have been using CNC laser cutting machines for over 20 years to provide high-accuracy cuts of some of the largest pieces of metal in North America. With CNC Laser Cutting, we cut up to ¾in x 80in x 160in with the accuracy of +/- 0.005in.
Applications of a CNC Laser Cutting Machine
If accuracy, precision, and high-quality edge finishes are prime concerns of a project, it becomes indispensable to use CNC cutting machines. There are several types of laser cutting: fusion cutting, scribing, and oxidation. With less physical damage, waste, and material contamination than other cutting techniques, CNC laser cutting is an ideal choice for many metal fabrication processes. However, this might not be a suitable approach when it comes to materials that require secondary finishing and machining work.
Conclusion
It’s time to take advantage of VeriForm’s CNC machining capabilities! If you need to get your CNC cutting done in a short time and with impeccable accuracy, VeriForm is ready to exceed your expectations. As an Ontario-based fabrication shop, we use fully automated cutting and quality assurance systems to accommodate even the most demanding projects.
Accurate metal fabricating is a broad subject that covers several areas. Generally speaking, the term metal fabrication refers to the strict manipulation of metals based on exact specifications and tolerances. The process involves, but is not limited to, CNC machining, metal spinning, cutting, welding, punching, rolling, molding, and bending. These processes are used to turn raw materials or semi-finished materials into final products.
Metal fabrication has broad applications across consumer products and industries. Flat metal, plate metal, sectional metal, fittings, castings, and welding wires are some of the standard raw materials used to build a wide range of products.
What is Accurate Metal Fabricating?
As the name suggests, accurate metal fabrication refers to the production of metal components using highly specialized techniques and equipment such as CNC precision machining, laser cutting, sheet metal fabrication, precision grinding, plasma cutting, etc. When it comes to precision, fabrication using computer numerical control (CNC) is a commonly used method.
The need for precision and accuracy is continuously increasing across industries. To meet the emerging demand for precision machining, shops have to employ sophisticated and multiple technologies to help contractors limit their need to work with several vendors to complete a project.
Many modern metal fabrication processes require precision with near-zero tolerance for error. They start with an initial design idea and creating a fully functional and tested prototype. Once completed, the above-mentioned accurate metal fabricating techniques are used to convert raw stock into finished products.
How VeriForm Creates Unique Parts Using Precision Metal Fabrication
VeriForm is a leading fabrication shop in Canada, developing custom metal structures using advanced metal fabrication equipment. The shop provides a complete range of parts fabrication services in one facility so that clients don’t have to locate multiple vendors to complete projects.
As one of the best custom fabricators in Ontario, VeriForm uses a highly trained team of machinists and technicians who know how to use precision equipment to produce and assemble the most complex parts. Here are some of the accurate metal fabricating processes VeriForm uses to produce great results for their customers:
One of the common accurate metal fabricating techniques includes precision metal stamping, a process in which three-dimensional parts are engraved onto a piece of metal. The process requires high pressure to stamp various shapes and dies onto metal surfaces. A range of metals including metal alloys, steel, copper, aluminum, and titanium can be processed using precision metal stamping. The gear used to get the job done can range from a simple, manual press to a more sophisticated computerized die processor.
Computer-based metal fabrication techniques process instruction to run mechanical devices. CNC or computerized machines are a lot more efficient than traditional machines. The concept of accuracy has primarily developed with the advancement of industrial technology that depends largely on computers and robots.
The Growing Need for Accurate Metal Fabrication
When operating in a highly competitive environment, it becomes crucial to deliver top-quality products on time. Precision fabrication is the only way forward to deliver premium products. However, delivering projects on time depends on the project management capabilities of a shop. While the market has become too competitive, fabricators grow when they stop being mediocre and focus on precision and customer satisfaction.
Precision metal fabrication processes are not all about machines. Fabrication skills play a critical role in this regard. For example, in laser cutting, operator skill is a part of the equation. A nozzle that really isn’t centred, a feed that isn’t optimal or a focus point that isn’t where it should be will make all the difference. VeriForm works hard to be a cut above the rest with quality, on-time completion, and customer satisfaction.
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