Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) is one of the world’s most popular welding techniques, capable of producing complex small welds to huge welding projects. Because the technique is relatively simple but able to produce versatile results with low equipment costs, SMAW welding accounts for over half of all welding production in certain countries.
SMAW is used to weld different kinds of steel and iron. It can also be used on nickel, copper, nickel/copper alloys, and aluminum. SMAW’s form of arc welding involves using a covered metal electrode that is covered in flux coating. As the weld is laid, the coating melts, releasing a vapour that shields the weld from outside contamination. The nature of SMAW means that many materials of different thicknesses can be joined, producing parts that have applications essential to everyday life – they can be used in the construction of steel structures, industrial fabrication for bridges and canopies. The technique also applies well to maintenance and repair jobs.
There Are Many Benefits of SMAW. These Include:
Simple and relatively inexpensive equipment
Suited for many different commonly used metals and alloys
Able to be used in many environments both indoor and outdoor; outdoors, in shops, on pipelines, ships, bridges, and refineries, etc.
The process is largely unaffected by winds and drafts, making it ideal for outdoor welding
One of the most portable welding processes (can be powered by gas and diesel rather than electrical connections), which allows the welder to be versatile in their welding locations and positions
Separate gas shielding is unnecessary
Depending on the welder’s skill, SMAW can be used in any position and does not always require the use of large tools or worktables, ensuring that it remains a popular technique among amateur welders and small businesses. SMAW welding requires welder-fitters who are certified to the Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB) Level 2 welding standards. High-quality welding ensures that these parts are strong and will hold to their intended applications.
SMAW requires precision and attention to detail, which VeriForm is more than capable of providing in every weld. VeriForm only employs CWB CSA w47.1 and W59 certified welders, as well as retaining qualified CWB certified welding engineers to ensure all specifications are met for client projects. Because SMAW has such a wide range of industrial uses, VeriForm can take on a vast variety of projects for its clients. Projects can be set up with limited time and effort, saving on set up costs, while the simplicity of SMAW tools and equipment means that there are fewer instances of equipment breakdown. This means that projects can be completed quickly and efficiently with the SMAW technique, with savings passed down to the client. The quality of workmanship with VeriForm’s certified welders means that our welds will hold safely, stay strong, and reach the client defect-free.
August was a special month for VeriForm – on August 1st, this metal fabrication company with a penchant for high-quality service and a passion for environmental conservation celebrated 23 years in business!
For more than two decades, VeriForm has applied its steadfast business philosophies to provide customers with superior manufacturing and metal fabrication services. From their 26,000 sq ft. facility in Cambridge, VeriForm has manufactured custom parts for mining, forestry and machine-building sectors. Whatever is required – precision plasma cutting, bending, rolling, welding – VeriForm’s CNC machining is innovative, modern, up to date and always up to the task.
VeriForm has also established a reputation as both an environmental advocate and a company dedicated to giving back to and creating a sustainable community. Since 2006, VeriForm has implemented sustainability improvements that have cut back on carbon emissions and saved the company over $2 million dollars. These savings have since been passed on to customers and the community in terms of improved production prices and creating a sustainable future. Since then, VeriForm has continued to invest in energy-saving projects, ensuring the growth of the company through lowering annual operating costs. This regard for the environment has also enmeshed VeriForm as part of the community.
For 23 years, VeriForm has succeeded through its commitment to 3 core values: community, sustainability, and education. VeriForm also believes that improvement and success are not finite – in order to continue being leaders in providing precision metal fabricating, the trajectory of the company must be viewed as a journey. A journey in which Veriform will constantly innovate, improve, and renew its partnership with customers and the community.
At its core, VeriForm’s guiding philosophy has been to run a good, honest business. Here’s to another 23 years of excellent customer service, superior product and process, and remaining a cut above the rest!
Computer numerical control (CNC) laser drilling is one of the most expedient laser processes available on today’s market. By using high-quality lasers, CNC laser drilling outshines standard machinery as it offers incredibly accurate and precise penetrations that manual drilling cannot. Because laser drilling is computer automated, it leaves your material untouched; this means that there is very minimal distortion of the material. The technology used has many other benefits such as exact replications, easily adaptable plans, increased production rates – with single pulse drilling up to 200 holes per second – the capability to create holes of small diameter with high aspect ratios, as well as precise beam manipulation to drill shallow angles and shaped holes. The laser also regulates the beam intensity, duration, and heat output, leading to very little distortion in drilling and ingenuity to work with diverse materials such as stainless steel, copper, wood, gemstones, brass, nickel, and iron.
The first laser of this magnitude was created in 1960; at the time, the idea of the laser was overwhelming as its purpose had not yet been identified. Engineers were excited by the power of this invention, and by 1964, Bell Labs harnessed the power to create the first laser cutters. This technology developed at a rapid rate, and by the 1970s, the aerospace industry adopted laser cutting and drilling techniques. By the 1980s, laser drilling had become an estimated $7.5 billion industry. Since then, CNC laser drilling has only improved, making it faster, more accessible, and more accurate than ever.
Today, CNC lasers can cut up to ¾ inches x 80inches x 160inches with an accuracy of +/- 0.005inches and holes less than 0.25mm in diameter (as small as 0.0005 inches in diameter). This is an act that a conventional drill cannot accomplish. Because of this incredibly consistent precision and quality, CNC laser drilling is trusted by high-level technicians in the industries of aerospace, often for the drilling of cooling holes in the turbine engines of aircraft; electronics, because, as technology advances, each part is decreasing in size, and therefore must increase in precision; medicine, to accurately create needle holes in devices; automotive, to manufacture consistent and accurate holes for various parts, such as injection nozzles that carry fuel to the engine; and semiconductors, for a plethora of applications in the $335.2 billion industry.
The use of CNC laser drilling in such critical industries shows its exceptional quality, but this calibre of work is not exclusive to billion-dollar industries. The precision and accuracy of laser drilling have an economic return on investment in many applications as your product will last longer, will be created to your exact specifications, and will be completed much faster than any manual drilling could possibly produce.
To get a quote for the most reliable drilling technology has to offer, contact us today!
The precise skill and artform of fusing two pieces of metal into one, while ensuring the fuse point is able to withstand the stresses during the service life of a component or structure requires a professional and competent team of welders, inspectors and processes.
At VeriForm, all of our welders are qualified under the Certified Welding Bureau (CWB CSA W47.1) for all our types of manufactured welding techniques including:
Arc Welding
TIG
MIG
Pulsed MIG Welding.
Within
our five welding bays, we carry equipment to ensure all of our projects and
manufactured items are precise and of high quality by the use of our Demmeler
Bluco fabrication tables and our Meta-Lax stress relieving systems. The
Demmeler Bluco table allows us to ensure every requirement and customer
dimension is precise, while our Meta-Lax stress relieving system ensures all
our thermally induced stresses are reduced or eliminated during the weld
manufacturing process.
At VeriForm we are able to weld, bend and manipulate all types of metal, including, steel, stainless steel and aluminum. All of our welds are inspected by our certified in-house inspector to ensure that each weld has the same strength as the base metal.
Although welding steel is the most popular type of weld – we also frequently weld aluminum and stainless steel with our gas pulsed metal arc welding machine (GMAWP). The advantage of using the GMAWP process is that it uses lower heat, ensuring the weld bead on the stainless steel and aluminum has fewer defects.
Once
the stainless steel welds meet our high-quality expectations and have been
inspected through our in-house inspectors, we use a Surfox 304 weld cleaning
machine to restore the stainless steel back to its original certified ASTM
standard. We have the engineering expertise, capability and equipment to
manufacture components that are as small as your palm, or large, heavy and
complex.
At VeriForm, we have over 20 years of experience and are committed to your success. Contact our experts for a quote and let’s discuss your next venture or project – any size big or small!
Catherine McKenna’s Promotion of a Low-Carbon Economy
What is the price of a sustainable future? That is the question that Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, explores in a recent interview with the Academy for Sustainable Innovation (ASI). In this interview, McKenna believes that in order to preserve the natural sustainability of the planet for future generations, “we all have to be part of the solution”, which involves “working in partnership with businesses”. McKenna gives a special nod in the interview to VeriForm, Inc., a company that she feels is an inspirational example of what happens when companies actually put “a price on pollution”.
According to McKenna, VeriForm has not only made better business decisions (cutting back on costs and improving energy efficiency), they have also lowered their emissions by 80% while “growing their bottom line by a couple of million dollars”. The overall message of the interview and the mention of VeriForm, Inc. serves to emphasize McKenna’s message that in order to fight pollution’s negative effects on the planet, businesses have to restructure the way they use energy; not only to improve their own economic growth but to also pave the way for everyone to prioritize sustainable energy and reducing carbon emissions.
Over the last twelve years, VeriForm has saved over $2 million dollars thanks to its sustainability improvements. By embracing the provincial and federal carbon taxes and viewing them as an incentive to improve, the company has contributed towards McKenna’s vision of a low carbon economy. Between 2006 and 2008, VeriForm has invested over $46,000 in energy-saving projects. Since then, annual operating costs (especially concerning energy) have been reduced significantly, with savings only expected to grow as energy prices increase. Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) have also been reduced by 202 tonnes per year since 2017, ultimately reducing energy costs by over 70%.
VeriForm has proven that cutting back on carbon emissions is not only a smart business move but also a morally driven choice that will ensure a better future for the generations to come. Legislation such as carbon taxes and cap and trade programs should be enacted in order to mandate energy reduction and encourage, rather than deter smart asset management in order to benefit the economy and the health of the planet.
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