The Fabrication Fact Sheet
Manufacturing and fabrication aren’t the same thing. Indeed, fabrication may be part of the manufacturing process but manufacturing refers to the entire cycle of producing a product from start to finish. Fabrication involves the assembly of standard or specialised parts to form parts of a product to be used in the manufacture of the finished piece.
When we talk about fabrication, we are typically referring to metal fabrication but in its entirety fabrication is simply the shaping, cutting or moulding of materials into items.
Common fabrication techniques include cutting, forming, punching, stamping, shearing and welding.
Metals
- How many types of metals are there? Whilst the exact number seems to vary depending on who you ask, there are a little over 90 different types of metals. Over three quarters of the elements on the periodic table are metals (or are likely to be such). These include the commonly known metals like iron, copper, gold and aluminium, and the weird and whacky elements with names like Californium, Seaborgium, and Livermorium.
- How many types of sheet metal are produced? The majority of our products start as sheet metal. There are six major types of sheet metal material, each with its own unique advantages: Alloy steel, Stainless steel, Carbon steel, Tool steel, Galvanised steel, Aluminium.
- What is steel? By definition, steel is simply iron (an element) mixed with carbon.
- What makes Stainless Steel, stainless? Technically, it’s a type of steel alloy, but there are so many varieties that it usually has its own category. This is a steel that places particular emphasis on corrosion resistance. It is basically steel with the right amount of chromium. Chromium forms a very thin barrier during corrosion and delays rusting. Scratching off the barrier, a new one will immediately form. In order to be classified as “stainless steel,” a steel alloy must have at least 11% chromium and at most 1.2 percent carbon.
- What is Aluminium? Aluminium is mainly derived from bauxite ore. Light, strong, and functional. It is the most common metal on earth and its use is everywhere.
- What is the strongest metal? This is one of those questions that’s actually hard to answer because there isn’t a single, universal scale for strength. For example, when it comes to tensile strength, tungsten is the strongest out of any natural metal but it is weak on the impact strength scale. Compressive strength and yield strength are also considerations. Metal strength therefore depends on the use.
- What is the lightest metal? Lithium is considered to be the lightest or the least dense metal on earth with a density of 0.534 g/cm3. Magnesium is the lightest structural metal and abundantly available in the earth’s crust and seawater.
What About Welding?
One of the key components of our fabrication capacity is our welding team. Our highly skilled welders have plied their trade for a collective total of some 100 years. Nearly everything that goes through our factory will move through weld at some point. Here’s some interesting things to know about welding.
- What’s the difference between MIG and TIG welding? The main difference between MIG and TIG welding is the electrode they use to create the arc. MIG uses a consumable solid wire that is machine fed to the weld whereas TIG welding uses a non-consumable electrode and a hand-held filler rod to create the join.
- Not quite getting it? Basically, in MIG welding, the electrode and the shielding gas are both fed through the welding gun (or torch) to complete the weld, but in TIG welding, the torch has a non-consumable tungsten electrode at the tip so the filler is applied via a rod with the other hand.
- Okay, so how does that determine what type of welding you’ll perform? At the basic level, MIG welding offers low cost, fast welds and is easy to learn, meaning that less experienced welders can put down good quality welds. TIG welding is much more difficult to master as well as being more expensive and slower. However, TIG welding can deliver a level of accuracy and aesthetic quality that can’t be matched by MIG welding. Where MIG welding is better for thicker materials, TIG welding is preferred for thinner materials or more delicate jobs.
There’s quite a bit more to know when it comes to MIG and TIG welding, especially when we get down into the details of strength, speed, aesthetics, gases and materials. For that, we recommend checking out WeldGuru for a complete rundown! Instead, here’s some fun facts about welding:
- Welding happens on a universal level as well. Two pieces of metal in space can touch and instantly become bonded together permanently. This doesn’t happen on Earth because of the atmosphere creating an oxidised layer between each surface of the metal.
- Ultrasonic welding is a friction-based welding process that utilises acoustic sounds to create energy. Plastic pieces then vibrate together and are bonded. The first plastic bodied car was created using this process. This type of vehicle wasn’t a great success but the process still is used today.
- Russian cosmonauts were the first to attempt welding in space back in 1969.
- The first industrial robot created was actually meant for welding. George Devol designed it in 1961. He called it the Unimate and it could be programmed to repeat certain movements with great precision so that it could perform welding tasks on cars, trucks, missiles, etc.
