What Types of Machines Are Used in Metal Fabrication?

While the job used to be performed by hand, today’s sheet metal workers have a variety of high-end tools at their disposal to help deliver a quality product with a faster turnaround time. This post will cover a few of the different types of fabrication machines and how we use them:

• Lathe machine: A lathe is handy to have around because it’s a multi-purpose machine, but its main task is rotating the piece to keep the process moving along. We can use it in cutting, welding, drilling, threading, facing, turning and more.
• Grinding machine: When customers want a smooth metal sheet, we often turn to a grinder. This machine rotates an abrasive material at high speeds to remove extra metal pieces from a product, leaving the surface polished and smooth.
• Drilling machine: As you can tell by the name, these metal fabrication machines are used to drill holes. Professionals can also use drilling machines on concrete, cement and pretty much any other hard surface.
• Magnetic drill: For drilling into pieces of heavy metal that can’t be lifted easily, metalworkers often turn to a magnetic drill. It features a magnetic base for added stability (hence its name).
• Shaper machine: A shaper uses a single-point cutting edge to cut metal sheets. They move linearly along the sheet and are often easier to operate than some other types of machinery.
• Plane machine: Planers are similar to shapers, but they’re often larger. The only difference is that these metal fabrication machines have a static cutting tool and rotate the piece in a linear motion.
• Cold saw: We’ve all heard of saws before. A cold saw is a handheld saw that uses a toothed blade to cut metal while providing a smooth finish. These are favored among metalworkers because they’re inexpensive and portable.
• Hem band saw: This is another type of saw that most metal fabricators use often. We use it to cut metals at 45-, 60- or 90-degree angles. Metalworkers can adjust the pressure, blade tension and guide arm for ultimate control over the tool.
• Shearing machine: When cutting metals into fine pieces, we’ll often use a shearing machine. These are designed to prevent the formation of chips in the metal, which reduces the need for additional labor or using more machinery.
• Press brake machine: A press brake machine has a simple job—it bends metal sheets by clamping them between a punch and a die. We can use it to convert metal sheets into girders, channels and all sorts of different angles.
• Oxy-gas torches: We can use oxy-gas torches for steel sheet fabrication as well as cutting and welding. These torches use a mixture of oxygen and either gasoline, propylene, acetylene or hydrogen to get the job done.

We can handle your metal fabrication needs

If you need a professional to operate any of these types of fabrication machines, hire our team at N.W. Metal Fabricators, Inc. We’re capable of performing a wide variety of services to meet your every need. Contact us today to get a free estimate for your project.

Categorised in: Metal Fabrication

This post was written by Writer