Forming & Fabrication: Various Processes Explained
Forming & Fabrication deals with the shaping and forming of metals into various objects. It involves cutting, bending, punching, forming and compressing metal into various shapes. The most common products formed through this process include door skins, bumpers, panel lips, air conditioner ducts and many more. Forming & Fabrication is a process that uses various types of tools to shape metals into desired shapes. These tools are generally mechanical in nature and involve mechanical manipulation such as drilling, punching, cutting, welding and riveting.
There are two common ways of Forming & Fabrication. The first is known as Sheet Metal Fitting and the other is known as Shaping & Shaping. In Sheet Metal Fitting, the first step in the process is to prepare the work piece for Forming & Fabrication by making sure that it has the right dimensions and the right material. This ensures that the fitting process will be smooth and will not require any additional modifications. Once the work piece is ready for metal sheet metal forming, the operator then rolls the sheet metal to the required diameter and then presses it into the desired shape.
The second method used in Forming & Fabrication is known as Shaping & Shaping. Here the first step involved in this process is to take the measurements of the part or object that needs to be formed. This is followed by a series of tools and equipment to create the required profile of the object. Once the profile is created, it is pressed onto the sheet metal while it is being shaped. Forming & Fabrication usually employs pressing and punching machines along with other manual labor intensive machines.
Most common processes used in sheet metal fabrication work are CNC or Computer Numerated Control and RFID or Radio frequency identification. CNC is the most popular process whereNC will allow the operator to manipulate the design of the part or product and place it precisely where it is needed. The major advantage of using CNC is that the operator can change the design after the part or product has been manufactured. Using RFID the same design can be stored and accessed thousands of times over. However, this also has a major disadvantage as RFID does not allow for changes to be made to the part once it has been placed.
The third most common process is metal tube forming & fabrication. This is widely used in the manufacturing of tubes such as pipes, automobiles and even ships. Metal tube forming is a very fast process where in the operator just needs to apply pressure on the metal tube to the desired location. A tool is used to apply this pressure and the tube is literally shaped like a ball or cylinder. The disadvantage of metal tube forming & fabrication is that the process is very messy since all the particles of metal need to be pushed into one place.
The fourth commonly used process is laser cutting where in the operator places a permanent pattern on the metal tubes by use of a powerful laser. The laser cuts out the pattern on the basis of a template that has been provided by the company. The laser cutting is a complex process requiring high attention to detail and accuracy to ensure that the pattern is exactly accurate.
The last process is sheet metal fabrication where the material is simply heated till the melting point and that the metal sheets are formed into the desired shape. This is a quick and less expensive way of producing door skins, hardware, faucets, handles and other such components. Sheet metal fabrication is the easiest way of producing customized door skins. However, due to the intricate nature of the produced door skins, the quality might not be as good as that of injection molded products.
There are numerous companies available today providing these Forming & Fabrication services and are operating with an eco-friendly concept of manufacturing low-volume items. The company offers services like full line custom door skins and stainless steel metal tubes. The stainless steel metal tubes are used for manufacturing various products such as, car doors, bike handle covers, stair railings, shower enclosures etc.