Automakers are constantly trying to improve automotive designs, making vehicles lighter and stronger, using thinner materials, and redesigning points of strength for better crash resistance. At the same time, welding equipmentmakers who serve the industry are focusing on this quest for quality by developing the equipment to weld hydroformed parts, aluminum, and coated materials: critical components that affect how vehicles are made today.

Kuntz Electroplating, a Kitchener, Ontario-based independent OEM chrome-plating supplier of automotive wheels and bumpers, the management watched as hundreds of its workers manually polished its wheels. Because this made it difficult for the company to find, train, and retain the workers it needed, it decided to develop its own automated process for wheel finishing.

Selecting the right respirator for a welder involves examining the processes used, the workplace environment, and the types of base metal and consumables used. This article offers tips for finding the right respirator for your application, preferences, and workplace.

To be competitive in today's market, a laser user must be sure that equipment is operating at an optimum level. Maintaining your gas source and gas distribution system, installing properly sized pipe, and choosing the right gas supply system are some practical steps to take that can help develop the right gas supply system for a laser.

In comparing cutting costs associated with precision plasma, punch-plasma, and laser cutting, it's important to account for labor costs, operating costs, and depreciation. All three of these processes have benefits and drawbacks cost-wise, depending on how they're deployed.

Many fabricators use plasma arc cutting torches every day, either to replace or complement saws, cut-off wheels, snips, and oxyfuel rigs. It can be used in a variety of applications—installing or remvoving HVAC/R equipment, plumbing systems, and industrial equipment; reparing equpment and systems; and cutting shapes consistently.

Metal sculptor Robert Toll's transition from economist to recognized artist has been as startling and fiction-like as is his featured sculpture in the film, "Pulp Fiction." He is most noted for his sinewy, life-size figurative pieces. He uses oxyaceytlene to heat and bend steel rod, then welds the pieces together.

With a plasma cutter and grinder, you can unleash your inner artist and create unique metal art. In words and images, this article describes how to select the equipment, create a template, set up the work area, make your cuts, and finish the project.