Blast Cleaning Equipment: What you need to know before buyingIf you are a fabricator of metal parts that need to be primed or painted, then you more than likely will have to prepare the part surface before finishing to produce the desired end result.
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Roll out the shelvingJust as office managers look for the most efficient way to store files, shop managers must look for efficient ways to store heavy, expensive dies. Many offices have file cabinets with an index system for locating files quickly. The shop equivalent for storing and retrieving dies may be air-powered rollout shelf units.
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The importance of storage planningMaterial and equipment storage can be a major concern for fabricators. Therefore, it is important to establish the purpose of a storage system and understand clearly what it needs to accomplish.
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Improving warehouse operations for tube, pipe: Better efficiency leads to lower costsAnalyzing your warehouse layout might reveal severe inefficiencies. Do you have the most frequently picked items scattered around, or are they located near the packing station? Organizing the warehouse so that the most frequently picked items are close to the packing station and the least frequently picked items farther away can cut the transit time significantly.
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5 ways to leaner die handling: Vertical storage and retrieval systems help shops reach for leanUsing conventional rack and shelving systems to store and retrieve dies is inefficient and can cause damage to dies. Five critical areas of concern are space utilization, worker productivity, potential for die damage, ergonomics and cost justification. Shops can reach new lean levels by improvements in these areas.
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Select the right storage rack system for your needs |
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Pallet changer, tower, or shelving system with that laser?: Options for storing, transferring materialsWhen fabricators decide to automate material handling in their laser cutting operations, they have several choices to make. The decision on whether to automate—and what kind of system makes the most sense—will depend on the shop's capabilities, its production capacity, and available floor space. The options cover the full spectrum, from basic systems that simply unload one pallet and bring in another to large racking systems that maintain a full inventory of raw material and cut parts and can transfer those parts to other machines in the shop.
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Interaction of chemicals used in forming and fabricatingKnowing how chemicals tend to react with one another and how each type of lubricant and coolant commonly used during steel processing tends to behave is a boon when you're trying to fabricate products properly.
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Organización del herramental significa optimización del punzonado: Estos consejos mantendran a las punzonadoras de torreta funcionado eficientemente |
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Roll formers look for a win: Industry players hope to score with customization, better technology |
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Selecting the right materials for roll forming—Part 2: How mechanical properties affect productionThis is the second part of a two-part article. Read Part I. If you examine the mechanical properties of several materials, including carbon steel, alloyed steel, stainless steel, as they relate to roll forming, you'll gain an understanding of the influence of some primary metal processes on roll forming.
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How to avoid getting burned by hot work: Preventing losses and insuring safetyMaintaining a safe work environment in facilities in which hot work, such as welding, is done can be easier said than done. Measures such as preventive safety, safety zones, and fire watches can keep employees safe and worker's comp time down
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Stamp of Approval: Full-court press safety: How to maintain an effective safety program end to endIf you want a safe press operation, look beyond the machinery. Don't be surprised to find the keys to a good safety program well outside the confines of the pressroom.
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When sparks fly ...This article combines examples of fires caused by inadequate protection from welding with information on heat-resistant textiles and how they can be used to provide that protection.
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New Features in Coil-to-Coil Slitters: Adapting to the changing coil industry with technologyYears ago it was customary for coil processors to have dedicated slitting lines for specific materials and gauges. Today's larger, stronger, and thinner-gauge coils, however, require service centers to be able to process many materials and gauges on the same machine.
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What you should know about stamping coated coil: How to maximize prepainted metal’s advantagesMore than 4.5 million tons of coil-coated steel and aluminum are processed in North America each year by manufacturers in the appliance, auto, machinery, heating and cooling, metal roofing, and beverage industries. Gaining insights into stamping, handling, tooling, and storage can help optimize results
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Stop wasting time!: Integrated die handling, storage systemsMinimizing changeover times is accomplished with effective die change procedures and equipment. Applying quick die change basics is a necessity, such as standardizing die parameters and clamping, prestaging dies, and using proper tools and personnel.
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Getting a handle on work-related hand injuriesThe hand is one of the most complex parts of your body. It enables you to execute simple or complex jobs that cannot be performed by any other part of the body. Without your hands, it would be extremely difficult to do even those routine tasks that we take for granted every day.
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Imagination fabrication: To be a playground equipment fabricator, you gotta have gameBCI Burke, Fond du Lac, Wis., is the oldest playground and park and recreation equipment manufacturer in the country. As the company grew and its product offerings and colors multiplied, it found it needed to address problems with long leadtimes. Burke looked at every possibility for improvement, including processes improvements, inventory organization, manufacturing equipment purchases, and personnel productivity improvements, including crosstraining.
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When a good tube bends bad: ArrayHave you ever started with what you thought was a good tube, ended with a bad bend, and wondered where you took a wrong turn? Correcting for defects requires some detective work, and an understanding of the bending process. This article examines tube defects and offers fixes.
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Understanding how rotary tube and pipe cutting works: Why 25-year-old technology is still aroundInnovations and new developments in rotary tube and pipe cutting, such as high-speed cutting, minimal heat generation, special holding collets, and automatic loading, trim and sorting have reduced or eliminated time required for secondary operation, improved efficiency, and reduced costs.
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When a good tube bends bad - Part I: How to Prevent Tube From Taking a Bad TurnHave you ever started with what you thought was a good tube, ended with a bad bend, and wondered where you took a wrong turn? Correcting for defects requires some detective work, and an understanding of the bending process. This article examines tube defects and offers fixes.
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When a good tube bends bad: ArrayHave you ever started with what you thought was a good tube, ended with a bad bend, and wondered where you took a wrong turn? Correcting for defects requires some detective work, and an understanding of the bending process. This article examines tube defects and offers fixes.
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When a good tube bends bad - Part II: How to prevent tube from taking a bad turnHave you ever started with what you thought was a good tube, ended with a bad bend, and wondered where you took a wrong turn? Correcting for defects requires some detective work, and an understanding of the bending process. This article examines tube defects and offers fixes.
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Remote GTAW of spent fuel canisters: How this process reduces operator exposure to radiationThis off-the-beaten-path article defines a remote GTAW process that allows weld operators to minimize their exposure to radiation when welding spent fuel canisters used to contain nuclear fuel.
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Joining aluminum with GTAW: Advice for the noviceAluminum is a real challenge to weld, especially for beginners. A knowledge of the gas tungsten arc welding equipment that is available to do the job as well as required accessories, preparation tips, and proper techniques is a good thing to have before jumping in.
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Getting the best results in gas-shielded FCAW: Filler metals play a crucial role in the process |
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Starting a portable GTAW business: ArrayArray
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Starting a portable GTAW business Part I: Know your tools and skills: Part I: Know your tools and skillsStarting a portable GTAW business takes a lot of hard work and dedication, but it also takes the basics of knowing how to start it. It's important to learn about what equipment you need, how to set it up, and how to evaluate your welding before you take your first job.
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Robotic arc welding gets smart in real time: Immediacy of information can benefit shop floorsWhether you're dealing with low part counts or wild welding variables or the challenges of just-in-time production, monitoring software can help smooth your operation.
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Gas-shielded cored wires find their niche: Suitable applications for flux-cored and metal-cored electrodesGas-shielded flux-cored and metal-cored wires are growing in popularity because the wires are fabricated and can be applied to many applications.
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Spinning your wheels?: Separate grinding wheel facts from mythsGrinding wheels used in welding and fabrication are strong, tough tools, but many in the industry have called them "rocks" or "stones," implying that they're unbreakable.
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New PC-based controls open path to better press brake utilization: Control improvements simplify operator usePress brake forming always has been a labor-intensive process. Shrinking lead-times and smaller lot sizes demand more frequent setups, which cut into productive output hours and put more pressure on manufacturing efficiencies. Fabricators need to find ways to reduce machine downtime for setup and operator adjustments.
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Making solid delivery and storage choices for assist gases in CO2 laser cuttingHow you store and deliver assist gases to your laser cutting system is of critical importance to the effectiveness of your whole fabricating operation.
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Laser cell system gives job shop the home field advantageContract manufacturer CGI Automated Manufacturing Inc., Cicero, Ill., fabricates parts as an outsource resource for vertical manufacturers. The company started out as a stamping operation, then added other fabrication technologies, including welding, press brake forming, drilling, punching, rolling, shearing, and cutting.
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