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The Fabricator December 2012
The Fabricator is North America's leading magazine for the metal forming and fabricating industry. The magazine delivers the news, technical articles, and case histories that enable fabricators to do their jobs more efficiently. The Fabricator has served the industry since 1970.
What's up with helium for welding applications?
- By Dan Davis
- Dec 3, 2012
- Consumables
- Article
Helium has been hard to get for some, and certainly the consumable gas is more expensive for welders than it used to be. The bad news is that this may be the case for some time. The good news is that alternatives are under development to help welders out as they tackle aluminum and stainless steel welding.
Fixturing for the short run
- By Rob Thompson and Jamie Sprague
- Dec 3, 2012
- Manufacturing Software
- Article
Hard tooling for traditional fixtures often depends on costly milling and other non-sheet metal processes. So how can these costs be minimized? The simple answer is to marry the processes and machinery you already have--including laser cutting, waterjet cutting, and punching--to the appropriate CAD system.
Ironworker basics: Cut it clean
- By Tim Heston
- Dec 3, 2012
- Shearing
- Article
How does an operator avoid distortion and burrs? For the ironworker’s common cutting stations--the punch, angle cutter, notcher, and plate shear--it boils down to matching the job at hand with some basic variables.
Keeping pace in sheet metal manufacturing
- By Frank J. Arteaga
- Dec 3, 2012
- Laser Cutting
- Article
To remain competitive, a shop must be willing to embrace both innovation and change together. To get the most out of that commitment, a shop needs to understand just how the introduction of any new technology will affect the entire process chain, not just one part.
How to succeed at welding thick aluminum
- By Sue Roberts
- Dec 3, 2012
- Aluminum Welding
- Article
Aluminum is tough to weld, but its advantages put it at the top of the materials list for fabrication. Our experts share tips on how to weld thick aluminum.
2013 Forecast: Rosy for some, sterling mediocrity for others
- By Tim Heston
- Dec 3, 2012
- Shop Management
- Article
Consumer spending is up. Even housing is up. Yes, pundits preach global uncertainty, even gloom and doom. But as owners of small or medium-sized businesses, metal fabricators have orders to fill, and next year many expect the volume of orders to continue or even increase a bit.
EuroBLECH 2012 recap: Fighting for more efficiency
- By Dan Davis
- Dec 3, 2012
- Shop Management
- Article
A terrible economy has forced European metal fabricators to focus on shortening turnaround time on jobs. If they attended EuroBLECH 2012 in Hannover, Germany, in late October, those fabricators probably discovered some tools that could help them accomplish their goals.
A matter of trust
- By Tim Heston
- Dec 3, 2012
- Shop Management
- Article
Trust is something that’s earned not only through hard work, but also by treating employees not as “direct labor hours,” but as, well, people.
3-D CAD: Part marking matters
- By Gerald Davis
- Dec 3, 2012
- Shop Management
- Article
Columnist Gerald Davis walks a CAD operator through the steps to set up an efficient way to apply part marking to any design.
- Podcasting
- Podcast:
- The Fabricator Podcast
- Published:
- 04/16/2024
- Running Time:
- 63:29
In this episode of The Fabricator Podcast, Caleb Chamberlain, co-founder and CEO of OSH Cut, discusses his company’s...
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