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The Fabricator December 2015
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.
A “digital thread” runs through FABTECH, North America’s largest metal fabrication show
- By Tim Heston
- Jan 6, 2016
- Shop Management
- Article
FABTECH broke records again in 2015, drawing more attendees and exhibitors than ever. One theme this year seemed to pervade the event. It relates to what keynote speaker Karen Kerr, director of advanced manufacturing at GE Ventures, called a “digital thread” through the manufacturing supply chain.
Shop technology and 3-D CAD: Using images and live demos to explain a product’s function
- By Gerald Davis
- Jan 4, 2016
- Shop Management
- Article
Columnist Gerald Davis explores the use of “mates” as he reveals how to make a hand drill operate the same way in the 3-D model as it does in the real world.
Grand unifying theory of press brake bending: Part IV
- By Steve Benson
- Dec 15, 2015
- Bending and Forming
- Article
This month Steve Benson summarizes his grand unifying theory of radius, bend deduction, and die selection with a review and complete rundown of the bend calculations, from estimating springback to working the bend functions.
Workforce challenges: Can’t we all just get along?
- By Tim Heston
- Dec 15, 2015
- Shop Management
- Article
Talk to managers in metal fabrication and they’ll probably tell you they have trouble finding “good” people. In fact, they usually don’t say “skilled” people. So what’s the difference?
Do safety incentives work?
Incentives can be a good tool to draw awareness to a particular effort in a safety program, but they need to be implemented only after careful thought. Sometimes negative results can emerge from incentives created with the best intentions.
ISO certification in metal fabrication: Yes or no?
- By Dick Kallage
- Dec 15, 2015
- Testing and Measuring
- Article
Is ISO 9001 certification worth it? It really depends. If key customers or prospects require it, then yes, it’s certainly worth the effort. But if a fabricator does pursue ISO certification, it shouldn’t be a one-time effort but instead a continual improvement. It isn’t just window dressing.
The solid state of metal powders in metal fabrication
- By Dale Harper and Gary Tydings
- Dec 3, 2015
- Metals/Materials
- Article
Metal powders are used in various areas of manufacturing including powder metallurgy and additive manufacturing. But in the welding and metal fabrication arena, weld overlays and thermal spray are by far the most popular applications for metal powders.
A job shop reborn
- By Dan Davis
- Dec 3, 2015
- Shop Management
- Article
Co-Lin Metals Fabricating, Rockford, Ill., was an old-school shop. Estimates were done by hand, and important documents were transferred by fax. Stephen Hedlund, who had once worked summers at the shop where his dad, Michael, worked, wants to change all of that. He and his dad are the new owners, and they want to take the shop into the 21st century.
How a plate rolling rookie becomes a guru
- By Tim Heston
- Dec 3, 2015
- Bending and Forming
- Article
How does a plate rolling rookie become a guru? According to Ken Pecho, project engineer at Chicago Metal Rolled Products, it requires good communication. So how do you really define good communication? For plate rolling (and many other shop skills), you can break it down into three critical components: collaboration, observation, and patience.
Make way for the torch queen
- By Amanda Carlson
- Dec 2, 2015
- Arc Welding
- Article
Contributing Editor Amanda Carlson introduces us to a former contractor who has found her niche as a welding artist and instructor.
Metal fabrication in 2016: Diversification proves its worth
- By Tim Heston
- Dec 2, 2015
- Shop Management
- Article
2015 has been a tale of two markets—commodities and everything else. Demand for food, fuel, and materials is suffering and prices are dropping. But low prices in these areas are spurring growth elsewhere. Many predict this tale to continue into 2016.
Press brake training: Passing the torch
- By Tim Heston
- Dec 1, 2015
- Bending and Forming
- Article
Southern Metalcraft Inc.’s press brake veteran will be retiring at the end of 2016, and he is now passing the torch to someone who never worked on a press brake until 2009. So how did the rookie learn so quickly? Technical aptitude plays a role. But more important than that, the veteran and rookie get along and just work well together.
2016 capital spending forecast in metal fabrication: The growth continues
- By Tim Heston
- Nov 30, 2015
- Shop Management
- Article
According to the “2016 Capital Spending Forecast” from the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association International, total capital spending will edge up a little more than 2 percent next year. Still, certain equipment categories, including welding and bending, may experience dramatic gains.
3 steps to optimize a finishing operation
- By Tom Morris
- Nov 30, 2015
- Finishing
- Article
Metal fabricators are pressed for time, so many don’t dedicate the time to conduct a thorough analysis of something as trivial as abrasive disc usage. That’s a mistake, because a few simple steps can produce momentum that makes a more formal investigation into abrasive usage hard to ignore.
Friction stir welding expands its scope
- By Martin Brennan
- Nov 30, 2015
- Shop Management
- Article
Friction stir welding, which is used in projects such as the new NASA heavy-lift rocket, is now being used in more typical metal fabricating applications.
- 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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