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The Fabricator November 2016
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 makes an air bend sharp on the press brake?
- Nov 16, 2016
- Bending and Forming
- Article
Press brake operators use rules of thumb when it comes to determining sharp bends. But what truly determines the point at which a bend turns sharp is the relationship between the punch nose radius, the tonnage required to form, and the strength of the material.
Shop technology and 3-D CAD: Modeling a ribbon cable
- By Gerald Davis
- Nov 8, 2016
- Shop Management
- Article
Columnist Gerald Davis considers techniques for adding ribbon cable connections to 3-D models
Making sense of manufacturing acronyms
- By Stu Johnson
- Nov 8, 2016
- Shop Management
- Article
The enterprise software space has hundreds of three-letter acronyms—from MRP and ERP to MOM and MES—that represent technologies that help make managing business processes easier.
Job security in manufacturing: Why all the negativity?
- By Tim Heston
- Nov 7, 2016
- Shop Management
- Article
The labor market is tight. Wages are going up. In metal fabrication, small companies are paying just as well if not better than bigger firms, according to a recent survey from the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association International®. Considering all this, why all the negativity? High uncertainty about the future may have something to do with it.
Share the lean manufacturing knowledge
- By Jeff Sipes
- Nov 7, 2016
- Shop Management
- Article
As you pursue your lean journey, you create knowledge. What you do with that knowledge can predict how successful your lean efforts will be. If you tell the workforce only the bare minimum, then you are probably leaving lots of improvement potential on the table.
Artist keeps ’em guessing
- By Eric Lundin
- Nov 3, 2016
- Arc Welding
- Article
Metal artist Chris O’Rourke goes a little further than most artists do, focusing on attention to detail. Many fabricators are more than a little mystified as to just how he did what he did, and most are equally perplexed when they realize how much time and effort he puts into his work.
Structural fabricator has trial-by-fire leadership succession
- By Tim Heston
- Nov 3, 2016
- Shop Management
- Article
Bass Mechanical, a mechanical contractor and structural fabricator in southeast Pennsylvania, has transformed during the past two years. The company founder died unexpectedly, and his 27-year-old son, who at one point did not plan to enter the family business, is setting the stage for long-term growth.
7 reasons cast-iron platen tables make sense for welding
- By Paul Cunningham
- Oct 31, 2016
- Arc Welding
- Article
Cast-iron platen tables have been around for decades, but many metal fabricators don't know about the usefulness or flexibility of these durable work surfaces.
Flexible metal fabrication, however you slice it
- By Tim Heston
- Oct 31, 2016
- Punching and Other Holemaking
- Article
MF&B Restaurant Systems Inc., a pizza oven manufacturer in Dunbar, Pa., increases its fabrication flexibility by shortening punch tool changeovers, making good use of form tools, and making product design choices.
Safety and ergonomics strategy at Heatcraft: Do it safely, or not at all
- By Tim Heston
- Oct 28, 2016
- Safety
- Article
Heatcraft Worldwide Refrigeration, a division of Lennox International, has a culture in which safety is baked into the organization’s technology, processes, and mindset. If a project can’t be done safely, it isn’t worth doing at all.
Hourly or Salaried? Exempt versus nonexempt employees in metal fabrication
- By Dannah Rodriguez and Jonathan Martin
- Oct 27, 2016
- Shop Management
- Article
The Labor Department estimates that several hundred thousand workers in over 60,000 primary metals and fabricated metal products establishments will be affected by new regulations that change who qualifies for overtime.
3 ways that welding vision systems boost production efficiency
- By Catherine Cline
- Oct 27, 2016
- Arc Welding
- Article
Consistent torch alignment, in-process quality checks, and postprocess reviews are three examples of how weld camera technology is helping to take these activities to the next level.
How adjustable V dies streamline plate bending
- By David Bishop
- Oct 27, 2016
- Bending and Forming
- Article
The latest advances in adjustable V dies have finally brought the kind of flexibility to plate bending that those in the precision sheet metal arena have enjoyed for years.
Manufacturing’s new road map
- By Pierre Slabber
- Oct 27, 2016
- Manufacturing Software
- Article
Today’s intelligent CAD models contain a wealth of information. As a fabricator, if you are not leveraging that data to accelerate quoting and drive production, you are wasting precious time—and money.
Metal spinning versus flow forming
- By Dirk Palten and Josep Mont
- Oct 27, 2016
- Bending and Forming
- Article
Metal spinning and flow forming are similar processes. In some respects, flow forming can be considered a specialized kind of metal spinning. But the two processes are different, and each is designed to meet different application requirements.
- 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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