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Articles - Page 230
- From The Fabricator
Die Science: Step-by-step troubleshooting of stamping dies, Part II
- By Art Hedrick
- Mar 6, 2015
- Bending and Forming
- Article
In Part I of this article, which appeared in the January/February 2015 issue, I discussed the first two basic steps in troubleshooting: Identify problems with the part and verify the die and press setup parameters. Following are the remaining seven steps in the process. Step 3—Reassess and...
- From The Fabricator
Ask the Stamping Expert: Stamping thin, hard stainless steel
- By Thomas Vacca
- Mar 6, 2015
- Bending and Forming
- Article
Q: We recently received an order for domed spring washers stamped from 0.0010-inch-thick 301 1/2 hard stainless steel. The parts are about 0.250 in. OD and have two 0.006-in.-diameter pierced holes on a 0.150-in.-dia. circle centered on the part. We usually do not stamp anything less than 0.010 in....
- From The Fabricator
3-D waterjet software ingredients are the right mix for easy operation
- By Sue Roberts
- Mar 5, 2015
- Manufacturing Software
- Article
Companies have been programming 5-axis waterjet heads for 2-D and 3-D tables for decades. The process has moved from being a time-consuming chore to a couple of clicks, and from requiring extensive process and software knowledge to being operator-friendly.
Handling structural steel, one truckload at a time
- By Eric Lundin
- Mar 5, 2015
- Materials Handling
- Article
For structural fabrication-and-construction companies, efficiency in logistics is vital. A typical column, beam, truss or joist is handled three times—first to a storage yard, then to a staging area, and finally to the semitrailer. However, this isn’t the only way to do it. Reinicke Athens Inc. recently invested in a straddle carrier from Combilift Ltd. Instead of moving one part at a time, the truck lifts and moves an entire load a time, cutting its trailer-loading time from up to 8 man-hours to as little as 30 minutes.
The Superior way to implement lean manufacturing
- By Eric Lundin
- Mar 5, 2015
- Shop Management
- Article
Editor Eric Lundin interviews two individuals who were key in establishing product flow at Superior Tube Co. Inc., tracing the big steps the company took to go from a conventional push system to a lean pull system.
- From The Fabricator
How a punch press acts like a press brake
- By Dan Caprio
- Mar 4, 2015
- Bending and Forming
- Article
Traditionally bending high flanges on a punch press just hasn’t been practical, but new machines and software are changing the situation. Today, flanges up to 3 inches high can be bent not by the press brake, but by special tooling on the punch press.
- From The Fabricator
4 ways to improve time per bend
- By Jamie Crandall
- Mar 4, 2015
- Bending and Forming
- Article
The time that a press brake operator spends walking to a control or maneuvering a part is time the customer is not paying for. Those seconds add up over the day and cut into a fab shop's profitability. New approaches to bending, however, can help to remedy that.
- From The Fabricator
Odessa, oil, and the welding arc
- By Tim Heston
- Feb 19, 2015
- Arc Welding
- Article
Investors worry about how the drop in oil prices will affect the energy boom. The people on the front lines—including the fabricators and pipe welders—don’t seem to be terribly worried. Some even welcome a slight slowdown, because it will give everyone time to catch up.
- From The Fabricator
Metal fabrication meets a seller’s market
- By Tim Heston
- Feb 18, 2015
- Shop Management
- Article
Manufacturing is cool again, and fabricators wanting to sell their business are benefiting from a seller’s market. Nevertheless, high revenue concentration, a shallow talent pool, poor cash flow, reliance on sales from a single sector, and other factors still throw up red flags.
- From The Fabricator
Why buy new tooling for a sheet metal hand brake?
- By Steve Benson
- Feb 17, 2015
- Shop Management
- Article
When bending with a hand brake, you can use the tooling that came with the machine, but investing in a tool with a radius on the punch nose has its benefits.
- From The Fabricator
Are you imprisoned by your information technology?
- By Lori Payne
- Feb 17, 2015
- Shop Management
- Article
With rapid application deployment platforms, software can be tailored to an individual company's needs in a very short time frame.
- From The Fabricator
Teaching: A metal fabricator’s secret sauce
- By Tim Heston
- Feb 17, 2015
- Tube and Pipe Fabrication
- Article
Bob Moehlman has welded pipe for more than 50 years, including 30 years at Superior Pipe Fabricators, a Los Angeles-based shop he helped launch in 1984. The shop’s success hasn’t come by using the latest and greatest pipe welding technology, but instead through teaching—showing the inexperienced employees the ropes, developing their talent, and giving them a career.
- From The Fabricator
Shop technology and 3-D CAD: Table-driven models
- By Gerald Davis
- Feb 16, 2015
- Shop Management
- Article
Columnist Gerald Davis shows why using a design table makes sense for those models in which reasonably limited changes take place.
- From The Fabricator
Six steps for selecting the right die for press brakes
- By Steve Benson
- Feb 16, 2015
- Bending and Forming
- Article
Choosing the right die for your press brake hinges on the tooling and press brakes, and the tonnage limitations of both. Learn more about press dies here.
- From The Fabricator
Welding technician and welding technologist—what’s the difference?
- By Professor R. Carlisle "Carl" Smith
- Feb 12, 2015
- Shop Management
- Article
Technician, technologist—just semantics, or is there a marked difference between the two? In welding, there is a definite difference.
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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.
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