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Articles - Page 235
Improving flying cutoff operations, mill productivity
- By Daniel Johns
- Dec 16, 2014
- Tube and Pipe Production
- Article
Tube and pipe production is a capital-intensive process, but paying close attention to the efficiency of some of the lowest-cost items, specifically the consumables, can yield big benefits in productivity. At the cutoff, proper blade choice and optimizing the cutting depth are important first steps, but it’s also necessary to diagnose saw problems and—most important of all—develop a blade replacement strategy that minimizes mill downtime.
- From The Welder
Aluminum Workshop: Why 6061 filler metal doesn’t exist
- By Frank Armao
- Dec 15, 2014
- Aluminum Welding
- Article
Q: The most common grade of aluminum I see is 6061-T6, but I’ve never seen 6061 filler metal. Why is this? Why does everyone seem to weld 6061-T6 with 4043 or 5356 filler metal? A: You never see 6061 filler metal because, if it existed, it would be an awful filler metal. Virtually every weld you...
- From The Welder
Aluminum Workshop: New wire brand may mean new parameters
- By Frank Armao
- Dec 12, 2014
- Aluminum Welding
- Article
Q: When I run out of aluminum gas metal arc welding (GMAW) wire and buy a different brand, it doesn’t seem to weld as smoothly. Is there that much of a quality difference among brands? A: While there may be a difference in quality, you may be experiencing something else entirely. If you’ve...
- From The Fabricator
Pass it on
- By Amanda Carlson
- Dec 12, 2014
- Bending and Forming
- Article
Ron Covell’s 50-year career manually building autobodies for street rods, dragsters, and motorcycles is impressive, to say the least. But he doesn’t plan on hoarding all of the expertise he’s garnered over the years. His latest passion, of the last 20 years anyway, has been sharing information in his traveling workshops to current or up-and-coming autobody enthusiasts. It’s what he hopes is his longest and most impactful legacy.
- From The Fabricator
One metal fabricator, two value streams
- By Tim Heston
- Dec 12, 2014
- Automation and Robotics
- Article
For decades Nu-Way Industries operated with a conventional management structure. In recent years, managers at the Des Plaines, Ill., fabricator discovered that the two kinds of orders the company processed, engineered to order and make to stock, really called for two distinct value streams, each operating under a different business model.
- From The Welder
Aluminum Workshop: Preheating aluminum
- By Frank Armao
- Dec 12, 2014
- Aluminum Welding
- Article
Q: What preheat temperature should I use when welding aluminum? I’ve heard different numbers, and I know they can’t all be right. A: Let me begin with a bold statement: If you have the right equipment, you never need to preheat when welding aluminum. I have gas tungsten arc-welded (GTAW)...
Boatbuilder switches from aluminum to steel
- By Eric Lundin
- Dec 11, 2014
- Arc Welding
- Article
Burger Boat Co. has weathered many a storm in its 150-year history, often changing direction to incorporate new technologies and adapt to changing market conditions. When the pleasure craft industry sank in 2009, it went after commercial work, and in the process had to develop a program for working in steel, which it hadn’t done in five decades or so. With the new process came new consumables from ESAB.
- From The Welder
Aluminum Workshop: Alloys for furniture fabrication
- By Frank Armao
- Dec 11, 2014
- Aluminum Welding
- Article
Q: Which alloy would you recommend for cold bending aluminum tubing or fabricating aluminum law furniture? A: First consider alloy availability. Many alloys are available as round tubing, but not all are obtainable. Most small-diameter tubing is extruded because it’s relatively economical to...
- From The Welder
Aluminum Workshop: Electrical current in TIG and MIG
- By Frank Armao
- Dec 11, 2014
- Aluminum Welding
- Article
Q: When I gas tungsten arc weld (GTAW) aluminum, I always use alternating current (AC), but when I gas metal arc weld (GMAW) aluminum, I always use direct current electrode positive (DCEP). Why the difference? Does anyone GTAW aluminum using DC? Does anyone GMAW using AC? A: In both GTAW and GMAW,...
- From The Welder
Aluminum Workshop: How to Identify Aluminum Types
- By Frank Armao
- Dec 10, 2014
- Aluminum Welding
- Article
Need to know how o identify aluminum? Learn about what different aluminum alloys are made of and which filler metal to use when welding. Find out more.
- From The Fabricator
Engineer, weld, fabricate, test, and perfect
- By Tim Heston
- Dec 10, 2014
- Waterjet Cutting
- Article
Rando Productions juggles various projects from various customers—TV shows, commercials, theme park attractions—and each has its own timeline. It’s all one-off, nonrepeat work. Sound familiar?
- From The Welder
Aluminum Workshop: Acceptable tensile sample failure
- By Frank Armao
- Dec 9, 2014
- Aluminum Welding
- Article
Q: We are fabricating components from ½-in.-thick 5083-H131 armor plate using robotic GMAW and 5183 filler metal. The tensile samples are failing at 41 KSI during welding procedure qualification. My customer says this is unacceptable and that the tensile samples should fail at 46 KSI or higher....
- From The Fabricator
2015 metal fabrication forecast: Steady as she grows
- By Tim Heston
- Dec 8, 2014
- Shop Management
- Article
Fabricators expect steady growth for 2015. At the same time, they’re gearing up to handle increasing customer demand by investing in capacity-building equipment.
- From The Welder
Aluminum Workshop: A hotshot’s guide to hot short
- By Frank Armao
- Dec 8, 2014
- Aluminum Welding
- Article
Q: A few months ago, you wrote that 6061 is “hot short.” I’m not familiar with this term. Can you explain it? A: Hot short is a standard metallurgical term, but I shouldn’t have assumed that everyone would be familiar with it. If a material is hot short, it means that the material is...
- From The Welder
Aluminum Workshop: Clearing up oxide misconceptions
- By Frank Armao
- Dec 8, 2014
- Aluminum Welding
- Article
Q: My company welds 6063 tubing using AC gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) with 4043 filler metal and pure argon shielding gas. Appearance is important. How can we eliminate, or at least minimize, the oxidized area on each side of the weld? A: We need to first clear up a misconception. The area you...
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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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