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Articles - Page 289
- From The Fabricator
Are cordless hand tools ready for metal fabricating?
- By Dan Davis
- May 1, 2012
- Power Tools
- Article
Odds are people laughed at the idea of a cordless hand tool ever replacing a corded tool on an assembly line, but the sight of a bank of charging stations at a major manufacturing plant is increasingly common. With that in mind, could more cordless tools be found on the fabricating shop floor in the future?
- From The Fabricator
Big bending jobs lead to high-tonnage press brake
- By Dan Davis
- May 1, 2012
- Bending and Forming
- Article
When a fabricating operation serves customers in the defense, heavy equipment, mining, and power generation industries, you know they are working with really thick and high- strength material. It's a big job and requires big equipment. It's also the main reason that Merrill Fabricators purchased a 2,000-ton, 38-foot press brake.
- From The Fabricator
Turning the brights on the automotive industry
- By Bernard Swiecki
- Apr 27, 2012
- Shop Management
- Article
2012 has the markings of a transitional year for the automotive industry. If the sales and efficiency gains achieved by the industry, which began in 2009, can be sustained, there is ample reason to believe that salad days lie ahead of automakers, suppliers, and dealers alike.
- From The Fabricator
How to obtain stamping equipment financing
- By Justin Masterman
- Apr 27, 2012
- Shop Management
- Article
Capital expenditures are necessary for any successful manufacturing business. Stamping is no exception. Here are four easy ways for you to be well-prepared to apply for a loan to finance an unexpected (or planned) new equipment purchase.
- From The Fabricator
Your press is talking. Are you listening?
- By David Klemm
- Apr 27, 2012
- Bending and Forming
- Article
All machines have a story to tell. Are you listening? Just like a person wo has a cold, the voice of a machine changes when it is "sick." Most times, if you listen, the machine will tell you whatís wrong.
- From The Fabricator
Nail stamper seeks tooling tough as nails
- Apr 27, 2012
- Bending and Forming
- Article
Powernail, a Zurich, Ill.-based manufacturer of hardwood flooring nails stamps 1 billion of these L-cleats and E-cleats from flat 0.062 steel annually. The company was looking to improve the lifespan of the high-speed stamping dies his company uses to stamp the hardware. The company purchased die sets made of tungsten carbide, which improves the strength and wear resistance. Since then, Powernailís dies last four times longer than they had, tooling changes are less frequent, and it produceshigher-quality nails.
- From The Fabricator
New tools pick up material handling pace
- By Peter Stephan
- Apr 27, 2012
- Materials Handling
- Article
A variety of robotic tooling advances support technologies for moving parts through presses while increasing tooling changeover flexibility, reducing die set risks, creating efficiencies, and protecting against part damage.
- From The Fabricator
3-D CAD: Bill-of-materials construction inproject documentation--Part I
- By Gerald Davis
- Apr 16, 2012
- Shop Management
- Article
Columnist Gerald Davis takes a look at the appropriate way to construct a bill of materials as he continues his cutting table project.
- From The Fabricator
The problem with estimating using paper and pencil
- By Dan Davis
- Apr 16, 2012
- Shop Management
- Article
Metal fabricating companies that rely on a seasoned worker who knows all of the production processes like the back of his hand and transfers that experience into the job estimating function are common. Fabricating operations that run that department smoothly and efficiently with no fears of inaccurate or inconsistent quotes while still relying on that one person's experience are pretty uncommon. The fact is that a majority of shops are taking huge risks by estimating jobs based on tribal knowledge and paper and pencil. Software can help change that.
- From The Fabricator
Delivering orders on time, every time
- By Tim Heston
- Apr 16, 2012
- Shop Management
- Article
Considering the demands from OEMs, stellar on-time delivery now is just as important as quality, and manufacturing cells may help a fabricator attain that stellar on-time delivery.
- From The Fabricator
Balancing the variables for optimal dust collection
- By Bob Walters and Kirt Boston
- Apr 16, 2012
- Laser Cutting
- Article
Designing and integrating an effective dust collection system for thermal cutting is not a one-size-fits-all exercise. Balancing all the factors will help a shop ensure it gets the most out of it.
- From The Fabricator
A character sketch of the code welder
- By Tim Heston
- Apr 16, 2012
- Arc Welding
- Article
A career in code-level welding involves an odd concoction of hands-on work, excellent hand-eye coordination, on-the-job focus, and a dash of lawyerlike thinking. Some can be loud extroverts who get the most attention, but others can be quiet introverts. Many share a dedication to the welding craft, and the best strive to do the job right the first time.
Service center gets new set of wheels
- By Eric Lundin
- Apr 16, 2012
- Materials Handling
- Article
When Tioga Pipe Supply Co. Inc. built a new facility in Easton, Penn., it leveraged its 60 years in business to design its new building. It planned the new facility, 150,000 sq. ft. under roof and 10 acres of outdoor storage area, around the use of side-loading lift trucks. The only drawback was occasional damage to the fork trucks' guide rollers, which Combilift eliminated when it designed a set of adjustable guide rollers specifically for Tioga.
Cup walking on stainless steel tube, pipe
- By Brent Williams
- Apr 11, 2012
- Arc Welding
- Article
Cup walking, a tube or pipe gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) technique suitable for some stainless steels, can improve weld quality. The method involves resting the torch’s cup on the workpiece and making a weaving motion across the weld joint. Used properly, it also reduces operator fatigue and can improve weld speeds.
Fabricator reduces part handling, improves consistency with combination bender
- By Eric Lundin
- Apr 11, 2012
- Tube and Pipe Fabrication
- Article
Full Vision Inc., a manufacturer of components and equipment for the off-road industry, encountered a hurdle in manufacturing roll-over protection systems (ROPS) and falling-object protection structures (FOPS) for its customers. To make a ROPS or FOPS, it needed three machines or two setups on three machines. This led to too much part handling and more scrapping of parts than necessary. A combination rotary draw and push bender from Horn Machine Tool allows Full Vision to make a complete part with one setup on one machine, eliminating part handling and reducing scrap.
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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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Seth Feldman of Iowa-based Wertzbaugher Services joins The Fabricator Podcast to offer his take as a Gen Zer...
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