What Products Can Be Made From Metal Fabrication Processes?

In This Article: 

• The History of Metal Fabrication
• What is The Metal Fabrication Process?
• Common Products That Are Made From Metal
• Choose Tuckey Metal Fabricators, Inc. for Your Next Metal Fabrication Project

Whether you run a business or own a home, you may have heard about metal fabrication, but don’t really know what it is or how it could apply to your life. If you don’t know what metal fabrication is, you’ll likely be missing out on all the benefits that metal fabricated products often give users.

In this guide, we’ll discuss the basic history of metal fabrication, what it is, and some of the most popular products crafted with metal fabrication.

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The History of Metal Fabrication

Metal fabrication is a centuries-old practice that humans have long used.  People first mined copper, which they then shaped into crude tools, thousands of years ago. Once the Bronze Age arrived, more metal fabrication advanced significantly, with the mixture of different metals allowing users to create weapons, armor and crude tools. After the Bronze Age, the next major advancement in metal fabrication came during the Industrial Revolution, where manufacturers could produce more metal fabricated items at greater speeds.

In today’s age, metal fabrication is used in the United States for a variety of industries and products. Our greater ability to bend metal plays into the creation of electronics, construction materials, metal enclosures, jewelry, planes, cars and trains. The increased ability to automate many steps of the metal fabrication process has led to the increased availability of consumer goods. Automation makes metal fabrication processes faster and metal products much more affordable to U.S. consumers.

What is The Metal Fabrication Process?

In its most basic form, metal fabrication is the process of turning raw metal into completed products. The metal fabrication process comes down to two main sections: the removal process and then the deformation process. To begin metal fabrication, the manufacturer will remove a piece of material from a larger chunk of material. Some of the common removal methods include machining, cutting, blanking, shearing, punching and nibbling, among others.

After the material is removed, the deformation process begins when the material is taken from a 2-D shape and transformed into a 3-D one, where it becomes a usable product. This deformation process may be achieved through a variety of methods, such as spinning, bending, deep drawing and forming. Once the deformation process is completed, the metal fabrication process as a whole will be finished as well.

Materials Involved With Metal Fabrication

There are many materials used in the metal fabrication process. If you’re considering metal for a project, you’ll need to know some of the main options available for fabrication. Some of the most common materials used in metal fabrication are:

• Black iron sheet: A black iron sheet is an ideal material for products that need painting. Additionally, it comes with a thin coat of oxide that gives it medium-range protection from rusting.
• Galvanized sheet metal: One of the softer metals, the soft steel sheet of galvanized sheet metal offers superior resistance to rusting due to its zinc coating. If the material is of good quality, you can expect that it can be straightened and bent multiple times without losing its rust protection and coating.
• Stainless steel sheet: Stainless steel sheets are made out of a mixture of high-grade steel and nickel and chromium additives. They feature exceptional corrosion resistance with the appearance of a completely untarnished surface. This material’s corrosion resistance makes it very popular in areas where tools, equipment or other products need a tough surface. It’s also easy to weld and cut stainless sheet steel without doing any damage to it.

Other than the materials listed above, some of the raw materials used for metal fabrication are copper, gold, iron, brass, silver, aluminum and nickel.

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Common Products That Are Made From Metal

You might be surprised by the many products people use on a daily basis that employ metal fabrication. In fact, general metal fabrication produces many of the products relevant to your daily life. To give you a better idea of the most common uses of metal in the industry, consider a few examples of metal fabricated products below:

• Utensils: When you’re looking for products made from metal, look no further than a kitchen drawer. Forks, knives and spoons are all regularly made out of stainless steel and other metals. Metal offers the durability needed for kitchen utensils.
• Custom spiral staircases: If you want to feature spiral staircases in a custom home or office building, you’ll be happy to know that there are many spiral staircases made from metal. The strength and visual appeal of a customized metal spiral staircase make them a very popular option in homes or offices that hope to differentiate themselves.
• Architectural structures: Stainless steel is one of the most popular types of metal to use in the construction of buildings. Its appearance, strength and corrosion resistance make it a top choice for those looking to build strong, attractive structures.
• Custom kitchen hoods: In order to give your kitchen a distinct look, you may want to consider using a kitchen hood made out of metal. The metal type may be selected based on the look you’re going for. As it will be placed over a range, the metal will have the relevant coatings needed to stand up to oils, steam and smoke that come from cooking.
• Medical applications: Another popular use of stainless steel is in medicine. This kind of metal is easily sterilized and flexible enough that it can be formed into a variety of tools and equipment. You’ll find stainless steel in surgical instruments, operating tables, MRI scanners and steam sterilizers.
• Agricultural equipment: The food you eat every day likely comes as a result of agricultural equipment built with fabricated metal. From tractors and plows to combines and milking equipment, metal touches almost every step of the farming process.
• Transportation: Due to the strength of fabricated metal and the many shapes it can be formed into, it’s commonly used to build planes, trucks, semis, trains, buses and a variety of other transportation devices.
• Infrastructure: Features of a modern city that we all take for granted, like bridges, sewer systems, tunnels, water supply piping and other infrastructure-related systems, rely on metal fabricated products.
• Popular appliances: Appliances like refrigerators, stoves, dryers, dishwashers and washing machines are all products made from metal. Without metal fabrication, many of these products wouldn’t exist, making people’s day-to-day lives much more inconvenient.

Choose Tuckey Metal Fabricators, Inc. for Your Next Metal Fabrication Project

As an industry and regional leader in all things HVAC, restoration, new construction, metal fabrication, preventive maintenance and more, homeowners and businesses in South Central Pennsylvania trust Tuckey for a variety of needs. Tuckey Metal Fabricotrs, Inc. has provided excellent metal fabrication services to a variety of businesses and individuals in parts of Pennsylvania, like Carlisle, Harrisburg and Shippensburg, for years now, and we have the expertise to handle most projects that come our way.

We offer cutting-edge technology, in-house CAD design and accurate estimating to all of our clients. Contact Tuckey by phone or our convenient online form to discuss your next custom fabrication project.

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