The Standard Machine Shop Model Is Changing
When searching for a machine shop that specializes in precision metal fab, most customers will discover that the standard shop offers two specialized services:
Metal Cutting Services:
There are a number of different techniques for cutting metal, and each shop will have differing capabilities when it comes to each method. Grinding, welding, or turning on a lathe are all common metal cutting services, and most shops will offer these capabilities. For higher volume and greater accuracy, consider a shop that offers metal cutting services such as laser cutting or water jet cutting. In both cases, designs are processed with a computer, guaranteeing accuracy and making replication simple.
Welding and Fabrication:
Welding and fabrication of metal machinery is truly an art. It takes highly skilled staff to perform solid welds that will stand the test of time. For large projects look for a shop that is capable of both TIG and MIG welding to ensure they can handle large parts and smaller more intricate welds.
While these are the core function of any machine shop, the really successful welding and fabrication shops are beginning to offer additional services to take projects from the design and planning phase, all the way through to final assembly. Shops that perform precision metal fab, also regularly perform
- Powder coating
- Tube bending
- Plastic and polymer work
- CMM inspection services
Having these services available under a single machine shop roof has plenty of advantages for customers. It eliminates any need for outsourcing to third party vendors which means a quicker turn-around time and cost savings. It also offers quality guarantees, as a single precision metal fab shop can oversee work performed in-house, which is not on option with external vendors.
