Metal Fabrication and Welding

Introduction to Metal Fabrication and Welding

Knowing the difference between metal fabrication and welding is very important for getting a good idea on what each of the terms represent. Namely, metal fabrication is the whole process of turning raw metal into a metal product ready to be used, whereas welding is a stage in the long process of metal fabrication. Knowing this, it is easy to see how the two terms are linked together. Many metal workers consider welding to be the most important part of the process of metal fabrication, and there are many different reasons for this.

Metal Fabrication and Welding – Is Welding Really That Important?

As it has already been mentioned, many metal workers think of welding as the most important stage in the metal fabrication process. Although each and every stage of the process has its own part and the product cannot simply skip any of the stages, welding really is very important. The reasons for this are numerous, the chief of which being the fact that welding is the last stage. This means that most of the finished metal products are not made out of a single piece of raw material, but they rather have to be welded together in order to form a unity which is referred to as the finished product. Therefore, when the parts are fabricated and when they have to be welded together, the welding stage has to be done perfectly and with no room for error in order for the finished product to pass the final inspection and to be fit for shipping.

Metal Fabrication and Welding – Which Types of Metals Can Be Welded?

When it comes to metal fabrication and welding and which types of metals are welded in the process of metal fabrication, it is safe to say that any metal can be welded, but the two most common types of metals that are welded are steel and aluminium. Namely, when steel and aluminium products are fabricated and when they need to form a bigger unit there is no other way of putting the pieces together than welding them together. The importance of welding really shows in the automotive and aircraft industry, where it is very important for the finished products to be reliable and strong enough to withstand the force of impact they are made to withstand.

In conclusion, it has to be mentioned that there are a few different types of metal welding. Namely, welding is classified by the purpose of its finished products into three main groups: structural, industrial and commercial. Structural metal welding refers to the welding of metal products which are later used in for instance buildings or bridges; industrial metal welding refers to the metal products which are used for industrial purposes such as parts of different machines and commercial metal welding refers to the welding of metal products which are later used as finished products or parts of products that are sold to commercial customers such as parts of computers, kitchen appliances, TV's and so on.