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More from Eric Lundin
Automated capabilities continue to bring greater efficiencies to manufacturing
- By Eric Lundin
- Dec 15, 2020
- Automation and Robotics
- Article
Sending out an RFQ for a vast turnkey manufacturing system can be the way to go for big OEMs. But all of the hardware, software, sensor, and control technologies are also available to small equipment builders. Regardless of fabrication needs, shops can probably find an automated machine or system within budget.
Service center takes the plunge, becomes a fabricator almost overnight
- By Eric Lundin
- Dec 8, 2020
- Tube and Pipe Fabrication
- Article
Like most service centers founded decades ago, Wisconsin Steel & Tube Corp. did a brisk business using the transaction business model, but change is inevitable. In 2010 the company sought to provide machining services and founded a separate metal fabrication.
Minibike enthusiasts make the most of miscellaneous metals
- By Eric Lundin
- Dec 1, 2020
- Tube and Pipe Fabrication
- Article
Think metal fabrication has boundaries and restrictions? Think again. It’s always growing, whether it’s used in a profession, vocation, or hobby. An emerging use: vintage minibike restoration.
- From The Fabricator
David Madero brings a sense of realism to metal sculptures
- By Eric Lundin
- Nov 14, 2020
- Arc Welding
- Article
David Madero focused his skill and obsession to detailed artistic work and metal art and has established a reputation as a renowned metal sculptor.
Tube manufacturer invests in flexible, automated mill technology
- By Eric Lundin
- Nov 10, 2020
- Tube and Pipe Production
- Article
It seems that nearly every industrial machine has automated options these days, and tube and pipe mills are no exception. Michigan-based Dundee Products recently invested in such a mill that uses tooling that automatically changes to new positions when changing to a new product size.
Fighting fires with manufacturing ingenuity, resources
- By Eric Lundin
- Nov 5, 2020
- Safety
- Blog Post
In addition to COVID-19, the U.S. is facing an onslaught of natural disasters in 2020. Wildfires are subject to some forms of prevention, and folks in metal fabrication and other manufacturing sectors might be able to help.
Fueling a fabricator’s 30 years of growth, innovation
- By Eric Lundin
- Nov 3, 2020
- Shop Management
- Article
In 1990 two entrepreneurs joined forces to buy a small fabrication shop in Wisconsin that focused on cutting and welding. Within just a few years Sharpe Products was on its way to being a full-fledged tube fabrication shop with an OEM business on the side.
Orienting the tube’s weld seam on the mill
- By Eric Lundin
- Nov 2, 2020
- Tube and Pipe Production
- Article
Tube producers need the weld seam straight up at the 12 o’clock position, but in some cases, after it’s welded they need it move it to some other location along the tube’s circumference. Many use a pair of football-shaped rolls installed in place of the first sizing pass, but another option is to use a seam orientation stand, a unit built specifically for this purpose.
Research encompasses alloys for a low-carbon-footprint future
- By Eric Lundin
- Oct 20, 2020
- Metals/Materials
- Article
Although iron replaced bronze as the metal of choice 3,000 years ago, iron’s most commonly used form, steel, continues to provide the backbone of modern manufacturing and infrastructure. An interview with Murali Manohar, PhD, P.E., head of plates, energy & infrastructure products at ArcelorMittal Global R&D, provides insight about what tube and pipe fabricators can expect in the future.
- From The Fabricator
Putting together a career as a metal sculptor, one piece at a time
- By Eric Lundin
- Oct 17, 2020
- Arc Welding
- Article
Remember the Johnny Cash song titled "One Piece at a Time?" Doug Cox, a welder and metal finisher by day and artist by night, occasionally takes scrap steel home from work to create sculptures in a variety of themes, from lighthearted caricatures to abstracts. Some are on temporary and permanent display in and around his hometown, Springfield, Mo.
Servomotors, AI assist in efficient straightening for tube, pipe, bar
- By Eric Lundin
- Sep 22, 2020
- Tube and Pipe Fabrication
- Article
Ohio-based machine builder Coldwater Machine Co. recently developed a straightener for tube, pipe, and bar with two newer technologies, servomotors and artificial intelligence, that automate the process.
Tube fabricator supplies exotic handrail systems
- By Eric Lundin and Jessica Rees
- Sep 15, 2020
- Tube and Pipe Fabrication
- Article
Tube fabricator Timeless Tube supplies handrails to an international clientele with an emphasis on innovative designs, quality workmanship.
Metal fabricators getting back to business as unusual
- By Eric Lundin
- Sep 7, 2020
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
The spread of COVID-19 has ushered in a completely new era, one in which many industries came to a standstill as revenue collapsed, many more workers than usual found themselves unemployed, and manufacturing activity across the board nosedived. Yet, some of these trends reversed course pretty quickly.
Metal fabricator develops business model focused on aircraft maintenance
- By Eric Lundin
- Sep 1, 2020
- Tube and Pipe Fabrication
- Article
Few know adversity as well as Johnny Buscema, who lost his job as a CEO and all of his personal assets at the same time. Although homeless, he never lost hope. He started over with nothing, becoming a success again with SAFE Structure Designs and a new tube fabrication business model: mobile platforms for aircraft maintenance.
Pipe fabricator takes on new role, becomes pipe producer
- By Eric Lundin
- Aug 25, 2020
- Tube and Pipe Production
- Article
Most companies that make components for tube, pipe, and conduit applications are content to buy raw material from others, but when suppliers disappear one by one, drastic measures can be necessary. One such fabricator, Specialty Conduit & Mfg. Co., took the plunge and invested in a mill to become its own raw materials supplier.
- Podcasting
- Podcast:
- The Fabricator Podcast
- Published:
- 03/26/2024
- Running Time:
- 67:51
This week on The Fabricator Podcast, Jason Becker, host of the Arc Junkies Podcast and owner of Underground...
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