FAQ

Up to now, the manufacturing technologies have significantly evolved, bringing a lot more development in their production quality, speed, accuracy, and time. One of the latest manufacturing technologies is that of Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication.

In this kind of manufacturing technology, large metal sheets are converted into metallic products. The metallic sheet passes through several steps and processes before it is converted into the desired product. Initially, the engineers make several sketches to mind map the desired parts that they are going to manufacture.

After one particular sketch is selected, the sketch is then used to manufacture a prototype of that product. After the successful creation of the prototype and getting positive results from the users, the actual metallic product is launched into the market.

Figure 1 Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication

1. What Are the Manufacturing Steps in Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication?

The whole process of sheet metal prototyping consists of the following steps that are used for the conversion of large metal sheets into products.

Figure 2 Steps Of Metal Fabrication

· Identifying The Problem

Before the creation of any product, the manufacturer identifies the problem that the public faces in any walk of life. This is to test the importance and value of their product after it is launched into the market.

The manufacturer identifies the needs and problems of people belonging to different walks of life. Does this give an idea to the manufacturer about what kind of product he should create that could win the market appreciation?

· Sketch Creation

After identifying the market needs, the next step is that of creating a sketch that outlines the main thing that the manufacturer will need to incorporate in their products for better solving the market problems.

Some expert engineers can create the best blueprints that could be used for the manufacturing of your product.  These blueprints are then given to the manufacturing companies who, after analyzing the design, take further actions on it.

· Testing of The Blue Prints

After the creation of the design and providing it to the manufacturing companies, the next step is to test the design by passing it through several stages. For this purpose, the manufacturers apply the DFM strategy that is highly efficient to make the design as simple as possible.

This analysis helps the manufactures to produce high-standard products that provide the best quality work to the user at the cheapest price. This step is also very useful for making it easy for the manufacturing machines to manufacture that product, as the product will be simplified by the engineers in this step.

· Creation of A Prototype

The second last step in manufacturing a product using Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication is to create a prototype of the product. You could lose a lot of your money if you manufacture your product in large quantities without creating its prototype.

Therefore prototyping is an essential step to check the importance of your product in the market and customize your product according to the market needs. The metal parts are cut by various steps and welded to make a prototype of it.

· Launching the Actual Product

After successful completion of all the above steps, it comes to the creation of the products in a large quantity. The prototype design is converted into CAD. Then the CAD design is read by the automatic manufacturing technologies of Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication. After a successful analysis of the design, the machinery manufactures the product.

2. What Can Materials Be Used in Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication?

Figure 3 Materials In Metal Fabrication

Different types of metal are used for the production of a product using Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication technology. Among some of the popular names are aluminum, stainless steel, galvanized steel, brass, and copper. These metals are the best to be used in the manufacturing of a product using Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication technology.

Although this technology is not only limited to using these metals for manufacturing. You can use other metals too. But these metals are those that are highly recommended by most of the manufacturers in case of this type of manufacturing technology.

The sheet metal manufacturing technology can manufacture your product easily and faster if the above-mentioned metals are used. This will also reduce your overall expenditure on manufacturing. Some of the other metals that can be used in this manufacturing technology are aluminum, cold-rolled steel, and pre-plated steel.

3. What Are the Techniques Involved in Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication?

There are a lot of techniques that are used in Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication. To learn the main manufacturing process using this technology, you need to know its basic techniques. The following are some of the main techniques that are used in this manufacturing technology.

· The Cutting Technique

The most important technique that is used in all the manufacturing technologies is that of cutting. The large metal sheets are cut using different methods for taking other actions on them. The tools that are used for cutting are also variable. The most common tool that is used in Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication technology is sheers.

· Bending Technique

Using several different tools, the metallic sheets produced are bent. The bending technique is an essential step for manufacturing the final product. Press brakes and rolling machines are generally used for bending the metal parts.

The technique of bending may seem quite easy and simple to most people, but indeed it is one of the most complex steps, and you will need an experienced professional for this task.

· Welding

The technique in meral fabrication that mostly comes at the final point is that of welding. In welding, the metal parts are joined with each other by burning a particular kind of chemical with the metal. There are various techniques used in welding. Among them, the one that is the most popular include stick welding.

Other welding techniques include the use of MIG and TIG. Both are also as much effective as stick welding, but they have some limitations. In welding, the bond created between two different metal parts is a kind of metallurgical bond that held both the metals together.

Figure 4 Metal Fabrication

4. What Techniques Are Used After Manufacturing of the Product Using Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication?

After the product is manufactured using sheet metal prototype fabrication, certain techniques are applied to the product. These techniques make the product better and give a great aesthetic look. These techniques are also termed “surface finishing.”

The following are some of the basic techniques used after creating a product using Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication technology.

· Powder Coating

This technique is useful for giving a beautiful look to the product. In this technique, the paint is applied to the product by spraying it on the product. Generally, electric spray is used for this process, as they are better to conserve the paint and their spraying process is also uniform.

· Sand Blasting Technique

In this technique, a specific amount of sand is thrown on the metallic product. This step is highly useful for making a product best suitable to be coated. Sandblasting not only accounts for throwing the sand, but you can use any abrasive material to throw it on the metallic product for making it suitable for painting are any other coating process.

Figure 5 Fabrication of Metal

· Anodizing Technique

One of the most important techniques that are used after manufacturing the product using Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication is anodizing. The step of anodizing is very essential for protecting the metal from getting rusted. This increases the durability and overall efficiency of the product too. This step also makes the metallic product to be much harder.

In anodizing, a surface of natural oxide is formed on the metallic product to make it more durable and rust-resistant.

· Buff Polishing Technique

In this technique, the metal is made shiny by rubbing a cloth over the metal. The term “buff” is that particular tool used for polishing the metal. That tool is generally made of cloth or a towel that can help us remove the metal stains. In some cases, the buff is also made up of cotton.

There are a great number of buffing techniques being used in the manufacturing industries for decades. One type of buffing is called “mirroring,” which is making a metal shine like a mirror. Apart from the benefits of buffing, there is also a disadvantage of it. The chemicals that are applied to the cloth for buffing are sometimes not suitable for a particular metal sheet, which may cause potential problems in the future.

· Assembling

Assembling is the joining of all the manufactured parts of the products to make a single product of those parts. Different manufacturing techniques such as bending and welding are involved in the assembling of parts of the product.

5. What Are Some Major Cutting Methods Used in Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication?

There are various methods that can be used for cutting metal sheets in Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication. Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication is the process of cutting metals and converting them into metallic products. Therefore, their processes are also diversified. The following are some of the major cutting methods used in Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication.

• Laser Cutting

Laser cutting is one of the topmost cutting technology in the world. In laser cutting, sharp laser light is directed towards the metal that creates sharp cuts on the metal to convert them later on into different products.

Laser cutting technology is a highly powerful and efficient cutting technology used for cutting metals into different products. The lasers that are used in laser cutting can penetrate deep inside any surface. No matter how hard the metal is, the laser light can penetrate that metal and cut the metal into parts.  This cutting technology is much precise and better to be used for cutting than other types of conventional cutting technologies.

· Water Jet Cutting
This is a unique and newly used cutting technology in metal fabrication processes. In this type of cutting technology, the best and the most abrasive material is mixed with the water, and the solution is stored in a container.

The water solution is then allowed to hit the metal surface at the highest speed having the most narrow diameter. This water solution is so much power and can cut large and hard metal surfaces. However, it is not highly useful if the metal sheets are extremely hard. it is because due to the use of this cutting technology, heat is not generated as the water solution hits the metal. In the absence of heat, the water solution is not as effective in cutting extremely hard metal surfaces.

On the other hand, if you use laser cutting or any other cutting technology, that is very much useful for you to cut hard metal surfaces. However, if the metal you are going to cut has a low melting point, then the water jet cutting technology is also an ideal technology to be used for this purpose.

· Plasma Cutting
It is also a modern cutting technology that can be useful for cutting even extremely hard metals too. This cutting technology works by producing ionized gas, which is highly powerful for cutting objects. The ionized gas creates a plasma jet that has a very high temperature and possesses the ability to cut large and hard metal surfaces in the low time. This cutting technology is not introduced in all the manufacturing factories of China, with few exceptions.
This technology is highly advanced and provides the best results to the manufacturers and suppliers in their manufacturing. The thing that makes the plasma cutting technology the best is that this technology can be set up at a low cost and work in an extremely faster way to cut hard metallic surfaces into small parts.

· Punching

Figure 7 Sheet Metal Products

Punching is another technique used for cutting metallic sheets. In punching, a device is used for making holes inside the metallic surface. These holes are made in a series which causes cutting of the metal easily with few strikes after the lines of the holes get completed.

Apart from punches, there are also a lot of other tools that can be used for making holes inside metallic surfaces.

6. What Makes Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication to Be the Best Metallic Products Manufacturing Technology?

There are a lot of factors that contribute to the popularity of Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication technology at this rate. In China, it is one of the highly growing manufacturing technology among the manufacturers and suppliers. Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication is popular due to its low cost, ability to manufacture high-quality products faster, and durability of the products. The following are some of the main popular factors of Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication.

· Precision

The products that are manufactured using Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication technology are highly précised. Their precision makes it one of the most highly used manufacturing technology in China by manufacturers and suppliers.

Using this manufacturing technology, the metallic products that are manufactured are customizable and are always précised. Similarly, the manufactured products are highly adaptable too.

· More Durability

  Figure 8 Customized Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication

Durability is also a major factor in the popularity of Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication technology. The products produced using this technology are highly durable and are of the best quality. The products cannot be broken easily with ordinary pressure, and that’s what makes metal fabrication the best manufacturing technology.

The products that you manufacture using this technology are hard and are lightweight. This not only contributes to the strength and effectiveness of the product but also makes the product more attractive and gives it an aesthetic look.

Besides, their level of durability is as high as they can easily show resistance against the hot sunlight and rain, etc.

· Longevity

Longevity is the thing that most manufacturers consider during the manufacturing of their products. If your products can last longer, the customers will even pay more to get that product. Therefore, the longevity of the products is an essential thing to take care of during the manufacturing process.

Using metal sheet fabrication, you can create more longevity products and can be used for a greater period.  The reason behind this is that these products are manufactured, keeping in view your main goal and purpose behind the creation of this product. Similarly, having greater longevity, the products are still manufactured at the least amount of cost.

· Easy Maintenance

Due to the simplified manufacturing processes of Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication, the products that are produced are easy to be maintained.

If you use CNC manufacturing technology or any other complex manufacturing technology, you won’t be able to maintain your products better. This is because their parts will be complex. However, in the case of Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication, the case is different. Due to having simpler parts, you can easily take care of the maintenance of your product.

· Lower Production Cost

Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication is known for its production at the least amount of cost. Even if your design is more complex, still you won’t be charged much higher on manufacturing that product. The lower production cost makes this manufacturing technology to be highly used by the manufacturers and suppliers of China.

· Diversification Of Material

Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication allows you to choose among the large number of materials you can use to manufacture your products. This kind of manufacturing technology is highly diversified, and if you use any material, you will get the ideal results.

Figure 10 Use of Laser Cutting in Sheet Metal

7. What Differentiate the Process of Stamping from Fabrication?

Metal stamping and fabrication are the two processes that are used for metallic product manufacturing. Both the processes are closely related to each other, with slight differences among them. The main difference lies in the fact that metal fabrication is used for manufacturing complex products while the stamping process is useful for manufacturing simple products.

Metal stamping is also called metal pressing, and it is a simple manufacturing process that does not focus on creating complex parts of your design. In comparison, metal fabrication can be used for manufacturing the complex mechanical parts of the pieces of machinery.

Metal stamping is considered to be much faster than fabrication technology. Similarly, the cost of metal stamping is also lesser as compared to that of metal fabrication. But still, if you talk about the high popularity of manufacturing technology, so that is the metal sheet fabrication technology. This technology is highly used among the manufacturers of China as compared to metal stamping technology.

In metal stamping, you will be charged the least amount of m, money as you increase the total quantity of the product. The cost per product is very less in metal stamping as compared to that in metal fabrication. It means that if you want to manufacture your product in large quantities, then the best technology that you can use is that of metal stamping.

However, if you are much conscious about the manufacturing quality and the production speed and accuracy, then metal fabrication is going to work the best for you.

8. How to Spend the Least On Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication?

Cost is something that you might be conscious of. If you are going to manufacture a single product or only a few products, then the cost might not matter for you. But if in case you are planning to manufacture your product in a large quantity for launching it directly into the market, then you’ll think of the cost too.

Here are some of the best tips that you can follow to manufacture your best products by spending the least amount of money on them.

 Figure 11 Sheet Metal Process

· Design The Product by Yourself

If you are good at designing metallic products, then you should design your product by yourself too. This will help you to avoid the charges of the designer or an engineer that will charge you a huge amount of money by drawing only simple sketches.

Here the thing worth to be added is that your design has to undergo the analyzing step too that the manufacturing company will conduct. So if your design is not perfect or contains any drawback, that drawback will be fulfilled by the manufacturing company themselves if they find any.

· Use The Same Sheet Most of the Time

There are techniques by applying which; you can manufacture your product using the same metal sheet in the entire parts of the product. For example, you can manufacture both the surface of the product and the handle with the same type of metal. This will greatly reduce your expenditure on product manufacturing.

There are some parts of the products where you cannot use the same metal, and you have to look for some other alternative. Only, in that case, you should use another type of metal or another plastic material to manufacture that part of your product.

· Uses Automatic Manufacturing Machines

You might be thinking of manual production of the product to be cheaper. But that isn’t the thing in reality. Manual production will cost you much higher due to the high increase in labor charges.

But if you use the automatic machinery for manufacturing your product, you will only have to pay the fuel charges and the company profit and nothing more than that. That’s why for reducing your overall expenditure on manufacturing, it is highly essential to use automatic technologies instead of going for manual production.

· Reduce The Bends as Much as Possible

The next thing that you can do to spend the least on your manufacturing is to reduce the number of bends in your product as much as possible. The metal sheets are usually harder and require you to use expensive machinery to bend them accurately. So if possible, you should always reduce the bends where they do not need to reduce your manufacturing expenditure.

One thing that you should always remember is that all of your bends in the product should be having the radius same as the thickness of the metal sheet. If the radius increases more than that, it can also affect your production accuracy.

· Reduce The Product Tolerance Where Possible

There will be certain parts in your products that do not require you to be highly tolerant and strong. In most cases, spending more money on increasing the tolerance of those parts is like wasting them. In such cases, you must add materials that are not highly tolerant in those parts.

This will help you reduce your expenditure on the manufacturing of your product.

9. What Are the Major Tools Used in Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication?

Figure 12 Sheet Metal Porotypes

There are a great number of tools used in Sheet Metal Prototype Fabrication technology. Among them, some of the major tools are given as under.

· Grinder

It is an important tool used for cutting and grinding various parts of the metal. Grinders come in a variety of sizes and shapes, depending upon their purpose of use. Grinders consist of a sharp disk that cuts the metallic sheets.

· Shears

These are also used for cutting the metallic sheets, but their primary purpose is to make irregular cuts in the metallic sheets while maintaining accuracy also.

· Punch Tool

This tool is used for making holes in the metallic sheet for fabrication. Punch tool comes in different sizes and forms.

· Stretcher

The different curves formed on metallic sheets are usually made with the help of a stretcher.