Although we have a variety of general construction services that probably appear a lot more important, we wouldn’t be anywhere without our in house custom fabrication capabilities and our custom fabrication team. This is because so much of what we do here at A1 Precision Solutions relies on creating something custom or making a modification, at least in some small part.

Take mezzanines and raised storage areas, for example. No two mezzanines are the same. Of course there are standard parts to build a mezzanine, but sizes and heights will differ. This means stairs or safety railings may need to be custom fabricated. And that’s just one example.

Our custom metal fabrication services are fairly varied, and we’re proud to say that we’re confident we can create anything clients can think of. We’re serious with that confidence. There’s a solution for everything, and if a client needs something unusual, we can make it.

There are a number of techniques and methods involved in custom fabrication, and this article is hardly a “how to” for fabrication. However, it should give you a good idea about what goes into fabricating things out of metal, and hopefully a few ideas for your next project.

Cutting

Whether something is getting fabricated out of steel, wood, plastic, or something else, there’s usually a bit of cutting involved. Most materials don’t get to us cut to the right size, so ultimately our fabrication team needs to cut it to size.

When working with steel and other metals, there are a number of methods that can be used for cutting. Commonly our team will use cold saws, band saws, and guillotining for processing parts.

Getting more complicated, plasma torches, lasers, and even water jets are used to cut metal. These methods aren’t as common in our custom fabrication projects though, and are often only used for more specialised projects.

Welding

We can cut metal and we can also put it back together again. That’s where welding comes in.

Whether it’s welding metal sheets, pipes, I-beams, or other fabricated pieces together, a lot of our fabrication projects rely on welding.

Our welders don’t just work on custom fabrication projects though. Having a good team of welders available is valuable for a variety of projects in the general construction space. Other than cutting, welding is an important component of fabricating something from nothing.

Bending and Forming

Bending and forming metal is exactly what it sounds like. We have a 60 tonne “V” block, a 200 tonne tool press, and more tools to bend, hammer, and generally manipulate metal into any shape that’s desired.

Some bending jobs are as simple as using a tube bender to make pipes for custom projects, or they can be as complicated as creating unusual shapes that then need to be welded together into something unique.

No two custom fabrication jobs are the same.

Machining

Machining seeks a similar outcome to bending and forming but it’s done differently.

While bending and forming does not result in any material being removed, machining does. Machining may rely on drills, lathes, or mills to create the desired metal shape or form. This could be as minor as drilling or punching holes in the metal to using a lathe to create a specific shape.

Of course a machined piece of metal can be then cut, welded, or bent as well.

There’s More To Custom Fabrication Than This

Of course our in house fabrication team does a lot more than what’s listed here, but hopefully this article has given you an idea of the basics that go into most of our projects, regardless of their size.

As we already mentioned, custom fabrication comes into account for many different types of projects, even if just in a minor way. Because of this our custom fabrication capabilities range from very small one off projects all the way up to volume productions.

If you have a challenge that needs a solution, perhaps having something bespoke made is the answer. We’re happy to help.