When it comes to the art of forging tools out of raw materials such as iron and stainless steel, there are various types of metal fabrication processes suiting the requirement. The metal fabrication process is the process that involves raw materials, for example, metals and turning them into useful tool items using various industrial standard processes. The processes involved are many depending on the type of nature of the tools being manufactured. 

Tool Making

Here we will find out about the types of metal fabrication processes for making various industrial tools.

We will also learn a bit about how the process is carried out.

Welding

In the tool-making industry, one of the largely carried out processes is the welding process. In simple words, it is the process of joining two metal pieces.

The welding process can be done on metal sheets, metal bars, or even metal rods. There are also various types of welding processes used to make various tools, but we will not go too much deeper into that.

The application of heat melts the metals, and then they fuse. This is left out to cool for some time, after which we can say that the two metal pieces have welded together.

Punching

There are many processes in the tool making process, but punching is probably the second most common process. As is known by the name here, punches or holes are made in specific metal pieces, which is just a basic part of the tool manufacturing process.

There are various techniques and tools used here, such as driller, laser rays, etc.; although the process may sound simple enough, there are certain precision tools for which the holes have to be accurate to within hundredths of a millimetre.

So you can understand the level of accuracy and the margin of error that is there during this process of tool making.

Casting

Casting is the idea where the preliminary shape is obtained. Although the industrial processes and standards might vary here, we will give you a basic idea of the casting process for tool making. It involves a die or mould on which the molten metal is slowly and carefully poured over and then left for cooling down. With careful chipping along the sides, the tool shape is obtained.

It is used in the wide range of complex forms and shapes required for various tools. This is generally one of the first processes on which the other processes such as welding, punching, shearing, and stamping are carried out.

Stamping

In some specific tool-making processes, there is a metal fabrication process called stamping. Now, this is the art of forming a bulged or a curved shape on the surface of the metal. This is done without forming any holes or penetrating the surface of the metal body, as is done in punching.

You must have seen tools on which certain letters, symbols, or carving of other shapes and designs have been done.

This is also a complex engineering process that requires the use of high-end casts, metal dies, and other equipment and devices to stamp accurately.

Shearing

This is also one of the basic types of tool cutting processes used in the industries. The shearing process is also one of the preliminary steps or processes in the tool-making process.

The shearing process means that the long meal sheets that have to be cut down to begin the other fabrication processes on the metal surfaces. There are various types of cutting machines used in this process.

Final thoughts

These are the basic fabrication or tool making methods that helps you create infallible deisgns and effect tools that last longer.