7075 aluminum, for example, is the highest strength alloy, comparable to some steel, but also very expensive. If fiberglass is not strong enough, or we want to make it lighter with fewer layers, we can use CARBON FIBER cloth. Not to mention, many beautiful products are made from wood – the renewable resource. BUT, if you want to make “dozens-of-a-kind” of the same exact product, the mold can be re-used over and over. It is a value-added process involving the creation of machines, parts, and structures from various raw materials. This saves you from wasting time and money fabricating parts using materials that are less than ideal for your product. If you want to use the best types of fabrication materials in your product, you should start a conversation with a fabrication company as early in the product development process as possible. As an American based contract manufacturer, we specialize in material development, thermoplastic material molds, 3D printing, custom machining/tooling, and design for manufacturing. Now we wait… Once the glue sets up and hardens, all the bath towels become one big, thick, rigid skin. SO… I would find a way to BUILD IT FOR MYSELF…Back then, I Usually didn't know HOW, and there was no internet - so I would research it the hard way and teach myself what I needed. Casting 2. It’s also useful to consider these nine materials because they can help you refine your final design. Cutting 3. And I am your COLABORATOR if you are wanting a fresh approach, new ideas or just another set of eyes… Some parts need to be bent. Differences in the type of alloy change the characteristics, each with their own preferable applications. We just made a boat that looks exactly like the rowboat. However, this is often more complicated than it sounds. So as an example you might choose to make a coat rack out of “Hot Rolled – Rod” stock, or a pasture gate out of “Cold Rolled – Pipe”. Z-shape: This resembles the shape of the letter "Z," with half a flange protruding in opposite directions. Stone fabrication uses similar methods to metals (with cutting, grinding, polishing -even “bonding”). Whether making forms, jigs, molds or temporary tooling fixtures, wood can be a very inexpensive material to use in many applications. Punching 9. 6061 aluminum is more common for fabrication because it is more form-able, machine-able, weld-able and less expensive. Gold/Silver – Jewelry is FABRICATED TOO! If you work with an experienced, full-service product fabrication company, this process is less daunting. If you know where you’re headed and which possible routes you can take to get there, you’ll reach your destination on time, perhaps even with time to spare. All new skills can be learned to work with different types of fabrics. Concrete shares a lot of similar processes with fiberglass fabrication (making molds, pouring wet “liquid” material and letting it “cure”). Stamping 11. This is what makes choosing a fabrication material so challenging, especially for startup companies or entrepreneurs who haven’t gone through this process before. At this stage, your decision isn’t necessarily final. Extrusion 7. Alloy basically refers to the ingredients used to make that variety of material. Pacific Research Labs is a small-run design, engineering & manufacturing company. When you set out to fabricate a new product, one of the first steps is to figure out what types of fabrication materials to use. PRL’s engineers have dozens of manufacturing options available to help you solve any challenge facing your product: CNC machining, custom tooling, 3D printing, thermoplastic molding, reverse engineering, and more. Before you start a conversation with a product fabrication expert, however, it’s useful to know which types of fabrication materials are out there and what their potential advantages and disadvantages are. Depending on the needs of a particular application, some metal facilities even perform specially customized types of fabrication. Steel is a universal material for “one-of-a-kind” and mass-produced products alike. © 2020 Copyright Fabrication Planet - Everything Fabrication, link to Common Fabrication Processes for METAL. Considering your material options now can help you refine your product design, identify potential challenges, and streamline the fabrication phase. It depends on: All of these factors are unique to your product and process. In this way, partnering with a fabrication company that offers a wide range of materials and that is willing to work closely with you to find the right material can be a major benefit. This makes the selection process much easier and more reliable—you can thoroughly test the quality of each prototype material and, based on these tests, make adjustments to the design or choose a different material. Aluminum shares many common methods of fabrication with both plastic and steel, but the processes and equipment are slightly unique. For one thing, there are many different types of materials on the market, each with their own advantages and disadvantages.