Metal Fabrication

Metal Fabrication solutions designed to meet all your manufacturing needs

Every project is unique in some way, and each comes with its own set of challenges. Our expertise in a diverse range of fabrication processes is one of many invaluable assets we can provide on your journey to success.

As an ISO 9001 certified manufacturing solution provider, we partner with the best performing factories and workshops to provide quality fabrication services, including the following processes:

Metal Bending

All kinds of shapes and angles can be made with proper metal bending processes. Our highly skilled production crew uses a variety of bending machines, including press brake machines, panel benders, metal folders, rotary draw benders, roll benders, CNC bending machines and much other specialized equipments to produce quality metalwork for our projects.

Metal Cutting

For most projects, the first step in fabricating a part is cutting the material to size. We use the following cutting methods in our projects to produce the best results possible:

• Mechanical Cutting
Mechanical cutting refers to the use of power-tools and machines to shape and form a workpiece. Common mechanical cutting machines include lathes, milling machines, and drill presses. Many workshops now use automated CNC machines for higher efficiency and precision. Please refer to our Precision Machining page for more details.

• Laser Cutting
Laser cutting uses a focused, high-energy laser beam to vaporize a small portion of the material and create the desired shape or pattern on a workpiece. This non-contact, thermal-based process is capable of making high-quality intricate cuts with narrow kerfs. It can be used on a wide range of materials including plastic, aluminium, plain steel and stainless steel. It is often used on sheet metal to make high precision parts with a clean finish.

• Plasma Cutting
Plasma cutting is a cutting method that relies on superheated, electrically ionized gas (plasma) to melt through the metal workpiece. It is typically used on conductive metals, including steel, aluminium, brass and copper. This method generally uses less energy than laser cutting and can cut through thicker materials.

• Water Jet Cutting
Water jet cutting uses a high-pressure water jet combined with an abrasive substance to cut through the workpiece. This method operates under low temperature and can produce parts with a clean sharp edges. It is the go-to method when dealing with materials that are sensitive to heat. Water jets can cut through up to 120mm thick aluminium sheets. A wide range of materials such as aluminium, copper, brass, steel and many high strength alloys can be shaped with this method.

• Wire EDM
The Wire EDM method uses a thin, electrically energized wire to vaporize and slice through electrically conductive metal. This method can make complex, three-dimensional cuts with extreme precision, which makes it ideal for cutting small, highly detailed parts that are difficult to produce with conventional processes.

Metal Stamping

Stamping (also known as pressing) is the process of forming a sheet metal with a stamping press. The material can be shaped, bent or cut by the stamping machine depending on the tools and dies used. Stamping includes a variety of forming techniques, including punching, bending, blanking, embossing, flanging and coining.

Metal Punching

Punching is a forming process that uses a punch press, which applies pressure on a tool (called a punch) to shear the metal and create holes or cut-outs on the workpiece. This is a very efficient and cost-effective method for medium to high production runs. CNC Turret Punching is often used to reduce labour costs and eliminate human errors. Aluminium, brass, steel and many other alloys can all be formed using a punching machine.

Deep Drawing

Deep drawing is considered a variant of the stamping process. In this process, a sheet metal workpiece is pressed into a die to form a part, in which the depth of the drawn part exceeds its diameter. The workpiece is often redrawn through a series of dies in order to progressively form the required part. This method can be used to form aluminium, brass and some of the softer steel, and was used to make kitchenware, home appliances, automotive and aircraft components.

Welding

Welding is the fabrication process that joins materials through high heat. We use several welding methods, depending on the material type and design of the product.

These methods include:

• TIG Welding Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) Welding, also known as Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW), is an arc welding process that uses a non-consumable tungsten electrode to produce the weld. An inert shielding gas is used to protect the weld and electrode from oxidation or other atmospheric contamination. This method offers better control and can produce high-quality welds.

• MIG Welding Metal Inert Gas (MIG) Welding, or sometimes called Gas Metal Arc Welding, is a welding process in which an electric arc forms between a consumable MIG wire electrode and the workpiece to melt and join the metal. a shielding gas is also used to protect the weld and wire electrode from atmospheric contamination. MIG welding is generally faster than other methods such as TIG welding.

• Robot Welding The MIG welding method can be automated with the use of robotics. Robot welding can increase productivity and eliminate human error in the welding process, which provides a lot of benefits in the long run. However, it should be noted workpieces that are very thin or have uneven gaps are not suitable for robot welding.

Friction Stir Welding (FSW)
Friction stir welding (FSW) uses the heat generated by friction to join the workpieces. The material is heated by the friction created by a rotating tool, and then pressed together to form a new homogeneous structure. This method does not need a shielding gas or filler metal. It is commonly used in aluminium fabrication.

• Resistance Spot Welding
RSW is used to weld sheets of metal without the use of any filler material. The process involves applying pressure and heat (generated by an electric current) to the weld area to melt and fuse the parts together. RSW is easy to automate and generally causes less deformation, but it cannot be used to create tee, butt and edge joints.

Forging

Forging is a manufacturing process, in which a metal workpiece is shaped by localized compressive forces delivered by a hammer or a die. Speaking of forging, we often think of a blacksmith hitting a piece of red-hot metal with a hammer (a method still used by some craftsmen nowadays), but in an industrial environment, a power hammer or press machine is more likely to be used. Forged parts are generally stronger than casted or machined counterparts, which makes them ideal for critical applications that require high strength and reliability.

Extrusion

Extrusion is a process where materials are forced through a die to form parts with a specific cross-section profile (kind of like squeezing toothpaste out of a tube). Aluminium is the most common material used in this process (due to its malleability and low cost), but magnesium, copper, steel and many other alloys can also be used. It is a highly cost-effective manufacturing process that can be easily scaled for high production rate. A wide range of parts can be made via this method, including rods, frames, rails, pipes, tubes, wires, heat sinks and many more.

Omnidex provides a full range of fabrication solutions, including many highly specialized processes that are not mentioned in this list. Please contact our Sales Department for more details. You may also visit other pages to learn more about our capabilities in metal casting and other processes.

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Metal Fabrication