Thursday, 1 August 2013

Metal Working Equipment Is Complex And Simple

By Lela Perkins


Creating things out of metal has been around for hundreds if not thousands of years. The discovery of fire, among other things, allowed for the release of the metals from the rocks. This ushered in a system or technology that made all others possible. Metal working equipment is simply an extension of this and is quite necessary to make the things that are possible with metal.

Forming a case part for your computer, from a roll of material, requires that roll to go through several steps. It is bent, several times, by using a metal brake. Careful measurements are made and the machine is set up with the appropriate stops so all bends are the same. The same process is performed for many other elements of daily life, such as body parts for your car and forming a chimney housing at the top of your roof.

Before it got to the brake, that computer casing has already been through a punch press. This machine punched the many holes through which the components will be placed with various fasteners. The holes used for attaching other items to it can be threaded along with the punching if so desired. If not that is an additional step.

Several of the components that are to be installed in our case will have to be drilled, threaded and attached. Various equipment will be used to make them ready for this installation. Drill presses, dies for the forming of the piece and the need for grinding might be present.

The great many things we see are metallic and all have had to undergo many processes to become the things we need everyday. All metal started life out as ore, taken from the rocks through the use of fire. All of this has to be cut using equipment that may be hydraulic or mechanical. All of these might be ground for a smooth connection by other tools in the metal fabricating trade.

When looking into the many ways this material is worked, take a good look at the candle stands you may have at home. These might have been turned on a lathe. This machine will turn the stock, often beginning as a square piece, and cut into with a carbon bit. This will make smooth surface of a uniform thickness.

All of the many metal things you use, and they are many indeed, must be cut, formed, drilled and manipulated in many ways to make it what it is. In order to accomplish this there are large and small machines with which it is done. They could be hammers, screwdrivers or rivet guns. There will certainly be grinders, shears and knurling tools.

Without the metal working equipment available today, nothing that is made from this material would be the finely turned pieces that are seen. The need for this equipment has been proven time and time again and is the reason for some of the luxuries we all enjoy. The inventors of this equipment must be thanked every time we climb into our cars or turn on that computer that takes advantage of this technology.




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