Metal Fab Portland

A lot of small shops buy plasma cutters the wrong way. They look at the maximum advertised cut thickness, pick the cheapest machine that seems big enough, and only later realize the power requirements, duty cycle, air supply, and real cut quality do not match the work they actually do. The better question is not just how big a plasma cutter can cut. It is what thickness you cut most of the time and how often you need clean production-quality cuts. ...

A welding table is one of the first shop upgrades that actually changes how fast and accurately work gets done. For a small fabrication shop, the best table is not always the biggest or most expensive one. It is the table that fits your parts, your floor space, your fixturing needs, and your budget. This guide breaks down what matters before you buy or build one. The Short Answer The best welding table for a small fabrication shop should have: ...

When you’re shopping for a MIG welder—whether you’re equipping your first shop or upgrading existing gear—the choice boils down to a few hard specs and some real-world tradeoffs. This guide breaks down what actually matters versus what’s just marketing noise. The Core Specs That Matter Duty Cycle Duty cycle is the first number you should look at. It tells you what percentage of a 10-minute cycle your machine can run continuously at maximum rated output before it needs to cool down. ...

Every shop has a different mix of work, but the core tool categories stay the same. Whether you’re setting up a new space or filling gaps in an established shop, this is what actually matters when you’re spending money on equipment. Cutting Tools Plasma Cutters Plasma is the workhorse for most fab shops. It handles mild steel, stainless, and aluminum without switching processes, and it’s fast enough for production work on plate up to about 1" thick. ...

Fabrication and machining are both ways to make metal parts, but they’re fundamentally different processes that serve different purposes. Knowing when to use each — and when you need both — saves time, money, and frustration. What Fabrication Is Fabrication is building parts by cutting, forming, and joining material. You start with stock shapes (sheet, plate, tube, bar, structural sections) and turn them into assemblies through: Cutting — Plasma, laser, waterjet, shearing, sawing, oxy-fuel Forming — Press brake bending, rolling, stamping, drawing Joining — Welding (MIG, TIG, stick, flux-core), brazing, fastening, riveting Finishing — Grinding, sanding, blasting, painting, powder coating Fabrication is additive in the sense that you’re assembling components. You cut pieces to size, form them into shape, and join them together. Material waste comes primarily from cutting — the skeleton leftover from nesting parts on a sheet, or the drops from cutting bar stock. ...

Welding symbols intimidate a lot of new buyers, junior fabricators, and even experienced people who do not live in drawings every day. The good news is that the system is not random. Once you understand the structure, most symbols become readable. This quick guide breaks the AWS A2.4 system into the parts you see most often on fabrication drawings. The Reference Line The reference line is the backbone of the welding symbol. Almost everything is placed on, above, or below this horizontal line. ...

Finishing is where a fabricated part gets its final protection, appearance, and in some cases a meaningful chunk of its total cost. Buyers often treat finishing like an afterthought. Shops know better. The wrong finish can shorten service life, blow up lead time, or add avoidable cost. Here is a practical quick-reference guide to the most common metal finishing options. Powder Coating Best for: general fabricated parts, enclosures, brackets, equipment frames ...

A plasma cutter can be one of the most useful tools in a fab shop, but it is also one of the easiest tools to buy wrong. A lot of marketing copy pushes headline cut capacity and ignores the things that actually affect day-to-day use: duty cycle, consumable life, cut quality, air quality, and whether the machine fits your real material mix. This guide focuses on what matters when you are buying for actual shop work. ...

A welding helmet is one of those purchases where the spec sheet looks simple but the actual performance gap between a $40 helmet and a $400 helmet is enormous. This guide covers what the specs actually mean, where to spend money, and what to skip. Auto-Darkening vs Passive Lens Passive Helmets A passive helmet has a fixed-shade dark lens (typically shade 10 or 11). You flip it down before striking an arc and flip it up to see your work. ...