Metal fabrication, explained by the job
Independent articles on welding, sheet metal, stainless steel and heavy fabrication, for people who need something made and want to brief it properly.
Welded vs Bolted Frames for Machine Bases
How do welded and bolted machine base frames compare in stiffness, vibration control, transport, and future changes—and which trade-offs matter most for your setup?
Latest
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Working With a Fabricator
Comparing Fabrication Quotes Line by Line
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Welding & Joining
Welding Safety Essentials: Gear, Fume Extraction, and Best Practices Every Shop Needs
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Stainless Steel
Passivation: What It Does for Stainless Steel and When to Ask for It
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Welding & Joining
Dissimilar Metal Joining: Overcoming the Biggest Challenges in EV and Aerospace Fabrication
Topics
- Welding & Joining Welding processes, joint design, distortion and how welds are inspected.
- Sheet Metal & Plate Cutting, bending and forming, and designing parts that are easy to make.
- Stainless Steel Grades, finishes and hygienic fabrication for food and process work.
- Heavy Fabrication Frames, hoppers, buckets, containers and other structural work.
- Machining & Finishing Machined features, tolerances, coatings and surface treatment.
- Metals & Materials Choosing between steels, stainless and aluminium for the job.
- Prototyping & Design From sketch to drawing to first-off, and testing before a production run.
- Working With a Fabricator Drawings, quotes, lead times and checking the finished work.
Welding & Joining
All Welding & Joining articles-
Welding Safety Essentials: Gear, Fume Extraction, and Best Practices Every Shop Needs
Taylor Sumner, October 24, 2026 -
Dissimilar Metal Joining: Overcoming the Biggest Challenges in EV and Aerospace Fabrication
Taylor Sumner, September 24, 2026 -
4 Common Welding Defects and How to Fix Them Before They Ruin Your Build
Taylor Sumner, August 25, 2026
Sheet Metal & Plate
All Sheet Metal & Plate articles-
Laser, Plasma or Waterjet: How Plate Gets Cut and What It Costs
Taylor Sumner, May 20, 2026 -
Plate Rolling Basics: How to Form Heavy Cylinders and Cones Without Flat Spots
Taylor Sumner, April 20, 2026
Stainless Steel
All Stainless Steel articles-
Passivation: What It Does for Stainless Steel and When to Ask for It
Taylor Sumner, October 2, 2026 -
Flexible Packaging Lines: Adapting Food Manufacturing Equipment for Rapid SKU Changeovers
Taylor Sumner, September 2, 2026 -
Hot-Fill vs. Cold-Fill vs. Aseptic: Choosing the Right Bottling Process for Your Beverage Line
Taylor Sumner, August 3, 2026
Heavy Fabrication
All Heavy Fabrication articles-
Welded vs Bolted Frames for Machine Bases
Taylor Sumner, November 14, 2026 -
Buying & ROI Guide: Jaw, Cone, or Impact? How to Choose the Right Rock Crusher to Maximize Quarry Output
Taylor Sumner, November 14, 2026 -
Excavator and Loader Buckets: What Wear Plate Does and Where It Goes
Taylor Sumner, November 14, 2026
Machining & Finishing
All Machining & Finishing articles-
Fabrication Tolerances vs Machining Tolerances: What Is Realistic
Taylor Sumner, November 14, 2026 -
When a Fabricated Part Needs Machining After Welding
Taylor Sumner, November 14, 2026
Prototyping & Design
All Prototyping & Design articles-
What a Fabrication Drawing Must Show
Taylor Sumner, August 6, 2026 -
Design for Manufacture: Five Changes That Cut Fabrication Cost
Taylor Sumner, July 7, 2026 -
From Sketch to First-Off: The Stages of a Fabrication Prototype
Taylor Sumner, June 7, 2026
Working With a Fabricator
All Working With a Fabricator articles-
Comparing Fabrication Quotes Line by Line
Taylor Sumner, November 14, 2026 -
How to Brief a Fabricator: What to Send Before You Ask for a Quote
Taylor Sumner, November 14, 2026
How we work
Independent
We are a publication. We do not make, weld or sell anything, so we have no shop to steer you towards.
Sourced
Technical statements are checked against published standards and manufacturers' documentation, and we link to them.
Labelled
Contributed articles carry their author's name. Anything paid for is marked as partner content.