Laser Cutting Performance is constantly being improved on an almost daily basis, but achieving real performance in laser cutting is about more than the machine itself. Real performance is getting a quality part off the machine as quickly and efficiently as possible. In the past it meant getting high

Every Machine and Fabrication Shop should have a Manual Mill Lathe & Grinder in their arsenal of available machine tools. A shop owner never knows when these vital pieces of machinery will be necessary for other machinery repairs, fixturing, tooling or quick one-off jobs. Having the flexibi

Tube Laser Cutting is one of the newest forms of fabricating processing machinery.  Whether its round, square, rectangular, structural, extruded or roll formed shapes they all can be easily processed on a tube laser system, in fact it’s hard to imagine processing these parts anymore without a t

In CNC Tube Processing the designing software is a critical component to the overall success. Systems that integrate between your in shop MRP software, tube laser cutting systems and tube bending and forming systems can be the link that defines your success over that of your competitors. Where most

Although there are many types of wire forming, in production wire forming specialized machinery is used. These wire forming machines have many methods that can be employed to achieve the desired results however only a few are available to manufacture repeatable and fast results. In years past this w

In tube manufacturing and processing, tube end forming is a critical component which allows the tube to be joined as necessary to many other components. It also can be a process used to cap, seal or terminate a tube for a particular application. End forming often follows the tube bending process and

Once you have decided on buying a 3D Printer for your engineering and manufacturing facility, there are many questions that need to be asked and considered. Since there are so many 3D Printers available on the market today, some from just a few hundred dollars on up, which ones will work best for yo

In years past every fabrication shop wanted to grow their manufacturing abilities, and they did so by adding new capabilities and additional capacity like plasma cutting tables. As technology progressed in the following years, shops needed even more accuracy and leaned towards the affordable process

When you have decided to buy a used CNC machine there are several important factors that you should consider. Whether your looking to buy a used CNC Lathe, used CNC mill or used CNC Horizontal machining center, makes those factors slightly different but nevertheless still important. Used CNC Machine

In Fabricating, tube bending plays one of the most important parts. There are so many products manufactured using tubing it would be somewhat impossible to list them all. Whether your bending tubes for a roll cage in a race car, making trumpets, trombones or other musical instrument, stair railings

As mentioned in a previous article, where we detailed the Different Types of Tube Bending, Mandrel Tube Bending is added capability to the Rotary Draw Bending process. With the capability to form tighter and exacting radii the Rotary Tube Bender can easily collapse thinner walled tubing during the f

Vertical Machining Centers (VMCs) are the lifeblood of many manufacturing shops. VMCs, coupled with other CNC Machinery, can make a machine shop more profits than almost any other machine. So why? What is it that they do to give you that advantage? Below are just a few of the things that a Vertical

Being the manager of a business can be a hard job. For example, theres the strict focus required to ensure proper cash flow as well as making sure you are hiring the right people and putting them in a place they can achieve success. No matter the issue, each day you know walking in that it is not a

When considering a tube bender you might often hear reference to a ‘stacked tube bender’ or ‘stacked tooling’ but what does it mean? Do you need it for your application and what benefits, if any, does stacked tooling provide? In the photo below we see a good example of a tooling stack.  What S

Selling a used machine is not as easy as you might imagine. As much as you are familiar with the equipment you are selling, you have to convey that familiarity and confidence into a potential buyer, but how? In this article we will describe the 7 highly effective things you can do to market and sell

Having been a manufacturer of waterjets I am very aware of the importance of good quality water BUT more so I also am aware of the significant trade-off of the investment in the initial system, and more importantly the daily investment in the operating costs it takes to make good quality, or polishe

When shopping for a new, or new to you, press brake, a quality used press brake can be a great option. With a far lower investment cost, a well maintained used press brake can handle your parts just as accurately and quickly as a new one. However a poorly maintained press brake can cost you in downt

Successful Fiber Laser cutting machine maintenance shouldnt be about fixing things at all, rather it should be about NOT having to fix things which can only be achieved through proper maintenance. Although not all shop owners or fabrication managers realize this, the truth is a successful fiber lase

When deciding on a new or used fiber laser. Several important factors should first be considered before you start your web search or call your local machinery dealer. Your Fiber Laser Cutting application is different than any other fabricating shop out there, and as such, you will not need the exact

Increasing machine productivity is a goal sought after by every machine and fabricating shop. In fact a while back we posted this article which focused on how used machinery could help achieve that goal: How to Increase Manufacturing Capacity with Used Machinery. However, we as manufacturers, know t