Metal Fabrication Project – How to Optimise Your Design

Any metal fabrication project has to start with a design – it’s what takes the vision and turns it into a reality. However, to improve the quality of the product and the overall output there are ways of optimising the metal fabrication design. This should be done before the metal fabrication begins to help the fabricator. So, let’s dive in and take a look.

Metal Fabrication Project – 7 Tips to Optimise the Design

Choose the right metal fabricator –  this point is crucial to getting good results and you need to choose a metal fabricator that has plenty of experience, good quality of work, and excellent customer service. It also helps to choose a metal fabricator that offers design services and in-house engineering.

Get your metal fabricator involved from the outset – Once you’ve chosen your metal fabricator, its important to get them involved in your metal fabrication project from the outset. By doing this, they can advise you on the best materials to use and even suggest minor alterations for the design to get it ready for fabrication.

Remove unnecessary details – The design stage is one of the most crucial elements of any metal fabrication project and it needs to be right. Unnecessary details can slow down the fabrication process and possibly mislead the fabricator. Our tip is to ask for help from your fabricator who can determine which details are necessary and which aren’t.

Choose the right material – The material used for any metal fabrication project has a huge impact on its design, durability and resistance to heat. The type of material can also affect the costs, so choosing the right material is critical to product affordable, yet high-quality products.

While there are plenty of materials to choose from, the two most popular are aluminium and steel because of their non-corrosive properties and durability. Ask your fabricator if these materials are suitable for your design.

Choose the right manufacturer for the material – Knowing where to purchase the materials is as critical as deciding on the material to use for your metal fabrication project.

A good metal fabricator can provide several choices of metal fabrication materials as well as the best material suitable for the design of the product. Also, they’re likely to offer the best price for the materials.

Consider the metal fabrication techniques – For your metal fabrication project, it’s important to know and understand how the fabricator will work on your design. The most commonly used techniques include:

• Stamping
• Punching
• Cutting
• Roll forming
• Bending

Ask your chosen fabricator to walk you through these processes and show you examples so together you can decide on the techniques for a durable cost-effective design.

Test the design – finally, we suggest testing out the design to see whether it meets the specification. Sometimes a design works in theory but not when it’s put into practice. Test it first to see if it translates into your desired product. Usually, a metal fabricator can provide 3D models and prototypes before production.

The Takeaway

Optimising the design can be time-consuming but with the right skills, tools and expertise, a great design can be created. Without a doubt, it makes sense to take into account the above 7 tips to optimise your metal fabrication project design and achieve the desired product.

If you need any further information about metal fabrication get in touch with the experts at Metro Steel. We provide high-quality services and excellent customer service. Call us today on 07 3204 1000.