Introduction 1
About This Book 2
Foolish Assumptions 3
Icons Used in This Book 4
Beyond the Book 4
Where to Go from Here 5
Part 1: Fabricating Truths 7
Chapter 1: Manipulating Metal 9
Defining the Processes 10
Cutting up 10
Shearing specifics 11
Slitting success 12
Punching out 13
Boarding the Bending Express 15
Putting on the brakes 15
Forming opinions 16
Thinking progressively 17
Spinning in circles 17
Peeking at the Neighbors 18
Touring the machine shop 18
Wake up, it’s time to get vertical 19
Reviewing the Rest 20
Thinking additively 20
Casting away 21
Forging partnerships 22
Honorable mentions 23
Embracing Mechanics 23
Bearing witness 23
Motoring about 24
Controlling motion 24
Mulling over the miscellany 25
Chapter 2: Looking Back at Fabricating History 27
Digging for Gold 28
Pounding progress 28
Hello, Bronze Age 29
Pumping Iron 30
Smelting success 30
Steeling for progress 31
Caring About Fabricating 34
Admiring appliances 34
Building tall buildings 35
Cruising about with cars 36
Heading out to sea 36
Lifting off with aircraft 36
Chapter 3: Getting to Know Materials 37
Pondering the Properties 38
Touching on the Elements 40
Reconnoitering the Metals Landscape 43
Steeling history 43
Carbon copying 44
Alluding to Alloys 46
Shining up with stainless steel 47
Supersize me 48
Tooling around 49
Riding the Gravy Train 50
Seeing red 51
Playing with polymers 52
Peeking Under the Sheets 53
Part 2: Making Metal Fabulous: The Processes 57
Chapter 4: Cutting Up 59
Eating Cake: Power Shears 60
Lasing About 62
Looking for problems 63
Beaming up 64
Do me a solid 64
Peeking over the edge 67
Firing Up 68
Beholding the Gantry 70
Watering Down 71
“We want to pump you up!” 72
Dirtying the water 73
Nozzles, schnozzles 74
Chapter 5: Bending Down 77
Bending History 78
Furiously folding 78
Wiping around 79
“Braking” Up Is Hard to Do 80
Coming to terms with press-brake terminology 81
Learning about the force 83
Diving Into Dies 85
Don’t be pushy 86
Diversity in dies (and punches) 88
Backgauging the Bends 89
Crowning Is King 90
Calculating Conundrums 93
Accommodating Potter 93
Laying it all out 94
Chapter 6: Stamping About 97
Striking Gold 98
Don’t be sore 98
Coffins to clutches 98
Decompressing Presses 99
Closing the gap 100
Laid back 100
Straight talking 101
Picking Up the Lingo 102
Taking Off the Covers 103
On the fly 103
Achieving happiness with hydraulics 105
Along came the servo 106
Feeding the Machine 107
Being Progressive 108
Let’s pretend 109
Done in one 109
Chapter 7: Punching Out 113
Punching Madness 114
It’s all about control 114
A matter of form 115
Exploring Operations 116
Picking Your Station 118
It’s automatic 118
More tools, please 119
Getting a Grip 121
Deciphering Dies 122
Taking the Combo 123
Chapter 8: Fabricating Odds and Ends 127
Working Iron 128
Coping isn’t hard 130
Drilling and more 131
Rolling ’Round 131
A Booming Success! 132
Piping Up 133
Keeping a schedule 134
Let’s go tubing! 135
Buckle up 136
Of saddles and fish mouths 137
Squeezing in the Rest 138
Fantastic forging 138
Rolling your own 140
One ring to rule them all 141
Part 3: More Than Machinery: Digging in the Toolbox 143
Chapter 9: Tooling Up 145
Digging Metals 146
Carbide: The tooling superhero 146
Tool steel: Second best, not second rate 147
Setting Standards 149
Punching Through 152
A quick peek inside 153
Keep it clear 155
Keep it sharp 155
Keep an eye on things 156
Stamping and Stuff 156
Donning a Smooth, Slippery Coat 157
Wrapping Up 158
Chapter 10: Welding: Putting It All Together 161
Wondering About Welding 162
Doing Me a Solid (State) 164
Firing Up 165
Arcing Across 167
Marking the Spot 169
Getting Gassed Up 169
Shields up, Captain! 169
A smatter of spatter 171
In flux over flux 172
Choosing a Good Joint 173
Learning Safety with Jimmy 174
Chapter 11: Automating with Robots 177
Taking Robbie Apart 178
Effecting change 179
Teaching them a lesson 179
Leaning on the Tin Man 180
Pushing the limits with press brakes 181
Feeding the factory 181
Laying Down the Law 183
Gaining Flexibility with an FMS 185
Watching from Home 187
Avoiding Bad Actors 188
Chapter 12: Making Tools and Machining Parts 191
Touring the Tool and Die Department 192
The usual suspects 192
I’ll take the combo 193
Facing the hard facts 194
Justifying their existence 194
Meeting a Few Machine Tools 194
Turning terrifically 195
Milling majestically 197
Staying Sharp with Cutting Tools 201
Spinning ’round: Rotary tools 201
Hold still: Stationary tools 202
Increasing Your Carbon Footprint with EDM 204
Sink or swim 205
Wired up 205
Grinding Is Groovy 207
Chapter 13: Going Soft(ware) 209
Unraveling Difficult Acronyms 210
Figuring Out File Formats 212
Coloring in the Lines 213
Abra-CAD-abra 213
Rhymes with ham 215
Going flat 216
Why nests aren’t for birds 217
Modeling Reality 219
Your high school industrial arts project 219
The importance of a solid footing 219
Staring at Clouds 220
Eliminating Toolroom Chaos 221
Designing with an Eye to Production 223
Designing for manufacturability 223
It’s elemental, Dear Watson 223
Herding the Shop Floor Cats with MES 224
Chapter 14: Embracing Quality 227
Giving a Rip About Quality 228
Showing tolerance 228
Dimensioning geometrically 230
Confusing characteristics 230
Internationalizing Your Standards 232
Shopping for Tape Measures 234
Touring the Inspection Room 237
Gaging success 238
Hello, Mr. Mic(rometer) 240
Filling up the metrology lab shopping cart 241
Letting Machines Do the Measuring 243
Decisions, decisions 244
Jumping at shadows 245
That’s a Wrap 246
Chapter 15: Making Metal Parts Pretty 247
Assessing Abrasives 248
Wheeling About 251
I’m Bond . . . abrasive bond 252
Let’s get small 254
Talking about Tools 256
More power! 256
Tools for the toolroom 258
Working ’em Like Dogs 260
Blasting Away 261
Of glass, shells, and stones 262
Getting all stressed out 263
Finishing Up 264
Part 4: The Part of Tens 267
Chapter 16: Ten Techie Things to Know About Fabricating 269
Joining the Revolution 270
Cruising the Clouds 271
Going Green 271
Getting Lighter 272
Getting Lost on the Paper Trail 273
Cutting the Wires 274
Viewing Machines Virtually 275
Manufacturing Additively 275
Embracing Automation 278
Leaning Out Your Shop 279
Chapter 17: (Almost) Ten Ways to Be a Better Fabricator 281
Changing Things Up 282
Adopting New Technology 283
Marketing Your Business Vertically 284
Shortening Setups, Increasing Uptime 285
Maintaining the Machine (and Tools) 287
Learning That Manufacturing Is Not a Dirty Word 288
Becoming Certifiable 289
Donning Some Cool Safety Shades 291
Keeping Your House in Order 293
Index 295
