The Industrial Age Made It PossibleThe Industrial Age Made It Possible

Step into a metal fabrication shop and take a look around. You will find a plethora of tools hanging around that you may recognize or may have never seen before. Every single tool serves a valuable purpose in these shops, but some are used more than others. Take a look at some of the common tools you will find in a metal fabrication shop that are typically used on a daily basis for a variety of projects. 

Angle Grinders 

Angle grinders are handheld power tools that you can find in just about any garage or workshop, but they are also extremely valuable in metal fabrication processes. Angle grinders are the go-to tool to grab for all kinds of quick metalworking processes. For example, an angle grinder may be used to: 

• Grind away small nubs on a piece of cut metal to smooth the edges 
• Make quick indentations in a piece of sheet metal 
• Polish the edge of a sharpened piece of metal like a blade
• Cut away particles left uncut after using other pieces of equipment 

Large, industrial type angle cutters are also something that many metal fabrication shops have. However, it is often faster and more convenient to simply grab a handheld version and tackle a small project. 

Cleco Fasteners 

Cleco fasteners are small fastening tools that you would use to secure several layers of sheet metal together. Just like you would use straight pins to fasten fabric before it is sewn together or cut, you use cleco fasteners for precisely the same purpose. The fasteners are placed through pre-drilled holes in several layers of thin sheet metal to hold them in the right place before they are either welded together or run through a cutter of some sort. Once the process is complete, the cleco fasteners can be removed and reused again for the same process. 

Strut Cutters 

Strut cutters utilize various dies to make precise cuts in pieces of metal, and they are highly efficient in both how they function and how little waste is produced when following the cutting processes. Strut cutters have two elongated bars that are fastened horizontally on a work surface and a cutting machine that is situated on top in which you can change to different dies to make varying types of cuts. Strut cutters are most efficient for smaller metalworking processes, however. For larger metal pieces, something like shear cutters may be used instead.