Metal parts are used in a range of applications across diverse industries. These essential components keep businesses running and consumers happy with their favorite products, such as home appliances and cars.
At Metal Works of High Point, we provide laser cutting, CNC forming and machining, welding, and finishing services for companies offering appliances, material handling, telecommunications, transportation, among other services. Here’s a closer look at the role metal components play in these industries.
Applications/ Industries
From wall brackets to stanchions, fixtures to frames, metal parts are critical both behind the scenes and in the objects and equipment you use every day:
- Contract furniture: Chairs, tables, stools, carts, couches, and desks used for commercial purposes have to be exceptionally durable. Metal components include brackets, mounting plates, connector plates, structural pieces, and drawer inserts.
- Appliances: Metals parts are used extensively in appliances and home electronics, from the timer terminals in washers and dryers to c-clips, smoke detector battery terminals, fire extinguisher valve caps, and garage door opener brackets.
- Telecommunications: The chassis used to secure other components within an enclosed space is an example of custom metal parts fabrication. The most complex designs can be held to tight tolerances and designed to suit the unique application.
- Transportation: The transportation industry requires precise, replicable metal parts made of a variety of durable but lightweight materials. These include engine caps, rocket motor nozzles, baffle cones, transmission adapters, instrument panels, tail light caps, wheel hubs, and more. Drip pans also are used under hoses or anywhere a substance could leak.
- Power generation: Battery enclosures, power supply covers, copper tubing and more are precision manufactured by metal fabricators.
- Aerial lift: Properly made frames and other metal parts help to ensure operator safety.
Types of Metals
Metal Works of High Point creates these components using a variety of hard and soft metals that have their own advantages for certain applications:
- Steel: Though incredibly strong and weldable, steel parts will rust. For many applications, painting or plating is enough to overcome that weak point.
- Stainless steel: Rust-proof, corrosion-resistant, and often temperature-resistant, stainless steel is used in chemical processing, marine applications, steam turbines, and more.
- Titanium: Lightweight and strong, titanium has about twice the tensile strength of steel at half the weight. It’s biocompatible, so it can be used in the human body (i.e. bone screws, plates, etc.). It’s also a favorite in the aerospace industry.
- Aluminum: When alloyed, it’s a strong, lightweight go-to in the aerospace and automobile industries. Some types of aluminum are especially resistant to corrosion.
- Brass: More versatile than copper, brass is corrosion and weather resistant, making it suitable in extreme climates while maintaining a tensile strength similar to mild steel. There are many brass alloys, and each has its distinct advantages. A common general-use brass is 70% copper and 30% zinc.
- Copper: It’s extremely ductile, offering both strength and flexibility. It’s also the second best electrical conductor on the planet, and it’s found in hundreds of alloys.
Custom Metal Parts Fabrication by Metal Works
As a second-generation family-owned and operated company, Metal Works of High Point has been offering custom metal parts fabrication since 1992. We’re committed to growth and innovation, and we use the latest technology to ensure our customers receive the best possible metal components.
Our precision laser cutting operates on a 24-hour schedule with advanced three-axis cutting systems. Our expanded facility allows for CNC forming and machining using advanced vertical mills and turret lathes, which have dual spindle and live tooling capabilities. We also offer welding and finishing services, as your one-stop custom parts shop.
At Metal Works of High Point, we call upon our years of experience, top-of-the-line facility, and dedicated, highly skilled employees to satisfy orders of all sizes and complexities. Contact us today or request a quote for your project.