subject: Metal Fabrication - A Brief History [print this page] Copyright (c) 2010 Nadine DavisIt may seem to us that early humans took a long time to develop the ability to make and bend metal, the process we call metal fabrication. However, we must realise that our current knowledge is a direct result of their efforts. For example, aluminium was a metal unknown to the ancients but in aluminium fabrication Brisbane companies use the same principles.It is generally accepted that the first metals discovered and used by ancient humans were tin, iron and gold. Gold proved to be too soft for most uses other than decorative, but tin and iron were mined in all but the most primitive civilizations. Once humans discovered that by extracting the ore from rock and melting it, it could be moulded into different shapes or forged together i.e. fabricated, into tools and weapons, civilization took a giant leap forward.As the human knowledge base increased exponentially, more uses were found for metals and they became essential to the development of the modern society we know today. The Industrial Revolution of the seventeenth and eighteen century brought metal fabrication out of the realms of a cottage industry and into the position of industrial prominence it still enjoys.Metal fabricators today still take raw material and transform it into products, tools and machinery using the same principles as the early fabricators, but they now have available to them complex equipment and processes that enable the production of everything metal, from a nail to a jumbo jet. The tools used to cut metal have also evolved from simple tin snips to modern lasers and plasma cutters, and advances in welding techniques and different types of welding rods have led to stronger welds. Different metals are used for different applications and each requires specialized fabricating techniques.Today's metal fabricators have the assistance of computer aided machinery and robotics which have driven down the cost of producing large runs, reduced waste to almost zero, and enabled the development of products to an astonishing degree of accuracy.Metal fabrication is now a high tech, complex and sophisticated process when you couple it with quality systems and international standards. It now requires high levels of skill and knowledge from its operators. Pipe work is also a component of the industry and in Pipe Fabrication Brisbane is a leading supplier of quality manufactured products.
