Metal is one of the most basic building blocks of the world around you. It's in your house, from the appliances to the rebar in the foundation. It's in your car, pocket, office, and grocery store. In order to be in all those places, metal has to go through several fabrication processes. Without those processes, metal would be nothing but a lump of ore sitting in the ground, doing nothing. 

Refining

The first process that all metal goes through is the refining process. That's when the ore is taken and processed to take out all the impurities and end up with pure metal. The process generally involves a lot of heat, some crushing, and can take days to do, depending on what the metal is and the quality of the ore. This is also a time when alloys can be made. Once the metal has been refined and purified, other metals can be mixed in to create something new. For example, iron can be mixed with carbon to create steel. Other metals can also be added to the mix to give the steel some specific properties. Alloys need to be mixed precisely because too much or too little of any one thing will rob the metal of the properties that are being sought. 

Welding

Another fabrication process is welding. Welding involves using heat to connect pieces of metal together. Welding comes in several different methods. What method gets used when depends on the kind of metal being worked on, where the metal is, and what it is going to be used for. One thing that they have in common is that they all used some kind of solder, which is an alloy of tin and lead, usually. The solder is melted by the welding tool, usually an electrode of some sort. The solder then cools down in the joint of the metal and creates a secure bond. If done correctly, the join can be airtight and watertight. 

Without all the various metal fabrication processes, all metal would just be a chunk of ore, which would be useless for everyone. Bending, cutting, rolling, welding, heating, and forming may seem like simples processes, but when done with metal, it is important to make sure that they are done precisely because making a mistake when rolling and bending a piece of metal could mean that it won't fit in place for the job that it is being made for. 

For more info about custom metal fabrication, contact a local company.