DEPARTMENTS
10 From the Editor-in-Chief
The manufacturing community wants to attract young people to science, technology,
engineering, and math careers, but if they want to be successful, they should probably target
elementary schools. The Brillion (Wis.) School District has figured that out.
14 Readers’ Forum
16 Calendar of Events
20 Industry News
36 Product Highlights
39 Applications
40 The FABRICATOR’s Metal Market
40 Product News
52 Precision Matters
Columnist Gerald Davis explores the use of “mates” as he reveals how to make a hand drill
operate the same way in the 3-D model as it does in the real world.
54 Bending Basics
This month columnist Steve Benson summarizes his grand unifying theory of radius, bend
deduction, and die selection with a review and complete rundown of the bend calculations,
from estimating springback to working the bend functions.
58 Technology Spotlight
X-ray fluorescence (XRF) devices today have three times the detection power when compared to previous generations of devices, which opens the door to new applications, such as
checking the quality of oil used to lubricate machine tools.
104 FMA: In The Know
108 Classified Ads
109 Advertisers’ Index
110 The Back Page
Contributing Editor Amanda Carlson introduces us to a former contractor who has found her
niche as a welding artist and instructor.
WHAT’S ON THEFABRICATOR.COM?
Check out thefabricator.com blog where guest blogger Nick Martin provides his take on how to
define a job shop family ( www.thefabricator.com/blog/working-with-family-).
Read the latest exclusive content, such as articles on the basics of remote welding technology
and the debate between extracting welding fumes at the source or relying on full-room ventilation
equipment to do the job.
Didn’t make it to FABTECH®? See the latest fabricating equipment in action with videos on
thefabricator.com ( www.thefabricator.com/?filter=video).
COMING IN JANUARY 2016:
Find out what a manufacturer of lawn and garden equipment did to level out the production
load on the shop floor.
Discover ways to improve first-pass coverage of parts on a powder coating line.
Read about what fabricating technology was introduced and what happened at FABTECH 2015,
North America’s largest fabricating and forming technology event.
December 2015
Vol. 45 No. 12 CONTENTS
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the fabricator®