FAQs

Our experienced team and 90,000-square-foot facility—packed with the most technologically advanced tools and equipment—can meet nearly any custom metal fabrication need. Our core services include:

• Tube laser cutting (You should really check this thing out!)
• Flat laser cutting
• Precision forming
• Certified welding
• CNC/Turret Punching
• Orbital welding
• Field services (Measuring, designing, fabricating and installing projects at your facility.)
• Architectural and decorative sheet metal fabrication
• Tool design and prototyping
• Painting and coating

Richards Sheet Metal specializes in getting the job done! But seriously, from one-off equipment modifications to mass-produced components, we eat new challenges for breakfast. And exceeding our customers’ expectations and finishing projects on time and within budget is our favorite midday snack. Simply put, we have the tools, technology and team to meet almost any custom metal fabrication need. Contact us to learn how we can help you.

First of all, we seek out new challenges and welcome clients from industries we have not yet served. So, if you don’t see your industry in this list, don’t let that stop you from contacting us. That said, some of the most common industries we serve include:

• Mining
• Farming
• Roofing
• Sanitation
• Machinery
• Food services
• Transportation
• Pharmaceutical
• Material handling
• General industrial
• General construction
• Military and government
• Entrepreneurial start-ups

Richards Sheet Metal has some of the most capable welders in the industry. Our staff of welding engineers and in-house welding inspectors—certified by the American Welding Society and ISO—oversee all welding activities and personnel in accordance with established codes and standards. Our welding procedures and personnel are qualified in accordance with:

• AWS D1.1 Structural Welding Code – Steel
• AWS D1.2 Structural Welding Code – Aluminum
• AWS D1.3 Structural Welding Code – Sheet Steel
• AWS D1.6 Structural Welding Code – Stainless Steel
• AWS D9.1 Sheet Metal Welding Code
• AWS D15.2 Recommended Practices for the Welding of Rails and Rail Related Components for Use by Rail Vehicles
• AWS D17.1 Specification for Fusion Welding for Aerospace Applications
• ASME Section IX Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code – Qualification of Welders, Welding Operators, Brazers and Brazing Operators and Procedures
• ISO/EN 15085 Certification for Welding of Railway Vehicles and Components

Our shop is located in Ogden, Utah. Our address is:

2680 Industrial Drive

Ogden, UT 84401

Want to work with us? Good choice! Richards Sheet Metal is one of the top choices for world-class custom metal fabrication work. Simply contact us to get in touch. Or call our office at 801-621-3341. If emailing is more your style, send a message to info@richards-fab.com. And, yeah, we even have a fax line at 801-392-9567. No matter which way you contact us, you’re sure to connect with one of our knowledgeable and friendly team members. And if you’re interested in getting a quote, click here.

If you’ve ever rode in a car, or used an oven, or microwave, or handled a cell phone, or worked on a computer, or done any other number of modern everyday things, you’ve put your hands on the result of custom metal fabrication. Formally, metal fabrication is the process of cutting, stamping, folding or welding sheet metal into a specialized shape to reach a product or component’s design purpose. But, informally, we say it’s an artform. And sheet metal is the canvas.

Fabricated metal product manufacturing involves forging, stamping, bending, forming, welding and assembling sheet metal. The goal? To transform a product produced elsewhere (most commonly cold rolled steel) into components or end products. This subsector of the manufacturing industry also involves the various treatments for metal products—think electroplating, painting, plating and powder coating.

The better question may be, “What don’t metal fabricators make?” If it’s made of sheet metal, it was made by a custom fabricator. From junction boxes and window wells to parts for roller coasters and even the fuselages of most airplanes, the range of products metal fabricators produce is as wide as a school bus (which are also made by metal fabricators).

The cost of metal fabrication projects varies widely. Why? Variables in project design, requirements and scope influence the total cost. While this is not an exhaustive list of everything that can influence the cost of a metal fabrication project, there are some factors that apply to almost every type of job.

• The type of metal – Copper, for instance, costs much more than cold rolled steel
• The overall size and thickness of metal required – The more metal, the more moolah
• The type of finish – Powder coating, for example, is more affordable than other finishes
• Whether or not custom sheet metal fabrication techniques and tools are required

Fabrication is a process that combines prefabricated parts using one or more particular methods to form a final product. These methods may include cutting, stamping, welding or punching. Manufacturing, on the other hand, is the process of converting raw material into a finished product. In simpler terms, manufacturing is the production of something from start to finish using raw materials. In contrast, fabrication is the process of putting parts together in various ways to achieve the desired product.

Laser cutting is used to cut metals both thick and thin to achieve a smooth and precise finish. It, as the name implies, utilizes a high-power, focused laser beam to heat the metal. Pressurized nitrogen gas is used in conjunction with the laser’s intense heat to blow the molten metal out of the cut area. In this way, laser cutting is more of a metal-melting process than cutting. Both pulsed beam and continuous wave beam laser cutting machines are available. The pulsed beam laser delivers its cutting power in short bursts. And the continuous-wave beam produces steady, constant heat. Both can achieve amazingly accurate cuts or holes in materials.

Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) punching is a common sheet metal manufacturing process that produces holes or patterns in raw material utilizing special rams, dies and punches. The CNC punching machine is controlled with dedicated software that positions the punch and dies according to a design input into the machine’s computer.

Sheet metal is a thin, flat material created through the process of melting metal, pouring the molten product into a mold, allowing it to cool and then rolling it to the desired thickness. Depending on the type of metal, the sheet may then be treated with a corrosion-resistant finish.

Sheet metal can be made out of a variety of different types of metals, including copper, aluminum, titanium and steel. However, the most common sheet metal for general use is made of steel.

In the U.S., we refer to the thickness of sheet metal by its “gauge.” Common sheet metal thicknesses range from seven gauge (3/16” thick) to 24 gauge (1/40” thick). As you can see, sheet metal gets thinner as the gauge number gets bigger. And that number can grow all the way to 38 gauge (1/160” thick).

Holes are most commonly cut in sheet metal through the processes of drilling or punching—depending on the thickness and type of the material, access to tools and size of the hole needed.

Like no parent has a favorite child, no welder will tell you MIG welding is better than TIG—or vice versa. Both processes are similar. They both use an electric arc that heats metal to form the weld. They can both join a wide variety of metals. And they both use a shielding gas to protect the weld from atmospheric impurities. But each performs certain things better than the other.

Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding utilizes a non-consumable electrode to deliver an electrical current to the welding arc. The resulting heat melts the metal being welded into a puddle. The tungsten electrode and puddle receive protection from weld-ruining atmospheric menaces via an inert gas, typically argon. In most cases, a hand-held filler rod strengthens and reinforces the weld. However, some thinner materials don’t require a filler metal and may be fused.

Metal Inert Gas (MIG) welding utilizes a spooled wire electrode to feed electricity into the work and melt the base metal. The MIG electrode also acts as a filler metal, strengthening the weld. The electrode feeds out of the welding machine at a rate predetermined by the operator. The wire feed speed and voltage are adjustable to obtain the desired weld. They are customized according to different materials and thicknesses.

Orbital welding is an automated welding process using special equipment that continuously rotates the welding arc around an object. Orbital welding utilizes a computerized, enclosed Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) weld head. This advanced machinery allows for a highly repeatable welding process of structural pipes and tubes.

A welding map is a plan or “blueprint,” if you will, that identifies each seam to be welded in a project. It also indicates what procedure should be used for each specific weld–such as MIG, TIG or Stick.