What Is a Custom Fabrication Shop?: A Review of Our Capabilities
The Schantz family began building custom trailers and trucks for the food industry over 60 years ago. Today, Schantz Machine & Fabrication is a full-service, family-owned-and-operated custom fabrication shop. Their metalworking expertise and reputation fueled growth in aftermarket racing products, dirt and pavement racing parts and accessories, suspension components, and various vehicle parts. With the goal of providing economical, high-quality, and customized metal-fabricated parts with on-time delivery, they set the standard for what a metal fabrication shop is and should be.
As a custom fabrication shop, Schantz strives to design and fabricate metal parts, including custom stainless-steel fabrication, to the tightest tolerances. Schantz Machine & Fabrication services include CNC machining, structural metal, welding, rapid prototyping, fixturing, and low-volume CNC machining.
What It Means to Be a Custom Fabrication Shop
The Fabricator describes custom fabrication shops as complex and difficult to define. Custom fabrication shops can fall anywhere in a broad manufacturing sphere: precision sheet metal, precision tube, specialty fab, heavy plate, industrial, architectural, and structural. Where a fabrication shop finds itself within this sphere depends on its customer base and local market needs. Many shops are not easily pigeonholed within just one of these areas. A precision sheet metal fabricator might decide to invest in a plasma or waterjet and take on more heavy plate work.
When looking for a fabrication shop, a customer should look for a mix of quality, equipment, and customer service. Some traits to expect from a custom fabrication shop include the ability to do precision work, high-end equipment and skilled machinists to run it, accurate cost estimates and delivery time, and customer service that reflects a commitment to meeting requirements and specifications.
Schantz Machine & Fabrication metal fabrication encapsulates a variety of processes, including structural fabrication: metal, tubing, and designing custom fixtures and functional prototypes. They combine traditional manufacturing methods with the latest technology and talent to fabricate all types of custom metal structures and assemblies to the exact requirements of their customers.
Custom metal parts fabrication at SMF includes the ability to work with a variety of raw materials, including aluminum, carbon steel, and custom stainless steel fabrication. Schantz commonly uses titanium to machine suspension components, aftermarket parts, ATV parts, drag racing parts, and more. When necessary, Schantz Machine & Fabrication will source additional materials so that as much of the manufacturing process as possible is completed in-house.
CNC Machining, Low-Volume Production Machining & Welding Services by Schantz Machine & Fabrication
Whether quoting an existing design or designing custom metal parts fabrications from scratch, Schantz Custom Fabrication is equipped with full-service machining centers, delivering high-speed machining that utilizes the latest technology. They also regularly employ 3D design and assembly processes to address the specific needs and requirements of each client.
As a custom fabrication shop, Schantz Custom Fabrication’s CNC machining services, welding, and fabrication services are rooted in their strong passion for racing and outdoor motorsports. They also count titanium welding among their strongest and most unique capabilities. As The Fabricator describes, while some fabricators and engineers shy away from welding titanium, experienced welders embrace it. Welding Headquarters calls titanium a highly reactive metal, which is why, in the past, people only welded it in tightly sealed chambers. However, with experienced welders, such as those at Schantz, and with proper gas shielding and preventative measures, titanium can be welded successfully and somewhat easily.
Over the past 60 years, Schantz Custom Fabricators has established precise and efficient processes to design and build custom-fabricated parts that meet the strictest tolerances, including suspension components, dirt track racing parts, circle track racing parts, and accessories for ATVs, UTVs, and dirt bikes. Their expert staff frequently performs component modifications, custom metal parts fabrication, and crash recovery for midget cars, ATVs, UTVs, and other dirt track and pavement racing applications. From suspension systems and brakes to engine components and other modified racing gear, they have the in-house technology and engineering skills necessary to modify and straighten almost any kind of chassis, assembly, or component.
Improve Quality and Reduce Machine Time & Cost With Larger Inside Radii
Requiring 90-degree internal corners can be a costly machining task. Since cutting tools are round, sharp inside corners are more often than not impossible to achieve with precision.
The designer at a custom fabrication shop can, in many cases, allow for internal radii to cut down on manufacturing time and reduce the overall cost. A general rule is that unless absolutely required, a part should always be designed with rounded internal features and corners. The deeper the internal pocket, the larger the radius required will be. This allows the operator to reach down to the bottom of the part with a larger-diameter tool. What’s more, larger tools are more rigid and reduce the chances of chatter, which causes a poor surface finish for many products.
Think of it like this: if you are out driving a car, you must slow down and almost come to a stop in order to make a sharp 90-degree turn. But on the other hand, you can keep your speed up if the turn radius is bigger. This applies to machining too.
Machine Times Are Faster With Looser Part Tolerances
Manufacturing costs will be higher the more figures there are after a decimal point on a print. Designers at many custom fabrication shops will default to tolerances that are tighter than required. When talking about the price difference between hitting +/-10 thousand and +/-2, there can be quite a difference. High-precision parts will need more final cutting passes to bring them to tolerance and extra quality assessment steps. This ultimately slows the entire process down.
A part should be designed with the loosest possible tolerances whenever possible. This allows for a quicker manufacturing process and, thus, a lower price tag. Let’s put things into perspective. The average human hair is about .003”, or three-thousandths of an inch. Part tolerances rarely need to be that accurate, and if they do, it’s often certain features that need to be tighter as opposed to the full part.
What Is a Fabrication Shop?: The Final Word
A fabrication shop serves a wide range of industrial uses. Whether you are designing a medical device, automotive part, airplane component, or just about any other metal or plastic product, a custom fabrication shop can turn your design into a reality. What a fabrication shop is ultimately depends on the specific capabilities and services of each specific shop. At Schantz Machine & Fabrication, we offer comprehensive machining services from design to production at our custom fabrication shop in St. Louis, MO. Our CNC Design for Manufacturing services help to ensure the success of your project from its beginning stages. Contact us for a free quote on your next project!
About Schantz Machine and Fabrication
Schantz Machine & Fabrication is engineering and design-focused with the skills and experience to conduct a needs assessment with the customer and then design and fabricate custom metal parts using Autodesk Inventor and Fusion 360. While they are rooted in racing, Schantz is a proud U.S. source of custom metal parts fabrication for numerous industries.
A custom fabrication shop dedicated to working closely with customers, Schantz Custom Fabrication provides creative, precise, and efficient processes to design and build components to the strictest of tolerances. They ensure custom metal parts fabrication projects remain budget-friendly and are completed on time.
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