The metalworking industry is vital to all economic activity, as it supplies products to the other links in the various production chains. It does so through machinery, tools and parts, such as those used in cars.
What is metalworking?
The definition of metalworking is broad and covers the industrial machines and tools used to supply parts to other industries. The most important raw material for the metalworking sector is metal, together with alloys of iron, which are used to create the goods that make up productive capital. It follows that metalworking is responsible for supplying the tools and inputs needed for other economic activities.
Metalworking is the starting point for other activities. For example, it supplies the automotive, aerospace, food, manufacturing, construction, mining and agriculture industries, among others. The aim of this discipline is to transform raw materials (metals) into items such as sheets, plates and so on, which, once processed, serve as spare parts or components for other products such as cars.
This sector is characterised by the great complexity of its production processes, which require high precision to be carried out properly. It also relies on professionals who are experts in the various machine tools used in this industry: turners, millers, grinders, die makers, foundry workers, welders, CNC operators and so on.
The metalworking industry can encompass two disciplines:
- Metallurgy, the technique by which metals are obtained from metallic ores and processed.
- Ferrous metallurgy, itself a branch of metallurgy, which covers the technologies of iron, its production and its carbon alloys.
Machines used in the metalworking industry
It is worth noting that the working of raw material in metalworking is known as machining. There are three different types in the industry:
- By chip removal, i.e. cutting away chips or small shavings.
- Without chip removal, which involves forming or deforming the parts.
- By abrasion or wear of the surface of the machined parts.
The main component of the metalworking industry is undoubtedly the machine tools involved in the production processes through which raw material is worked and shaped. Each machine can carry out different processes, taking more or less time and using specific cutting tools. Each of these machine tools also machines parts in a different way, the most common being chip removal.
Lathe
The lathe is one of the most important machine tools in the metalworking industry and is in fact considered the first machine tool ever invented, dating back to 850 BC. The lathe is a set of tools that, through various processes, machine parts into geometric shapes of revolution.
On this machine, the workpiece is clamped in a chuck and rotates while one or more cutting tools approach its surface in a feed movement to cut chips. Lathes can perform various machining operations: they can turn, drill, groove, rough and part off different workpieces.
Milling machine
Along with the lathe, the milling machine is another essential machine in the metalworking industry. It uses a rotating cutting tool called a milling cutter. Like the lathe, the milling machine machines parts by removing chips and can perform many machining operations, such as drilling. On milling machines, it is the workpiece that moves towards the cutting tool, thanks to the movement of the machine's slides or of the table (on vertical milling machines).
Drilling machine
Although milling machines and lathes can drill, there is a specific machine tool for making holes in parts. It is very common in workshops and comes in many forms, from simple drills for bench use to complex machines capable of machining very large parts. Like the two previous machines, the drilling machine also works by removing chips.
Press
The press is used to work metal sheets or plates through forming and deformation processes; it is one of the machine tools that work without chip removal.
Grinding machine
It is a machine tool that wears away the surface of a previously machined part by abrasion, using a grinding wheel.
Deformation processes in the metalworking industry
In addition to machine tools, the metalworking industry includes various processes through which raw material can be shaped. These include:
- Casting. A process that involves melting a material and pouring the resulting liquid into a mould, where the metal solidifies.
- Forging. A deformation process that can be carried out hot or cold, in which the material is shaped by compressive forces.
- Rolling. A process complementary to steelmaking in which crude cast steel is rolled; the aim of rolling is to turn this steel into various commercial sections.