The plastics manufacturing industry has taken the world by storm ever since the 1930s. With more innovative technology and machinery, plastic fabrication is the only way to go for all your pharmaceutical, marine, and boat needs.
For this reason, we’ve put together a beginners’ guide explaining the processes of plastic fabrication as well as its benefits and advantages.
What is plastic fabrication?
Plastic fabrication is the process of shaping, cutting, moulding, or changing the form of a material into a product.
This is a succinct definition of plastic fabrication.
Types of plastic fabrication processes
The plastic fabrication method depends significantly on the function of the product, the appearance, and, of course, the budget.
There is a wide selection of plastic fabrication options to customise and tailor your designs.
The more well-known processes include:
- Cutting
- Machining
- Welding
Let’s take a look at each.
Cutting
The process of removing any additional material to meet the required shape and size.
Our expert engineers often use cutting torches and band saws to safely carry out this plastic fabrication process.
Machining
This includes drilling, lathing, and honing to shape the material – be it automatically or manually.
Welding
The process of using heat or pressure to bring together two or more components as one product.
Benefits of plastic fabrication
With many types of plastic such as nylon and acrylic, it’s difficult to determine the advantages of each one individually without listing every type of plastic.
More generally, however, there are certain benefits of plastic fabrication over metal fabrication.
What are the main advantages?
The main advantages of plastic fabrication are:
- As plastic has an incredibly low melting point, it is very malleable and, therefore, great to use if the design has complex patterns.
- Plastic is very lightweight.
- You’ll be saving some money. How? You won’t need to paint after fabrication as plastic can be painted before the process begins.
- You don’t have to worry about rusting or oxidation as plastic is chemical-resistant.
- The plastic fabrication cycle time is very quick. In other words, you won’t have to wait long to see the end product.
Looking for a specialist plastic fabrication company?
With over 50 years of experience and ISO 9001:2015 accreditation, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our expert and friendly team at Hampshire Plastics for all your plastic fabrication needs.
If you are in the process of starting your search for a supplier or are ready to kick off a project, we would be delighted to have a conversation with you.
Contact us now by calling 023 9248 6633.
Alternatively, send us an enquiry via our contact page.
