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Custom metal fabrication · Delaware

Welded frames, guards and brackets, one to fifty pieces, machined flat after welding

Custom metal fabrication for plants and small OEMs around Newark, Delaware. Welded steel frames and stands, machine guard fabrication, and short-run metal brackets. Fixed price once we have seen the drawing or the sketch.

A36 & 1018 steel 304 stainless 6061 & 5052 aluminum Weldments to ~72 in
Send a drawing Check if your job fits
Weldment length
Up to ~72 in
Machined after weld
30 × 16 × 20 in
Quantity
1–50 pcs
Frames, typical lead
2–4 weeks
Price
Fixed, after review

What fabrication means in this shop

It means the steel that holds your equipment up, keeps hands out of it, or bolts one thing to another. A stand for a bench press. A guard over a belt drive that a safety walk flagged. Twenty-four brackets for a conveyor retrofit that no production shop would quote because the order is too small to program.

We cut, fit, weld and then, where it matters, put the weldment back on the mill and face the mounting pads flat. That last step is the one most fab shops skip. A frame welded from A36 tube moves when it cools, usually 0.030 to 0.060 in across a 48 in span, and a machine bolted to pads that are out by that much will rock or pull its own base out of square.

We are a small shop. Everything here goes through the same hands that build our welding fixtures, which is why the frames come out square: we make the fixture before we make the frame, when the quantity justifies it.

Welded steel frames and stands

A36 square tube and angle, MIG welded, with leveling feet or casters and machined mounting pads. Most of the stands we build carry something between 200 and 1,500 lb: a small press, a test rig, a gearbox and motor, a granite plate. Up to about 72 in long in one piece. Longer than that we build in bolted sections, and the joint is designed in from the start rather than cut in afterwards.

Welds are tacked in sequence and stitched alternately so heat goes in balanced. Then the pads get faced on the mill if they fit the 30 × 16 × 20 in envelope, or spot-faced in place if the frame is bigger. You get the pad flatness on the check sheet.

Suits a maintenance lead who needs a stand this month and a small OEM that wants the same test stand six times without calling six welders.

Frames and stands
MaterialA36 tube and angle, 1018 flat bar; 304 stainless on request
ProcessMIG on carbon steel, TIG on stainless and thin wall
Sizeup to ~72 in long
Pad flatnessFaced after welding; measured value on the check sheet
FinishBare and oiled, primer, or powder coat (sent out, ~1 week)
Lead time2–4 weeks, +~1 week for coating

Price basisFixed price per assembly, quoted after drawing or sketch review

A welded square-tube steel machine stand with leveling feet
Square-tube stand, pads faced after weldingA36 · MIG

Machine guards and covers

Machine guard fabrication is mostly measuring. The steel is simple: 14 or 16 gauge sheet formed on the press brake, or expanded metal on a welded angle frame, hinged or bolted, sized to your machine and the reach distance you have to meet.

The failure we see most often is a guard that fits the drawing and not the machine. A grease fitting that was never on the print, a conduit run added in 2011, a door that can't swing because the guard sits proud by half an inch. So we either come out and measure, or we ask for photos from four sides with a tape in frame and send back a marked-up sketch before we bend anything.

We build to your drawing and your opening sizes. Whether the guard satisfies your own safety review is your call and your safety officer's; we don't sign off on compliance and won't pretend to.

Guards and covers
MaterialMild steel sheet, expanded metal, 5052 aluminum sheet, 304 stainless
FormingPress brake, welded angle or tube frame
MountingBolted, hinged, or lift-off on pins, to suit how often it comes off
InputDrawing, or site measurements, or photos with scale
FinishPowder coat safety yellow or your color, sent out
Lead time2–4 weeks, +~1 week for coating

Price basisFixed price per guard, quoted after site measurements or drawing

A sheet steel guard panel being bent on the press brake
Guard panel on the press brake16 ga mild steel

Short-run metal brackets and plates

Cut, formed, drilled and finished in batches small enough that a production shop won't answer the email. Six sensor brackets. Forty adapter plates. A replacement set of motor mounts for a line that was built by a company that no longer exists.

For anything past about ten pieces we make a simple drill template or a brake stop first, so piece 40 has its holes where piece 1 did. That setup is in the per-piece price, not a separate line.

If you need 500, we will tell you to go to a laser-and-brake production house and, if you want, name the kind of shop to look for. We would lose on price and you would lose on time.

Brackets and plates
MaterialA36, 1018, 6061-T6, 5052, 304 stainless
ThicknessSheet gauges through plate; brake-formed where it bends
Hole position±0.002 in on locating holes, by agreement
Quantity1–50 pieces
FinishDeburred bare, zinc or powder coat (sent out)

Price basisPer-piece price for 1 to 50 pieces, quoted after print review

A batch of twenty matte black steel brackets laid out on kraft paper
A batch of twenty, black powder coatFormed · drilled
Heat, distortion, finish

Where frames go wrong, and what we do about it

A frame that measures square before the last weld and a quarter-degree out after it is normal. Shipping it that way isn't.From the weld bay

Welding pulls. Every bead shrinks as it cools and drags the joint with it. On a 60 in tube frame with a dozen joints, uncontrolled, you can lose an eighth of an inch across the diagonal. The fixes are dull and they work: tack everything first, check diagonals, weld in a balanced sequence, clamp to the table, and let heavy sections cool before the next pass.

Where the thing on top needs a flat mounting surface, we add machined pads. They go on oversize, get welded, and are faced afterwards. On stainless we TIG weld and keep heat input low, because 304 moves more than mild steel and heat tint needs cleaning if the part will see washdown.

Coatings go out. Powder coat adds about a week and the quote says so. If you are painting in-house, we ship in primer or bare with oil, your choice, and we mask threaded holes either way. Galvanizing we don't arrange; the dip warps light sheet frames and we'd rather not sell you a problem.

Load ratings come from you or your engineer. We will tell you when a section looks light for what you describe, and we have talked people out of 1 in tube for a 900 lb gearbox more than once, but we are not a structural engineering office and don't stamp calculations.

From sketch to pickup

How a fabrication job runs

  1. Drawing or sketch in

    Day 0

    Email the file or the sketch. For guards, photos with a tape in frame. We read it the same week.

  2. Questions call

    Within a few working days

    Someone who will build it calls with the questions: load, how often the guard comes off, finish, whether pads need facing.

  3. Fixed written quote

    After the call

    One price per assembly, or per piece for brackets, with lead time and any outside coating time named. The written quote is the only binding figure.

  4. Cut, fit, weld, face

    2–4 weeks typical for frames

    Tacked, checked on the diagonals, welded in sequence, pads faced. Coating goes out after this if ordered.

  5. Check sheet and pickup

    On completion

    Overall size, diagonals, pad flatness and hole pattern written down. Picked up at the door in Newark or crated and shipped.

The full process, with a sample check sheet

Before you send it

Questions buyers ask about fabrication

And the one answer nobody likes: if you need hundreds of identical parts, we are the wrong shop.

Can you come out and measure a machine for a guard?

Inside a reasonable drive of Newark we can, and the visit is on the quote. Farther out, send photos with a tape in frame and the machine model, and we mark up a sketch for you to confirm before any sheet is cut.

Do you paint or powder coat?

Powder coat goes out to a coater and adds about a week. We can ship bare with a light oil, or in primer. The quote names which, and the lead time includes the coater.

What quantities do you take for brackets?

One to fifty pieces. Past that a production shop with a laser and a robot cell will beat our price, and we say so on the first call rather than after the quote.

Can you build it longer than 72 inches?

In bolted sections, yes. In one welded piece, no; it won't fit the table or the door straight enough to be worth it. We design the splice with you before cutting.

Will you rate the frame for a load?

No. We build to the sections and welds on your drawing and will flag anything that looks undersized. Rated capacity and stamped calculations come from your engineer.

Is there a price list?

No. Two frames that look alike on a phone call can differ by a day of machining. What moves the price: steel section and length, how many joints, whether pads get faced, coating, and quantity. You get one fixed figure in writing once the drawing is reviewed.

Other work at the same bench

If it isn't a frame or a guard

Fabrication inquiry

Send a drawing for a frame, guard or bracket

Attach files by replying to our first email; STEP, DXF, PDF or a photo of a sketch are all fine.

Rough is fine. It tells us which questions to ask.

No price is binding until you have it in writing.

Phone
+1 (302) 366-0113
Email
[email protected]
Shop
1 801 DAWSON DR
NEWARK, DE 19713
Not sure it fits
Run the fit check first. Takes a minute.