Weld Creations provides custom metal fabrication for manufacturers across Los Angeles and Southern California. Send us a drawing, a sketch or the old part, and we deliver the finished part: cut, formed, fitted, welded, machined and finished, in stainless steel, aluminum, steel and exotic alloys. We do the welding and fabrication in our Glendora shop and coordinate the rest in-house or through our partner network, so you work with one supplier.
From drawing to finished part
Fabrication is a chain of steps, and a part is only as good as the weakest one. We manage the whole chain:
- Review. We check your drawing for manufacturability and flag anything that will add cost or risk: tight tolerances across welds, inaccessible joints, or material combinations that complicate welding.
- Cutting. Laser, waterjet, shear and saw cutting, sized to the material and tolerance.
- Forming. Bending and forming of sheet, plate and tube.
- Fit-up and welding. Fixtured assembly and precision TIG welding (or MIG, where the part calls for it), with distortion control built into the sequence.
- Machining. Machining of components before welding, or of welded assemblies afterward, where features must be held to tolerance.
- Finishing. Grinding and polishing, passivation, powder coating, anodizing or plating.
- Inspection and delivery. Checked against your drawing and delivered with the documentation you need.
What we fabricate
- Enclosures and housings. Stainless and aluminum cabinets, covers and electronics chassis.
- Machine frames and stands. Rigid, square frames for equipment and automation.
- Guards and panels. Machine guarding, access panels and sanitary covers.
- Carts, platforms and handling equipment. Including aerospace ground support equipment.
- Hoppers, chutes and bins. For pharmaceutical, food and industrial processes.
- Brackets and mounts. Including machined-and-welded components.
- Fixtures and tooling. Weld fixtures, assembly fixtures and check fixtures.
Materials
We fabricate in stainless steel (304 and 316 grades), aluminum, carbon and chromoly steel, titanium, and nickel alloys like Hastelloy and Inconel. For food and pharmaceutical equipment, see sanitary welding.
Product development and prototyping
Many fabrication projects start as an idea, not a finished drawing. We help manufacturers and product developers:
- Turn concepts and sketches into buildable designs
- Build prototypes and first articles quickly, then refine them
- Apply design-for-welding and design-for-manufacture changes that cut cost per part
- Move from prototype to production runs with fixtures and a repeatable process
A fabricator involved early can often remove parts, welds and operations from a design. That saving repeats on every unit you build.
One supplier, one purchase order
Juggling a laser shop, a welder, a machinist and a finisher costs time, and every handoff is a chance for something to go wrong. We deliver the finished part and coordinate the steps before and after welding, so there’s one point of contact, one schedule and one party responsible for the result.
Tolerances on fabricated parts
Welding moves metal, so fabricated parts are toleranced differently from machined parts. For good results at a sensible cost:
- Put tight tolerances where they matter. Hold critical features and interfaces tight, and let general dimensions take standard fabrication tolerances.
- Machine after welding when precision is critical. Bores, mounting faces and datum features that must be accurate relative to each other are often best machined after the weldment is complete.
- Define datums that make sense for a weldment. Choose datums on features that stay stable through welding, not on surfaces that will move.
- Talk to us early. A short review of the drawing before release often saves significant cost and rework.
Finishes
Raw, brushed or polished stainless; blended welds; bead-blasted surfaces; powder coating in any color; anodizing for aluminum; and plating for steel. Finishing beyond our shop is coordinated through our partner network and delivered with the part.
Quantities
We fabricate everything from single prototypes and one-off replacement parts to recurring production. Tell us the quantity per order and the expected annual volume, so we can recommend fixturing and pricing that fit the program.
Why Weld Creations
Welding is where most fabricated parts succeed or fail, and it’s our core craft. Mark May is a third-generation welder certified to AWS D17.1, the aerospace fusion welding standard, and every fabrication in our shop is built with that discipline. Our work ranges from cleanroom equipment for pharmaceutical manufacturers to production brackets and enclosures. See our capabilities.
Request a fabrication quote
Send the drawing (or sketch, photos and dimensions), material, quantity, finish requirements and timeline. We reply within one business day.