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Many current and potential customers come to us with questions regarding how we create our metal art products at Innovative Fabricators. The simplest way to describe the process is in four steps: drawing, programming, manufacturing, and finishing. The following paragraphs will briefly describe to you the processes involved with each step.

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Drawing

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Nearly every product developed by our company starts out as a pencil drawing. All of the retail products and many of our custom work projects were designed by our artists, making them original works of art. Each design is free hand drawn on paper, and done in a line art format. Our artists use books and photos of real life images, as well as natural creative talent, to create the drawings.

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Some of our custom work projects require the use of computer design programs, such as Photoshop and Illustrator. With these, we’re able to create mock ups and graphic representations of the product to be manufactured. Many times this allows us to generate new designs using our existing library of artwork, and also helps integrate text and fonts into our work.

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Programming

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After the line art drawing has been created, its brought into a computer drafting program. At Innovative Fabricators we use AutoCAD. Here the design is converted into a file that will enable the design to be laser cut. Occasionally customers are able to provide us with their own design file. DWG and DXF files are supported in AutoCAD, and can be used to create the program needed for laser cutting. If a client has their own design they want to submit they can certainly do so. JPEG, PDF, and other image types work for starters, but eventually will be converted into a DWG file prior to cutting.

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Manufacturing

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Once the design has been recreated in AutoCAD, it is then sent to the laser via computer network and is cut. The lasers are computerized and can read the file that was created in AutoCAD. The machines then cut exactly what is shown in the AutoCAD drawings. Up to this point it has been all drawing and programming.  Now is when imagination starts to become reality.

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After cutting, all required bending and welding steps are performed. Many of our smaller retail products are made out of lighter gauge steel and can be bent and formed using special hand tools. Products cut from heavier material may require the use of a press brake machine to perform the bends. If required, the welding process is performed after bending.

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Finishing

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After all manufacturing steps have been completed the products are finished with powder coat or paint. The majority of our products are powder coated, which tends to provide added longevity over some liquid paint processes. However, we do offer two part epoxy paint as a finish. This is generally baked on after spraying to accelerate the cure time. The paint option also provides our customers with a wider range of color options, but is best suited for large pieces or projects.

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[Innovative Fabricators, Inc. is a designer, manufacturer, and distributor of metal art products. We are a group of metal fabrication artists with a focus on creating large and small scale custom metal art for home and commercial markets. Our products originate from an advanced laser cutting system and feature a wide variety of style and function. The company is family owned and operated out of Watertown, South Dakota. Visit www.innovativefab.com]

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[Innovative Fabricators, Inc. is a designer, manufacturer, and distributor of metal art products. We are a group of metal fabrication artists with a focus on creating large and small scale metal art for home and commercial markets. Our products originate from an advanced laser cutting system and feature a wide variety of style and function. The company is family owned and operated out of Watertown, South Dakota. Visit www.innovativefab.com]

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The barbecue cooking contest is part of the Memphis In May International Festival, an annual event held during May in Memphis, TN. Other Memphis In May events include the Beale Street Music Festival and the Sunset Symphony. Memphis in May also produces extensive education, international, and economic programs for the city.

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