New Technology Creates New Opportunity

Midland Metal Products was contacted by the Burt Masonry Company in St. Louis when the owner could not find a local fabricator who could construct a run of large steel fence panels with an intricate custom design. The production run of 9 fence panels measuring 11 feet between mounting points, included a interwoven arch motif that was fabricated to appear as though it were a one-piece casting. Our sophisticated CNC equipment easily accommodated this requirement. The arch motif was programmed and nested using the most advanced CAD/CAM software, so that only a single sheet of 1/2" thick Mild Steel was used to create the components for all 9 of the 11-foot long fence sections. Our 3300 Watt sheet Laser, having a maximum cutting capacity in steel of 7/8", was able to handle the cutting task quickly and easily.

With so many repetitious features in this design, attention to absolute accuracy as well as structural integrity was extremely crucial. A precision welding fixture was built using our CNC router, using a program born from the same exact dimensions and specifications utilized in the laser cutting process, . Careful consideration to advanced fixture-making is critical in establishing perfection in the assembly welding process.

After all assembly welding was completed, the fence sections were sandblasted and powdercoated in three steps to ensure durability. After coating and finishing, the fence panels were packaged for shipment to St. Louis were they were installed at the customer location, anchored to fieldstone piers built by our customer, Burt Masonry.