Category Archives: Engineering

Vista Industrial Products has over a millennium’s worth of manufacturing and mechanical engineering experience. So we felt it would be helpful to everyone to share some of our engineering tips and tricks! Feel free to leave comments or ask questions!

Metal Measurement Conversions

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Being in the sheet metal fabrication world means working with people from all over. Whether it’s the US or overseas, working with companies from different countries means knowing the different fabrication standards that others are accustomed to. This includes being aware of the measurement system that is used. Many times dimensional prints will show the dimensions in either imperial/US or metric. Being aware of the different measurement systems will save you from havoc of manufacturing parts to the inappropriate dimension. Which is why it is so important to know how to convert dimensions of parts. So to save some time, we have created this blog post as your Go-To For Measurement Conversions. So be sure to bookmark this page for future use. Continue reading →

How To Read Lines on a Drawing

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Before learning how to read a manufacturing drawing, be sure you know the different parts of a print. Once there is an understanding of the different components of a print and where everything is located, the next step is to be able to read the lines on a print. Reading a print means to understand what the graphic of a part is showing. Therefore, you must understand how lines work on a print. For engineers and manufacturers, lines are their communicators or even their alphabet which convey information. Below is a chart of the various lines that are used on a print and their descriptions. Continue reading →

How to Read a Manufacturing Drawing

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When learning how to read a manufacturing drawing, it can seem quite daunting because there is so much information to take in. This blog post will break down a drawing and make it easier to understand. But, first thing is first! What is the purpose of a manufacturing drawing if there are 3D models? Manufacturing drawings show numerous features of a part that a 3D model doesn’t. For instance, drawings show the material type, the finish, dimensions, hardware, company information, and other specific requirements. The sole purpose of a drawing is to show all the details of a part. Imagine if you were looking at a single part in your hand, a drawing would essentially describe and illustrate all the details of how to place the part in your hand.

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Aluminum vs. Steel

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We often get asked by start-ups and or those designing new products on what the difference is between aluminum and steel for the design of their product. There are several physical properties and characteristics of aluminum and steel that set them a part and make them both ideal for different applications. Here is a list of the differences between the two metal materials:

Features Aluminum Steel
Conductivity Higher Lower
Corrosion Resistant Yes No
Magnetic No Yes
Malleability More Less
Melting Point Lower Higher
Recyclable Yes Yes
Reflectivity Good (polished state) Good (polished state)
Weight Lighter Heavier

If you have more characteristics to add, feel free to comment below!

Metal Tensile Strength

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In the metal fabrication world, you will hear the words “tensile strength” get thrown around. Many times, customers of ours and those just learning about metal fabrication will always ask about it and how it is pertinent to manufacturing. So this blog post will be intended to close this gap.

Metal Tensile StrengthWhat is metal tensile strength? Continue reading →