What Is FABTECH?
FABTECH is North America’s largest event dedicated to metal forming, fabricating, welding, and finishing. Its roots trace back several decades, originating from the need to create a unified platform for industry professionals to showcase advancements, exchange ideas, and drive the growth of the manufacturing sector.
A precursor to FABTECH was the ASTE Machine Tool and Progressive Exhibition, first held in Detroit in 1938. The organizer of the event, the American Society of Tool Engineers (ASTE), would become the Society of Manufacturing Engineers in 1969, and has gone by just SME since 2013.
In the final quarter of the 20th century, the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association (FMA) recognized the growing need for a centralized event where those involved in the fabrication industry could gather to discuss challenges, share knowledge, and explore new technologies. In 1981, they joined forces with SME to co-sponsor the first FABTECH exposition in Cleveland, Ohio.
Originating as a regional trade show with 161 exhibitors showcasing sheet metal equipment and fabrication technology, FABTECH would evolve and diversify, expanding its scope to include welding, cutting, finishing, and other related processes. By the late 1990s, FABTECH had become a comprehensive event encompassing the entire metal forming and fabricating sector.
In 2005, FABTECH took a significant step forward by merging with the American Welding Society’s (AWS) Welding Show, further solidifying its position as a key event in the industry. This merger allowed FABTECH to offer an even broader range of technologies and solutions, attracting a more diverse audience.
Over the years, FABTECH continued to grow, both in size and influence. The event began rotating locations among major U.S. cities, including Chicago, Las Vegas, and Atlanta, making it accessible to a wider audience. Its global reach also expanded, with international versions of the event being held in countries such as Mexico and Canada.
Today, FABTECH is a must-attend event for industry professionals, attracting over 50,000 attendees and 1,500 exhibitors from around the world. It serves as a barometer for the health and direction of the manufacturing industry, showcasing the latest innovations and setting the stage for future developments.
RMT—A FABTECH Fixture
Revolution Machine Tools has been exhibiting at FABTECH since the company opened its doors. RMT’s founder, Kyle Jorgenson, had started attending FABTECH originally as a representative of his father’s regional industrial equipment company. When he and his team started RMT, it was a given that they would book space each year at the show, where they have presented prime examples of their hundreds of models of press brakes, shears, plate rolls, fiber lasers, bandsaws, and other metalworking machines.
This year, Revolution Machine Tools has reserved booth #S13023 at FABTECH 2024, held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida from October 15-17, 2024. Nearly a dozen of their finest machine tools and pieces of metal fabrication equipment will be on display:
- A press brake. One of RMT’s hybrid brake series, the B-GENIUS-H™ 12-250 Hybrid Press Brake combines servo motors and highly efficient hydraulic pumps to save 65% of the energy of an equivalent hydraulic brake while using 95% less oil. This also allows the machine to run extremely fast, quiet, and have a bending accuracy of +/- .00003″. It has a bending capacity of 250-tons, a bending length of 12′ 4″ (10′ 8″ between housings), 21.7″ daylight, an 11″ stroke, and a 16.1″ throat depth. This CNC press brake comes standard with seven axes of control (Y1, Y2, X, R, Z1, Z2, and back CNC crowning) and can be expanded to 14+ axes.
- An angle roll. The A-FAB™ HD 433 Angle Roll is a heavy-duty hydraulic roll, featuring a 15 HP motor, a 4.33″ shaft diameter, and a 4″ x 4″ x 1/2″ angle leg-out capacity. Constructed with a mill-certified, high-yield steel frame and heat-treated and induction-hardened components, the machine features a high-torque drive system—all three rolls are driven by independent hydraulic motors and a precision gear box—and includes a universal die set to accommodate basic profiles.
- Two plate rolls. The R-SMART™ 10-1299 Plate Roll is a 4-roll planetary-type hydraulic machine. It has a12.99″ diameter top roll, a 10’2″ bending length, a 1/2″ pre-bending capacity in mild steel to a minimum internal diameter of 1.5 times the diameter of the top roll, a 5/8″ bending capacity to three times the roll diameter (or 11/16″ to five times the roll diameter), a 25 HP motor, and a 105-gallon hydraulic oil tank. Also at the show will be a prototype R-FAB™ 5-512 Plate Roll, the first in a new line of compact but powerful 4-roll plate rolls for those needing a more economical alternative to the R-SMART™ series.
- Two pipe beveling machines. The PIPE SPOOL MASTER™ 16 is designed to put V bevels on pipes from 3″ to 16″ outside diameters in various angles (such as 30° and 37.5°), all while the pipe itself remains stationary. The PSM 16 has a manually adjustable X-axis stroke across the facing head, a 6″ Z-axis stroke, and can reach 200 RPM spindle speeds. The PIPE SPOOL MASTER™ TGB 24 CNC goes beyond mere beveling and can thread and groove the ends of pipes up to 24″ in diameter. The most popular of RMT’s series of CNC pipe spool working machines, the TGB 24 CNC can also perform facing, boring, tapering, chamfering, and other functions. It has a 29″ swing, a 5.5″ X-axis stroke, a 23.6″ Z-axis stroke, and can reach spindle speeds up to 300 RPM.
- Two hydraulic presses. The H-FAB™ C165 Hydraulic Press is a C-frame single-action press and has a 165-ton capacity and a 32″ by 24″ table. It has 24″ daylight, a 16″ stroke, 8″ open height, and features a 10 HP motor. Since the three sides are open, die cut mounting and disassembly can be done easily. The H-SMART™ HSA 275 Deep Drawing Hydraulic Press is a 275-ton H-type single action press that features a high-precision machined frame and table to ensure accuracy during production cycles. Both C-type and H-type presses can be used to bend, hole punch, cut, and straighten according to the die cut used.
- Three bandsaws. The S-FAB™ CDM 26-39 NC Bandsaw is a semi-automatic column-type double miter bandsaw with a 26″ diameter round cutting capacity and a 26″ x 39″ rectangular workpiece capacity at 90°. It features hydraulic top clamping, a laser line pointer, and a micro mist cooling system. The S-SMART™ P 9-9 Bandsaw is an automatic pivot-type straight-cutting bandsaw with a 9″ x 9″ cutting capacity in square or round workpieces. The S-ECO™ PDM 9-12 Bandsaw is a manual pivot-type double miter bandsaw with a 9″ x 12″ cutting capacity at 90° (9″ round capacity). RMT has chosen the PDM 9-12 as the featured item in their Annual FABTECH Giveaway, so be sure to fill out an entry to win when you stop by their booth at the show!
RMT and FABTECH—A Winning Combination
The annual FABTECH show is North America’s largest metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing event. It offers something of value to everyone in the industry, from a one-man fab shop to a Fortune 500 manufacturer.
Revolution Machine Tools is a premier distributor of precision press brakes, fiber lasers, plate rolls, angle rolls, aircraft rolls, shears, band saws, cold saws, presses, pipe-working machines, and more. With their inhouse service team and parts and tooling department, they take care of their customers long after every sale.
If you are attending FABTECH 2024, be sure to put booth #S13023 at the top of your must-visit list and learn firsthand what the Revolution Machine Tools team can do for you and your metalworking business.
