Advanced Fabrication and Manufacturing
12 of 12 modules published. Each module is four lessons, a question bank and a practical task.
4 lessons · about 42 min
Advanced geometric pattern development
The four layout methods and the surfaces they unfold, the allowances, seams and sheet limits a pattern must respect, parallel line, radial line and triangulation worked on real parts, and the checks that catch a bad pattern before it is cut.
4 lessons · about 42 min
Compound transitions and complex forms
How cones, transitions, unequal and peak miters, crickets and radius pieces differ from straight lengths, how their patterns are calculated and joined by metal, how they are installed to shed water, and how to diagnose and inspect their faults.
4 lessons · about 47 min
CNC press brake programming
What a press brake program controls and holds, the material and tooling inputs behind a predicted angle, a worked method from drawing to a checked first part, and how to trace defects to their causes, set beside how AFS's folder receives a profile.
4 lessons · about 43 min
CAD, CAM and shop data exchange
What DXF, DWG, IFC and PDF files carry and how a flashing drawing becomes folder data, the units, frames and angle conventions an exchange must state, a worked drip edge from drawing to feature list, and the defects and checks that stop a wrong file reaching the folder.
4 lessons · about 42 min
DXF validation and manufacturing readiness
How a DXF is built, how AFS reads it by its bytes and proves its unit, how legs, signed angles and girth come from its vertices and meet AFS limits, and how to diagnose and document the defects that stop a drawing becoming a part.
- DXF validation and manufacturing readiness: principles and terminology
- DXF validation and manufacturing readiness: materials, standards and design constraints
- DXF validation and manufacturing readiness: methods and worked application
- DXF validation and manufacturing readiness: defects, verification and case study
4 lessons · about 39 min
CNC cutting, laser and nesting
How a laser cuts sheet and how a nest is built, the gases, settings and cut-quality standard that govern it, AFS's own strip nesting worked by hand, and how to diagnose, correct and record cutting and nesting defects.
4 lessons · about 45 min
Custom tooling and die design
How press brake, folder and punching tools are read, rated and chosen, the limits tool makers publish and AFS's own envelope, a step-by-step method for deciding when a special tool is needed, and how to trace a defect back to its tool.
4 lessons · about 44 min
Copper, zinc, stainless and specialty metals
How copper, lead-coated copper, zinc and stainless steel are ordered, formed, handled and joined: the standards and maker limits behind each, a documented shop method with worked examples and counterflashing installation, and how to diagnose their typical defects.
- Copper, zinc, stainless and specialty metals: principles and terminology
- Copper, zinc, stainless and specialty metals: materials, standards and design constraints
- Copper, zinc, stainless and specialty metals: methods and worked application
- Copper, zinc, stainless and specialty metals: defects, verification and case study
4 lessons · about 50 min
Precision forming and statistical inspection
Why a folded angle differs from the programmed one and how a shop measures and corrects it, then how control charts, run rules and capability indices separate a real process change from noise and from a measurement problem.
- Precision forming and statistical inspection: principles and terminology
- Precision forming and statistical inspection: materials, standards and design constraints
- Precision forming and statistical inspection: methods and worked application
- Precision forming and statistical inspection: defects, verification and case study
4 lessons · about 40 min
Production throughput and material yield
The words for how fast work leaves a shop and how much of each sheet ends up in finished pieces, how AFS's sheet and limits decide strips per sheet, a worked takeoff and throughput method, and how to find, fix and record yield and lead-time defects.
- Production throughput and material yield: principles and terminology
- Production throughput and material yield: materials, standards and design constraints
- Production throughput and material yield: methods and worked application
- Production throughput and material yield: defects, verification and case study
4 lessons · about 42 min
Production scheduling and traceability
How a fabrication shop orders its work and keeps records that say what each part came from: the AFS job ladder and shop queue, mill test reports and origin rules, paint batches, delivery days on the shop clock, and the defects that break the chain.
4 lessons · about 43 min
Manufacturing QA and continuous improvement
QC, QA and a quality system, the classes of nonconformance and the words of continual improvement; where a flashing job's acceptance criteria come from; root cause analysis, FMEA and strong corrective actions; and a nonconformance worked from discovery to a verified fix.
- Manufacturing QA and continuous improvement: principles and terminology
- Manufacturing QA and continuous improvement: materials, standards and design constraints
- Manufacturing QA and continuous improvement: methods and worked application
- Manufacturing QA and continuous improvement: defects, verification and case study