Metalworking

Metalworking is the process of shaping and finishing metal parts and assemblies to create components for tools, machines, structures, and consumer goods. It includes both the craft traditions of smithing and the modern precision fabrication used in industry. Historically, metalworking began with smiths heating and hammering iron, evolving through casting, machining, and welding to enable mass production.

The principal categories of metalworking are shaping, joining, and finishing. Shaping covers forging, casting, rolling, extrusion, and various forms of machining that remove or add material to achieve the desired geometry. Joining encompasses welding, brazing, soldering, and mechanical fastening to assemble components. Finishing includes grinding, polishing, plating, coating, and heat treatment to improve surface quality and mechanical properties. Casting and powder metallurgy are alternative routes that create metal parts from molten or compacted powders.

Common tools range from hand files and hammers to machine tools such as lathes, milling machines, drilling rigs, presses, grinders, and sheet-metal equipment. Computer numerical control (CNC) machines and robotics have become standard in contemporary shops. Materials include ferrous and nonferrous metals and their alloys, with properties chosen by alloy composition and processing, such as strength, hardness, ductility, and machinability. Heat treatment, including annealing, hardening, tempering, and normalizing, modifies microstructure to meet performance requirements.

Metalworking supports many industries, including automotive, aerospace, construction, tooling, electronics, and art. Safety, standards, and quality control—through inspection, metrology, and nondestructive testing—are integral to practice. Recycling and scrap recovery also play a significant role in metal production and fabrication.