Custom metal fabrication alongside our full plastic capabilities — forming, welding, joining, finishing, marking, and electromechanical assembly delivered from a single ISO 9001:2015 certified facility in West Nyack, NY.
Most fabricators make you choose: plastic shop or metal shop. Plastic-Craft does both. Our metal fabrication capabilities cover the full production cycle — from raw sheet and stock through formed, welded, finished, marked, and fully assembled metal components and enclosures.
For projects that combine metal and plastic in a single assembly, working with one source that understands both materials eliminates the coordination overhead, tolerance stack-up risks, and communication gaps that come with splitting the work across two shops.
| Capability | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Metal Welding | Structural joining of metal components — MIG, TIG, and spot welding |
| Powder Coating | Durable, uniform dry-film finish applied electrostatically and oven-cured |
| Press Bake & Bonding | Adhesive bonding of sheet metal components with press fixturing and oven cure |
| Metal Stamping | High-volume forming of sheet metal parts using die tooling |
| Laser Marking | Permanent, high-resolution marking of metal surfaces — no consumables, no wear |
| Plating | Electroplated metal surface treatments for corrosion resistance, conductivity, or appearance |
| Turret Punching | CNC-driven hole punching and sheet metal profiling from flat stock |
| Structural Sheet Fab | Enclosures, panels, brackets, and frames fabricated from sheet metal |
| Electromechanical Assembly | Integration of mechanical metal structures with electrical components into functional assemblies |
| Heat Treating | Controlled thermal processing to alter metal hardness, strength, or stress state |
| Cold Forming | Shape modification of metal at ambient temperature — bending, rolling, and forming without heat |
FORMING & FABRICATION
Structural sheet fabrication at Plastic-Craft covers the full range of enclosures, panels, brackets, and frames produced from flat sheet metal stock. Sheet is cut to size, profiled, formed, and assembled into finished structural configurations — joining methods including welding, mechanical fastening, and press bake bonding are applied as the design requires.
Commonly specified for: electrical enclosures and control panel housings, equipment mounting frames and brackets, machine guards and protective panels, custom industrial cabinetry, and support structures for mixed metal-and-plastic assemblies.
Metal stamping uses hardened die tooling to punch, blank, emboss, or form sheet metal into a defined geometry in a single press stroke or multi-stage progression. It is the preferred process for high-volume production of consistent, identical parts — once tooling is established, cycle times are fast and part-to-part repeatability is excellent. Applied to brackets, clips, plates, contact components, and formed sheet metal parts across a range of production volumes.
Turret punching uses a CNC-driven punch press equipped with a rotating turret of tooling to produce holes, slots, louvers, embosses, and profiles in flat sheet metal stock. Unlike laser cutting, turret punching does not use heat — there is no heat-affected zone, no dross, and no discoloration at punch edges. Efficient for high-hole-count parts and sheet metal work where a variety of standard punched features are required in a single operation.
Commonly used for: perforated panels, vented enclosure faces, bracket blanks, and sheet metal components with complex punched patterns.
Cold forming modifies the shape of metal at ambient temperature — without applied heat — through bending, rolling, drawing, or pressing operations. Working metal cold produces strain hardening at the deformed zone, which increases local strength and hardness relative to the surrounding material. Plastic-Craft’s cold forming capabilities cover brake forming, roll forming, and press forming of sheet and plate stock.
JOINING & BONDING
Metal welding at Plastic-Craft covers MIG (GMAW), TIG (GTAW), and spot welding processes applied to metal structural fabrications, assemblies, and repair work.
MIG Welding (Gas Metal Arc Welding) uses a continuously fed wire electrode and shielding gas to produce high-deposition-rate welds — the standard process for structural fabrication work, fillet welds, and applications where speed and weld volume are priorities.
TIG Welding (Gas Tungsten Arc Welding) uses a non-consumable tungsten electrode and separately added filler rod under inert gas shielding to produce clean, precise, low-heat-input welds. Preferred for stainless steel, thin material, visible welds, and applications requiring tight control of heat input.
Spot Welding uses localized resistance heating to fuse overlapping sheet metal layers at discrete points without filler material — fast, consistent, and commonly applied to sheet metal assemblies and enclosures.
Press bake and sheet metal bonding is a combined process in which sheet metal components are joined with a structural adhesive, fixtured under controlled press pressure, and oven-cured at elevated temperature to develop full bond strength. Applied where mechanical fasteners would compromise appearance or structural integrity, where welding heat would distort thin-gauge material, or where the design requires a clean, flush exterior face.
The sequence — adhesive application, press fixturing, oven bake — is managed as a controlled process: adhesive selection matched to substrate and service environment, press pressure set for uniform bond line thickness, and oven cure time and temperature specified per the adhesive system requirements.
FINISHING & SURFACE TREATMENT
Powder coating applies a dry thermosetting polymer powder to the metal surface electrostatically, then cures it in an oven to produce a hard, continuous, chemically bonded film. The result is significantly more durable, impact-resistant, and chemically resistant than conventional liquid paint — and because no solvent is required, the process produces no VOC emissions.
Available in a wide range of colors, textures, and gloss levels. Standard surface finish for structural metal fabrications, enclosures, frames, and brackets intended for indoor or outdoor service.
Metal plating applies a thin layer of a secondary metal to the surface of a base metal part through an electrochemical process. The deposited layer modifies surface properties — adding corrosion resistance, electrical conductivity, solderability, wear resistance, or appearance — without significantly altering part dimensions.
Common processes: zinc plating (corrosion resistance on steel), nickel plating (corrosion and wear resistance), chrome plating (hardness and appearance), tin plating (solderability and food-contact), gold or silver plating (electrical contacts and precision connectors).
Laser marking uses a focused laser beam to create permanent, high-resolution marks on metal surfaces — without contact, without consumables, and without the mark degrading over the life of the part. Capable of producing part numbers, serial numbers, barcodes, QR codes, logos, and alphanumeric text at precision resolutions on any accessible flat or curved surface.
For traceability-critical applications — defense, medical, aerospace, and industrial components — laser marking is the preferred identification method because the mark is integral to the part surface and cannot be removed or obscured in normal service.
Heat treating uses controlled thermal cycles — heating to a defined temperature, holding for a specified time, and cooling at a controlled rate — to alter the mechanical properties of metal. Depending on the process, heat treating can increase hardness and strength, relieve residual stress, improve toughness, or restore ductility after cold working.
Common processes: annealing (stress relief and ductility restoration), normalizing (grain structure refinement), hardening and tempering (defined strength and hardness targets), and stress relieving (distortion risk reduction before precision machining).
ELECTROMECHANICAL ASSEMBLY
Electromechanical assembly integrates fabricated metal mechanical structures with electrical components — wiring harnesses, connectors, switches, terminal blocks, PCBs, sensors, actuators, and other hardware — into functional, deployable assemblies. The deliverable is not a metal fabrication and a bag of parts: it is a complete, functional assembly that is tested and ready for installation.
Applicable to: control panel assemblies, instrumented enclosures, sensor and actuator mounting assemblies, industrial equipment subassemblies, and any application requiring a metal structural component to be delivered as a functioning electromechanical unit.
We review your drawings, specifications, and application requirements to confirm the right sequence of fabrication, joining, finishing, and assembly operations. For complex assemblies, we plan the complete production sequence before work begins to avoid re-work and ensure dimensional integrity at each step.
Metal stock is sourced to your specification. Sheet, plate, bar, and tube stock is cut, prepared, and staged for the first fabrication operation. Surface condition is verified before any forming, welding, or finishing step.
Sheet metal work — stamping, turret punching, cold forming, and structural fabrication — is completed first, establishing part geometry before any joining or finishing is applied. Dimensional verification is performed at this stage.
Welding, press bake bonding, or mechanical fastening is applied to join fabricated components into assemblies. Weld quality and bond integrity are inspected before moving to finishing.
Powder coating, plating, heat treating, and laser marking are applied in the correct sequence — surface preparation before coating, heat treating scheduled relative to forming and machining, laser marking applied at the step that preserves mark integrity.
Where applicable, electrical components are installed, wired, and tested. Final dimensional and functional inspection is performed against your drawing and specification requirements before packaging and shipment.
APPLICATIONS
Plastic-Craft offers metal welding (MIG, TIG, and spot welding), powder coating, press bake and sheet metal bonding, metal stamping, laser marking, plating, turret punching, structural sheet fabrication, electromechanical assembly, heat treating, and cold forming — all from our ISO 9001:2015 certified facility in West Nyack, NY.
Yes — and this is one of the clearest advantages of working with Plastic-Craft. Because we fabricate both materials in-house, mixed metal-and-plastic assemblies can be designed, fabricated, finished, and assembled under a single roof. There is no hand-off between a plastic shop and a metal shop, no tolerance stack-up from separate vendors, and no scheduling gaps between the two material streams.
Powder coating applies a dry polymer film to the metal surface through an electrostatic and oven-cure process — it provides a durable, colored, corrosion-resistant exterior finish in a wide range of colors and textures. Plating applies a thin layer of a secondary metal through an electrochemical process — adding specific surface properties such as corrosion resistance, electrical conductivity, solderability, or wear resistance. The right choice depends on the application, service environment, and performance requirements.
Turret punching uses CNC-driven punch tooling to produce holes, slots, and profiles in flat sheet metal. Unlike laser cutting, it introduces no heat — there is no heat-affected zone, no discoloration, and no dross at punched edges. It is preferred for high-hole-count parts, vented panels, and sheet metal work where a variety of standard features need to be produced efficiently without thermal effects on the material.
Press bake and sheet metal bonding is a three-stage process: structural adhesive is applied to the joint area, the parts are fixtured under controlled press pressure to maintain a uniform bond line, and the assembly is oven-cured at elevated temperature to develop full adhesive strength. It is used where welding heat would distort thin-gauge material, where mechanical fasteners would compromise appearance or structural integrity, or where a clean, flush exterior face is required.
Cold forming shapes metal at ambient temperature — without applied heat — through bending, rolling, drawing, or pressing. Because no heat is applied, the process avoids dimensional distortion and metallurgical changes associated with hot forming. Cold working also introduces strain hardening at the deformed zone, increasing local strength. Used for bent brackets, frames, rolled structural profiles, and formed sheet metal parts.
Heat treating uses controlled thermal cycles to alter the mechanical properties of metal — increasing hardness and strength, relieving residual stress, restoring ductility, or refining grain structure. It is commonly required after welding or cold forming (to relieve stress before precision machining), after forming on hardenable alloys (to develop specified strength), or wherever the material needs to be in a defined property condition before a subsequent fabrication step.
Electromechanical assembly integrates fabricated metal mechanical structures with electrical hardware — wiring harnesses, connectors, switches, terminal blocks, sensors, actuators, and PCBs — into complete, tested, functional assemblies ready for installation or system integration. At Plastic-Craft, this is an extension of our in-house structural sheet fabrication capability, allowing enclosures and frames to be fully populated and tested before delivery.
Laser marking uses a focused laser beam to create permanent, high-resolution marks on metal surfaces — part numbers, serial numbers, barcodes, QR codes, logos, and alphanumeric text — without contact, consumables, or material removal (for annealing-based processes). The mark is integral to the part surface and cannot be worn or removed in normal service. It is the preferred identification method for traceability-critical applications in defense, medical, aerospace, and industrial markets.
Guides and articles on metal fabrication, finishing, and assembly.
When to choose powder coating over electroplating and vice versa.
When CNC punching is the better choice for sheet metal profiling.
How single-source fabrication eliminates coordination overhead in mixed-material assemblies.
Whether you need a single custom metal assembly or a recurring production run — and whether your project is all metal, all plastic, or a combination of both — Plastic-Craft has the capabilities, the engineering team, and the ISO 9001:2015 certified processes to deliver. Share your drawings and specifications and we’ll provide a quote.
