What a metal fabricator does
Metal fabricators build parts, assemblies and structures from sheet, plate, tube and structural steel. They lay out work from drawings, cut material with saws, shears, plasma or laser equipment, form it on press brakes and rolls and fit and weld or fasten components together. Their work ends up in buildings, machinery, vehicles, signage, railings and many other manufactured products that your customers depend on.
A skilled fabricator saves your shop time and material by getting it right the first time. Finch screens candidates for the equipment they have run, the materials and tolerances they work to and their ability to plan a job from the drawing. We also look at whether they suit production work or custom jobs, since the pace and problem solving involved are quite different.
Typical responsibilities
- Reading drawings and planning the sequence of fabrication
- Laying out and marking material for cutting and forming
- Operating saws, shears, press brakes, rolls and cutting equipment
- Fitting, tacking and welding or fastening components
- Checking dimensions and quality against drawings
- Grinding, finishing and preparing parts for coating or assembly
Qualifications and credentials
- Hands-on experience in a fabrication shop working with steel, stainless or aluminum
- Ability to read blueprints, use measuring tools and work to tolerances
- Experience running press brakes, shears and cutting equipment
- Welding skill, with CWB tickets an asset for structural work
- A college program or metal fabricator apprenticeship is an asset
Who hires a metal fabricator
- Custom fabrication and job shops
- Structural and miscellaneous steel fabricators
- Equipment and machinery manufacturers
- Sheet metal and enclosure manufacturers
- Architectural metal and railing companies
Where we recruit metal fabricator candidates
We fill metal fabricator roles for employers across Toronto and the GTA, including North York, Scarborough, Etobicoke, Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill, Mississauga, Brampton, Oakville, Burlington, Oshawa and Pickering, and for employers across Canada. GTA employers can meet us at our North York office by appointment.
What Finch checks before you meet a candidate
- Equipment experience, including brakes, shears, lasers or plasma
- Materials and tolerances worked to in recent roles
- Blueprint reading and layout ability
- Production versus custom fabrication background
- References from shop supervisors
Interview questions to ask
- How do you plan a fabrication job from a new drawing?
- What press brake setups have you done, and how do you check the first part?
- Tell me about a part you fabricated that came out wrong. How did you fix the process?