Page 32 - MetalForming February 2014

Highlights from
2013
What follows represents a small sampling
of hundreds of new products displayed
at the giant tradeshow held last November
in Chicago; we’ll present more product introductions in future issues of MetalForming. Note: This issue also includes an article describing new sensors and control technology debuted at FABTECH; it begins on page 40.
BY BRAD F. KUVIN, EDITOR
FABTECH 2013, the largest metalforming, fabricating, welding and finishing event in North America, set records last November for numbers of attendees and exhibitors as well as for floor space. More than 40,500 attendees visited 1573 exhibitors spread across 650,000 sq. ft. of exhibits at McCormick Place to see live equipment demonstrations and compare products side-by-side to find cost-saving solutions at product displays.
“While breaking our own records is impressive, most important were the reports we received from attendees and exhibitors,” says FABTECH show co- manager John Catalano. “Attendees were impressed with the record size and scope of the show and the number of new products and innovative technologies on display, and exhibitors noted brisk sales activity and plentiful leads.”
FABTECH attendees and exhibitors in Chicago also raised more than $15,000 for the victims of the severe storms and tornados that devastated Washington, IL, and other areas of the state on November 17th. The five FABTECH co-spon- soring organizations made a financial commitment to start the campaign, with all funds collected going to the American Red Cross to help victims of the storms.
Here is just a small sampling of the new-product introductions spied at FABTECH 2013. Look for more product introductions from FABTECH in future issues of MetalForming, beginning with our waterjet-cutting technology showcase slated for the March issue.
Expand Your Aluminum- Welding Capabilities
The Lincoln Electric Co. Cleveland, OH, introduced its new Power Wave Advanced Module equipped to enable alternating-current (AC) gas-metal-arc welding (GMAW ) of aluminum. Fab- ricators used to gas-tungsten-arc weld- ing (GTAW) of aluminum will find the system to be a nice alternative, we were told by Lincoln officials, as will those welding steel assemblies with large weld-joint gaps.
The Advanced Module reduces burnthrough and optimizes wire-feed speed and oxide cleaning. Its high-fre- quency starting mode (for GTAW ) can be controlled at the wire feeder or power-source user interface.
www.lincolnelectric.com
30 MetalForming/February 2014
www.metalformingmagazine.com