Processes

Beam cambering is the process of bending structural beams to provide additional strength and resistance to deflection. The beam is cambered through a hydraulic press that gradually produces a beam with an arc or a bow. At Contractors Steel, we have the capacity to camber beams from 6”  to 36” wide.

Coil leveling is the process of taking a wound coil through a series of dies and rollers that gradually bends the material into a flat, level surface. The leveling process is often used before a coil is cut-to-length or used to fix shape issues. The leveling process helps to relieve internal stresses that can cause the material to twist or bow. After the leveling process, the material exhibits tight tolerances to meet a customer specifications. At Contractors Steel, we can level coil 3/16” – 1/2” thick, up to 72” wide and 80’ long.

The cutting of shapes from steel plate by “burning” with single and multiple torch setups. The torches create a high temperature flame by burning gases. Torches may be guided by hand, mechanically, by electric tracing eye, or by computer.

Plasma cutting is a form of flame cutting. Plasma is the term used to describe a state of matter produced when a gas is passed through a high-voltage electric arc. The plasma flame is far hotter than the flame produced in ordinary flame cutting equipment. It hits the workpiece with a thin stream at high velocity and makes a cut that is essentially slag-free under properly controlled conditions. Plasma cutting is used for steel when thin material is to be cut, and heat distortion must be minimalized. Contractors Steel can plasma cut steel plate up to 2″ thick with a max bevel 45°. CAD download capabilities are also available.

Sometimes referred to as roll bending, plate rolling is the process by which a steel plate or sheet is fabricated through a series of rollers and presses to gradually transform a flat object into a new shape, often cylindrical in nature. Plate rolling involves custom round shapes that are often used for large tanks that store oil and gas. These plate-rolled items are larger than traditionally manufactured steel tube. Our 3-plate roller can process plate 3/4” thick by 12’ long.

A process of cutting plate or sheet stock without the presence of chips or burrs. Plate and sheet shearing offers custom sizes of material for specific sizes. We have the capability to shear up to 1/2” x 12’ at our four locations.

The process by which a sheet or plate is bent to a predetermined size and angle. The term “braking” means to bend, change direction or deflect material which is how the press brake service came to be named. At Contractors Steel, we can press brake up to 750 tons and 20’ long material at our four locations.

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Saw cutting can refer to several different processes. Most often, saw cutting is used for structural steel that are processed from a long length (i.e., 20’, 40’ etc) to shorter lengths to be used in various applications. Saw cutting machines can be used to cut single pieces or full bundles. At Contractors Steel, we have 18 saws available across our network to service the needs of our customers.

Tee-splitting is the process of splitting a wide flange beam down the middle of the web producing two “T” shaped angles that are off-set from one another. The T’s are used in non-residential construction applications such as roof trusses. Contractors can split tee using our rotary tee splitter or our PythonX Multi-Purpose Plasma Cutting Machine.