Three popular techniques for metal fabrication are cutting, forming, and welding.
These fabrication techniques can be further divided into sub-categories like laser cutting and shearing, forming methods like bending and stretching, and welding techniques like MIG and TIG welding.

Cutting

One of the simplest methods of metal fabrication is cutting. The two main types of cutting are mechanical and thermal cutting.
Laser cutting is a popular and effective thermal cutting technique. In this process, a concentrated beam of light is used to quickly melt through metal and cut it into the desired shape. The small point of a laser beam means it can perform delicate and small cuts, down to a tenth or even hundredth of a millimeter depending on the machine.
Thermal cutting techniques like laser cutting are usually done by a CNC machine. CNC machines direct the cutting beam based on a pre-determined plan uploaded to the machine. Therefore, no human operator is required to make the physical cuts.
Mechanical cutting includes methods like shearing, punching and sawing. In these processes, the metal is severed by an edge, or pressed into a die to punch out a shape. Mechanical cutting methods are less accurate than CNC-guided thermal cutting, which has higher tolerances and can cut smaller and more complex patterns.

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Welding

This method of metal fabrication involves joining metal components together with electrical energy. Arc welding uses an arc of electrical current to melt a filler material along the seam between two pieces of metal, forming a solid bond. Rather than subtractive fabrication techniques like cutting, welding is an additive or assembly technique that combines metal pieces.
The main categories of arc welding are MIG (metal inert gas) and TIG (tungsten inert gas). The categories are defined by the different substances they use as filler material in the joining process. Although both are capable of joining metals like aluminum or steel, TIG is usually preferred for welding thin materials like sheet metal.
Joining parts with welding is usually the last stage in a multi-step metal fabrication process. Depending on the complexity of the weld, the task might be performed by an automated welding machine or a human welder. Welding produces sturdy bonds but is more labor and resource-intensive than some other types of fabrication.

Forming

Forming is a broad category of metal fabrication that covers many processes for bending or reshaping metal into new dimensions. Bending, stretching, spinning and stamping metal are just some of the subsets of forming.
Bending uses hydraulic presses to apply pressure to a flat sheet of metal, pushing it into new angles without breaking the material. Bending can produce a wide variety of angles and shapes like corners, grooves and curves. Metal can also be bent multiple times to form a complex finished part.
Stretching, another forming technique, pulls metal sheets across a long distance to form new contours. Stretching can create large shapes effectively, but also risks damaging the integrity of the material.
Working with a thicker gauge sheet metal and small or irregular patterns can make forming techniques more difficult. However, forming is still a valuable tool for metal fabrication since it is inexpensive and relatively simple to perform.